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dark_samuari

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The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« on: October 03, 2009, 10:55:50 PM »
Disclaimer: This is a mere re-posting of Edymnion's The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0. The only additions will be a visual polish and a new set of formatting.

The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
"Nothing is impossible, what you want is simply expensive."

Welcome to the latest, greatest version of the Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide, version 3.0!

We've had had a lot of conversation, debates, and the occasional downright argument over the years, with the previous incarnations of this guide, each with hundreds of replies and tens of thousands of views. An unbridled success by any standards. However, the very success of the previous guides were also their biggest problem, the threads became very long, unwieldy, and more than a little intimidating to new Artificer players that thought they needed to read the whole thread. So, in an attempt to keep this version of the guide more focused and less cluttered, I've asked (and received permission) to put it in the FAQ area of the boards. Here, I will be able to maintain the guide with whatever new information, or fixes for old information, without people pulling the thread off topic with debates over certain elements. This doesn't mean that I disapproved of good Artificer debate, its just that the guide is not the place for such things. Instead, you should feel free to make a thread to debate any given point, and if a consensus is reached, and I haven't seen the thread already, PM me with a link to it so I can look it over, and see if the information uncovered should be added to the guide.

Anyway, lets get down to business!
I've changed up how this version of the guide is presented, since there won't be anyone posting to it, I can spread things out over multiple posts, and have an index that actually links to the proper places in the guide. So, where it was all one big formatted post before (well, two posts because of the post size limits), each section will now be it's own post. That way, I can have the index post be filled with links. You click the link, it takes you down to the post for that section, no more scrolling through the whole thing just to find the feats!

For those that would prefer to use the guide offline, the PDF is available for download, courtesy of Save-vs-DM's generous hosting of the file. You may download it by clicking ont he following link:


Introduction

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2009, 10:56:09 PM »
Races

The race you choose for your Artificer can have a drastic effect on what kind of Artificer you end up with, and while D&D has a wide array of different races, this guide will restrict it's focus to mainly the "Core" races. The core races for Eberron are the standard races from the Players Handbook, and the four new races introduced in the Eberron Campaign Setting. In addition to those, I will also cover a race that has an established place in Eberron's civilized areas, makes for a fairly well balanced PC, and that brings it's own flavorful pros and cons to the table, the Goblin.

HumansGnomes
The idea of the tinkerer gnome predates Eberron by quite a bit, and you find aspects of this in Eberron as well. However, as with everything else, Eberron puts it's own special twist on things that makes a gnomish Artificer an interesting experience. Gnomes are information hoarders, who typically aren't afraid to use what they know about you to plant a proverbial dagger in your back should you cross them. As such, you would be well off putting some points into Knowledge (Local) and Knowledge (Nobility), as well as your people skills. Odds are, if you don't know where a magic item is (or what it is!), as a gnome, you will know somebody who does, if you're willing to trust them with that information, that is.

Mechanically, gnomes have four major advantages going for them.
First, their sharp noses give them a terrific sense of smell, which grants them a +2 to any alchemy check. As an Artificer, you qualify as a spellcaster for the purposes of making alchemical items, and you will find them to be a big help, so making yourself some sunrods and tanglefoot bags is always a good idea. In addition, you can identify unknown potions by making an alchemy check, meaning a gnome knows better than anybody if that vial contains a Cure Light Wounds potion, or a horrible poison.

Second, gnomes get a number of cantrips as a racial ability, including prestidigitation. This means they never need worry about making UMD checks when using scrolls of these spells, or when making items of them. Since the number of UMD checks you get to make an item are dependant on how long it takes to craft them, you don't get many shots at making low level items, so every little bit counts. And while you may think that these cantrips are worthless when it comes to item making, the shear number of useful gadgets you can make out of Prestidigitation alone are astonishing, not to mention lucrative.

Third, gnomes are Small sized, which comes with a number of potent advantages, especially for the Artificer. Bonuses to attacks against larger creatures (like humans), bonuses to your AC, and most important of all for the Artificer, it makes you 25% stronger, meaning you can carry more stuff. Remember, items scaled to fit Small sized characters weigh 1/4 of what they do for Medium sized characters. Small characters only have their carrying capacity cut in half, which means that, as long as everything they carry is scaled to them, they actually have 25% MORE carrying capacity than the tall folk do. Given how many magical goodies you will be carrying around, you can never have too much carrying capacity.

Lastly is the biggest flavor reason. Gnomes in Eberron have a literal monopoly on elemental binding. While other groups have been trying to unravel the secret, none of them (officially) have gotten the hang of it, meaning if you want an airship, or an elementally bound weapon or piece of armor, you have to go to a gnome to get it. If you want your Artificer to be making this sort of equipment later on, the only way for him to learn it (short of invading Xen'Drik and trying to talk the drow into teaching you) is to learn it from the gnomes, and they don't teach it to anybody outside of their own race.

Half-Elves
The main reason to play a half-elf Artificer has nothing to do with their racial abilities or skills, and almost everything to do with one thing, airships. House Lyrander operates the largest airship fleet in the game, and if you want to get your hands on one of those beauties, being a member of the house will go a long ways to accomplishing it. While you won't be able to build an airship yourself, as you are unlikely to get a gnome to tell you how to bind an elemental into it to power the thing, as an Artificer you will have the skills and expertise to keep it running smoothly, and even upgrading it with new defenses, and possibly even magical weapons. Being a half-elf with the Mark of Storms also makes it easy for you to control the ship, which will likely make you the defacto captain, as you will be the only one that can reliably make the ship do what you want.

Of lesser importance, but still worth mentioning, your racial bonuses to the people skills can come in handy when you need to find rare items to craft with, and a good Gather Information check can always help you get a clue to where a powerful magic item is hiding. And while it has little bearing on anything mechanical, always being able to find a place to stay in half-elf communities is very nice. What self respecting Artificer wants to sleep under a bush when a little racial clout can get him a nice warm bed?

However, if you are looking to build a mechanically powerful Artificer, you may want to skip the half-elf. It provides little direct benefit to the Artificer class, although Favored Class: Any means it excels at multiclassing, which opens up a number of doors in its own right (see the Multiclassing section).

ElvesHalflings
Like elves, the dual nature of the halfling race gives you two very different courses you could take with an Artificer, while giving you some real tangible advantages regardless of type. Halflings are a bit of a cross between the Small size of the Gnome, and the Dexterity boost of the elves, giving you two good aspects of each race in one tidy little package. In addition, the halfling bonus to their saves means you are less likely to need to burn action points on said saves, which leaves you that many more AP to use to speed up your infusions.

If you go for the "civilized" halflings, you will also gain access to a good number of bonuses through House Ghallandra (detailed later), which means you and your party never need to worry about where you are going to sleep that night. You would be well accustomed to the comforts and luxuries of "the good life", and would likely make a good number of magical items to ensure the quality of living for yourself and your party. For a more direct approach to combat, the barbarian Talenta halflings give you the option to make tribal like magical items, as well as the one thing nobody else in the party gets to do, ride a magically enhanced dinosaur in full barding. Nothin' says lovin' like firing off a massive fireball from the back of your armored velociraptor!

Dwarves
Initially, you may look at dwarves and see that they have a -2 to their Charisma and think they would make a poor choice for an Artificer, and to some extent this is true. The lower Charisma means they will have a lower Use Magic Device check, which means they will have a harder time using and enchanting magical items. However, they do have a number of things going for them that help offset this disadvantage. With a rather fragile d6 hitdice (second lowest in the game), any Artificer caught in harm's way wishes for more hitpoints, and the dwarven racial bonus to Constitution helps make this possible, putting the dwarven Artificer in the same hitpoint range as a d8 hitdice. You also receive a racial bonus to any craft check relating to stone or metal, and given how virtually every weapon, many armors, and the bulk of assorted mundane items have stone or metal of some kind in them means that you will be cranking out items of exceptional quality that you can later enchant and sell for a pretty copper or two.

Dwarves also have a major advantage when it comes to selling magical goods. Dwarves run the banking system in Eberron, and as such poses an implied amount of trustworthiness, which means you should have little problem getting people to do business with you. Being a member of House Kundarak (detailed later) will also help you with your magical item crafting, as you can get loans from the bank fairly easily, meaning you'll never be in a money crunch when it comes time to make that new Sword of Uber Coolness. Paying that loan back is another matter though.

Half-Orcs
Of all of the PHB core races, the half-orc is arguably the worst choice for a traditional Artificer. They suffer a hit to both Charisma and Intelligence, the two prime abilities of the class, that immediately puts them far behind the curve. However, there is one particular kind of Artificer that the half-orc can be that will offset many of his penalties, and accentuate his strengths, the Meleeficer. Artificers get access to medium armor from the beginning, and with the right infusions they can buff their AC and damage output through the roof, meaning they can go toe to toe with just about anything in melee combat, which is precisely what the half-orc is good for, mechanically speaking. That high strength means you will dish out damage like no other artificer out there, and you'll never have to worry about not being able to carry all of your goodies along with you. Don't worry about crafting things, just buy what you need for a base, enchant them with some vicious spells, and get ready to watch the opposition fall before your magically enhanced sword.

Eberron also gives a much welcomed twist to half-orcs and orcs in general by removing much of the savage bent and racial hatred baggage that normally comes with the race. While there are plenty of orc and half-orc barbarians out there, there are also quite a few orc druids (like the Gatekeepers) that are the appointed guardians of Eberron, preventing extraplanar invasion. A half-orc Artificer could just as easily be a wise and calm soul that looks for ways to strengthen the magical wards that protect Eberron as a magically enhanced front line warrior.

Warforged
Like the Dwarves, the Warforged appear to be a poor choice for becoming an Artificer due to their Charisma penalty, but even more so than the dwarf, the warforged makes up for this shortcoming to be arguable one of the best Artificer races in the game. One of the biggest racial drawbacks for a Warforged is it's inability to heal naturally, and it's resistance to healing magic. As an Artificer, not only will you likely have a maxxed out Craft skill to let you make your own repair checks while your party member sleep, you will have access to infusions for Repair X Damage that will let you heal yourself quickly and efficiently. There are also other infusions that only work on constructs in the Artificer list that are personally useless for the fleshy Artificers, of which you can take full advantage of. Even without that, an Artificer has to have something to infuse (more on that later), which means a naked human artificer with nothing around can't use their infusions, where the WF Artificer could always use his own body as the focus of his powers. As icing on the proverbial cake, the warforged have access to what is perhaps the single most useful item for an Artificer, the Wand Sheath, and its exclusively a warforged component.

On top of the mechanical advantages, there is one large advantage to the WF Artificer provided by the setting itself, the Mournlands. The Mournlands hold little terror for a warforged that can heal himself through infusions and repairs, while Cyre was the home to House Cannith, giving it some of the greatest magical riches in the setting, many of which are still literally just sitting there for the taking. The fleshbound Artificers would be hard pressed to retrieve these magics, where you can simply walk in and take them for yourself. Another setting advantage for playing a warforged Artificer is Xen'Drik. The most powerful of magic items, including the Creation Forges, originally came from Xen'Drik, and the fact that there are a large number of WF components in that continent make it a virtual shopping spree for the warforged artificer.

Kalashtar
The Kalashtar have little to offer the traditional Artificer, regardless of what kind of artificer you want to be. No real advantages, but no disadvantages either, making them fairly neutral as to their mechanical effectiveness. However, the real advantage to the Kalashtar appear when you give them access to the Psionic Artificer variant from Magic of Eberron. The naturally psionic nature of the Kalashtar mean they immediately qualify for almost every psionic feat out there without having to burn a feat on Wild Talent first, and the nature of the Psionic Artificer gives them an even bigger advantage over items than the normal artificer. While there are seemingly limitless supplies of magical items in the game, the relative scarcity of psionics means that coming across a psionic item by chance is fairly low, which means this variant will be much sought out in any psionics focused game, and the Kalashtar are far and above the best possible choice to become a Psionic Artificer out of all the core races.

However, if its not going to be a game focused on the Kalashtar, the Dreaming Dark, and Psionics, then you should likely skip this race when making a traditional Artificer. They don't excel at it in any meaningful way, and they inevitably bring a lot of baggage with them that you/the DM may or may not want to deal with.

Changelings
Like the Kalashtar, the Changelings offer little in the way of benefit to the Artificer class in the core books. Unlike the Kalashtar though, there is a redeeming factor that make Changelings pull ahead as Artificers, Racial Emulation. If your DM is allowing material from Races of Eberron (and most do), the Racial Emulation feat allows you to count as a particular race when you take the shape of one. While appearing to be fairly minor in terms of usefulness to an Artificer, it can be very nice for one reason, it removes the need to emulate that race via UMD. Constantly making those checks can be a pain, while the changeling can essentially throw that entire subsection of UMD checks right out the window, at least in regards to that particular race.

From the other way around, the Artificer class can offer quite a bit to the changeling. Many items that would aid their Minor Shapechange ability are fairly minor, both in cost and crafter level, meaning a changeling Artificer could make themselves a Hat of Disguise which would boost their check through the roof, making it virtually impossible to be spotted. Note that while there is some debate on the allowability of a changeling using a Hat of Disguise, the item and the racial ability have different bonus types, so they do indeed stack, strictly by the books.

Shifters
Shifters take a large hit from racial penalties to both Intelligence and Charisma like the half-orc, but do not automatically gain the strength benefit to make a good Meleeficer. While the various shifter traits can certainly add new levels of versatility to your Artificer, the mechanical aspects weigh against the race pretty much across the board. More so than any other race available, shifters are hands down the worst option for making an Artificer, from a strictly mechanical point of view.

From a flavor point of view, however, there is definitely a place for the Shifter Artificer. Shifter culture is described as putting a high value on a small number of well made, portable items (both magic and mundane) that have multiple uses. As an Artificer, making these sorts of items can quickly put you at the head of the pecking order in that regard, and your combat ability after you buff yourself and shift can make you a potent Meleeficer, however the limited amount of time you can stay shifted combined with how many feats you must spend to make this option viable tend to limit it's usefulness.

Like any other race, you can make a viable shifter Artificer (one of my favorite characters was actually a shifter artificer), but honestly, the reason you would choose this race is almost purely one of flavor, not mechanical ability.

Goblins
In any other setting, the choice of a goblin anything for a PC would likely be a bad one. Seen as weak and stupid monsters by all of the other settings, Eberron gives them a twist that not only makes them into viable PC choices, but give them some important advantages for Artificers, both mechanically and for flavor.

Mechanically, the goblin takes a hit to both Constitution and Charisma, making them fairly fragile as well as lowering their UMD checks. However, they have the Small size and Dexterity bonus of the Halflings, darkvision that lets them go places most other Artificers can't go, and more importantly, a 30' movement rate. The biggest drawback to all of the Small races is their 20' movement, but the goblin does not have this drawback.

Flavor wise, it was the goblins that built the initial foundations of Sharn back during the goblinoid empire days, and it was the goblins that the humans used to build much of what Sharn is today, so they have a long, established tradition as magical craftsmen. However, they are still looked upon as second class citizens, and are forced to live in the lower levels of Sharn, scraping by on whatever they can find, beg, or steal. As such, a goblin Artificer almost comes prepackaged with the flavor of being someone who cobbles together working magical items out of what other people throw away. And since it is very uncommon to see a goblin PC, even in Eberron, and especially as an Artificer, its virtually guaranteed to become a very memorable character.

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2009, 10:56:26 PM »
Ability Scores

After determining the race of your Artificer, the next most important thing you need to do is figure out their stats. Like race, what stats you give your Artificer will greatly affect how they work. One important thing to keep in mind here is that, despite what the books say, Charisma is NOT the most important stat for an Artificer, Intelligence is. The reasoning behind this will be explained in the individual attribute sections below. Also important to keep in mind, I will be suggesting good scores for each attribute as we go along. If you are using Point Buy, these would be good places to start by default. If you are rolling for stats, then try to place the scores more or less in line with what is here, as best you can.

Strength
For the default Artificer, Strength is one of your least important stats. With your low hitdice and middling BAB, front line combat is not your strong suit. You will rely far more on ranged attacks (at first a crossbow, then later wands) to deal damage with, and that means you will need Dexterity more than Strength. Your Carrying Capacity will be an issue at lower levels, but you should be able to buy/craft a Heward's Handy Haversack or a Bag of Holding fairly soon in the game, so boosting your strength isn't critical. However, the fact that you will potentially be wearing medium armor, you shouldn't skimp on your strength overly much. Generally speaking, you are well served by putting a 10 in Strength. Nothing special, but not a weakling. Dropping this score below an 8 is not recommended, however.

If you are going the route of the Meeleficer (covered later in the guide), then obviously you want to have a higher strength score than a mere 10. Like any melee focused role, I would put no less than a 14 in Strength, as you will be relying on it to dish out a good bit of your damage, as well as the fact that you will almost invariably be in Medium or even Heavy armor, which like the name suggests, is quite heavy.

Constitution
Again, for the default Artificer, you will not be on the front lines, and like a Wizard, it should be somewhat rare that you actually take hitpoint damage. As such, Constitution is another stat you can afford to go easy on. However, do not think that you can use it as a dump stat! With a d6 for hitdice, you will already be fairly low on hitpoints, so every hitpoint you do have will matter if and when you get hit. Also, if your Artificer is going to be playing the role of the Rogue in disabling traps, unlocking chests, etc, you run the very real chance of encountering the classic poison needle trap. In that case, a higher Fortitude save is important, as it will help you avoid the effects of the poison.

The recommended Constitution score for a default Artificer is a 12, but you have little reason to take it higher than a 14 unless you are going down the Meleeficer route. If you are building a Meleeficer, then you will need a higher Con score to offset your low hitpoints. A 14 to 16 is recommended in that case, but going higher than that will likely mean you suffer too much in other areas, so don't go too crazy here.

Dexterity
Of all of the physical stats, Dexterity is the most important. You cannot use Heavy Armor without spending a feat or multiclassing, and you still have to cope with Arcane Spell Failure when casting from arcane scrolls, which typically means you will be in light armor or mithril medium armor. Either way, it means you will need Dexterity to help boost your armor class. Combine this with how many of your attacks will be ranged, such as your crossbow (and later on your attack wands, like scorching ray and the elemental orbs), and you will need a good Dexterity score in order to hit the broad side of the proverbial barn. In addition, the biggest threat to your hitpoints in the back row will be area attacks, like Fireball. A high Reflex save could be what keeps you from dying.

For all of these reasons, Dexterity is a score you want to keep fairly high. A 14 is recommended, but you should never let this one go negative, as the associated penalties will hurt you far too much to be worth whatever gains you receive somewhere else. The only real exception here is, as usual, the Meleeficer. You will likely be in heavy armor (either by spending the feat or by multiclassing), and will be using melee attacks, which means the bulk of the advantages from Dexterity won't come into play, meaning you can keep this one low. A 10 is fine, but I still wouldn't let it go below an 8.

Intelligence
Despite what the Eberron Campaign Setting book says, this is your primary stat as an Artificer, not your Charisma. Of all of your various Artificer skills and abilities, almost all of them are keyed off Intelligence. All of the Craft skills work off of Intelligence, as are your Knowledge skills (namely Knowledge Arcana), and if you are acting as the replacement Rogue, you will have Search and Disable Traps keyed off your Intelligence to worry about. As with being a Human, the bonus skill points from having a high Intelligence are also quite important to the Artificer. Above and beyond that, your bonus Infusions are keyed to Intelligence. In short, every single defining attribute of the Artificer is based on your Intelligence score, save one, Use Magic Device.

The importance of this attribute cannot be over-emphasized. I would recommend no less than a 16 here, with the sky being the limit. A Meleeficer could skimp by with a 14, but given the number of self-buffing infusions they need to use, even they benefit greatly from a high Intelligence.

Wisdom
Wisdom is the least important of your mental stats, purely through the fact that Intelligence and Charisma are your key scores, and can be used as a dump stat if you so desire. Remember though that your Will save, as well as your Spot and Listen skills are running off of Wisdom, so you should not let this drop too low. A score of 10 should be the minimum, but I wouldn't advise putting more than a 12 here, as the benefits from a high wisdom do not count for much in the world of artifice.

One possible reason to boost this up is if you are going to be using a lot of Divine magic. Anything that requires a divine spell of a certain level to be cast will also require an underlying Wisdom score of 10 + Spell level. While you can fake a high Wisdom with with some difficulty with your UMD check (subtract 15 from your UMD check to get your emulated ability score), by the time you can actually make this check at a high enough level to be useful, you are generally better off with a stat boosting item or infusion. Generally, this isn't a problem with Arcane magic, because you will have a high Intelligence anyway, but it could be a problem with Wisdom, depending on how often you think you will run into it. Generally though, with only so many ability score choices, you're better off leaving this one fairly low, but definitely non-negative.

Charisma
The class entry for the Artificer claims that this is your most important stat, but in reality, it isn't all important. The only thing Charisma does for you as an Artificer is increase your Use Magic Device checks. It does not affect your Infusions, it does not affect any of your key skills, it does not help you deal damage directly, or survive damage you take. It only makes activating and crafting magic items easier, and that is all it does. And as with any other class with a large number of skill points, the ability to keep a skill maxxed out quickly means the actual ability modifier on the score becomes less and less important. Given all of the bonuses to UMD you can get through various methods, a high Charisma simply is not required to be a successful Artificer. I would not suggest putting anything higher than a 14 into this stat. However, that does not mean that it is not important, as being able to activate that wand at lower levels can be a matter of life or death, so under no circumstance should you ever let this score go below a 10.

Like with several of the other stats, the exception to this is the Meleeficer, who can actually afford to let this score stay low, or even potentially go negative. This will all be covered in much more detail in the Meleeficer entry later on, but they rely more on their infusions to buff themselves before going into battle, and far less on activating magical goodies in combat, meaning being able to activate things in one try (and hence having a high UMD check) are far less important, letting them get away with having an 8 to a 12 in Charisma and not suffering from it too much.

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2009, 10:56:43 PM »
Feats
*This Renegade Mastermaker Blastificer attempts to decide what feats he wants to pick to improve his boomstick.*

You may have heard this already, but its still true.  Which feats you will take will depend heavily on what kind of Artificer you want to be.  A Meleeficer will want to take feats such as Power Attack and Cleave, while a Blastificer would stock up on metamagic.  That said, the below feats are aimed at the generic Artificer.  For more particulars on what feats would be best for specific builds, please see the build section of the guide.

Point Blank ShotPrecise ShotRapid Reload
This is not a good feat to take, but if you intend to stick to using a crossbow as your primary mundane form of attack, you will need this in order to get multiple attacks per round at higher levels.  Honestly, if you are going to spend a feat to pick this up, mechanically you are better off spending it on a new weapon proficiency.

Weapon Proficiencies
The Artificer does not get a wide selection of weapon proficiencies, so it is only natural that if you wanted to focus on using a weapon to deal damage with instead of relying entirely on wands that you would want something more power and/or efficient than a mace or a crossbow.  Picking up proficiency in a one handed martial weapon for melee combat, or proficiency in the longbow can go a long way towards increasing your damage output in combat.  If you are simple enamored with the concept of using a crossbow, spend this feat on a repeating crossbow.

Armor Proficiencies
The Artificer comes with access to Medium Armor from the beginning, and this is generally enough for most characters.  However, especially for the Meleeficer, you will want to beef up your AC by taking Heavy Armor Proficiency.  Even for non-melee oriented Artificers, the fact that none of your class skills are effected by check penalties and that your AC can never really be too high, a suit of Full Plate along with a large steel shield can go a long way towards that goal.  If you combine the heavier armor with a Magic Vestments spell, your AC can go even higher.  A determined Artificer can make himself nearly unhittable, and this is where he starts.

MetamagicSkill Focus (Use Magic Device)Creation FeatsHeroic Spirit vs. Action BoostDragonmarksFavored in House
The Dragonmarked sourcebook provided some spelled out benefits for having Favored in House, many of which are quite useful for the Artificer.  There is far too much to cover everything here, but benefits include loans of gold that can be used for item crafting, free use of airships and lightning rail, introductions to powerful high ranking NPCs, right up to being given gifts of magical scrolls and other items.  The amount of clout your Artificer can get from this feat opens up a lot of doors that would remain closed to them, even as marked members of their house.

Artisan FeatsAttune Magic WeaponExtra Rings
This is a powerful feat, very, very powerful.  It lets you wear an extra magical ring on each hand, meaning you can benefit from four rings at the same time.  By comparison, the only other way to get this effect is the Extra Slot feat, which is in the Epic Level Handbook as an epic level feat, and even that would only give you one extra ring slot.  This gives you two, pre-epic, and since Forge Ring is a prereq for it, you are guaranteed to have access to all the rings you could want to fill those extra slots.

Wand MasteryCull Wand EssenceImproved HomunculusRapid InfusionWand Surge
A must have feat for Blastificers, and quite powerful for even normal Artificers that have Heroic Spirit.  Wand Surge allows you to spend Action Points instead of charges when using a wand, which means the Blastificer in particular can pour on the metamagic triggers with their wands without worrying about making a huge dent in their wallets.  Of course, the dent in their Action Points will be pretty big, but when you just need that extra mile out of your wand, this is how you get it.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2009, 11:01:18 PM by dark_samuari »

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2009, 10:56:59 PM »
Skills
*An Artificer Demonstrating His Knowledge of the Planes*

What skills your Artificer takes will have little bearing overall on how they turn out as far as Artificer types are concerned, but will have a lot of bearing on what they feel like to play. An Artificer that maxxes out his Search, Disable, Open Lock, and Appraise is going to feel very different from one that maxxes out Knowledge Arcana and Spellcraft, for example. But when it comes right down to it, as an Artificer, you job is to make things, so keeping at least one craft skill maxxed out is a good idea. Not only will you be able to make the base items you use for enchanting cheaper than you could buy them, but you can also enchant them while you make them, letting you kill two birds with one stone, time wise. Where you end up spending your skill points will be up to your own personal style of play, but a few key skills will be covered here, as well as all of the appropriate skill synergies to let you get the most out of your skill ranks.

Weapon and Armor SmithingArmorsmithing, Blacksmithing, Gemcutting, and SculptingKnowledgeSpellcraftSearch, Disable Device, and Open LockCraft (Alchemy)Craft Skills in GeneralAppraiseDecipher Script
Although not a class skill, Decipher Script can be important to the Artificer for both flavor and mechanical reasons. For flavor, the ability to make and crack codes and ciphers have long been associated with alchemists, and the idea of chalk boards filled with arcane scrawlings in the workshop have a nice feel to them. Mechanically, the Artificer can use Decipher Script to identify unknown scrolls without having to resort to using Read Magic. And, as will be shown next, a high enough Decipher Script check will give you a bonus to your Use Magic Device checks in order to activate a scroll.

Synergies

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2009, 10:57:17 PM »
Class Abilities
InfusionsCraft ReserveArtificer KnowledgeArtisan BonusItem CreationGetting Started
At the most basic level, the Artificer makes a magical item just like everybody else. You take the market value of the item you want to make, and divide by 1,000 to get the number of days it will take you to craft the item. Take the market value of the item and divide it by 25, and you will get how many xp the item costs to create (some or all of which you can supply from your Craft Reserve). Take the market value of the item and divide it by 2, and you will get how much gold it will cost you to make the item. This is the basic information you need to start the crafting process.

Cost to Craft (gp) = Market Price / 2
Cost to Craft (xp) = Market Price / 25
Time to Craft (in days) = Market Price / 1,000

The primary difference in what the Artificer does is that instead of casting the spells (if any) that are required as prerequisites, they make a Use Magic Device check to fake it. The DC is 20 + Caster Level of the spell being faked. So, lets say your Artificer wants to scribe a scroll of Magic Missile, a lvl 1 spell, they would need to make a UMD check with a DC of 20 + 1 = 21 (to make a scroll that only fires a single missile). If they pass the check, then they succeed in making the item. If you fail the check, it does not necessarily mean that you fail at making the item though. While crafting, you get to make one UMD check per day, plus a single extra check at the very end as a last ditch emergency check, giving you a minimum of two attempts. You only need to pass one of these checks in order to succeed, so even if you fail the first check, you will always have at least one more try at it. For the more expensive items, you will even get dozens of chances to make that single check, meaning you are virtually assured of success. Should the Artificer attempt to make an item that does not have a spell prereq to emulate, success is automatic. Making a +3 sword does not require you to cast any spells, you only need to be a high enough level, meaning there are no UMD checks to make, and the Artificer can craft it normally.

QuirksWalkthroughsCost to Craft (in gp) = market price / 2 = 16,000 gp / 2 = 8,000 gp.
It will cost us 8,000 gp to make this item

Cost to Craft (in xp) = market price / 25 = 16,000 gp / 25 = 640 xp.
It will cost 640 xp to make this item, which will have to come from the Craft Reserve, your actual xp total, or a combination of the two (so if you only have 600 points in your reserve, you could spend all 600, and only have to pay 40 real xp).

Time to Craft (in days) = market price / 1,000 = 16,000 / 1,000 = 16 days.
It will take just over 2 weeks of work (16 days) in order to make this item.

Now, the only thing we have left to figure out is what DC the UMD check is going to be, so we go to the PHB and look up the Keen Edge spell, and find that it is a lvl 3 spell, which means the minimum caster level for it is 5th. And we know that the UMD DC is 20 + Caster level, meaning this spell requires a DC 25 UMD check to successfully fake.

We bring all of that information together, and we get this:
Cost: 8,000 gp
XP: 640
Time: 16 days
UMD DCDay 1: Enchanting Begins.
Flavor text aside, the only mechanical aspect you need to worry about is the UMD check. Its DC 25, and you have a +8 to your UMD check, meaning you need to roll a 17 or higher to succeed. Pretty steep odds, so lets assume you fail the check. No big deal. Since it will take 16 days to craft, you get 16 tries to make the roll, plus an extra one at the end.

Day 2-12Day 13Day 16Crafting
Cost: 8,000 gp
XP: 640
Time: 16 days
UMD DCCustom Magical Item: Magic ZippoSpell: Prestidigitation
Level

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2009, 10:57:33 PM »
Class Abilities Continued

Craft Homunculusa. Expedititious Messengerb. Dedicated Wright
The next most useful is the Dedicated Wright. As an Artificer, your job is to build magical goodies, both for yourself and for your party. However, this means you would spend incredible amounts of down time crafting, which holds up everyone. To remedy this, create a Dedicated Wright. It will come with fairly high ranks in several crafting skills, and unlike the other homunculi prefers not to go out adventuring with you, preferring to stay home and work. While its nice to have him working on mundane gear for you, his real power comes from his ability to take over the process of crafting magical items for you. Once you have set the process in motion by gathering the needed materials and making a successful UMD to emulate the spells, you are then free to turn the creation over to your Dedicated Wright, and it will happily finish crafting the item, leaving you to go out to the tavern with friends, or go on an adventure with your party while it diligently works away. Of importance to note, however, is that the Dedicated Wright does *NOT* allow you to circumvent the normal magical item creation rules about making more than one magical item at a time. While it is true that it can free you up to work on other projects, the wright is still only an extension of you that is going through the necessary motions to finish the item. The link between you and the item remains the same, however, and trying to invest that energy in another magical item breaks the link to the first one. A small army of wrights could be turned into a mundane item factory if you so desired, but not a magical item factory.

c. Iron Defenderd. Ethereal Filchere. Arbalesterf. Persistent Harrierg. PackmateRetain EssenceMetamagic Spell Trigger/Completion

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2009, 10:57:50 PM »
Equipment
"Now don't fucking destroy this, it costs a lot of my god damn reserve!"

The Artificer has, at the same time, both the easiest and the worst time with equipment.  With the ability to craft and enchant literally anything in the game, whatever equipment a player could ever desire is only a matter of gold and time before he gets it.  At the same time, that very selection can make the matter of trying to pick equipment a staggering problem simply because of the overwhelming amount of choices to pick from.  However, there are some good guidelines to keep in mind when picking your gear, so lets go over the basics first.

WeaponsArmorShieldsAssorted Mundane GearMagical Gear

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2009, 10:58:08 PM »
Multiclassing
*Sometimes Artificer/Clerics Can Come Out All Right*

Base ClassesSorcerer/WizardClericOtherAs SecondaryPrCCannith Wand AdeptAlchemist SavantRenegade Mastermaker
Also from Magic of Eberron, the Renegade Mastermaker is a 10 lvl transitive PrC that changes the character into a Warforged. It starts by giving you a free battlefist which you can infuse, that over time gains free magical plusses, and then proceeds to give you things like damage reduction, the ability to install WF components, and more as you slowly turn into a Warforged. At level 10, your type changes to Living Construct, and you gain a bonus WF feat, which can include any of the body feats normally restricted to first level. Many people see this PrC as mechanically questionable, as it is basically a 10 level PrC to turn you into an LA +0 creature (as opposed to other transitive classes that turn you into half dragons or elementals). There is also debate on if the capstone ability that changes your type and makes you count as a Warforged would mean you no longer meet the racial prereqs for a dragonmark or not.

Unbound ScrollOther

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2009, 10:58:35 PM »
The Dragonmarked Houses
*House Cannith gettin' down to business.*
House CannithHouse DeneithHouse Ghallanda
Members of House Ghallanda typically do not have the disposition to adventure into the unknown lands, to fight fearsome beasts, and steal away in the night with a sack full of ancient gold. No, you leave that to your patrons. A warm fire, a hot meal, a cool drink, and a soft bed are your treasures, the comforts of a civilized life. And in Eberron, a comfortable and civilized life means that the use of magic is not far away.

As a Ghallandran Artificer, you make extensive use of Craft Wondrous Item to make all of the little trinkets and magical gadgets that make a civilized life civilized. Wash basins enchanted with cleaning magics that take out even the most stubborn of spots, mugs and goblets enchanted to gentle warm or cool a drink to just the right temperature, and not to mention numerous everbright lanterns and torches to provide that warm cheery flickering glow that only a fire can produce, without the risk of burning down the inn when a customer with a bit too much tal in his system stumbles into one.

Although not as well known, but perhaps of greater importance, you also make small items that keep your innkeepers safe from harm, or that can help charm a reluctant man to talk more freely. You have no desire to horde knowledge to use against anyone the way a gnome would, but your house does have a reputation for being able to find the right person to contact for any occasion, and where your natural good will and charming personality fail, a little extra push from that magic trinket in your pocket just might make you a new friend, and a valuable new contact.

House JorascoHouse KundarakHouse LyrandarHouse MedaniHouse OrienHouse PhiarlanHouse SivisHouse Tharashk
Strengthened by the power of the Mark of Finding, House Tharashk produces some of the finest bounty hunters in Khovaire, and has recently taken to providing monstrous soldiers and guards from Droaam that have put House Deneith on edge, unused to competition, especially as strong of competition as this. For brute strength, indomitable spirit, and the ability to find anyone or anything, look no further than House Tharashk.

As a Tharashk Artificer, you are in a minority. Very few of your house take the path of the Artificer, instead preferring more direct routes to combat prowess, but for whatever reason, you have become an Artificer. If you are human, you likely use your skills in a more traditional manner, crafting items (particularly weapons and armor) to aid in battle, but also wondrous items to aid monstrous characters better fit in with the rest of the world that has grown up around them. As a half-orc Artificer, you are almost assuredly a Meleeficer. You do not see yourself so much as an Artificer, but as a hunter and warrior who uses magic to enhance his capabilities. Although not as tough in a straight fight as your more traditionally trained brothers in combat, you more than make up for that with the devistating magics you can infuse into your weapons, and the hardest of armors that are all but inpenetrable to attack. You see opponents as prey, taking the time to stalk them and prepare, which melds perfectly with the time required to set up your various infusions. When you attack, it is an ambush of ferocious intensity, with strength of arm and steel reinforced with deadly spells and enchantments. It is rare that your targets survive long enough to even wonder who is attacking them.

As an adventuring Tharashk Artificer, it is likely that you are out making a name for yourself. Promotion in your house is done primarily through skill and strength, with the mightiest and most successful rising through the ranks, and what better way to make a name for yourself than to adventure, taking on all comers? You may also be on a bounty, hired to track and recover a particular person or item. Whatever your reason for adventuring, you are sure to make a name for yourself. With so few Artificers in your house, novelty will be your foot in the door, at least until your heavily buffed axe has time to carve another entrance for you.

House ThuranniHouse Vadalis

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #10 on: October 03, 2009, 10:58:58 PM »
Archetype Examples
"I choose you Iron Defender!" screams this Hordeficer
Blastificera. Recommended Ability Scoresb. Recommended Feats

Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot: Attack wands come in two flavors, area attacks, and ranged touch attacks. With ranged touch attack wands (such as rays and energy missiles), you will have to contend with firing into melee the majority of the time, which means you will suffer penalties. These feats remove those penalties, allowing you to hit more often.

Sculpt Spell: In addition to ranged touch attacks, you will use a great deal of area attacks, such as Fireball. Normally, the use of these wands will be restricted by the battlefield, positions of the enemy, and the positions of your friends. A tightly packed group of enemies is ideal for a Fireball, but not when your party members are going toe to toe with them in melee, putting them in the area of effect as well. To overcome this limitation and bring your full arsenal to bear, Sculpt Spell will let you tailor your area attacks to hit only the combat squares you want it to, meaning your fireballs can become meandering snakes of flame that twist in and out to incinerate your enemies, while leaving your friends unharmed.

Empower Spell, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Energy Substitution, Energy Admixture:
These are your primary sources of power and flexibility as a Blastificer. Empower and Maximize allow you to get more raw damage per round out of your wands, while Energy Substitution gives you a good deal of flexibility. Pick an uncommon energy type for your substitution, and should the opponent you face be resistant or even immune to the energy type of your wand, you can change it for free to something they are far less likely to resist (for example, if you primarly use fire based wands, like Fireball and Scorching Ray, take Energy Substitution (Cold) to throw those fire based creatures for a loop). Energy Admixture has the same benefits of Energy Substitution (and has Substitution for a prereq), but also allows you to add on extra damage of another type, letting you hit for two kinds of damage in one attack, giving you the best of both worlds, extra flexibility and extra damage in a single trigger. With the restriction on the number of metamagics per trigger, the value of Admixture has risen greatly. The most powerful of the metamagic feats for the Blastificer however is Quicken Spell, which officially allows you to reduce the time it takes to activate the wand to a swift action. You can only do this once per round, but it will let you double your damage output by simply allowing you to fire your wand twice as many times per round.

Skill Focus (Use Magic Device): You will rely exclusively upon your wands as your primary source of damage, which means that you will be relying a great deal on your UMD checks to activate those wands. Ask any Wizard or Sorcerer player that wears armor with ASF, and they can tell you that you will always lose your spell when you need it most, and the same usually applies to Blastificers. Until your UMD check is so high that you can pass the check even on a natural 1, you will always run the risk of failing the roll, which means you will lose an entire round of combat in the process. Skill Focus will up your chances of success by 15%, making it much more likely that you will be able to reliably hit your target. Even at higher levels, you will be able to get some use out of this feat when crafting high powered staves, although the odds are that it will have ceased to be a useful combat feat somewhere around level 12 (where you will likely have that total +19 to UMD).

Wand Surge: A key ability for the Blastificer, especially at later levels when you are using particularly expensive wands. The ability to use an Action Point in place of a charge could equate to hundreds or even thousands of gold saved per use. And since you will not be burning through AP to quicken a Bane infusion like the weapon based Artificers, you should have plenty to spare.

c. Recommended GearMeleeficera. Recommended Ability Scoresb. Recommended Feats

Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword), Weapon Focus (Bastard Sword), Weapon Specialization (Bastard Sword)Power Attack and Cleave: Another staple pair of the melee based Fighter that serves the Meleeficer well. It is best to pick these feats up only if you select a weapon that can be used two handed (such as the bastard sword, or a greatsword), so that you can get maximum effect from your Power Attacks and follow up Cleaves. Remember that with a Bane weapon you are getting an effective +2 to your hit and damage, meaning you can routinely Power Attack for 2 points (assuming you have a BAB of +2 or higher) without taking any penalties (as the bonus to hit from Bane will cancel them out). With a two handed weapon, this lets you turn out +6 damage per swing at your normal BAB, and still add another +2d6 on top of that.

Attune Magic WeaponImproved Toughness: While the Toughness feat is going to be worthless for virtually any character above second level or so, the Improved Toughness feat is quite useful. +1 hp per level is extremely useful for any Meleeficer, as it means you will have hitpoints that rival that of a straight up Fighter. A +1 to any die roll is the equivolent, mathematically, as increasing the size of the die one step. Hence, Improved Toughness would give the Artificer 1d6+1 hp per level, which has the same average total as a d8 hitdice. Your Fighter hitdice would also increase from a d10 to the equivolent of a d12. On the front lines, every hitpoint counts, and Improved Toughness delivers.

Other than this, look for feats with the same eye you would use when playing a Fighter.

c. Recommended GearBuffificera. Recommended Ability Scores
The Buffificer can use the generic Artificer ability scores without modification.

b. Recommended Feats

Reach Spell: Reprinted in Complete Divine, this feat turns any touch ranged spell into a ray, allowing you to administer your buffs from the sidelines without directly endangering yourself. The party is counting on you to keep them at their best, and you are no use to them if you run into combat only to get yourself killed, especially if it was your support that made the fights winnable in the first place.

Etch Schemac. Recommended GearArcherficera. Recommended Ability Scores
Much like the Meleeficer, the Archerficer can afford to lower their Charisma, as they will not be required to make the near constant UMD checks of other Artificer builds. Keep Dexterity as your highest stat, and while Strength is not absolutely vital to the build, a high strength combined with a composite bow will go a long ways to increasing your overall damage output. Never let Strength go negative, however, as those negatives will apply to your damage rolls. Constitution does not have to be nearly as high as the Meleeficer, but more in range with the generic Artificer. Intelligence is not strictly needed, but like the Meleeficer, you may feel the pinch from losing out on bonus infusions per day.

b. Recommended Feats

Weapon Focus (Longbow) & Weapon Specialization (Longbow): Without the ability to Power Attack with a ranged weapon, every point of damage you can eek out of your bow is important. As with any weapons based character, Weapon Specialization is a must.

Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot: Much like Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization, these feats are the basis for almost every archer build, regardless of class, although you will not likely get much use out of Point Blank Shot if played properly, as you will rarely be within 30 feet of your target. However, as the prereq to all of the other archery feats, it is required.

Attune Weaponc. Recommended GearHordeficera. Recommended Ability Scores
The Hordeficer can use the default Artificer stats with no changes.

b. Recommended Feats

Improved HomunculiCraft Construct: Another important feat, although not quite on the same level of Improved Homunculi. Your horde is impressive enough with only your homunculi, but it becomes downright awe inspiring when it is lead by a massive Shield/Runic Guardian or Iron Golem, and much more capable of dealing with even the most potent of threats. It will also give you the option of making lower powered constructs to take the place of the Shield Guardian at lower levels, namely Effigies.

Reach SpellEtch Schema: A Hordeficer will be using the same infusions over, and over, and over again, to the point he will likely drain his infusions per day before he has fully buffed out his entire horde, especially if he has to go full out more than once per day. Minor Schema act much like a scroll form of Eternal Wands. With Etch Schema, you will be able to make one schema for each member of your horde to hold things like energy resistance spells, repair spells, general buffs, or whatever else you need.

c. Recommended Gear
The Hordeficer has the most minimalistic needs of any Artificer build, primarily because of their reliance on their horde to provide combat prowess and defensive abilities, but also because the bulk of their character wealth should be going into their hordes in order to keep up their hitdice. What gear you do keep your yourself should still be used primarily for your constructs, such as eternal wands and schema for your daily effects, buffing and repair wands and potions. However, if you find yourself with extra wealth to spend, look into stealth related items. A ring of invisibility will be incredibly valuable. Being invisible would allow you to remain on the battlefield, relatively safe from harm, while giving you a clear vantage point to direct combat from. And since you are not the one attacking, even the lesser ring serves you well. Failing that, Elvenkind gear to allow you to hide the old fashioned way will do. The idea is to remove yourself as a target entirely, while still letting you see whats going on. While you could rely on your telepathic link to your homunculi to try and fight through, there is no substitute for actually being able to see whats going on.

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #11 on: October 03, 2009, 10:59:23 PM »
Houserules & Variants
ScrollsPrCMagic Item Crafting
The pros and cons of allowing custom magic item creation is covered in more detail in the DM section of the guide, but here we will touch more on the generic idea, as opposed to the implementation. By the default rules, an Artificer can only build what items have been published in the books, solely because there are no player accessible rules for creating new magic items, and what rules there are on the subject are only DM guidelines, not something that is in a player usable format.

Making the houserule to allow Artificers to create custom magic items will go a long way towards making the class more enjoyable to play, allow for more unique characters, and as long as its monitored, should not disrupt game balance. However, exactly how you would allow this as a DM needs to be taken into account (as is covered in the DM section of the guide), and any custom item creation needs to be closely watched.

Psionic ArtificerDecipher Script
As written, the Artificer does not gain Decipher Script as a class skill. However, there is ample flavor based reasons for why they should. For a class that treats magic as being something more akin to a science than an art, and the ability of Lesser Schema to hold infusions, there is room for the Artificer to be proficient with figuring out lines of scrawling arcane formulas and the languages found on ancient ruins. From a mechanical aspect, the Artificer has scroll use as an integral part of the class, yet without resorting to a Spell Storing Infusion to get Read Magic, he has no way of identifying a discovered scroll. As such, a growing number of DMs are beginning to give the Artificer Decipher Script as a class skill. As a balancing factor, it would likely be advisable to remove a class skill to even things out. Arguably, the most inappropriate skill the Artificer has on their list is Knowledge (The Planes), as it is rather odd that knowing how to make magical items would also let them know about the planes of existence, especially considering that only the gnomes are proficient in binding elementals.

Material Components
All Infusions must be infused either into an item, or a construct. There are no exceptions to this rule, so it seems redundant to require infusions to have non-costly material components. While it can be quite flavorful to carry about a spell component pouch in order to have ready access to baubles to infuse, the idea of actually requiring a tuft of rabbit fur in order to infuse your weapon seems fairly silly. There would be no harm in the slightest done to simply remove non-costly material components from Infusions, or to give the Artificer Eschew Material Components as a bonus class ability at level 1.

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #12 on: October 03, 2009, 10:59:54 PM »
Tricks of the Trade

With all of the different ways to play an Artificer, and all of the subtle nuances about the class (both in the game and out of it), a few pointers on what works, what works really well, and some general advice.

Team PlayHandy Infusionsa. Personal Weapon Augmentationb. Spell Storing Infusion
Behind the Screen, DM Information
Use Magic Device BoostersCustom Item CreationKeeping an Artificer in Check
With the nearly unlimited versatility the Artificer can bring to the table, the potential for near unlimited game breaking power comes not far behind. As such, it is probably not a good idea to let an inexperienced or immature player get their hands on the Artificer class, as it will almost assuredly cause you nothing but headaches. But, assuming you do have one in the party and you need a way to keep them in line, there are some basics that will go a long way to curtailing their activities.

a. Knowledge Checksb. Resources

dark_samuari

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #13 on: October 03, 2009, 11:00:32 PM »
*Reserved*
For builds, items, spells and anything else the community at large feels would be a fair addition to the handbook.

Endarire

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #14 on: October 05, 2009, 01:44:13 PM »
"boarderline" should be borderline.

I also request that you color the archetypes blue for easy scanning.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #15 on: October 06, 2009, 04:29:06 AM »
Dragonborn Artificer 13/Sentinel of Bharrai 7... so you can be a fire breathing bear with laser beams!
---
"The late, sedate, and no to great." ~Surreal

Some Handy Links for CO Work (WotC 339 version) - a compilation of links for base/prestige class handbooks, tactics, spellcasting, character builds, D&D databases, etc.
Archived version of the above with working links

The Mango Index - a giant index for all things D&D and where to find them
The Mango List Reborn! - rehosted by KellKheraptis

Lists of Stuff - listing of class features etc and how to get them, etc. sort of like above but a little more specific and sorted by category
Polymorph, Wildshape and Shapechange, oh my! (comparison charts) - side-by-side comparison of all the various form altering abilities
Alternative Class Features
alternative ways to get class skills

awaken DM golem

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2009, 05:50:17 PM »
There were several threads about the Artificer on 339, but none of them looked like the later build guides.
I don't remember any Quick-Start type thread either, but some discussion has occurred.

iirc - All the cheap crafting feats, is the CO-baseline version.

The_Mad_Linguist

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2009, 06:35:58 PM »
No mention of the landlord feat?  I am appalled.
Linguist, Mad, Unique, none of these things am I
My custom class: The Priest of the Unseen Host
Planetouched Handbook
Want to improve your character?  Then die.

Emy

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2009, 07:19:01 PM »

Nope. The Potion Belt lets you draw one potion from it per round as a free action, but that's the only one of those 3 containers in FRCS that has that ability.

If you prove me wrong, I'll be very pleased.

No mention of the landlord feat?  I am appalled.

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Re: The Unofficial Artificer Player's Guide 3.0
« Reply #19 on: October 10, 2009, 03:11:57 PM »
Not sure if it is optimal since I don't know if it is possible but I recall reading somewere that a warforged artificer could craft himself as a component a bag of holding type III I think inside its chest and use it as a working space for its dedicated wrights