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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RealAlHazred" data-source="post: 6749829" data-attributes="member: 25818">Originally posted by Tempest_Stormwind:I'm back from over a week away from the keyboard. Finally getting a chance to work on the updates: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I've cleaned up the editing. There's no reference to infusions as anything other than spells except in the description of the artificer's spellcasting (and the name of the potion / arcane device abilities).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Homunculists' Guild finally has rules attached to it (but I'm not satisfied with its last ability). I dropped the idea of upgrading warforged in favor of bringing back the specialist homunculi from 3e (all of them except the persistent harrier, which was kind of forgettable).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The notes are cleaned up quite a lot - this now has very little extra text beyond what would appear in the book.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I altered the starting package to include a shield option for melee-centric artificers.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Power Surge is now a one-action spell with a Concentration duration, and the acceleration clause in the magitechnicians' guild is dropped.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The 14th level ability is now an expanded augmentation list which includes necrotic, radiant, psychic, and poison damage, since that's pretty straightforward, but I haven't yet had a chance to check MM resistances / vulnerabilities to those damage types as CR increases.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Considering how potent tunable resistances can be, I've adjusted Armor Augmentation such that magic weapons bypass its resistance if applied to armor. The 14th level ability removes this limitation. It's still a useful spell, definitely, but it isn't a super powerhouse for any tank at all levels, and this change reduces the impact that introducing the artificer has on Lore bards. (To get the most out of these, you need artificer levels)</li> </ul> I'm also playing around with wording that allows an artificer's "extra component" to work even if he's got his hands full, so he can infuse a weapon he's wielding if his other hand holds a shield, for instance. This isn't implemented yet, and might prove a bit complex to do. Otherwise, I think this is nearing completion. Early playtests (including at level 1, where the only magic you have is through arcane devices (scrolls), potions, Magecraft, and rituals) have proven satisfying, and I'm liking how the text has turned out after all of these revisions. I might stitch together a document with artwork and formal typesetting still. A side note from early testing: I've seen the following multiclass interactions:-Splashing Rogue to get expertise in Arcana and a bonus-action Dodge appears to be pretty damn useful, particularly for the spellforgers' guild. Alchemists giving their bombs to Dex-happy rogues is potentially exploitable as well, but I don't like the idea of limiting bombs to the alchemist alone. All told, rogue is a natural partner for the artificer.-A bard dip - again, for expertise, but also for bardic inspiration on Prototype's check - appears to be exactly as useful as it appears to be, in that it's good but the delayed advancement of artificer spells known, spell slots / reserve limits, and the split spellcasting scores slow you down somewhat compared to single-classing either route. It also takes five bard levels to get inspiration on a short-rest refresh, which is less of a factor early on but as your spell slots grow to outstrip your Charisma modifier, it becomes a bigger factor. Incidentally, using the book of schema instead of spells known also prevents this kind of multiclassing from fueling Prototype's library to disturbingly large proportions.-A warlock dip remains useful here for fueling augmentation spells and Prototype with recurring spell slots. However, Eldritch Blast does not combine well with any real artificer abilities (unless you're making prototypes of spells like Hunter's Mark), and the casting stats don't line up.-Wizard and artificer could get out of hand quickly, but the inability to copy from one book to the other seems to be enough to keep a sanity brake in place. This kind of "sage" character is interesting when he poaches low-level spells that by most accounts he shouldn't be able to use (like Hex, Hunter's Mark, Entangle, and so on) and builds arcane devices (scrolls) to use them as supplements to his existing spells, or when he uses Arcane Recovery as a ghetto craft reserve. Combining Find Familiar with the golemists' homunculus for two little helpers is also an interesting twist (and though I haven't personally tested it yet, he can also build a device for Find Steed and the assorted Conjure spells - the Hordeificer rides again.)-On the reverse of this, dipping artificer as most of the above classes provides a decent chunk of utility. While you'd dip warlock for one or two specific spells (typically Hex and Eldritch Blast) available rather frequently, you'd dip Artificer for a small number of scrolls, potions, or prototypes / augmented weapons to round out a strategy. It's a good dip, and one I haven't tested as thoroughly as I'd like - but it does appear to be somewhat hard to break.-The only class that appears to be a good mix for artificer that I haven't checked yet is Fighter, and that's mostly because of their durability and Action Surge (though the improved weapons and armor to enhance certainly factors in as well!). Additionally, these test characters were run using variant human, hill dwarf, rock gnome, and warforged (both official and my personal variant, using the soldier subrace). All of these had distinct advantages as artificers, bringing out particular playstyles somewhat naturally (I was very pleasantly surprised by the spellforgers' dwarf, for instance). There's still two +Int races out there to test that I haven't looked into, but both are unconventional yet understandable choices for artificers - high elves and tieflings. There's even some mechanical synergies between them that I didn't expect A huge factor that's shown up so far is concentration - that dramatically limits the kind of stunts the artificer can pull off, particularly with arcane devices / prototypes. You find yourself focusing instead on out-of-combat rituals and in-combat oddball instantaneous effects as a result, which is kind of exactly what the artificer was supposed to be doing as a mad inventor or troubleshooter anyway. The ability of an artificer to build a buffstack onto himself and his team that's so powerful it may as well be mecha armor is gone, and with it most of the arty's biggest exploits. There's still some high-level problems that show up when combined with Simulacrum (as written, craft reserve recovers even if spell slots don't), but Simulacrum is a very problematic spell to begin with, and this is only possible with Artificer 20 builds or some multiclasses with bard or wizard. I'm still toying around with other high-level builds, in particular those that get 9th level spells from other sources and dip Artificer afterwards.</blockquote>

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