[3.5] Help me Fluff an Artificer

[fireinakasha]

So coming up here I am going to be playing your basic straight-forward human artificer with some friends. The campaign gives serious bonuses to people with lots of RP and fluff, so I'm trying to lay out a lot of non-mechanical things in my mind to call upon in game.

I have always had a hard time envisioning how artificers work, on a fluff basis. I can easily see wizards gesturing and incanting and levitating components in the air before him, and coming up with fluff for a cleric calling on the strength of her god is easy mode. But what is it, exactly, that artificers do when they infuse an object?

So I'm asking you, oh wise forum goers; how do you fluff your artificers? Do you just bang on things with tools and say "there, now it does something magic", or do you describe it in more exotic terms? What do you do to RP the infusion process?

PS - I can come up with ideas myself, I'm not trying to cop out. I just like getting lots of perspectives on these things. No man's an island, all that...

[Baveboi]

Heh. So nice to find a fluff thread around these parts. All the talk about "maekahneekis" does only goes far enough.

Answering: I often make wizards who are, as well as spellcasters, some kind of artificers on their own with craft skills, feats, background etc. Never played an Artificer because it seems somewhat wrong to me... but that's my opinion.
What my players and I like to do is to flesh out a lot of side-quests for itens and whatnot that have special qualities or a nice fluff to it; like eggs of a good dragon for evil itens or water from a desert oasis for heat resistant ones, things like that.
After that we go for infusing it with magic, starting with basic enchantments like detect magic, arcane mark and all the way to permanency and fabricate. They often make their own ways to put the things together and many special effects come out of it, some I just throw in as a bonus for criativity. There is few RPing when they are making the things, but since they keep talking like "Where's the iron? I need it", "I'm enchanting the water now, bring the hot steel" and etc they often don't NEED to RP it since they immersed in so vigorously.

Hope that's helpful.

[panaikhan]

I've played an Artificer before.
The fluff I basically used was the Artifier 'tinkers' with the item, attaching a crystal or wire or feather or bells or whatever which provide the 'magic'.

Think Tinker-gnome that WORKS :smallbiggrin:

[EccentricCircle]

Yeah, i've always seen artificers as tinkering with things,
having lots of pockets full of spare gears, magical crystals, strange oils and stranger amulets that they can use to prod and poke the items they are working on.
i've never played a character of the artificer class though its on my list of "characters to play next time I go to Eberron"

i'd say that in downtime and non combat encounters you should always be scrounging parts and coming up with new ideas and inventions, most of which are just a roleplaying excercise as they will never be built and probably wouldn't work if they were. (think Lenard of Quirm in discworld, "ah this will come in really handy for that folding kettle!", "hmmm, that gives me an idea!"- the rest of the party should groan etc)

in combat i'd get really cross if anyone manages to get an attack of opertunity against you while you're artificing, as they've made you drop all the pieces!
rather than just saying I spend this turn infusing. describe what you're doing and what the result should be.

I hope that that helps.

[Telonius]

I tend to think of them as Engineering in Star Trek. Geordi's going on about microconverter malfunctions and deflector arrays. Captain Picard has a sneaking suspicion he's making half of it up, but he kind of handwaves it and tells him to just get it done. How does he get it done? Infusions. :smallbiggrin:

[Psyren]

I envision different races doing it differently, like I do for every class. For example, a gnomish artificer would work like Panaikhan's view - attaching all kinds of weird components and tinkering with the object until it performs the functions he wants; whereas a Warforged Artificer would work more like MTG's Karn (http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Karn), actually speaking to the various items it creates and coaxing them to artificial life.

[Duragonburo]

Pulling things apart and putting them back together so you know what you're doing. Then tinker with it. Remember that if you tinker with the same item or another like it just int check to remember it (or not). Go ask someone in town if they could help you with creativity (in-game). Find a really good artificer and learn from him. Or a wiz, sorcerer, cleric etc. Draw sketches on a paper. Math examples. Hope this helps.

[mint]

I think of it like, when you make a permanent magic item, you add a magic "pattern" to it somehow. It is sustained and becomes permanent by expending exp and stuff.
With infusions, you use your own magic instead of exp to make a temporary alteration to the pattern.
So its like making a temporary magic item.
Your artificer knows what the pattern that represents a +1 enchantment "looks" like and she can temporarily manifest it.

I guess I think of it as magic but slower and more engineer:y.

[Urpriest]

For some reason, most pictures of artificers have them waving around crystal-rod-thingies. I always envisioned them waving these crystal rods over armor and weapons to enchant them.

[Frenchy147]

When using weapon augmentation and armor enhancement infusions I vew them as tracing magical runes on the weapon or armor that eventuallly just wear off. Sort of like the whole pattern of magic concept thats already been mentioned.

[fireinakasha]

Wow! I went to sleep and when I wake up, so many good ideas! I was kind of expecting only one or two replies. Because of this:


Heh. So nice to find a fluff thread around these parts. All the talk about "maekahneekis" does only goes far enough.

I hear that. I get really bored thinking only in mechanics. I guess I still believe in the roleplay part of the game. Or, put another way; I'm one of those wretched nooboids that takes feats and class levels for... flavor :smalleek:

@ Baveboi
I usually play wizard artificers, too, just like you said. In fact, one of my favorite characters ever was a wizard/fighter who, instead of gishing, just used his spellcasting outside of combat to make awesome gear and persistent buffs for everyone, before strapping on fullplate for the day. But I've never played an artificer and lately I've been more and more of the opinion that they seem really fun. So I'm giving it a go.

The concept of tinkering with random bits is what I had in my mind, already. But I really like the idea of tracing runes and patterns on the equipment to do the infusion, so I might run with that, or a combo of both.

I am also thinking of giving my artificer an alchemical bent. Like, in his downtime he mixes components into oils that he then applies. Maybe these are what he draws the runes and patterns with... ooo, I like that idea!

Thanks for all the great input, guys! You've helped contribute to my getting massive amounts of RP-XP! :smallbiggrin:

[Baveboi]

I hear that. I get really bored thinking only in mechanics. I guess I still believe in the roleplay part of the game. Or, put another way; I'm one of those wretched nooboids that takes feats and class levels for... flavor :smalleek:


I know right?! Totally crazy. Pfft.

A class you might get your interest in is Alchemist from Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide, maybe steal some class abilities as feats. :smallwink:


[...]In fact, one of my favorite characters ever was a wizard/fighter who, instead of gishing, just used his spellcasting outside of combat to make awesome gear and persistent buffs for everyone, before strapping on fullplate for the day [...]

Fangirlsqueeeeeeee!
I love giths, they are my most beloved class ever. Of all times.
If you put a barbarian level for the ragez and the movementz in there you get the sheet of my heart. One beautifully made Gith class is the Magus, recently released by Paizo as a previl for their next Pathfinder complement. I'd take a look.


And hey, I thank you for this marvelous idea you gave me. Man, it's so hard to find people who knows about giths AT ALL.