13 – Jerry Thomas – Chemist

There’s a lot of focus in history on the big players; your Generals, your Presidents, your Attillas the Hun. But history is full of people whose accomplishments never really made it out of their own subculture, but that doesn’t make them any less significant. Take Jerry Thomas, for example. A bartender in the mid-19th century, Mr. Thomas wrote a book called The Bar-Tender’s Guide, a work which more or less writes out the basic theory behind creating cocktails. That’s right, this doughy, middle-aged guy with the fancy vest basically invented the mixed drink. His inventions include the Tom Collins, the Martinez (a sort of proto-Martini), and the Blue Blazer, the precursor of all flaming alcoholic drinks. So even though Mr. Thomas never rode into war, never signed a treaty or ruled a nation, his impact on history is still felt today.

The Chemist, sometimes known as the Salve-Maker or Alchemist, is one of the more basic classes found in RPGs today. Focused around creating and using items, Chemists tend to be the most basic of healing classes, with abilities that quickly outlive their usefulness. Still, in some games, with the right setups, the Chemist can become quite useful. Sometimes they even get a unique Mix command, which allows them to combine and use items in battle, boosting their healing or offensive abilities to useful levels. Though seldom a high-impact class, the Chemist remains a personal favorite of mine.

Category: 2011, Fantasy