Author Topic: [3.5] What should I know about DMing an Artificer?  (Read 2505 times)

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Endarire

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[3.5] What should I know about DMing an Artificer?
« on: October 17, 2009, 03:38:38 AM »
This is my first time DMing an Artificer.  I can see how they may be powerful if they have gold and prep time, though they seem to blow through scrolls like a man with a runny nose.

My campaign is in a homebrew world without action points and Warforged, but the Artificer concept is exactly what the player wants.  He intends to make all sorts of constructs ('puppets') and steampunky items.  I'm OK with this wily old 2E player making zany creations as it livens up the game and hones my improvisation skills.

While he's only level 1 so far and can't yet fulfill his big dreams, how should I expect his presence to affect the game, especially in combat?  So far, he enjoys using grease scrolls to lay traps and magic missile scrolls to deal damage.

How much downtime does he need to be effective?  How much more money does he need than his fellow party members to be competitive?

I allow all material pending my approval.  Current other party members include a summon-happy Druid, a melee Cleric who loves to heal, a crowd control-heavy Wizard, a spiked chain tripper Fighter, and a semi-sneaky thuggish Soulknife.  All these characters are optimized, except perhaps the Soulknife, but that's probably another post.
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Brullig

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Re: [3.5] What should I know about DMing an Artificer?
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2009, 08:14:59 AM »
You don't have to give him any extra money, just provide him the opportunity to sell some of the things he makes! (Can create most things at 50% of base market value cost; even if merchant only buys for 60-70% with a bad bartering roll, that's still significant profit). There's the whole crafting time problem, but that goes away with dedicated wrights :)

PhaedrusXY

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Re: [3.5] What should I know about DMing an Artificer?
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2009, 06:15:30 PM »
Enveloping Pit + Dedicated Wright(s) = no down time needed!

He also doesn't really need money per se, just junky magic items that no one else wants.

He shouldn't need any extra money to be effective.
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veekie

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Re: [3.5] What should I know about DMing an Artificer?
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2009, 04:28:49 PM »
He does need a shop or something to trade with though thats not usually a problem.
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Bozwevial

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Re: [3.5] What should I know about DMing an Artificer?
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2009, 04:38:35 PM »
That's one of the great things about an Artificer. That Ring of Boot-Shining you rolled on the random treasure table that no one wants? He wants it, and with a little gold from the Fighter's share of the loot, he can turn it into something useful for the Fighter.

Unbeliever

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Re: [3.5] What should I know about DMing an Artificer?
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2009, 06:55:01 PM »
I agree w/ the above, having an artificer is actually kind of freeing for the DM I've found.  I'd also be generous about letting him have a Dedicated Wright that does his work, either just at camp (it doesn't need to sleep), in a portable hole, or even at home once they get easy teleport-type travel options.  That kills the downtime aspect of the character, and making that hard is tantamount to saying "please don't play an artificer." 

The only concern that comes to mind, barring a few shenanigans based on tenuous readings of the rules which doesn't seem to be an issue w/ your player, is that artificers can require some out of game time to play w/ all their bookkeeping (a trait they share w/ summoners).  I'd suggest doing as much of that between sessions as possible, making allowances for the occasional situational thing -- e.g., let's scribe some scrolls of fire resistance before we forge into the dragon's lair.  Other players can be helpful in this regard, too, like that fighter can (in and out of character) talk about what sort of shiny thing he'd like. 

Depending on how into clockwork creations and rules you and the player are, I'd also suggest the Craft Effigy feat (CArc) -- it's totally balanced assuming you don't layer templates on them, which you obviously shouldn't.  A lot of constructs that you can make w/ Craft Construct are a pain, like golems.  There's also a thread called the Mechonomicon lying around which has a bunch of neat oddities listed in it.  That's some levels down the line, but there it is.