# Is there a way to permanently create 44064 gallons of acid for less than 100k gp?

## Summary:

I'm looking to permanently create $$\44064 \text{ gal}\$$ of acid on a budget of $$\100,000 \text{ gp}\$$. As part of this, I am building a level 12 character who will be the one creating and using the acid.

## Restrictions:

• Level 12 character.
• Only Paizo material written for Pathfinder 1e is allowed (no 3.5 content is allowed).
• The following books are not legal: Niobe, The World of Vampire Hunter D, Worldscape
• Full Pouch and Blood Money are banned.
• Any spell that cannot be cast by a level 12 spellcaster is banned.
• Exception: If 12 levels in a class grant early access to a spell, then it's allowed.
• Exception: If a deific boon or similar thing allows you to cast that spell as a spell-like ability early.
• Magic items that replicate these banned spells are not allowed (though they may have the spell as a construction requirement as long as they don't create its effect). Scrolls, wands, potions, etc. are capped at a caster level of 12.
• Spellcasting Services are allowed but cannot be used for those banned spells. Additionally, they can only be used for spells that are on a class's base spell list. Casters that use early access methods (bloodlines, curses, domains, patrons, etc.) are not allowed to provide those early access spells.
• Ex. A witch with the Thorns patron could not be hired to cast wall of thorns, they would only be able to cast spells on the witch's base spell list.
• Crafting is banned. You can purchase any item for full price.
• Custom magic items are not allowed.
• In order to be a viable method, there must be an explicit or implicit amount of acid created that is listed in the item's or spell's description. Interactions with the environment are allowed
• Example 1: Dust of Acid Consumption states that it holds up to 10 gallons of acid. Despite not actually providing the acid itself, one that had already soaked up acid would be a valid item for purchase and thus it is able to be used for acid production.
• Example 2: Acid states "flask of acid". Since flask is an item and states "This glass bottle holds 1 pint", we have a numeric quantity that it provides. (It's just too far out of budget to use for the required quantity though.)
• Example 3: Acid Arrow does not state how much acid is created, nor provide any reference for it. Therefore the spell is an invalid method of acid production.
• You may not roll any dice during character creation. If an activity allows taking 10 you may do so, otherwise you are assumed to always get the worst possible result (usually a natural 1). In scenarios where the worst possible result either does not exist or is subjective (such as the reincarnate spell), you simply cannot take that action.
• Note: By permanently create, I mean that a magical method of acid creation must have a duration of instantaneous or permanent. Effectively permanent methods (whether by recasting the same spell due to the duration being long enough or another way) are not valid.
• Exception: The only exception to a temporary method is if the acid is then stored in such a manner that the duration is able to be permanently suspended (such as by using a Neverspill Goblet to store it). Any methods of suspending such a duration are to be added in to the cost of acid production (that is, the cost of producing the temporary acid plus permanently storing it needs to be under $$\100,000 \text{ gp}\$$).

## More details:

The scenario is that I want to (mostly) flood a room ($$\150 \text{ ft. radius, } 50 \text{ ft. tall}\$$) with acid (or lava). Currently, I'm attempting to do so with control water (gm is allowing it to work on acid) and aquatic cages filled with acid. The issue is that in order for Control Water to work on it, the acid needs to be $$\1 \text{ in.}\$$ deep. Thus I need $$\44064 \text{ gal}\$$ of acid in order to do so.

Any valid alternative should be able to flood the room with acid.

• You have unlimited creation time for the acid prior to entering the room, but if creating the acid inside the room, it should only take 1-2 rounds to flood it.
• Huh. Would transforming a large quantity of something—say, water—into acid count? Also, I suggest changing permanently to instantaneously unless the acid is supposed to be vulnerable to dispel magic et al. Oct 18 '20 at 19:00
• @HeyICanChan it would be valid, and I understand it'd be vulnerable to dispel magic. But for these circumstances, I'd be okay with that. Oct 18 '20 at 19:02
• To save anyone reading this time, it's estimated that alchemical acid is about a Pint and 44064 gallons is over 352k pints. So you'd have to drop the cost of creating them to under 1/3 to meet budget. Oct 18 '20 at 21:09
• You could greatly reduce the amount of acid needed by making some stone walls so you only need to fill the area within the stone walls. Is this a viable solution? Oct 18 '20 at 22:07

## Find a Large Source of Acid

The idea here is not to buy or create the acid, but to find a natural source and collect it.

Where can we find this much acid? The Elemental Plane of Water. From d20pfsrd:

Sprinkled throughout the plane are even stranger features, such as enchanted springs that bubble into underwater pools, warping whatever wildlife lives within them, and pockets of acid and poison that form roiling lagoons and refuse to dilute into the surrounding ocean.

Also, from the Pathfinder Wiki:

A number of unusual locations and phenomena exist within the Boundless Sea, such as the Forest of Oils, a vast collection of floating spheres composed of diverse chemical substances....

While we don't know exactly how large these pockets of acid are, the Plane of Water is listed as "immeasurable" in size. We might have to find more than one pocket, but there are lots to find, since for all practical purposes the plane is infinitely large.

## Collecting and Transporting the Acid

Once we find the acid, we need a container that can hold it. There are lots of possibilities, but for this discussion, we'll use a Portable Hole.

Since gravity on the Plane of Water is subjective, simply opening the Portable Hole inside a pocket of acid isn't enough. We need the Hole to move through the acid to collect it.

Fortunately, this isn't hard. Simply attach the Hole to something that won't dissolve immediately, such as a large stone slab. Use Telekinesis to move the stone slab through the acid, and the Hole will collect it, while you remain safe in ordinary water.

Alternatively, you could hire a creature that's immune to acid to harvest it for you. Angels and proteans are two examples. Lesser Planar Binding would let you summon either of them, and you could enlist their aid for 1 day/level by offering a suitable magic item (e.g., a +1 holy longsword for an angel).

## Putting It All Together

So our process is:

1. Purchase a suitable container, such as a Portable Hole (20,000gp).
2. Hire a 9th-level cleric to cast Plane Shift twice - once to take you to the Elemental Plane of Water, and once to return you to the Material Plane (900gp both directions, plus payment for time).
3. Use Teleport to take you and the cleric to a safe location on the Plane of Water, such as a trade city. Buy the cleric safe lodgings in the city.
4. Find a pocket of acid. You could search for it with magic, or you could bargain with the locals for information (using Tongues to communicate).
5. Safely collect the acid using Telekinesis or an acid-immune creature.
6. Rinse and repeat until you've collected a sufficient amount of acid.
• Way want to pay for your Cleric to throw in Planar Adaptation while you're already inconveniencing them. You'll also essentially need some form of Swim speed (Freedom of Movement would do except for how long it might take... Ring of Freedom of Movement is one option) Oct 26 '20 at 7:17

A solution exists, but it's very inconvenient

Arcane Anthology has the second-level spell Full Pouch, which can duplicate flasks of acid as a swift action (potentially combined with a move or free action to draw the item in question). The spell has a material component cost worth 1gp, which just happens to be the upper bound for the Eschew Materials feat available to any caster and automatic on Sorcerers. However, this is extremely slow. We would like to buy pearls of power to help out our spell slots, but we unfortunately need to spend 60 000 on portable holes to move the acid into the room once we've set up. Using the remaining cash on spell storing, a 16 Int (minimum to cast all spells available at level 12) transmutation wizard (to use the pearls) would take about 33 1/4 years to have enough spell slots to do all of this.

After all that, you can just walk in and upend your 6 portable holes full of acid onto the floor.

• ... I, uh, checks restrictions ... I mentioned the wrong ban. This is a good answer, unfortunately I meant to say Full pouch was banned and not False Focus. False focus is allowed. Time to fix this. Still upvoting though. Oct 18 '20 at 21:40
• Darn you, portable hole, what happens if I spread you out on a vertical surface? Is the opening to the extradimensional space now in the side of the hole or still on the top? C'mon, portable hole, this is important! :-) Oct 18 '20 at 22:00
• @HeyICanChan AFAIK Portable Holes don't adhere to anything, so it would simply fall if you put it on a wall or ceiling. Sovereign Glue might help you... but being a pocket dimension, I doubt it cares what the gravity is like outside of its bounds. Could be a fun trap now that I think about it. Oct 19 '20 at 17:54
• @Ifusaso The portable hole says, "When spread upon any surface, it causes an extradimensional space 10 feet deep to come into being. This hole can be picked up from inside or out by simply taking hold of the edges of the cloth and folding it up." I'm not sure how it would look if the GM ruled that the extradimensional space that's created by the hole started sliding down the wall because it wasn't affixed. Like a lightsaber that doesn't turn off when it's dropped, when does the hole cease sliding? Oct 19 '20 at 21:36

Place an order for 88128 gallons (2x as much as you wanted) with your local alchemical guild. They will likely want a down-payment of 10-25%. Make the agreement that you pay per shipment of acid, and that each shipment must be 1/8 of the total (or 1/4 of the amount you actually want). Then, when the last order is delivered, steal it. Assuming that the payment was less than the 25%, you've just saved x% of that original cost of buying it in flasks. Since your order was larger, they likely won't expect to be betrayed at the halfway mark.