D&D 5E Artificer should be a half caster (0-5)

[Ancalagon]

I definitely think direct damage spells are a no go. None of the rest of his kit contains it nor does it fit with the theme of creation and experimentation.

I'd rather see something like the following:

* Animate Objects
* Bigby's hand
* Creation 
* Greater Restoration
* Passwall
* Telekinesis
* Teleportation Circle
* Wall of Force

I would agree with you but for one exception - cloudkill. If that's not an alchemist's spell... it totally fits.

 

[Jester David]

This is a nice thread, but the place to have gone was the artificer survey on the WotC site. But that's no longer taking feedback.
I doubt WotC staff spends much time on ENWorld, let alone taking feedback from here.

 

[Ancalagon]

This is a nice thread, but the place to have gone was the artificer survey on the WotC site. But that's no longer taking feedback.
I doubt WotC staff spends much time on ENWorld, let alone taking feedback from here.

I *did* leave feedback, and I hope the others did too. We can still discuss it though - houserules are a thing

 

[Merric Huffstutler]

I do think that the warlock model of spellcasting would work well for artificers. Instead of needing wands of "attack spell" for their basic attacks, they could just have a wand as an arcane focus and some attack spell cantrips like the rest. That also covers their wand mastery. Then their infusions would be "cast" at max level but limited to per short rest, as per a warlock's pact magic. I'm not sure if I would give artificers anything akin to mystic arcanum though. And instead of a Pact Boon, they could have something more akin to a major discovery that flavors their approach to being artificers: e.g. homunculus, thunder cannon, wand-dueling, alchemist bag, etc. Then they would have minor discoveries (i.e., invocations) that could be used to build upon their major ones.

I love the thought of having major and minor discoveries. Could do something akin to a research/technology tree in other games. I do think the artificer shouldn't have direct damage spells. Instead they should rely on their creations. I think with the warlock system it might be ok to make them closer to a full caster. To offset the huge amount of flexibility I think the warlock's limited spell slot pool counters this greatly. But, I would go one step further. I would capitalize on Infuse Magic. I would say to balance the greater range the artificer can ONLY use Infuse Magic to make spells happen. Something like:

An artificer's skill lies in his breadth of knowledge and dedication to the rigorous application of magic and engineering to permanent creation. As such they are master's of manipulating long and complex spells. Unfortunately, this means few are capable of the split second casting more battle focused casters are able to. No, artificers prefer to prepare beforehand, Infusing magic into the mundane to be ready when needed. This might seem like a limitation to others, but a great artificer is always planning ahead.
An artificer can not create magic nearly as quickly as a normal caster. Instead, an artificer can enchant a mundane by focusing the magic of any learned spell into the item. This takes one level longer casting time (table below)with a minimum of one minute.

B.A. -> 1 min
1Action -> 1 min
1minute -> 10 minute
10 minute -> 4 hours
1 hour -> 8 hours


This reduces tactical flexibility dramatically. You will only be able to use the number of spells you have slots which is a much lower number than the spells you know. Also you must prepare the objects before hand knowing what spells you will need to cast. BUT, this gives you much higher strategic flexibility. Once the infused items are prepared anyone who can use a magic item can in fact cast a spell. Not only can they cast a spell they could cast a spell that may take minutes or hours for a normal caster to cast in one action! That's pretty powerful in certain situation, but can be a large liability, but most importantly is a Unique and interesting twist!

I reminds of the magical equivalent to the rogue playstyle. If prepared and in place can cause catastrophic damage. Its hard to surprise the rogue because of their preparedness, but if you do surprise the rogue they are at a huge disadvantage.

 

[mellored]

I'd prefer a new mechanic. Enchantment points and recipes.

You get a set number of points which you can enchant and craft things with during a rest and you only get them back if you disenchanted them, or expend them.

So you might enchant a crossbow, and make some healing potions, and some explosive bolts.

Another might put all their points into a mechanical familiar.

You get a new recipe every few levels, similar to spells.