Artificer (Class)

We build shit. We do it better then you.

Base Attack Bonus

Medium

Fort Save

Low

Ref Save

Low

Will Save

High

Skills

Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (architecture and engineering) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points

4 + Int

Hit Points

4 per level

Proficiencies

All simple weapons; Light Armor, Medium Armor, and Shields (not Tower shields).

{{Class Chart

|Max Level=20

|Base Attack=Medium

|Fort Save=Low

|Ref Save=Low

|Will Save=High

|Special1=Artificer Knowledge, Artisan Bonus, Disable Trap, Item Creation, Scribe Scroll

|Special2=Brew Potion

|Special3=Craft Wondrous Item

|Special4=Craft homunculus, bonus feat

|Special5=Craft Magic Arms and Armor, retain essence

|Special6=Metamagic Spell Trigger

|Special7=Craft Wand

|Special8=Bonus Feat

|Special9=Craft Rod

|Special11=Metamagic Spell Completion

|Special12=Craft Staff, Bonus Feat

|Special13=Skill Mastery

|Special14=Forge Ring

|Special16=Bonus Feat

|Special20=Bonus Feat

}}

Craft Reserve

An artificer receives a pool of points he can spend instead of experience points when crafting a magic item. Each time the artificer gains a new level, he receives a new craft reserve; leftover points from the previous level do not carry over. If the points are not spent, they are lost. An artificer can also use his craft reserve to supplement the XP cost of the item he is making, taking a portion of the cost from his craft reserve and a portion from his own XP.

Artificer Knowledge

An artificer can make a special artificer knowledge check with a bonus equal to his artificer level + his Int modifier to detect whether a specific item has a magical aura.

:An artificer cannot take 10 or take 20 on this check. A particular item can only be examined in this fashion one time; if the check fails, the artificer can learn no more about that object.

Artisan Bonus

An artificer gains a +2 bonus on Use Magic Device checks to activate an item of a kind for which he has the prerequisite item creation feat. For example, an artificer who has the Craft Wand feat gains a +2 bonus on checks to use a spell from a wand.

Disable Trap

An artificer can use the Search skill to locate traps when the task has a Difficulty Class higher than 20. Finding a nonmagical trap has a DC of at least 20, or higher if it is well hidden. Finding a magic trap has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create the trap.

:An artificer can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magic traps. Usually the DC is 25 + the level of the spell used to create the trap.

:An artificer who beats a trap's DC by 10 or more with a Disable Device check can study a trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it (with his party) without disarming it.

Item Creation (Ex)

An artificer can create a magic item even if he does not have access to the spells that are prerequisites for the item. The artificer must make a successful Use Magic Device check (DC 20 + caster level) to emulate each spell normally required to create the item. Thus, to make a lst-level wand of magic missile, an artificer would need a Use Magic Device check result of 21 or higher. To create a bottle of air (caster level 7th), he would need a check result of 27 or higher to emulate the water breathing prerequisite.

:The artificer must make a successful check for each prerequisite for each item he makes. If he fails a check, he can try again each day until the item is complete (see Creating Magic Items, page 282 of the Dungeon Master's Guide). If he comes to the end of the crafting time and he has still not successfully emulated one of the powers, he can make one final check—his last-ditch effort, even if he has already made a check that day. If that check also fails, then the creation process fails and the time, money, and XP expended to craft the item are lost.

:For purposes of meeting item prerequisites, an artificer's effective caster level equals his artificer level +2. If the item duplicates a spell effect, however, it uses the artificer's actual level as its caster level. Costs are always determined using the item's minimum caster level or the artificer's actual level (if it is higher). Thus, a 3rd-level artificer can make a scroll of fireball, since the minimum caster level for fireball is 5th. He pays the normal cost for making such a scroll with a caster level of 5th: 5 X 3 X 12.5 = 187 gp and 5 sp, plus 15 XP. But the scroll's actual caster level is only 3rd, and it produces a weak fireball that deals only 3d6 points of damage.

:An artificer can also make Use Magic Device checks to emulate nonspell requirements, including alignment and race, using the normal DCs for the skill. He cannot emulate skill or feat requirements, however, including item creation feat prerequisites. He must meet the caster level prerequisite, including the minimum level to cast a spell he stores in a potion, wand, or scroll.

:An artificer's infusions do not meet spell prerequisites for creating magic items. For example, an artificer must still employ the Use Magic Device skill to emulate the light spell to create a wand of light, even though light appears on his infusion list.

Bonus Feat

An artificer gains every item creation feat as a bonus feat at or near the level at which it becomes available to spellcasters. He gets Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat at 1st level, Brew Potion at 2nd level, Craft Wondrous Item at 3rd level, Craft Magic Arms and Armor at 5th level, Craft Wand at 7th level, Craft Rod at 9th level, Craft Staff at 12th level, and Forge Ring at 14th level.

:In addition, an artificer gains a bonus feat at 4th level and every four levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th). For each of these bonus feats, the artificer must choose a metamagic feat or a feat from the following list: Attune Magic Weapon, Craft Construct (see the Monster Manual, page 303), Exceptional Artisan, Extra Rings, Extraordinary Artisan, Legendary Artisan, Wand Mastery.

Craft Homunculus (Ex)

At 4th level, an artificer can create a homunculus as if he had the Craft Construct feat. He must emulate the spell requirements (arcane eye, mending, and mirror image) as normal for making a magic item, and he must pay all the usual gold and XP costs (though he can spend points from his craft reserve). An artificer can also upgrade an existing homunculus that he owns, adding 1 Hit Die at a cost of 2,000 gp and 160 XP.

:If an artificer gives his homunculus more than 6 Hit Dice, it becomes a Small creature and advances as described in the Monster Manual (+4 Str, —2 Dex, damage increases to Id6). The homunculus also gains 10 extra hit points for being a Small construct.

:An artificer's homunculus can have as many Hit Dice as its master's Hit Dice minus 2. No matter how many Hit Dice it has, a homunculus never grows larger than Small.

Retain Essence (Su)

At 5th level, an artificer gains the ability to salvage the XP from a magic item and use those points to create another magic item. The artificer must spend a day with the item, and he must also have the appropriate item creation feat for the item he is salvaging. After one day, the item is destroyed and the artificer adds the XP it took to create the item to his craft reserve. These points are lost if the artificer does not use them before gaining his next level.

:For example, an artificer wants to retain the essence of a wand of summon monster IV that has 20 charges. Originally created (like all wands) with 50 charges, it required 840 XP when initially made, or 16.8 XP (840 - 50) per charge. The artificer is able to recover the XP from the remaining charges. He puts 336 XP (16.8 X 20) into his craft reserve.

Metamagic Spell Trigger (Su)

At 6th level, an artificer gains the ability to apply a metamagic feat he knows to a spell trigger item (generally a wand). He must have the appropriate item creation feat for the spell trigger item he is using. Using this ability expends additional charges from the item equal to the number of effective spell levels the metamagic feat would add to a spell.

:For example, an artificer can quicken a spell cast from a wand by spending 5 charges (4 additional charges), empower the spell by spending 3 charges, or trigger it silently by spending 2 charges. The Still Spell feat confers no benefit when applied to a spell trigger item.

:An artificer cannot use this ability when using a spell trigger item that does not have charges, such as prayer beads.

Metamagic Spell Completion (Su)

At 11th level, an artificer gains the ability to apply a metamagic feat he knows to a spell completion item (generally a scroll). He must have the appropriate item creation feat for the spell completion item he is using. The DC for the Use Magic Device check is equal to 20 + (3 X the modified level of the spell). For example, applying the Empower Spell feat to a scroll of cone of cold, creating a 7th-level effect, has a DC of 20 + (3 X 7), or 41. An artificer can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Int modifier.

Skill Mastery

At 13th level, an artificer can take 10 when making a Spellcraft or Use Magic Device check, even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so. This ability circumvents the normal rule that a character may not take 10 on a Use Magic Device check.

Artificer Options

A number of the additional options in this book make good choices for an artificer. Feats: Attune Magic Weapon, Bind Elemental, Exceptional Artisan, Extra Rings, Extraordinary Artisan, Legendary Artisan, Wand Mastery.

Artificer Starting Gold

A lst-level artificer begins play with 5d4 X 10 gp (average 125 gp).