Today, I’m bringing back another old subclass of mine that I totally forgot to do. The still unpublished WotC artificer is a pretty good addition to the game… save for the fact that it has no tinkerer subclass. Tinkering is the core concept behind the entire artificer fantasy – and it needs a specialization of its own.

 

So, read on below for more of the Tinkerer Artificer!

Tinkerer Artificer

You can also find the PDF version here.

 

The Tinkerer is your classic magitech character – crossbows, robot guardians, and magical armor abound. It’s all about devices with this one, tinkering and making little doo-dads that may turn out explosively more powerful than they originally appeared to be.

One thing to note – the original WotC artificer gives a mechanical guardian at 6th level. This subclass includes an alternative to that feature, which I think allows for the artificer class to better fit its class fantasy. The alternate feature doesn’t have to be used with non-tinkerer artificers, but is required for tinkerers to use (otherwise things get weird and redundant).

 

FEATURES:

• Do you like crossbows? I hope so! Choose from a list of mechanically enhanced crossbows for your character to use!
• And of course you’ve got to have a friend, or a giant mechanical construct of your very own, right from the get go!
• Magitech armor seems like icing on the cake, but is more about ensuring you don’t get smashed into icing by your own creations!
• Finally, you can trick out both yourself and your mechanical friend with a variety of magitech gadgets!

 

DESIGN NOTES:

• This one hasn’t changed too much from when I posted it last, though I have swapped out the elemental damage crossbow bolts for Chromatic Armor. The change gives the subclass a bit of balance between offensive and defensive abilities, which it was sorely lacking before.
• Otherwise, I’m pretty happy with this. It’s come a long way from the first iteration (which featured cantrip-mimicking robots, of all things), and it feels much tighter and more on-theme than before. That being said, I haven’t really played much Eberron or other magitech in D&D, so maybe I’m missing something.

 

Let me know what you think!