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Artificer Class, Revised: Rip Me A New One
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<blockquote data-quote="RealAlHazred" data-source="post: 6749947" data-attributes="member: 25818"><p><strong>Originally posted by Tempest_Stormwind:</strong></p><p></p><p>Since the last post, WotC has provided <a href="http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/march-survey-results" target="_blank">feedback</a> on the community response to the Eberron Unearthed Arcana material. Most telling was this:</p><p></p><p>That's <em>absolutely</em> consistent with how I felt when I decided to do this. I know they weren't evaluating this version, but it's satisfying all the same.</p><p> </p><p>I also finally got some time to test and revise all this material. <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/782x84459q15wo5/Eberron%20Compilation%20-%20Tempest%20Stormwind.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">I've updated the PDF</a>; the post is being updated as I type this.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Revisions made - Artificer:</strong></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'm playing around with something new. The very small number of schema and small spells-known from a small and focused spell list felt overly restricting (it was scarcely better than the <em>ranger</em> on this regard, and I'd rather not repeat the mistakes that class made; like WotC I think I was too conservative here), so I'm experimenting with giving it paladin-style casting for its own spells - that is, prepared from the entire spell list. The number prepared is two-thirds your class level, rounded down, plus your Intelligence modifier; you don't need your book of schema for this (since that describes a different set of spells - those that you can build, rather than those that specifically breathe magic into objects). I suspect the narrow focus and short length of the spell list won't push this too much, but the increase in situational versatility certainly will. And, as a side effect, some of the situational spells may see more use - the artificer is now the only class capable of casting Cordon of Arrows without being stuck with it for their entire career, for instance. (Do note: While the artificer spell list contains zero rituals, even if it's later adjusted to include some, their Ritual Caster ability only applies to their book of schema.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">As a consequence of this, the magitechnicians' guild Inventor ability treats Prototype like a domain spell (always prepared, doesn't count as a prepared spell), instead of adding it as a spell known, and the class table's Spells Known column was changed to reflect cantrips known.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Personal Weapon Augmentation now works off of (short-rest) craft reserve, and kicks in automatically if you use Weapon Augmentation, allowing artificers to conserve their spell slots. This lets them feel more like they're tinkering with their weapons rather than casting buff spells, though they can do both together quite well.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alchemist Bombs are now expressly considered weapon attacks.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The alchemists' Precision Reflexes ability is now "Measured Response", a much better name. It's also been tuned a bit, since the earlier wording allowed for attacks with small weapons (which was <em>not</em> its intent).</li> </ul><p></p><p><strong>Spells available comparison</strong></p><p>[sblock]Although it <em>seems</em> like this adds a lot of extra spells to the artificer's daily repertoire, it really doesn't. Assuming 15 starting Int and maxing it at the earliest opportunities, here's what you get: <table style='width: 100%'><tr><td>Level</td><td>Old Spells (known)</td><td>New Spells (prepared)</td><td>More Spells?</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>--</td><td>--</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>3</td><td>3</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>4</td><td>4</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>5</td><td>5</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>6</td><td>7</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>6</td><td>7</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>7</td><td>9</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>8</td><td>10</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>8</td><td>10</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>9</td><td>11</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>10</td><td>13</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>10</td><td>13</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>11</td><td>14</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>12</td><td>15</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>12</td><td>15</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>13</td><td>16</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>14</td><td>17</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>14</td><td>17</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>15</td><td>18</td><td>3</td></tr></table><p>Even at maxed-out Int (level 8), you're never more than 3 spells ahead of the old progression, and the big advantage is that you can change them out, which means your situational versatility over time goes up but your overall versatility or power remains <em>pretty</em> similar.</p><p>[/sblock] </p><p>The feedback results also spoke a bit on races, and we've seen a <a href="http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/unearthed-arcana-waterborne-adventures" target="_blank">maritime campaign Unearthed Arcana</a> since. The most interesting bits of the feedback said:</p><p></p><p>This is noteworthy in that my assessment was nearly identical. My changeling was virtually the same as theirs but with slight tweaks to Shapechanger and a "ribbon" ability added to model their linguistic ability (though I left the ability scores the same, I can definitely see them changed). My shifter was very similar as well, with only slight tweaks (mostly to Razorclaw). And my warforged <em>definitely</em> moved to the "innately equipped" feel, though I also emphasized their construct nature more strongly.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Revisions made - Races (See the PDF for full stats):</strong></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Changelings </strong>haven't had any changes, but I will duplicate anything WotC provides on ability scores.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dreamsight <strong>shifters </strong>have had slight rules tweaking. They're more aware of their surroundings and in tune with animals than Wildhunts, but they can't hold a candle to Wildhunt's tracking ability or mental fortitude. The wildhunt is unlikely to fail on simpler awareness tasks while the dreamsight is capable of better results in specific areas if they're trained.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Longstride shifters have been adjusted slightly again, borrowing text from the monk's Step of the Wind. Longstride's shifting ability was adjusted to provide something to rogues (Cunning Action was <em>better</em> than it in every sense) and to monks (it's <em>slightly</em> better than Step of the Wind for the specific purpose of Dashing through difficult terrain, though you still get something for the ki point), while providing a speed boost to everyone else.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Razorclaw has been reworded slightly from my previous take, but the intent is similar. Since it was an unarmed attack, the WotC version really only worked with monks, but at the same time monk martial arts made it obsolete. My adjusted version allows the razorclaw attack while armed (as long as you have a hand free), and even allows it as a <em>reaction</em> if you're hit in melee, and it can work off of Strength <em>or</em> Dexterity. This widens the scope of who might find it appealing, while at the same time making it actually work with Martial Arts. Furthermore, the original only had slashing damage on that one attack, while mine changes all unarmed strikes to slashing during a shift.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In light of the aquatic adventures Unearthed Arcana, I restored the Truedive shifter trait. It's the second trait to come with a Con bonus (the only other one is Beasthide), it brings a 15-minute Hold Breath ability both with and without shifting, and its shifting state gives it a swim speed equal to its land speed.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The <strong>warforged </strong>got a few tweaks from their previous presentation. Most dramatically, <strong>I think I managed to strike a balance between the Innate-Equipment 3e model and the hermit-crab 4e model</strong>. They're still innately equipped - they are considered to be wearing armor at all times, they can't put armor on over top of it, and the stats of the armor are based on their subrace - but they can still <em>attune</em> to magical armor they find, provided it matches the type of armor their plating provides. Since I was using attunement to model warforged components already, it was easy to say that an attuned suit of armor just integrates itself into their composite plating, transferring its magic to the plating for as long as attunement lasts. (Yes, you can attune to <em>any</em> magic item, not just those that require it. The wording also specifically avoids "don" or "wear", so it's consistent with both the warforged's composite plating and the druid's "will not wear metal" restriction.) Only the magic transfers over, not the base stats - a +2 chain shirt and +2 scale mail both provide identical bonuses to a warforged who attunes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Warforged now have advantage on Constitution checks. This does <em>not</em> include Con saves (such as for concentration or forced march), just the checks, which usually only kick in when feats of stamina are involved. (There are no skills tied to Constitution, and Constitution checks are referred to very rarely in the game; the hard rules usually skip over places where they'd matter.) The 5e warforged needs to rest and can still exhaust itself, but this advantage (plus their preference for martial classes who are proficient in Con saves - recall that warforged are only innately proficient in <em>light</em> armor, so soldiers and juggernauts need medium/heavy proficiency from somewhere) firmly cements in the mechanics their reputation for just <em>not stopping</em>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'm slightly more explicit that the Medium Armor Mastery and Heavy Armor Mastery feats are how you model Mithral Body and Adamantine Body in 5e.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The overall word count is slightly lower; I plan on shrinking the warforged text even further if I can since I don't like having races with <em>this</em> much in the way of wording, but I really do want to express that these are living creatures and constructs, not merely humanoids with an AC bonus.</li> </ul><p>I'm not 100% satisfied with my warforged yet (notably, only Scouts with the Light Armor Mastery feat (see the PDF) will function as monks or unarmored barbarians (although the basic warforged works fine as a barbarian, just not an unarmored one; similarly, warforged druids should still work)), but I'm still quite happy with how they turned out. Everyone I show them to has been similarly satisfied, I think, so I'll keep going with this direction.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RealAlHazred, post: 6749947, member: 25818"] [b]Originally posted by Tempest_Stormwind:[/b] Since the last post, WotC has provided [URL=http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/march-survey-results]feedback[/URL] on the community response to the Eberron Unearthed Arcana material. Most telling was this: That's [i]absolutely[/i] consistent with how I felt when I decided to do this. I know they weren't evaluating this version, but it's satisfying all the same. I also finally got some time to test and revise all this material. [URL=https://www.dropbox.com/s/782x84459q15wo5/Eberron%20Compilation%20-%20Tempest%20Stormwind.pdf?dl=0]I've updated the PDF[/URL]; the post is being updated as I type this. [b]Revisions made - Artificer:[/b] [LIST][*]I'm playing around with something new. The very small number of schema and small spells-known from a small and focused spell list felt overly restricting (it was scarcely better than the [i]ranger[/i] on this regard, and I'd rather not repeat the mistakes that class made; like WotC I think I was too conservative here), so I'm experimenting with giving it paladin-style casting for its own spells - that is, prepared from the entire spell list. The number prepared is two-thirds your class level, rounded down, plus your Intelligence modifier; you don't need your book of schema for this (since that describes a different set of spells - those that you can build, rather than those that specifically breathe magic into objects). I suspect the narrow focus and short length of the spell list won't push this too much, but the increase in situational versatility certainly will. And, as a side effect, some of the situational spells may see more use - the artificer is now the only class capable of casting Cordon of Arrows without being stuck with it for their entire career, for instance. (Do note: While the artificer spell list contains zero rituals, even if it's later adjusted to include some, their Ritual Caster ability only applies to their book of schema.) [*]As a consequence of this, the magitechnicians' guild Inventor ability treats Prototype like a domain spell (always prepared, doesn't count as a prepared spell), instead of adding it as a spell known, and the class table's Spells Known column was changed to reflect cantrips known. [*]Personal Weapon Augmentation now works off of (short-rest) craft reserve, and kicks in automatically if you use Weapon Augmentation, allowing artificers to conserve their spell slots. This lets them feel more like they're tinkering with their weapons rather than casting buff spells, though they can do both together quite well. [*]Alchemist Bombs are now expressly considered weapon attacks. [*]The alchemists' Precision Reflexes ability is now "Measured Response", a much better name. It's also been tuned a bit, since the earlier wording allowed for attacks with small weapons (which was [i]not[/i] its intent). [/LIST] [b]Spells available comparison[/b] [sblock]Although it [i]seems[/i] like this adds a lot of extra spells to the artificer's daily repertoire, it really doesn't. Assuming 15 starting Int and maxing it at the earliest opportunities, here's what you get:[TABLE][TR][TD]Level[/TD][TD]Old Spells (known)[/TD][TD]New Spells (prepared)[/TD][TD]More Spells?[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]1[/TD][TD]--[/TD][TD]--[/TD][TD][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]2[/TD][TD]3[/TD][TD]3[/TD][TD][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]3[/TD][TD]4[/TD][TD]4[/TD][TD][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]4[/TD][TD]5[/TD][TD]5[/TD][TD][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]5[/TD][TD]5[/TD][TD]6[/TD][TD]1[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]6[/TD][TD]6[/TD][TD]7[/TD][TD]1[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]7[/TD][TD]6[/TD][TD]7[/TD][TD]1[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]8[/TD][TD]7[/TD][TD]9[/TD][TD]2[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]9[/TD][TD]8[/TD][TD]10[/TD][TD]2[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]10[/TD][TD]8[/TD][TD]10[/TD][TD]2[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]11[/TD][TD]9[/TD][TD]11[/TD][TD]2[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]12[/TD][TD]10[/TD][TD]13[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]13[/TD][TD]10[/TD][TD]13[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]14[/TD][TD]11[/TD][TD]14[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]15[/TD][TD]12[/TD][TD]15[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]16[/TD][TD]12[/TD][TD]15[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]17[/TD][TD]13[/TD][TD]16[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]18[/TD][TD]14[/TD][TD]17[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]19[/TD][TD]14[/TD][TD]17[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]20[/TD][TD]15[/TD][TD]18[/TD][TD]3[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]Even at maxed-out Int (level 8), you're never more than 3 spells ahead of the old progression, and the big advantage is that you can change them out, which means your situational versatility over time goes up but your overall versatility or power remains [i]pretty[/i] similar. [/sblock] The feedback results also spoke a bit on races, and we've seen a [URL=http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/unearthed-arcana-waterborne-adventures]maritime campaign Unearthed Arcana[/URL] since. The most interesting bits of the feedback said: This is noteworthy in that my assessment was nearly identical. My changeling was virtually the same as theirs but with slight tweaks to Shapechanger and a "ribbon" ability added to model their linguistic ability (though I left the ability scores the same, I can definitely see them changed). My shifter was very similar as well, with only slight tweaks (mostly to Razorclaw). And my warforged [i]definitely[/i] moved to the "innately equipped" feel, though I also emphasized their construct nature more strongly. [b]Revisions made - Races (See the PDF for full stats):[/b] [LIST][*][b]Changelings [/b]haven't had any changes, but I will duplicate anything WotC provides on ability scores. [*]Dreamsight [b]shifters [/b]have had slight rules tweaking. They're more aware of their surroundings and in tune with animals than Wildhunts, but they can't hold a candle to Wildhunt's tracking ability or mental fortitude. The wildhunt is unlikely to fail on simpler awareness tasks while the dreamsight is capable of better results in specific areas if they're trained. [*]Longstride shifters have been adjusted slightly again, borrowing text from the monk's Step of the Wind. Longstride's shifting ability was adjusted to provide something to rogues (Cunning Action was [i]better[/i] than it in every sense) and to monks (it's [i]slightly[/i] better than Step of the Wind for the specific purpose of Dashing through difficult terrain, though you still get something for the ki point), while providing a speed boost to everyone else. [*]Razorclaw has been reworded slightly from my previous take, but the intent is similar. Since it was an unarmed attack, the WotC version really only worked with monks, but at the same time monk martial arts made it obsolete. My adjusted version allows the razorclaw attack while armed (as long as you have a hand free), and even allows it as a [i]reaction[/i] if you're hit in melee, and it can work off of Strength [i]or[/i] Dexterity. This widens the scope of who might find it appealing, while at the same time making it actually work with Martial Arts. Furthermore, the original only had slashing damage on that one attack, while mine changes all unarmed strikes to slashing during a shift. [*]In light of the aquatic adventures Unearthed Arcana, I restored the Truedive shifter trait. It's the second trait to come with a Con bonus (the only other one is Beasthide), it brings a 15-minute Hold Breath ability both with and without shifting, and its shifting state gives it a swim speed equal to its land speed. [*]The [b]warforged [/b]got a few tweaks from their previous presentation. Most dramatically, [b]I think I managed to strike a balance between the Innate-Equipment 3e model and the hermit-crab 4e model[/b]. They're still innately equipped - they are considered to be wearing armor at all times, they can't put armor on over top of it, and the stats of the armor are based on their subrace - but they can still [i]attune[/i] to magical armor they find, provided it matches the type of armor their plating provides. Since I was using attunement to model warforged components already, it was easy to say that an attuned suit of armor just integrates itself into their composite plating, transferring its magic to the plating for as long as attunement lasts. (Yes, you can attune to [i]any[/i] magic item, not just those that require it. The wording also specifically avoids "don" or "wear", so it's consistent with both the warforged's composite plating and the druid's "will not wear metal" restriction.) Only the magic transfers over, not the base stats - a +2 chain shirt and +2 scale mail both provide identical bonuses to a warforged who attunes. [*]Warforged now have advantage on Constitution checks. This does [i]not[/i] include Con saves (such as for concentration or forced march), just the checks, which usually only kick in when feats of stamina are involved. (There are no skills tied to Constitution, and Constitution checks are referred to very rarely in the game; the hard rules usually skip over places where they'd matter.) The 5e warforged needs to rest and can still exhaust itself, but this advantage (plus their preference for martial classes who are proficient in Con saves - recall that warforged are only innately proficient in [i]light[/i] armor, so soldiers and juggernauts need medium/heavy proficiency from somewhere) firmly cements in the mechanics their reputation for just [i]not stopping[/i]. [*]I'm slightly more explicit that the Medium Armor Mastery and Heavy Armor Mastery feats are how you model Mithral Body and Adamantine Body in 5e. [*]The overall word count is slightly lower; I plan on shrinking the warforged text even further if I can since I don't like having races with [i]this[/i] much in the way of wording, but I really do want to express that these are living creatures and constructs, not merely humanoids with an AC bonus. [/LIST] I'm not 100% satisfied with my warforged yet (notably, only Scouts with the Light Armor Mastery feat (see the PDF) will function as monks or unarmored barbarians (although the basic warforged works fine as a barbarian, just not an unarmored one; similarly, warforged druids should still work)), but I'm still quite happy with how they turned out. Everyone I show them to has been similarly satisfied, I think, so I'll keep going with this direction. [/QUOTE]
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