Shriketalon
2017-07-16, 11:52 AM
Salutations.
Like many players, I was quite excited to see the Artificer class show up in Unearthed Arcana as a distinct class. The Artificer creates a compelling niche through its distinct approach to magic, and it was quite cool to see the new class focusing on unique abilities for the alchemist and gunsmith, rather than simply mimicking existing casters.
Although I think the artificer has started off in the right direction, I believe there are several core problems with the profession that need to be addressed. In no particular order...
Artificers rely on Intelligence, but they’re currently built like sorcerers, not wizards. At present, there’s a magical limit to the number of special things an artificer can learn to do with their action, but it’s supposed to be a scientist, an engineer, a researcher. According to the lore, they want to go forth and discover, but nothing about the mechanics supports this idea.
A wizard can find a spell scroll and learn its secrets. Why can’t an artificer do the same? If the artificer can learn as many mystical creations as they can, but are restricted in the number they can prepare each day, they’ll capture that researcher flavor while remaining balanced.
As it stands, the artificer is going to be performing a very limited number of actions throughout their entire career. Even melee combatants get weapon choices and feat options, but an alchemist is going to throw a vial nearly every turn.
At the same time, a single class can’t take up twenty pages of abilities. There needs to be a way to provide the artificer with plenty of things to do and options to approach situations, without taking up an excessive amount of pages.
Some of the artificer elements scale very well, remaining effective at all levels. Some, however, do the exact same thing at level 1 and level 20. Why does a level 20 artificer’s tanglefoot bag have the exact same potency as the bag made by some novice scrub?
The artificer needs a mechanical means for everything to scale. It doesn’t mean that all their features need to scale up every other level, but a level 20 artificer should feel more powerful with all their options, not just the damage numbers.
You never give players gear as a class feature. Equipment can be lost, stolen, destroyed, sold, traded, or looted after the character’s death. You cannot have a class feature that can disappear and never be regained. It is utterly absurd to have situations where a character can lose a class feature and realize that, should their character die, replacing them with an identical twin with the exact same class levels will give them back their gear.
The artificer needs a better approach to replicating magical items without handing them out, and the best way to do that is the Infuse Magic concept. Crank that up and allow artificers to make temporary magic items, and you have a fun and compelling class mechanic that can’t be taken away.
Golems are awesome. A golem companion is awesome. But a golem companion that doesn’t scale at all is a terrible idea, especially when it starts out being better than the ranger’s animal companion and ends up being a useless hunk of debris.
5th edition doesn’t have a Summoner sort of class that focuses on one big, powerful foe. Fortunately, a tinkerer like the artificer can accomplish just such a feat in a fun and interesting way, while still giving the player character enough toys to be interesting.
I’ve created an example of what I believe the artificer should be. The pdf can be found here: http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/H17D0MTUNb.
Please note, my hypothetical artificer is NOT BALANCED. There are several potential problems with it (there aren’t enough common items and rarity is not a perfect measurement of item power, the damage numbers need another pass, and the golem statistics are a very rough draft) that I fully acknowledge.
Nonetheless, I hope it properly conveys a simple point: the artificer can have a lot of fun options without taking up too much real estate. The Unearthed Arcana artificer is seven pages long, and features extremely limited options for two subclasses. Mine is nine and a half, features three subclasses, each with a much broader range. I hope you will take the time to read through it, but if you want a shorter version, here’s a synopsis.
The homebrew artificer has three subclasses: support and control focused Alchemists, damage slinging Gunsmiths, and big friend building Golemancers.
Artificers can infuse temporary magical items by learning schematics from true magical items and spell scrolls.
Artificers have formula, based on their specialization, which they prepare each day. Formula include things like alchemical acid, lightning bullets, and special golem attacks. All formula key off of a statistic called Formula Power, which allows them to take up a lot less page space to convey simple concepts like damage increases.
Artificers are masters of ritual magic and learn plenty of cantrips, but they have no spell slots. They rely on the three pillars of formula, items, and rituals to solve problems. They can use their infusion class feature to prepare scrolls if they wish.
The resulting class should be a fun and compelling contender without taking up an egregious amount of room. It needs a lot of tweaks to balance correctly, but I hope it demonstrates how the artificer could be a lot more fun and multifaceted without demanding too much real estate.
Like many players, I was quite excited to see the Artificer class show up in Unearthed Arcana as a distinct class. The Artificer creates a compelling niche through its distinct approach to magic, and it was quite cool to see the new class focusing on unique abilities for the alchemist and gunsmith, rather than simply mimicking existing casters.
Although I think the artificer has started off in the right direction, I believe there are several core problems with the profession that need to be addressed. In no particular order...
Artificers rely on Intelligence, but they’re currently built like sorcerers, not wizards. At present, there’s a magical limit to the number of special things an artificer can learn to do with their action, but it’s supposed to be a scientist, an engineer, a researcher. According to the lore, they want to go forth and discover, but nothing about the mechanics supports this idea.
A wizard can find a spell scroll and learn its secrets. Why can’t an artificer do the same? If the artificer can learn as many mystical creations as they can, but are restricted in the number they can prepare each day, they’ll capture that researcher flavor while remaining balanced.
As it stands, the artificer is going to be performing a very limited number of actions throughout their entire career. Even melee combatants get weapon choices and feat options, but an alchemist is going to throw a vial nearly every turn.
At the same time, a single class can’t take up twenty pages of abilities. There needs to be a way to provide the artificer with plenty of things to do and options to approach situations, without taking up an excessive amount of pages.
Some of the artificer elements scale very well, remaining effective at all levels. Some, however, do the exact same thing at level 1 and level 20. Why does a level 20 artificer’s tanglefoot bag have the exact same potency as the bag made by some novice scrub?
The artificer needs a mechanical means for everything to scale. It doesn’t mean that all their features need to scale up every other level, but a level 20 artificer should feel more powerful with all their options, not just the damage numbers.
You never give players gear as a class feature. Equipment can be lost, stolen, destroyed, sold, traded, or looted after the character’s death. You cannot have a class feature that can disappear and never be regained. It is utterly absurd to have situations where a character can lose a class feature and realize that, should their character die, replacing them with an identical twin with the exact same class levels will give them back their gear.
The artificer needs a better approach to replicating magical items without handing them out, and the best way to do that is the Infuse Magic concept. Crank that up and allow artificers to make temporary magic items, and you have a fun and compelling class mechanic that can’t be taken away.
Golems are awesome. A golem companion is awesome. But a golem companion that doesn’t scale at all is a terrible idea, especially when it starts out being better than the ranger’s animal companion and ends up being a useless hunk of debris.
5th edition doesn’t have a Summoner sort of class that focuses on one big, powerful foe. Fortunately, a tinkerer like the artificer can accomplish just such a feat in a fun and interesting way, while still giving the player character enough toys to be interesting.
I’ve created an example of what I believe the artificer should be. The pdf can be found here: http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/H17D0MTUNb.
Please note, my hypothetical artificer is NOT BALANCED. There are several potential problems with it (there aren’t enough common items and rarity is not a perfect measurement of item power, the damage numbers need another pass, and the golem statistics are a very rough draft) that I fully acknowledge.
Nonetheless, I hope it properly conveys a simple point: the artificer can have a lot of fun options without taking up too much real estate. The Unearthed Arcana artificer is seven pages long, and features extremely limited options for two subclasses. Mine is nine and a half, features three subclasses, each with a much broader range. I hope you will take the time to read through it, but if you want a shorter version, here’s a synopsis.
The homebrew artificer has three subclasses: support and control focused Alchemists, damage slinging Gunsmiths, and big friend building Golemancers.
Artificers can infuse temporary magical items by learning schematics from true magical items and spell scrolls.
Artificers have formula, based on their specialization, which they prepare each day. Formula include things like alchemical acid, lightning bullets, and special golem attacks. All formula key off of a statistic called Formula Power, which allows them to take up a lot less page space to convey simple concepts like damage increases.
Artificers are masters of ritual magic and learn plenty of cantrips, but they have no spell slots. They rely on the three pillars of formula, items, and rituals to solve problems. They can use their infusion class feature to prepare scrolls if they wish.
The resulting class should be a fun and compelling contender without taking up an egregious amount of room. It needs a lot of tweaks to balance correctly, but I hope it demonstrates how the artificer could be a lot more fun and multifaceted without demanding too much real estate.