Artificial Flavor: textile magic
Artificers produce wonders "using mundane items or outlandish inventions." Your particular artificer follows a long tradition of fairy tale weavers, tailors, and seamstresses who work magic through fabric. After all, someone had to craft the legendary caps, capes, gowns, and bags that have aided heroes throughout history.
Bespoke fashion
You gain an additional Magical Tinkering option at 1st level: with your tools in hand, you may touch an article of clothing and modify it to fit a specific humanoid perfectly. The garment may change up to 1 foot in size taller or shorter and must accommodate the same arrangement of limbs.
Weaving spells
Taking inspiration from myths and fairy tales, your Artificer weaves arcane effects from threads mundane or magical. When describing a spell or infusion, think about knitting or weaving (many strands into one), sewing (puncturing, threading), cutting, or dyeing. A powerful artificer may literally weave the very fabric of reality.
How do you cast spells?
| d4 | Spellcasting Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | A miniature, arcane loom that pulls magical threads from the ether |
| 2 | A flying needle that delivers magical effects at distance |
| 3 | Ensorceled ribbons, literally cast upon the target |
| 4 | Bags or vials of arcane dyes in impossible colors |
Thematic spells
Below are two additional spells your DM may allow you to learn:
Tenser’s Floating Disk could manifest as a hovering (but not flying) carpet.
Crusader’s Mantle can take shape as a literal mantle. It inspires boldness not through a holy aura, but by its cutting-edge fashion sensibility.
Tailoring your Artificer
Alchemist
An alchemist could mix mysterious and dangerous dyes instead of potables. But you might also experiment by mixing exotic or arcane fibers, yarns, and fabrics. Quaffing a dubious potion might be less dangerous than donning a stocking-cap woven from hippogriff hair and dyed with essence of shambling mound!
Your alchemist deploys Restorative Reagents with magical stitches or adhesive bandages.
Artillerist
An arcane spinning wheel can make for unique Eldritch Cannon that shoots threads of arcane energy at enemies. It can even effect flame by weaving, throwing, and igniting a Web.
Your Arcane Firearms take the shape of giant darning needles or spindles.
Battle Smith
Put the “fabric” back in “fabricate” by weaving mithral or adamantine threads into flexible, breathable arcane armor. While everyone else is just gabbing around the campfire, you're knitting your future Steel Defender.
天衣无缝. ("Heavenly robes are seamless, for they are not made with needles and threads.")
-- Chinese proverb from "The Cowherd and the Weaver Fairy"
Fabricated Infusions
As with a Steel Defender, a Homunculus Servant could be knit of yarn, sewn from patches, or woven of pure magic.
You may choose Glamorweave and Shiftweave as Replicate Magic Item infusion options at level 2.
Versions of artificer from 4th edition D&D offered an Arcane Springboard (a magical trampoline) and Bag of the Four Winds (from Greek mythology). If these appeal to you, ask your DM if they fit in your game.
Cloaked Dagger
Item: A weapon with the Light property
A creature possessing this weapon may take a bonus action to transform it into a cloth patch, or from a cloth patch back to its regular form.
The weapon has 4 charges. Each transformation expends 1 charge. The weapon regains 1d4 expended charges daily at dawn.
Shadow Weave
Prerequisite: 6th-level artificer
Item: An outer garment
Your artificer weaves the very stuff of shadows into an item of clothing worn atop all others. A creature wearing this item gains advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
Thinking Cap
Prerequisite: 6th-level artificer
Item: A knitted or cloth cap
While wearing this head gear, a creature gains advantage on Intelligence checks and saving throws.
on the broadloom of slaughter.
The web of man, grey as armour, is now being woven;
the Valkyries will cross it with a crimson weft.
The warp is made of human entrail;
human heads are used a weights;
the heddle-rods are blood-wet spears;
the shafts are iron-bound, and arrows are the shuttles.
With swords we will weave this web of battle.
-- "Darradtharljodth" (Song of the Spear), Njal's Saga
