The Artificer

[Bulix]

Hi,
I'm relatively new to D&D and I just don't understand how the Artificer creates magic items. While playing one, how do you do it? :smallconfused:
I think that you need to use these feats but I don't really get it...
Could any of you explain this to me, I'm a fast learner.

Thanks:smallsmile:

[Flickerdart]

Check out the creating magic item rules (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm).

[Loki Eremes]

S-S-S-Swordsage'd...

Well, you have to learn this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm) rules.

Also learn what does each of class features of the Artificer do.
They are mostly Magic Item Creation feats.
And dont forget the "XP" pool he earns at each lvl.

[HunterOfJello]

The Artificer's item creation mechanic is a bit complicated and somewhat difficult to decipher based on how it's written.


All magical item creation requires a feat per the item being created, be it Craft Wondrous Item or Forge Ring. The Artificer is a very unique class in that it gets almost every single item creation feat in the entire game as one of its class features.

The next requirement for creating a magical item is the XP cost. You have to lose experience in order to create a magical item. The more expensive the item, the more XP you have to pay. The Artificer gets a class feature for this too. They get a bonus XP pool called their Craft Reserve, which they can use to pay for XP costs on items they create. This lets them craft an item or two each level without heavily slowing down their leveling progress.

The third requirement for creating magical items is that you have to pay a GP cost. The Artificer doesn't have a direct class feature to mitigate the GP costs of items they create, but they do get a Bonus Feat that they can use to get Extraordinary Artisan. This decreases the cost to create magical items by 75%. That means that instead of paying 50% of the original cost of an item, they can pay 37.5% to create it. This can pay off in the long run or just make your DM annoyed.

The final requirement (assuming there aren't obtuse specific requirements for creating the item) is that you have to cast a spell to create the magical item. Artificers can't cast spells. However, they do have the Item Creation (Ex) class feature.

~

Instead of casting a spell, the Artificer can make a successful Use Magic Device check. If this succeeds, then it counts as if the Artificer cast the appropriate spell on the item. The UMD DC is 20 + the spell's level. That's a DC 21 for Magic Missile and a DC 29 for Wish. Pretty nifty!

For creating magical items, the Artificer's Caster Level is his class level + 2. That means that if an item requires the creator to have a Caster Level of 5, then the Artificer can create it at level 3. (Artificer 3 + 2 = 5) This means that the Artificer can create items at an earlier level than all of the other spellcasting classes!

There is a downside to this though. The CL of the spell on the item will count as the level the Artificer used to create the item. This gets a bit complex. At level 3, an Artificer can create a magical item that would ordinarily require a Caster Level of 5 (because of their class level + 2 ability). If a Wizard were to create the weakest scroll of Fireball that they possibly could, it would be a Scroll of Fireball with a Caster Level of 5. Fireball, the spell, is a 3rd level spell and has to have a minimum Caster Level of 5 to cast it (for wizarding purposes), therefore the Wizard minimum CL for the scroll to be is 5. However, the Artificer is different. The Artificer at level 3 can achieve the prerequisite of having a CL of 5 to create the item, while not having a CL of 5 actually on the item. Since the Artificer is only level 3, the caster level on the scroll is only CL = 3. So, the Artificer created the item earlier and at a lower cost, but in a weaker version. This is all a bit complex, but if you experiment with laying out how you would create a few different items, it will begin to make sense.

The Artificer can also use Use Magic Device checks to emulate an alignment or race in order to create a magical item. The DCs for this are covered in the Player's Handbook skill section. Some magical items have a requirement that only an Elf can create the item. So, the Artificer can make a UMD check to emulate that race and create the item as if he was an Elf, even when he isn't. Looking in the PHB, we can see that Emulating a Race is a DC 25 and Emulating an Alignment is a DC 30. That means that you'll need a solid 30 for all your UMD checks if you want to be able to craft any item you like.

Unfortunately, the Artificer can't use UMD to pretend that he has a feat or skill ranks that he doesn't possess. This kind of sucks.

Finally, the Artificer must also meet the caster level prerequisite for spells he stores in potions, wands, and scrolls. This includes minimum level requirements.

That last point is somewhat confusing and seems to conflict in some ways with the Scroll of Fireball example above. I have seen other posters say that this means that an Artificer 3 can create a Scroll of Fireball with a caster level of 3, but an Artificer 5 would be forced to have a minimum caster level of 5 on any Scrolls of Fireball that he makes. I am not completely sure how this works out and could use some backup or supporting evidence from other posters to clear that up properly for you.

~

Last but not least, it's worth noting that the Artificer has several important mentions in the Eberron Campaign Setting Errata. Notably, they get Craft Wand at level 6, they get Metamagic Spell Trigger at level 7, Artificer Infusions have a saving throw based on Intelligence, and the items created by an Artificer are neither arcane nor divine.


I hope this clears things up a bit. If you have any questions, please ask. And if anyone notices that I've written something down wrong or am incorrect on any of this, please point it out.

[Answerer]

Just, fair warning. Artificers take a lot of work to play, because you have so many items to keep track of and you need to be constantly crafting things to build up a good reserve of magic items ready. And to do that well, you need to know what to create, which means knowing which of the thousands of magic items (and wand-eligible spells!) are worth crafting.

[Alienist]

To be fair, most of the hard work comes from trying to diddle the system.

Pathfinder has better item creation rules btw, well worth porting across to regular 3.5

If you can, you should initially avoid making custom magic items, since that way lies madness and the broken dreams and campaigns of many a DM. There are books worth of items to shop for 'off the rack' anyway, just sticking to those will save a lot of time and grief.

In many ways you're actually better off sticking to a class like Wizard or Cleric, and build into your backstory that you have a Cleric or Wizard buddy who helps you with the pre-requisites. Ta da! You just obliterated the Artificer's only real advantage, while getting none of that icky filthy complexity on your hands, and as a bonus, you don't suck at everything else, in fact you're probably better at everything else than everyone else.

A cleric that serves a deity with a portfolio of craftsmanship is entirely viable as an alternative.

If you decide to descend into the madness, and you're in Eberron, it's well worth blowing a feat on the Cannith dragonmark. As a side bonus, you'll be allowed/required to call yourself "Lord d'Cannith". But it's for more than merely a poncy title that you do this...

SUMMON MARKED HOMUNCULUS (p154 Dragonmarked) is an incredibly good low level spell.

But... it is also a sorc/wiz spell, so you don't even need to be an Artificer to enjoy the benefit.

[Alienist]

Hi,
I'm relatively new to D&D and I just don't understand how the Artificer creates magic items. While playing one, how do you do it? :smallconfused:
I think that you need to use these feats but I don't really get it...
Could any of you explain this to me, I'm a fast learner.

Thanks:smallsmile:

Okay. So a couple of things that might slip through the gaps.

You have to create items during 'downtime'. Many campaigns do not allocate significant downtime for adventurers. This is a problem.

These are the solutions:
If you don't sleep (see also: Warforged) then you can make items while the rest of the party rests.

Alternatively, at higher levels, you can get a Dedicated Wright, a special version of a Homunculus, which can craft for 8 hrs a day for you.

Alternatively, you can do both, for double speed crafting. (Hooray!)

Environment:
The stated environmental requirement for crafting items is exactly the same as for memorising new daily spells. So if the DM says you can't craft (because you're on a boat/caravan/whatever) just tell him that is fine so long as nobody else in the party gets their spell slots back.

Skill:
This is where it gets icky. You need to use a skill (UMD) to craft, other classes don't. Hence this is one of the ways in which Artificers subtly suck at crafting compared to everyone else.

Rate of Exchange:
Typically making an item requires 50% of the gp cost it would take to just buy it 'off the shelf' at Ye Olde Magic Mart. It also costs you xp. Many people are outraged at the thought that an Artificer might try to make a profit, by charging his or her team-mates more than 50% (but less than 100%, unless the DM has ruled the item unavailable in shops, in which case it's a sellers market (insert pinky into corner of mouth)). They will draw the comparison that (for instance) the cleric doesn't charge the party for casting healing and turning undead. This is a bit of a fallacy though, since the cleric doesn't burn his own xp in order to do that stuff, whereas an Artificer does (yes, you have a pool, but it doesn't go far). This is a problem.

There are solutions:
Agree in advance with the party what rate they are willing to pay. If they insist on 50% of retail, simply don't make them anything. There's more than enough stuff you can do to keep yourself busy.

Alternatively, there is an optional rule whereby the recipient of the item can pay all, some or none of the xp cost of the item they require.

Alternatively, figure out how much gold each point of xp is worth to you. If the DM is consistently giving out a set ratio of loot/xp, then this is just a matter of basic algebra.

Alternatively, spend some feats to reduce the gp cost and the xp cost of the items you make.

In the end though, it is the time to make items that is going to kill you. Never mind the sticker price, a Holy Avenger (for instance) is going to take 121 days. If your Paladin has the gold required to pay for this he'll happily do it, but at that level who has the ability to take 8 months out from the current storyline?

[Tvtyrant]

In the upper levels you can make a scroll of Genesis, set the time to super fast as compared to the real world, and make items from there.

Also, you can break down magical items to extract the magic and put it in other items.

[Roguenewb]

Only play artificers in campaigns that are sandboxy/have abundant down time, otherwise you'll spend the whole campaign looking at class features and sighing.