Artificer: Expanded Toolbox v1.5

Fleshsmith

A Fleshsmith is the sort of person that makes people uncomfortable. Even when encountered in the most ideal circumstances, they simply have the sort of gaze that makes one think they may be thinking "how could I improve that" as they look at you.

A particularly path of Artificer that has turned their creative talents... inward. They seek to understand and improve the limitations of flesh. All too frequently they place a slightly different value on aesthetic than others might, tending to find beauty primarily in efficiency.

A Fleshsmith tends be more eccentric than inclined to any particularly alignment, though even the most benevolent one may find that the only reason their activities wouldn't be illegal is that no one considered them possible.

Flesh Shaper Prerequisite: 15th level Artificer

You gain the ability to cast clone without expending a spell slot. You still require material components. Once you cast this spell, you cannot cast it again until you complete a long rest.

Suspicious Vitality

You are in truly phenomena health after a few dietary suppliments. You regain an additional 1d8 + your consistution modifier health when you have take a short rest, gain additional hit die equal to half your Artificer level, and regrow any missing limbs when you complete a long rest.

Runesmith

A Runesmith is an Artificer that has narrowed their focus to working a specific language of magic - powerful Runes that can channel long lasting power. These Runes come in many shapes and forms, the lore behind from many sources.

A Runesmith can be a knight, his runes splashed with gleaming power across his armor, or a scholar lending their power to the companions, marking potent runes on their weapons before standing back, or even a strange tatooed mystic, their runes tattooed across their very body.

Runesmiths are not inherently good or evil, though their rigorous attention to detail and patience tend to make them more inclined to a Lawful perspective.

Animate Inscription

You mark special inscription on yourself or an item in your position to represent a familiar. You can spend a hit die to give it life and cast find familiar using this rune. When you cast find familiar in this way it does not require a spell slot or require material components, and the casting time is one action.

Glyph of Gravity Prerequisite: 13th level Artificer.

You can expend a 4th level spell slot as a bonus action to draw an ethereal mark in the air at a point adjacent to you.

Passive: Within 30 feet of this Glyph, moving away from it is requires twice as much movement, and any creature that ends its turn within 30 feet of it is pulled 10 feet closer to it if there is space available.

Active: All creatures within 30 feet of this Glyph must make a Strength saving throw or flung 40 feet away from this Glyph, taking 4d6 damage and falling prone.

Repelling Field

2nd-level abjuration

• Casting Time: 1 Action
• Range: 30 feet
• Components: V, S
• Duration: Concentration, Up to 1 minute.

You target a creature or object within range, creating a 20 foot radius sphere of repelling force. This force is not strong enough to effect creatures moving, but deflects projectiles. All creatures in within this sphere are considered to have half cover against ranged attacks, or three quarters cover if they already have half cover.

Alternatively when you cast it, you can target a creature reversing this effect. The target creature must make a Charisma saving throw. On failure, all projectiles attacks against that target are made with advantage for the duration of the spell.

Seeking Projectile

1st-level transmutation

• Casting Time: 1 Action
• Range: Touch
• Components: V, S
• Duration: Concentration, Up to 10 minute.

You touch a piece of ammunition or thrown weapon imbuing it with the property of seeking its target. When an attack roll is made with that weapon, the attack roll can add your spell casting modifier to the value on the dice. If that makes the value on the die a 20 or more, the attack is a critical hit as if a 20 was rolled.

Vorpal Weapon [Updated - Test Version]

5st-level Transmutation Spell

• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: Touch
• Components: V,S
• Duration: Concentration, Up to 1 hour.

Until the spell ends, a weapon touch gains magnified properties. The weapon has a modifier of less than +3 to attack and damage rolls, its modifier becomes +3 to attack and damage rolls for the duration of the spell. Additionally, it gains the Siege property, dealing double damage to inanimate objects such as structures.

For a weapon that deals bludgeoning damage, the weapon swings with unbelievably momentum, ignoring resistance to bludgeoning damage and deals maximum damage to targets made out of inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal.

For a weapon that deals piercing damage, the weapon lances through any defenses, ignoring nonmagical armor, as well as resistance to piercing damage.

For a weapon that deals slashing damage, the weapon indescribably sharp, ignoring resistance to slashing damage, and killing a target that is reduced to 50 hit points or less by a critical strike by it, decapitating them (if possible).

How do you make these?

While there are crafting rules in the game, it is likely that using the crafting rules to create common magical items may be unappealing given their general lack of mechanical effect (with some exceptions).

In generally, I'd advise letting players make these simply by tinkering with them to a time-frame appropriate to your campaign, in so far that they could create a few over the course of the campaign.

Homeward Compass

You make a compass, that always points toward a location of your choosing that you've been. You, or any creature holding it, has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) when trying to find their way to a the set point of the compass or a location with a known relative position to it.

Crossbow Spider Prerequisite: 11th level Artificer Prerequsite: Autonomous Crossbow

You upgrade your Autonmous Crossbow design to be mobile. With your bonus action, you can no move it up to 20 feet. It under the effect of spiderclimb and can skittering along and stand on any surface. You improve the central crossbow increasing its damage to 1d8 + your Intelligence modifier, and it's firing capacity to 20 shots before it becomes inactive. Additionally, you make it sturdier, and it gains hit points equal to twice your Artificer level.

Expanded Golem Variants:

The following is an expansion of the Golemsmith variant types. In the future these are likely to become the new basis for the golemsmith. The variant feature replaces your 1st level feature.

Variant Feature: Golem

Starting at 1st level, you have forged a golem to carry out your orders and protect you. The golem is controlled via a gem that only you can attune to.

The Golem obeys your commands as best as it can. It takes its turn on your initiative, though it doesn't take an action unless you command it to.

Your Golem's Proficiency increases when yours does. Additionally, it gains 5 + its Constitution modifier hit points for every level in Artificer you gain. If the golem is killed, it can be returned to life via normal means, such as with the revivify spell. In addition, over the course of a long rest, you can repair a slain servant if you have access to its body. It returns to life with 1 hit point at the end of the rest. If the servant is beyond recovery, you can reproduce the construct exactly as it was, with four days of work (eight hours each day) and 100 gp of raw materials.

Over the course of a short rest, you can restore hitpoints equal to your Intelligence modifier + your Artificer level to your golem, or repair it to full health during a long rest.

The basic stats of your golem as follows:

When you intially create your golem, you can add one modifier to it form the basic chassis of your golem:

Ether Heart

You install a magical ether heart into your golem, because that seems like a good idea. Your golem gains 2 charges. It can use 1 charge to cast any first level spell you know. These changes are restored at the end of a long rest.

Animated Shield

You apply your animating magic to a shield. At the end of a long rest, you can touch a shield, causing it to spring to life and protect you until you complete your next long rest. While it is protecting you, you gain the benefit if you had the shield equipped. You cannot benefit from both an animated shield and an equipped shield.

While you have an animated shield, you can use your reaction send it to defend an ally who is being attacked. You can impose disadvantage on that attack, but do not gain the benefits of having an animated shield until the start of your next turn.

Bottled Elemental Prerequisite: 9th level Artificer

You concoct the pure essence of an element into a flask. When you take this upgrade, select between a fire elemental, air elemental, or water elemental. As an action, you can release the elemental within the flask at a point within 30 feet of you. The elemental is not under your control, but attacks the nearest creature. The elemental persists for a number of rounds equal to your intelligence modifier.

Once you release the elemental, you cannot do so again until you prepare a new one during your next long rest. When you prepare a new one, you can select a new type of elemental.

Wargear Variant.

The Warsmith will be moving to incorporated default variants, much like the Golemsmith and Thudnersmith. In this case, Warplate (heavy armor), Warsuit (medium armor), and Self-forged (???) will become the starting points.

Wargear replaces your third level feature.

Variant Feature: Wargear

At 3rd level, you've attained the Forging skill, arcane knowledge, and mastery of tinkering to create a set of a potent Wargear. When creating your Wargear, you can create Warplate heavy armor, Warsuit medium armor, or start down the path of reforging yourself from a standard, non-magical, set of armor - starting with heavy armor for Warplate, or medium armor for a Warsuit or Integrated Armor. This process takes 8 hours to complete, as well as a place to forge and incorporates your Warplate Gauntlet (they do not require separate attunement).

You can create a new set of Wargear by forging it from a set of Platemail, in a process takes 1000 gold pieces and eight hours.

You can create multiple sets of Wargear, but you can only be attuned to one of them at a given time, and you can only change which one you are attuned to during a long rest. If you create a new set of Wargear, you can apply a number of Upgrades equal to the value on the class table, applying each at the level you get it on the class table.

Upgrades

Adaptable Armor

You integrate deployable hooks and fins into your armor, augmenting its mobility. While wearing your Wargear you gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, and you can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free. Additionally, you gain a swim speed equal to your walking speed.

Life Support

Adventuring is a dangerous line of work. You install life supporting magical routines in your armor. The life support has three charges. You can expend a charge to cast cure wounds or expend two charges to cast lesser restoration.

If you drop to zero with charges remaining, at the start of your next turn, all charges are expended to heal you for 1d8 per charge remaining.

It regains all charges at the end of a long rest.

The Artificer's Workshop

An Artificer's Workshop can take many forms. Sometimes it will it look like a sprawling magic shop, with wonders of magic and clockwork dazzling the customers with their sheer novelty. Sometimes it will be a stately university, with learned scholars walking the corridors and comparing notes on the latest measurements of ethereal flux through a crystal lens. Sometimes it will be an eccentric Temple to Gond that is known for occasionally erupting like volcano. These things happen.

Whatever the form it takes, the central point of a Workshop is the sheer innovation - a point of beacon in the world signifying a change, the ever present forward march of advancement. Some will envy it, some will fear it, but most? Most will simply not understand it.

Demense Effects

• Knowledge and Innovation flourish in the in the Artificer's demesne, and all Intelligence skill checks inside it automatically receive guidance.

• The weird and wonderful are drawn to the marvels of the workshop. As the renown of the Workshop grows, strangers from foreign... places... start to appear more frequently. Far away continents? Other planes of existence? No one can resist coming by to see the marvels.

• The miracle of progress spread... lights appear start to appear in the street, burning with ever-bright magic or strange reactions, bringing light to nearby city streets even at night.

• Educated minions. If the Artificer makes a knowledge check while being able to communicate with their workshop, they can choose to roll a 10 as they consult an expert.

Stronghold Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties) the Artificer takes a stronghold action to cause one of the following effects. The Artificer must be in the same hex or province as their stronghold and can't use the same effect again until after a short rest.

• Deploy Experiment. The Artificer field tests an experiment. The Artificer produces the latest device from their workshop... hopefully this time it works. The Artificer chooses if it was a potion or device that casts a spell like effect without consuming a spell slot, and rolls a 1d4 to determine the effect. Spell like effects use the Artificer's Spell Save DC.

• Clockwork Guardian. The Artificer summons an clock work construction that functions as a Shield Guardian* bound to the Artificer and under their command acting on their initiative. It is translocated to within 10 feet of the Artificer, but it lasts only 1d4 turns before going dormant and being translocated back to the Workshop for repair.

• Oops. You can toss aside this clearly damaged experimental item. Pick a target within 30 feet, and cast fireball centered on that point. Roll a 1d4 to determine the damage type.

Class Feature Improvement

Followers

Roll on Rogue or Wizard table.

Disclaimer

This is no way associated with MCDM or the Stronghold & Followers product.

Even More?

All this still isn't enough? Here are some Homebrew options for people that want even more. The following options have been made for the Alternate Artificer by people other than KibblesTasty; while I might have contributed in some small way, they are the work of their creator.

Anything I add a link to here is something that I think is at least interesting, and provides values to people that want to delve deeper into the world of Artificering, but this is not inherently an endorsement of the product as "ready to use", and you mileage may vary. It's just a recommendation to check it out!

1.1 Changes

1.2 Changes

1.3 Changes

1.4 Changes

1.5 Changes

• Moved many upgrades and spells to the main document.
• Added Common Magic Items; just ideas of what an Artificer can make.
• Added Repelling Field (Spell)
• Added Seeking Projectile (Spell)
• Updated test version of Vorpal Weapon to be more fair to Piercing and Bludgeoning plebeian weapons :)
• Added section from notable Homebrew.