D&D 5E Artificer Rogue?

[Todd Roybark]

A goblin artificer gets you most of what, you seemingly want.
Disengage/Hide as a bonus action.
The Shield Mastery Feat grants: Evasion Light.
A 6th level artificer has Expertise with all the Tools they have proficiency with....from buzzsaws, to fast chariots, to banjos, and card games....all in one character.
You can outplay a devil on a fiddle, outsail Sinbad, and always win at dice.

Guidance enhances your and other’s skills. You get Ritual Magic, and depending on the subclass.... get boosts to damage that in low to mid tiers is about Rogue equivalent.

The AT subclass as is plus infusions is a little much....or if Infusions are restricted, inconsequential. Reduce or eliminate the AT’s spellcasting and one misses out on some of the best abilities of the class....the part that puts the Arcane, in Trickster, and let’s you be effective with spells.

 

[Todd Roybark]

Would you consider a game in which Pact of the Blade Warlocks exist to automatically be high magic?

That depends. If one out of ten people can summon a Mind Sword and stab me with it.....yea that is fairly high magic.

 

[Coroc]

If you just need a trapper /door opener, you can take almost any class with a decent investigation and perception score and give the criminal background.

This gives you proficiency in thieves tools (besides some other goodies). It is one of the most useful backgrounds imho.

 

[Zardnaar]

Rogue can fit in around 1/3rd of an artificer.

Use arcane trickster as a guide abd you get 2 infusions and know 4 at level 6.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

No, I think that is OK. Artificers get 4 infusions and can infuse 2 items, so having half infusions, with a slightly lower effective artificer level seems OK. Infusions really aren't too powerful at the level the artificer gets them.



How about:
Level 3: Gain proficiency in a set of Artisan's tools, expertise in a set of Artisan's tools, and may treat artisan's tools as skill proficiencies for later class abilities.
Gains 2 infusions available to a level 2 artificer, and can have one infused item in existence.

9th level: Gains 2 more (4 total) infusions available to a level 6 artificer and can have 2 infused items in existence. Gain the Mending cantrip and can cast Detect magic and Identify as rituals.

13th level: Gains 2 more (6 total) available to a level 10 artificer and can have 3 items in existence. Can attune to a total of 4 magic items.

17th level: Gains 2 more (8 total) available to a level 14 artificer and can have 4 items in existence. Can ignore class, race and alignment restrictions to attune to magic items.

I’d put some of the level 9 down to 3, otherwise it waits too long for what feels like basic stuff and gets less at level 3 than an arcane trickster.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

No, I specifically said "found or bought" - i.e. for free.

OK. Then I'm really going to need that clarification of your comment.
Was it an objection to a class feature that grants you a magical weapon at level 3 on the basis of balance?
On a thematic basis?

Was it not an objection to the suggestion at all? I'm finding it a bit of a non-sequitur, and I'm unsure what you were getting at.

I’d put some of the level 9 down to 3, otherwise it waits too long for what feels like basic stuff and gets less at level 3 than an arcane trickster.

I put Mending at level 9 because that is when the subclass gets access to a pet that would need it.

You could instead grant 2 artificer cantrips and the ability to cast Identify as a ritual 1/long rest at level 3 perhaps?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

OK. Then I'm really going to need that clarification of your comment.
Was it an objection to a class feature that grants you a magical weapon at level 3 on the basis of balance?
On a thematic basis?

Was it not an objection to the suggestion at all? I'm finding it a bit of a non-sequitur, and I'm unsure what you were getting at.

I put Mending at level 9 because that is when the subclass gets access to a pet that would need it.

You could instead grant 2 artificer cantrips and the ability to cast Identify as a ritual 1/long rest at level 3 perhaps?

Hmm. I’ll have to think about it. Getting a familiar isn’t really worthwhile, IMO, unless it happens before 5. It’s also a spell arcane tricksters can get at level 3.
But I’ll look it over and figure out what seems reasonable.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Hmm. I’ll have to think about it. Getting a familiar isn’t really worthwhile, IMO, unless it happens before 5. It’s also a spell arcane tricksters can get at level 3.
But I’ll look it over and figure out what seems reasonable.

The mentioned pet is not a familiar: They have access to the homunculus infusion which is rather more powerful.

If the character wants an actual familiar, then Magic Initiate feat is probably the best bet: Artificers do not have access to Find Familiar spell.

 

[Umbran]

I...are you trying to tell me that isn’t a different combat playstyle from the rogue, or is there some other point you’re making?

I'm saying that he comes pretty close to the "sniper rogue" combat style. Counting the Steel Defender, he's working with 3d8+12 damage per round, which compares pretty well with the weapon + sneak attack of a rogue of his level (so, like 4d6+4, or d8+4+3d6)

 

[Umbran]

That depends. If one out of ten people can summon a Mind Sword and stab me with it.....yea that is fairly high magic.

Not everyone in the fictional world has class levels, and of those that do, they probably aren't distributed evenly over the PHB classes.

There's also two ways to think of high and low magic. One is "in the narrative" - how many things in the resulting story are "magic". The other is a game balance question - and for that you don't generally include the class abilities of PCs.

The difference is relevant in 5e, where the game balance doesn't really assume many magic items.