Artificer Question

[Alabenson]

I like the concept of the artificer class, but I don't use action points in my campaign setting. I'm thinking of allowing an artificer to shorten an infusion's casting time a number of times per day equal to their Cha modifier instead of the current action point system. Does this sound like a good idea, or would it be badly unbalanced?

[Redshirt Army]

I like the concept of the artificer class, but I don't use action points in my campaign setting. I'm thinking of allowing an artificer to shorten an infusion's casting time a number of times per day equal to their Cha modifier instead of the current action point system. Does this sound like a good idea, or would it be badly unbalanced?

I'm nearly certain there's a feat that lets an Artificer cast an infusion as a full-round action once per day. Assuming the Artificer is optimizing, in a standard party, they don't need any help. That said, if the Artificer player is trustworthy, and isn't going to explode your campaign, you can replace APs with something, though keep in mind that Action Points are a per-level resource, meaning that per-day uses are a power increase. (Heck, the aforementioned feat is highly recommended for Artificers, despite being 1/day)

EDIT: Yup, it's called Rapid Infusion, and it's considered a must-have.


Rapid Infusion
Normally, to speed up an Infusion’s casting time, you have to spend one of your limited action points to do so. When you are out of action points, you can no longer speed up your infusions, leaving you at a distinct disadvantage. This feat allows you to speed up an infusion, just like if you had spent an action point, without actually spending the action point. Its only good for one speed up per day, but it will help drastically reduce the number of action points you spend per level. Just using one AP to speed up infusing Bane on your weapon every combat will end up costing you 13 AP per level, which is more than you get until well into the later levels. This feat would save you 3 action points per level, assuming a standard 4 encounters per day, which puts it right on par with Heroic Spirit. However, unlike Heroic Spirit, you can be completely out of action points and still use this ability (although you can use the Heroic Spirit’s actual AP boost on things like attacks and saves, so it balances out). This one is a must have feat. And if you combine it with Heroic Spirit, your action point needs should be covered for the rest of your career.

[HunterOfJello]

Holy Crap! I'm glad that I read this thread. I'm going to be playing a similar game soon as a Changeling Artificer//Warblade, but action points aren't being used in the Eberron game.

(I was DMing originally and didn't realize they existed. Once we got to around level 7 it didn't seem like a great idea to introduce them. I should probably convince every differently now though.)

I was reading Magic of Eberron not too long ago (and just ordered it online), but never noticed this feat. I was also on the wall about choosing my last two feats, but this one just got bumped to the top of the list. Thanks for posting about this.

[Alabenson]

I'm nearly certain there's a feat that lets an Artificer cast an infusion as a full-round action once per day. Assuming the Artificer is optimizing, in a standard party, they don't need any help. That said, if the Artificer player is trustworthy, and isn't going to explode your campaign, you can replace APs with something, though keep in mind that Action Points are a per-level resource, meaning that per-day uses are a power increase. (Heck, the aforementioned feat is highly recommended for Artificers, despite being 1/day)

EDIT: Yup, it's called Rapid Infusion, and it's considered a must-have.



Thanks for telling me about this feat, I'm surprised its not mentioned in the Artificer's Handbook.