Artificer Infusion Questions

[gogogome]

There's been some debate in the RAW FAQ thread and so I figured I'd make a post for it since the questions piqued my curiosity.


Q 215

Does the Eschew Material feat work on Artificer Infusions?

My answer was no because Eschew Materials only trigger when a spell is Cast. But magicalmagicman's counter argument was that Infusions by RAW are identical to spells in every way except where noted, and you are in fact casting infusions. Who is correct?


Q 216

Do Artificer Infusions like Weapon Augmentation or Armor Enhancement work on Constructs' natural weapons and armor? Or does it have to be on manufactured weapons and armor?

My answer was no because there is a same level infusion called Natural Weapon Augmentation but Falontani's counter argument was constructs are manufactured so a construct's natural weapons are in fact manufactured weapons. Who is correct?


Q 217

Assume Supernatural Ability requires "ability to assume a new form magically."

Artificers have the Spell Storing Item infusion, which lets me infuse the spell Winged Watcher or Aquatic Escape (complete scoundrel) into an item, which then lets me turn into a fish or a raven.

Does this satisfy the Assume Supernatural Ability's requirement and let me grab it at level 3?

My answer was yes because I treat Spell Storing Item like Miracle so by having access to it, you qualify for a great deal of prerequisites automatically. daremetoidareyo however believed that you must actually create the spell storing item and have it on hand to qualify and you lose all benefits of the feat the moment spell storing item's duration is up. I feel that I'm strongly correct here.

[Falontani]

I believe the eschew materials goes to the other person, and I believe that you are correct about the miracle thing.

I didn't have time earlier, however I just looked through the monster manual, and I could very well be incorrect with my earlier statement. I am not seeing any proof of my comment and in fact have no idea where I got that idea. I'll look further into or today, however just off of the monster manual, I am incorrect.

[unseenmage]

I believe the eschew materials goes to the other person, and I believe that you are correct about the miracle thing.

I didn't have time earlier, however I just looked through the monster manual, and I could very well be incorrect with my earlier statement. I am not seeing any proof of my comment and in fact have no idea where I got that idea. I'll look further into or today, however just off of the monster manual, I am incorrect.
Craft Construct being a magic item creation feat is usually the basis I've seen for such.

There's also an old WotC FAQ thst calls them out as such.

[Nifft]

My answer was no because there is a same level infusion called Natural Weapon Augmentation but Falontani's counter argument was constructs are manufactured so a construct's natural weapons are in fact manufactured weapons. Who is correct?

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#naturalWeapons

Slap or Slam is always a natural weapon.


However per rule -1 ("overwhelming legitimacy by funny"), Falontani's answer must also be correct, therefore Construct natural weapons are also manufactured weapons from now on in my games.

[Telonius]

I suppose that means that a Warforged Monk would be both a natural and a manufactured weapon.

EDIT: Regarding Eschew Materials, it's pretty clear that an Infusion whose spell is listed as having a material component would need to have that component on hand. Part of the errata spells out that need when talking about cases of spells listing either divine focus or material components (like Light for instance):


An artificer never requires a divine focus to imbue an item with an infusion. In cases where an infusion duplicates a spell that requires either a material component or a divine focus, or requires either an arcane focus or a divine focus, the artificer uses the arcane material component or arcane focus.

From the description of infusions:


They function just like spells and follow all the rules for spells.

So if a spell could benefit from Eschew Materials, so could an infusion. It's not going to come up all that often; not every infusion has a material component (other than the thing you're casting it into), and it would really only matter if your component pouch is missing for some reason.