Gnome Artificer Lore

[Baptor]

I've got a player who will be playing a Rock Gnome and he really wants to do some interesting stuff with his Artificer Lore/Tinker abilities.

I am thinking that later on he can find books or something to help him make more advanced toys for more gold. Toy birds that ferry messages. Music Boxes that actually record brief conversations like a wire tap. Things like that.

Has anyone else played around with this feature? Anyone have more ideas?

[Inevitability]

Check out the rules for creating magic items in the DMG. Maybe there is something you like there?

[Townopolis]

I have, regrettably, not had the chance to play around with gnomes' tinker, but I think it should be kept in mind that the list items all have Prestidigitation level usefulness, and expanding a racial feature to include the ability to create effects closer Animal Messenger, even with a moderate GP cost, might be a bit much. Also, I think part of the fun of Tinker is figuring out ways to get use out of the devices. Take the music box, for example, it could actually be used to transmit a message. You just need to decide ahead of time what message this song stands for. Oh, and then you have to transport the box to the recipient and have them play it, but hey, there's still potential there.

That all said, the usefulness of these devices can be pretty heavily influenced by the DM's interpretation of their descriptions. Does a clockwork soldier sound like a real soldier? That's actually half of Minor Illusion right there.

If you do want to allow more devices, I would hew toward items that don't have obvious adventuring benefits; creative players will find a way. Some ideas:

A small firework.
A fountain pen.
A kite/candle balloon.


In general, I wouldn't let Tinker devices be more powerful than a cantrip, and I would make them about half as flexible. I would avoid expanding it to include more expensive and powerful devices and instead encourage the party to figure out how to use and abuse the low-power gadgets at their disposal. Only if the party just can't seem to figure out how fireworks, fountain pens, and kites can be made useful in their adventuring careers would I turn to the route of animal messengers and wire taps.

[Joe dirt]

rocket skates, rocket skate board, flame thrower, repeating crossbow, grappling hook wench belt, voice modifier, whoopie cushion, grenade, boobie trap, device to hear better, hydraulic pump, toy that moves forward until it stops and explodes, uni cycle because why not?

[JackPhoenix]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/19/9c/35/199c358f8af797573a7a99caba788a23.jpg

Seriously, there was another thread about this not long ago.