An Artificer's Art Of War

[Flameclaws]

Recently i have been playing Artificer (As broken as it is) and i have come up with an amazing concept for a character, we are running through The Red Hand Of Doom, a module primarily about stopping the progression of a goblinoid/dragon/giant army that plans to take over a small region called 'The Elsir Vale'... now, this has me thinking in guerrilla warfare tactics and such, but i eventually came up with an idea of a character that has seen the future by touching a greater artifact, what he saw was the world in the peak of ww2, giant metallic caterpillars that spit explosives! massive metal birds which drop fireballs! regular men who carry tube crossbows that shoot far more accurately and more powerfully than anything he had ever seen!
When he is returned to his body, artifact nowhere in sight, he resolves to create these glorious war machines to the best of his abilities.

So, i wanted to ask, 'What sort of items and spells could be used to duplicate modern technology?'

He has already made an Apparatus of the Crab and grafted a small metal barrel on the top of it to act as a 'turret', then he created a magic tube that casts launch bolt whenever he says a to be determined command word... an item with burning hands several times per day could be a simple flamethrower, and 'Blast Discs' cover mines... single use canisters of stinking cloud could be used for mustard gas, but what else? what would an insane artificer with dreams of grandeur make?

[Falontani]

Cloudkill is better for mustard gas.

Channeled pyroburst

Warforged Raptor + twinned Scorching Ray or maybe Twinned Magic Missiles

Single use javelins of Explosive Fireball

Handcrossbow with orb of fire (lesser)

From stormwrack we have cannons.

Tanks could be reshaped iron golems with a cannon and rapid fire ranged touch attack

[Vizzerdrix]

The effigy siege crab is an oldie but a goodie.

Armor up a few wagons and use haunt shift to animate them. Get clever and do it to a chain to turn the wheels from the inside so it can't be targeted.

A&EG has thoptors and zepplins already. And subs.

[Flameclaws]

Armor up a few wagons and use haunt shift to animate them. Get clever and do it to a chain to turn the wheels from the inside so it can't be targeted.


Doesn't Haunt Shift only work on undead? i get that i can have the- now ghost- undead posses the carriages, but wouldn't animate object be better for that?

[unseenmage]

Animate Objects is your friend here.
Think small. Dont animate the machine Animate each part independently and program them to work together how you want.

The 3.0 Minor Servitor spell from Savage Species makes free willed, sentient, friendly animated objects.


Pathfinder's Rasputin Must Die adventure literally has WW tech converted to magitech. Animated Tanks and poison gas creatures included.

There are modern weapons in the DMG and kne of the Dragon magazines has a very useful write up for some modern guns.

Theres a Dungeon magazine that has a machine which forcefully cyborgs creatures that fall prey to it.
The neat part is the whole machine is detailed as a bunch of separate mundane traps.
One trap grabs and knocks out the prey. The conveyor feeds the prey into the surgical trap where their metal bits are installed. Then the brainwashing trap reprogram the victim.
It's all rather gruesome but it's a machine built of traps.
Which means you could build some of your war machine by interconnecting custom mundane traps.

Go check out the Clockwork Wonders web archive and the Eberron books for more magitech goodness.