FilthyLucre
2017-06-30, 11:02 AM
I'm planning on running a Steampunk campaign where my player's will not have access to magic. Classes like fighter, rogue, spelless ranger, and even barbarian are very easy to reflavor for that setting, (unchanged, unchanged, gentleman explorer, noble savage; these would replace the aforementioned classes). However finding a fit for a technologist type class is proving difficult. Since I don't want to create a whole new class from scratch I wanted to borrow as much work as I possibly could from work WotC has already done. This makes the Artificer class the natural go-to for my needs. The only problem is I don't really know what to give it to replace it's lost spells. Here are some of my analysis and thoughts:
The artificer spell list is actually pretty weak - especially early on. So it doesn't seem like the spells they get are hugely important to the class over all - which is good. This makes it easier to replace. What I was thinking about was allowing them to essentially double up on the wondrous invention: give them a piece of gear and also a "wand". By "wand" I mean an item that reproduces the effect of a spell. Right now you might be thinking "Why cut their spells just to give them spells"? Having a single item that reproduces a spell in game terms multiple times a day feels more like a tangible invention than just re-fluffing the way their magic already works. Essentially, I'd vastly limit their "spells known" in exchange for being able to cast the ones they do know a lot more often.
I'm really interested in your feed back not just on this idea but on any others that would make a "spelless" artificer.
The artificer spell list is actually pretty weak - especially early on. So it doesn't seem like the spells they get are hugely important to the class over all - which is good. This makes it easier to replace. What I was thinking about was allowing them to essentially double up on the wondrous invention: give them a piece of gear and also a "wand". By "wand" I mean an item that reproduces the effect of a spell. Right now you might be thinking "Why cut their spells just to give them spells"? Having a single item that reproduces a spell in game terms multiple times a day feels more like a tangible invention than just re-fluffing the way their magic already works. Essentially, I'd vastly limit their "spells known" in exchange for being able to cast the ones they do know a lot more often.
I'm really interested in your feed back not just on this idea but on any others that would make a "spelless" artificer.