Caelic
2020-03-13, 05:30 PM
Artificers in 5e get a lot of interesting and potentially very powerful abilities. Let’s be honest, though: “Tool Expertise” seldom tops lists of their best features. Most guides make note of it as a flavor ability that’s unlikely to have a huge impact on actual gameplay.
Now, there’s some truth in that; it’s vanishingly unlikely that expertise in brewer’s tools is going to be the ability that lets you destroy Skarathrax, Red Wyrm of the Northern Wastes. But is it really true that Tool Expertise needs to be relegated to a flavor ability? Or can we, with a little optimization, make it into a genuinely useful part of the Artificer’s arsenal?
I would suggest that the answer to the latter is “Yes.” Tool Expertise, when combined with the expanded tool proficiency rules from Xanathar’s, can produce some very interesting results.
First off, let’s do some math. Just how good is an Artificer’s tool use check likely to be? I’ll make some assumptions here. Let’s assume an artificer of 7th level with an 18 Intelligence (likely enough, given standard array.) Our artificer will be of a race that has no abilities relevant to boosting tool proficiency checks.
The basic bonus with an Intelligence-related tool check is going to be +10…not too shabby. But this is an Artificer. Surely we can do better? Well, yes we can. Guidance is an Artificer cantrip, and one which is useful enough that most Artificers are likely to take it. That’s an extra 1-4. What’s more, Flash of Genius allows the Artificer to add their Intelligence bonus to an ability check, for yet another 4.
At this point, our Artificer’s average check for a roll important enough to use Flash of Genius is a 27. Results can, of course, go higher. A Mark of Making Artificer adds another 1-4 to the total; a 20 Intelligence would add another 2. In the best-case scenario, our 7th level Artificer could muster a check of 44…pretty formidable for a mid-level character.
But what can we do with those impressive numbers? How do they translate into in-game benefits?
THE BASICS: THIEVES’ TOOLS AND TINKER’S TOOLS
Let’s start by taking a look at the tool proficiencies every Artificer starts with: Thieves’ tools and tinker’s tools. Now, thieves’ tools are obviously useful. You can open doors with them; you can disarm traps with them. Tool Expertise makes this much easier, so one could argue that it earns its keep right there. But this is only the beginning of the advantages we can squeeze out of the ability. Thieves’ tools also allow a player to set traps. Here’s where it gets interesting: such a trap has a DC to detect or disarm equal to the Artificer’s ability check roll, and does damage based on the materials used, or half of the roll, at the DM’s option.
Our typical 7th level Artificer can casually make traps with a 27 DC to detect which inflict 14 points of damage…roughly the equivalent of 4d6. A 27 is going to be tough for anyone without Expertise to detect, and even with Expertise, the odds aren’t great. A 7th level rogue with an 18 Intelligence and Expertise in Investigation would need to roll a 17 to spot the Artificer’s average trap. If the Artificer rolls well, instead of merely average, the trap will essentially be undetectable. And there’s really no limit to how many traps the Artificer can set. Given enough prep time, a battlefield could be turned into a deathtrap.
But traps take parts, of course, and what if you want to rig a crossbow trap, but don’t have a crossbow? This is where your second default tool proficiency, Tinker’s tools, comes into play. Now tinker’s tools are nice for fixing things—you can restore 10 hit points to a damaged object with an hour of work, and unlike smith’s tools, this isn’t restricted to metal objects. The really interesting ability here, though, is “Improvise a temporary item using scraps.” The DC is 20—fairly steep for an ordinary tool-user. But you, of course, are no ordinary tool-user. Our vanilla Artificer will make that check, on average, on a roll of 8…4, if he uses Flash of Genius. A House Cannith Artificer will make it, on average, on a roll of 5, or 1 with Flash of Genius. It’s a lovely little ability for rounding out The Right Tool For the Job. Now, you can not only improvise tool sets, you can improvise other useful items, as well (like, say, the crossbow mechanism for that trap you wanted to build.)
DECISIONS, DECISIONS: OTHER TOOL PROFICIENCIES AND WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR YOU
So thieves’ tools are lovely. Tinker’s tools are almost as nice. But Tool Expertise goes beyond just those two; it applies to ALL tools with which the Artificer is proficient. And every Artificer is proficient in at least one additional tool set.
So what can we do with that? Well, there are some interesting possibilities here. (I’m going with the premise that anything identified as a “tool proficiency” in the rulebooks is, in fact, subject to Tool Expertise, because by the letter of the rules, it is. However, your DM may feel that the bonus shouldn’t apply to thinks like, say, gaming sets or musical instruments. Que sera, sera; different tables have different rules.)
COBBLER’S TOOLS: Never let a captured Artificer keep his boots. If he’s got proficiency as a cobbler, those boots could well have a hidden compartment that’s almost impossible to detect. (Again, the DC to find it is equal to the ability check, and since making shoes isn’t something you do under pressure, the Artificer is likely to make multiple attempts to produce a really outstanding pair.)
COOK’S UTENSILS: An Artificer can be the world’s best cook, casually producing gourmet meals. (Without Flash of Genius, our typical Artificer is going to need about a 3 on the die.) This can make a nice complement to an Alchemist. (“I don’t make experimental elixirs. I make experimental brownies. Have one.”)
FORGERY KIT: Every criminal mastermind should have an Artificer around to craft forgeries. Again, the DC to detect them is based on the ability check, so an Artificer’s forgeries are going to range from “extremely hard to spot” to “indistinguishable from the real thing.”
GAMING SET: This Is one of those places where some DMs may draw the line, but “Gaming Set” is listed as a tool proficiency. While the description of the proficiency in Xanathar’s doesn’t offer any really exciting ways to take advantage of your high rolls, the Gambling downtime action on page 130 does. A gambler needs to make three checks, but someone proficient in the appropriate gaming set can use that proficiency to replace any of the checks. The average DC for these checks is 16, and the maximum is 25; an Artificer has a much better chance of making these than the typical gambler. (It’s unlikely that the Artificer will be able to use Guidance at the craps table, but Flash of Genius should work fine.) More often than not, the Artificer should make all three checks and double his money.
Hey, fully-stocked workshops don’t come cheap.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: This is another of those “tools” that a conservative DM might decide doesn’t really count as a tool. Otherwise, hey—your Artificer can be a rock star! (This is definitely more of a roleplaying thing than a mechanical one, but I very much enjoy the mental image of the Artificer jamming out on his steampunk-looking magitech amplified fiddle while his homunculus accompanies on the drums.)
Now, there’s some truth in that; it’s vanishingly unlikely that expertise in brewer’s tools is going to be the ability that lets you destroy Skarathrax, Red Wyrm of the Northern Wastes. But is it really true that Tool Expertise needs to be relegated to a flavor ability? Or can we, with a little optimization, make it into a genuinely useful part of the Artificer’s arsenal?
I would suggest that the answer to the latter is “Yes.” Tool Expertise, when combined with the expanded tool proficiency rules from Xanathar’s, can produce some very interesting results.
First off, let’s do some math. Just how good is an Artificer’s tool use check likely to be? I’ll make some assumptions here. Let’s assume an artificer of 7th level with an 18 Intelligence (likely enough, given standard array.) Our artificer will be of a race that has no abilities relevant to boosting tool proficiency checks.
The basic bonus with an Intelligence-related tool check is going to be +10…not too shabby. But this is an Artificer. Surely we can do better? Well, yes we can. Guidance is an Artificer cantrip, and one which is useful enough that most Artificers are likely to take it. That’s an extra 1-4. What’s more, Flash of Genius allows the Artificer to add their Intelligence bonus to an ability check, for yet another 4.
At this point, our Artificer’s average check for a roll important enough to use Flash of Genius is a 27. Results can, of course, go higher. A Mark of Making Artificer adds another 1-4 to the total; a 20 Intelligence would add another 2. In the best-case scenario, our 7th level Artificer could muster a check of 44…pretty formidable for a mid-level character.
But what can we do with those impressive numbers? How do they translate into in-game benefits?
THE BASICS: THIEVES’ TOOLS AND TINKER’S TOOLS
Let’s start by taking a look at the tool proficiencies every Artificer starts with: Thieves’ tools and tinker’s tools. Now, thieves’ tools are obviously useful. You can open doors with them; you can disarm traps with them. Tool Expertise makes this much easier, so one could argue that it earns its keep right there. But this is only the beginning of the advantages we can squeeze out of the ability. Thieves’ tools also allow a player to set traps. Here’s where it gets interesting: such a trap has a DC to detect or disarm equal to the Artificer’s ability check roll, and does damage based on the materials used, or half of the roll, at the DM’s option.
Our typical 7th level Artificer can casually make traps with a 27 DC to detect which inflict 14 points of damage…roughly the equivalent of 4d6. A 27 is going to be tough for anyone without Expertise to detect, and even with Expertise, the odds aren’t great. A 7th level rogue with an 18 Intelligence and Expertise in Investigation would need to roll a 17 to spot the Artificer’s average trap. If the Artificer rolls well, instead of merely average, the trap will essentially be undetectable. And there’s really no limit to how many traps the Artificer can set. Given enough prep time, a battlefield could be turned into a deathtrap.
But traps take parts, of course, and what if you want to rig a crossbow trap, but don’t have a crossbow? This is where your second default tool proficiency, Tinker’s tools, comes into play. Now tinker’s tools are nice for fixing things—you can restore 10 hit points to a damaged object with an hour of work, and unlike smith’s tools, this isn’t restricted to metal objects. The really interesting ability here, though, is “Improvise a temporary item using scraps.” The DC is 20—fairly steep for an ordinary tool-user. But you, of course, are no ordinary tool-user. Our vanilla Artificer will make that check, on average, on a roll of 8…4, if he uses Flash of Genius. A House Cannith Artificer will make it, on average, on a roll of 5, or 1 with Flash of Genius. It’s a lovely little ability for rounding out The Right Tool For the Job. Now, you can not only improvise tool sets, you can improvise other useful items, as well (like, say, the crossbow mechanism for that trap you wanted to build.)
DECISIONS, DECISIONS: OTHER TOOL PROFICIENCIES AND WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR YOU
So thieves’ tools are lovely. Tinker’s tools are almost as nice. But Tool Expertise goes beyond just those two; it applies to ALL tools with which the Artificer is proficient. And every Artificer is proficient in at least one additional tool set.
So what can we do with that? Well, there are some interesting possibilities here. (I’m going with the premise that anything identified as a “tool proficiency” in the rulebooks is, in fact, subject to Tool Expertise, because by the letter of the rules, it is. However, your DM may feel that the bonus shouldn’t apply to thinks like, say, gaming sets or musical instruments. Que sera, sera; different tables have different rules.)
COBBLER’S TOOLS: Never let a captured Artificer keep his boots. If he’s got proficiency as a cobbler, those boots could well have a hidden compartment that’s almost impossible to detect. (Again, the DC to find it is equal to the ability check, and since making shoes isn’t something you do under pressure, the Artificer is likely to make multiple attempts to produce a really outstanding pair.)
COOK’S UTENSILS: An Artificer can be the world’s best cook, casually producing gourmet meals. (Without Flash of Genius, our typical Artificer is going to need about a 3 on the die.) This can make a nice complement to an Alchemist. (“I don’t make experimental elixirs. I make experimental brownies. Have one.”)
FORGERY KIT: Every criminal mastermind should have an Artificer around to craft forgeries. Again, the DC to detect them is based on the ability check, so an Artificer’s forgeries are going to range from “extremely hard to spot” to “indistinguishable from the real thing.”
GAMING SET: This Is one of those places where some DMs may draw the line, but “Gaming Set” is listed as a tool proficiency. While the description of the proficiency in Xanathar’s doesn’t offer any really exciting ways to take advantage of your high rolls, the Gambling downtime action on page 130 does. A gambler needs to make three checks, but someone proficient in the appropriate gaming set can use that proficiency to replace any of the checks. The average DC for these checks is 16, and the maximum is 25; an Artificer has a much better chance of making these than the typical gambler. (It’s unlikely that the Artificer will be able to use Guidance at the craps table, but Flash of Genius should work fine.) More often than not, the Artificer should make all three checks and double his money.
Hey, fully-stocked workshops don’t come cheap.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: This is another of those “tools” that a conservative DM might decide doesn’t really count as a tool. Otherwise, hey—your Artificer can be a rock star! (This is definitely more of a roleplaying thing than a mechanical one, but I very much enjoy the mental image of the Artificer jamming out on his steampunk-looking magitech amplified fiddle while his homunculus accompanies on the drums.)