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Ellora
2018-01-03, 11:58 PM
So, I'm playing a 5th edition artificer/gunsmith in Tomb of Annihilation. I'm currently an artificer 2, mystic 1 floating around the jungles of chult. I'm statted 8 str, 16 dex, 16 con, 14 int, 12 wis, 8 cha. I'm order of the immortal, which gives you free AC, - I took Bestial Form, Psionic Restoration and Nomadic Step - this essentially lets you throw off short range teleports, grow claws/gills/fins/armor ect, and heal people - all very useful. My latest pet project though, while I have time in civilization and a forge, is filling my bag of holding with as many artificer tricks as I possibly can get my hands on. I can craft using alchemy, smithing, carpentry and herbalism. What I'm really looking for is basic and simple to more complex engineering ideas I can stuff in a bag of holding to amusing effect later. Yes, this is also about simply brainstorming and going through medieval machinery to see what I can come up with that's fun, too.

We're playing in a world dominated by advanced goblins with steam engines and gunpowder, would you believe. - but we're far from civilization and I'm on a limited budget, so I'm not sure any of these will really come into play (and gunpowder I'm guessing, other than my gun, is EXPENSIVE).

So far I've come up with..

A mantelet - essentially a shield on wheels with a stand, kind of like a tower shield from previous editions, but essentially doesn't require proficiency, is engineeringly good in a medieval sense, ect. used in medieval sieges, very useful for portable half cover.

A screw jack - simple machinery involving screws to wedge things apart, and put quite a lot of force on items - wedge doors open for example

- Black powder, - see every pirate movie ever, if I get time to make some

Fragmentation hand grenades -also pretty obvious..

Any other ideas ? Stuff should be under 500 pounds, and easily makable by an enterprising goblin. Yes, things like ladders do come to mind obviously, as does most of the more 'engineering and trap disarming' contents of the PH.

Bulhakov
2018-01-04, 02:01 PM
I wanted to start by suggesting a move to the 5ed subforum, but it's more of a generic question for gadgets/devices so I'll reply normally.

First, gather tools for a "portable workshop":
- vices, wrenches, screws, clamps, drills, springs, grinders, saws etc.
- an alchemy kit (Bunsen burner, distiller, vials, scale, measuring cups)
- heavy equipment (spades, pickaxes, axes, hammers)

As for gadgets, I'd take inspiration from the various "toys" a modern sapper/soldier has:
- grenades/flares/smoke bombs
- mines
- proximity sensors, alarms, tripwires

For adventuring gear:
- tents, pots, roasts
- folding ladder/scaffold

For fantasy/magical stuff:
- golems of various sizes and skills (big tanking golems, spying drones, tiny jumping sneak attack golems with a poison syringe, a "mad roomba" rolling/jumping bowling ball for disarming traps)
- automated crossbow sentry gun
- flame/ice/poison/electricity "throwers"

Calthropstu
2018-01-04, 02:13 PM
Artificer available for one on one or group play. $150 half hour, $250 full hour. Kinks extra.

Ellora
2018-01-04, 07:50 PM
First, gather tools for a "portable workshop":
- vices, wrenches, screws, clamps, drills, springs, grinders, saws etc.
- an alchemy kit (Bunsen burner, distiller, vials, scale, measuring cups)
- heavy equipment (spades, pickaxes, axes, hammers)

I've managed to put all of the above in a bag of holding - , ie carpentry kit, alchemy kit, smith's tools, herbalism kit.
She's a regular shirly homes too, so I think I'll buy a magnifying glass for traps.

As for gadgets, I'd take inspiration from the various "toys" a modern sapper/soldier has:
- grenades/flares/smoke bombs
- mines
- proximity sensors, alarms, tripwires

I suspect I'm limited by at best steam-age technology, and that with a lot of work and forging. Out in the wilds of chult it's difficult to get even this, so most of the stuff I'm trying for is medieval level creations. (for some reason in our world it's a polar volcanic hotspot, away from the civilized world of goblin folk)

That being said, black powder, a hunting trap, and a rigged up mechanism involving the flint/carbon steel from a tinderbox and some rope could make a pretty good land mine. "early" chinese style explosive bombs or racks of rockets on a wheelbarrow arn't impossible either.

Essentially I've run this by my DM. Armed with time, a bunch of dino poo (or other source of saltpeter/potassium nitrate), the "french" method for purifying that using a heated bed, and a source of sulphur and charcoal I'm good to go.. but I suspect I'll get one or two uses of "kaboom, we have a bomb" per campaign.

For adventuring gear:
- tents, pots, roasts
- folding ladder/scaffold

I'm definitely going to get myself some folding ladder sections in that bag of holding..

For fantasy/magical stuff:
- golems of various sizes and skills (big tanking golems, spying drones, tiny jumping sneak attack golems with a poison syringe, a "mad roomba" rolling/jumping bowling ball for disarming traps)

Artificers do get a creature of their choice at level 6, which can do pretty much any of the above, and can take whatever form you really want.

- automated crossbow sentry gun - that's actually pretty easy to make..

- flame/ice/poison/electricity "throwers"
More complex.. involves trigger mechanisms, black powder, acid, ect..

I'm trying to focus on things to "break" traps, actually, but any and all engineering suggestions are welcome. I've managed to talk my GM into a scheme involving brewing 24 hour goodberry potions using a bunch of spare torches, an NPC druid, an alchemy/herbalism kit, and a few special ingredients (10gp) to put some kind of limit on this entertaining fun. Still, that could be a 40hp /24 hour heal :)..

Bulhakov
2018-01-08, 05:45 AM
Don't limit yourself too much by the medival tech limits. It's a magical setting after all and you can bend the laws of physics a bit (wizards can fully break them).
I'm not sure about the rules, but can artificer's creation set off spells, e.g. infused directly in the creation or through a magic wand?
Do you really need gunpowder if you could generate a fireball inside and iron tube and get a flame-thrower?
Or maybe reinvent the steam cannon? Heat up an iron barrel till it's red hot, then drop some water behind the projectile. You can get amazing pressure that way, from potato-gun level up to armor piercing artillery, all depending on the materials and temperatures used.

Edit:
as for alchemical ideas: superglue (both for fixing and breaking things, as well as field medic use), duct tape
to break/set-off traps
- a walking/rolling toy golem? (doesn't have to be an actual golem, just a heavy wind-up toy that rolls and bumps into stuff).
- freeze and heat up metal to make it extremely brittle - (use a pressurized container rapidly releasing gas for cooling, and a flame-torch for the heating).

mehs
2018-01-10, 07:47 AM
Magic item wise, I suggest glasses of detect poison, detect magic, detect secret doors and maybe deathwatch. A magic item of use at will cure minor or light wounds, and boots of expeditious retreat. Pretty much all of the above as continuous or use at will. Oh and you gain the ability to make homunculus at level four, not six.


If you have enough to spare, than an item of magic missile or lesser orb variant could help you out on attack.