Artificers

ARTIFICERS

The Great Hall was filled with guests. The good and great of the land had assembled at the Master Artificer’s invitation, to witness the unveiling of his latest and greatest creation. Lodevic Arno waited behind a velvet curtain, tapping his fingertips together and smiling in anticipation of the crowd’s reaction to his latest work.  Behind him, the nine-foot tall metallic figure seemed pensive. Lodevic lay a calloused palm against blood-warm metal and smiled.

“Soon,” he murmured to his creation.  “Soon.”

Artificers do not exist in many worlds, but in the worlds they do inhabit, people quickly learn to give them a wide berth. Not because they are inherently dangerous, but because no one knows exactly what will happen when an artificer empowers her creation. Most of the time, the artifact works perfectly fine.  The rest of the time? Well, there are rumors that Atlantis sank because of an artificer.  Artificers don’t do anything by halves.

In most worlds, artificers live difficult lives. Bridging the divide between the arcane arts and the physical sciences as they do, they are often rejected by practioners of both. That’s why they so often wind up working alone, becoming eccentric at best or mad at worst.

What they lack in physical power, artificers often make up for with intelligence and wisdom. Many of them are also walking arsenals, and a high-level artificer with a handful of coins can be more dangerous and unpredictable than an arcanist or a scientist.

Just ask Atlantis

Class Features

As an artificer, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per artificer level

Hit Points at 1^st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per artificer level after 1^st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor, Medium armor, Shields

Weapons: All simple weapons

Tools: Tinkers’ tools

Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom

Skills: Choose any two from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Nature and Medicine

Spellcrafting

As an artificer, you have the ability to imbue things that you create with magical properties via rituals.  Each ritual takes five minutes per Spell level to complete. Therefore, a 1^st-level spellcrafting ritual will take five minutes to complete, while a 5^th-level spellcrafting ritual would take twenty-five minutes to finish.

Spell Slots

The Sorcerer table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1^st level or higher. To imbue an object with  a spell, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expanded spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Spell Slots Known at 1^st Level

You know two 1^st-level spells of your choice from the sorcerer spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Sorcerer’s table shows when you learn more sorcerer spells of your choice.  Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.  For instance, when you reach 3^rd level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1^st or 2^nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the sorcerer spells you know and replace it with another spell from the sorcerer spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Spellcrafting Ability

You cast all of your spells as rituals.  Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your spells. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Spell Attack Modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Additional Proficiencies

At 1^st level, you gain proficiency with one type of artisan’s tools of your choice.

Expanded Attunement

When you reach 2^nd level, you can attune to more than three magical items at once.  You can attune to a number of magical items equal to your artificer level plus your Intelligence modifier.

Empowered Creations

By the time you reach 3^rd level, you can use imbue an item you have created (such as a rag doll or a clay pot) with a spell. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. When you have exhausted all uses, you cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Ability Score Improvement

At 4^th level, and again at 8^th, 12^th, 16^th and 19^th-level, you can increase one Ability Score by two, or two Ability Scores of your choice by one.  As normal, you cannot increase an Ability Score above 20 using this feature.

Expertise

Beginning at 6^th level, choose two of your skill proficiencies.  Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.

Focused Mind

Starting at 10^th level, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

Artificer’s Luck

At 14^th level, you have three luck points. Whenever you make an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can spend one luck point to roll an additional d20. You can choose to spend one of your luck points after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined.  You choose which of the d20s is used for the attack roll, ability check, or saving throw.

You can also spend one luck point when an attack roll is made against you. Roll a d20, and then choose whether the attack uses the attacker’s roll or yours.

If more than one creature spends a luck point to influence the outcome of a roll, the points cancel each other out; no additional dice are rolled.

You regain your luck points when you finish a long rest.

Empowered Object

When you reach the 18^th-level, you no longer need to create an object to empower it. You can now empower any object you touch with a spellcrafting ritual. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. When you have exhausted your uses, you will not regain this feature until you finish a long rest.

Wondrous Creation

At 20^th level, you can actually endow your creations with sentience and free will as detailed in the awaken spell’s descriptor. You can do this a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. Once you have exhausted all your uses of this feature, you cannot regain this feature until you finish a long rest.