Tim the janitor's page

The way the class is currently built doesn't seem quite like you're trying to invent something. The process of invention goes: see a problem a tool would simplify > figure out what the tool should do and build it > look at how your tool id malfunctioning and learn from the mistakes to improve it. The advancing abilities your invention can have definitely fit this but the unstable effect with constant explosions and also just having a fully functional device at level one makes the class feel less like an inventor and more like a pesh head with a screwdriver that stole a toaster. Which is definitely a kind of inventor but shouldn't be the base in my opinion.

A alternative to the current design that i think might fit the general theme of inventor, and should allow many of the themes that are currently present to persist is as follows:

The abilities your inventions can have at different tiers have die numbers assigned to them within their block (all the level one weapon abilities would be one block). When an inventor takes time to rebuild/tweak their invention they have to roll against a crafting DC. Each tier should have its own DC that is difficult for when an inventor first has access to the tier but is very doable when the inventor is about to move up to the next. This shows the inventor making many mistakes when they're starting and slowly stepping it up as they learn from mistakes. The results of the check against that DC could go as follows (may need balancing):
Crit success: player can pick an ability or roll a random one from the next tier of abilities.
Success: player gets to pick an ability.
Failure: player has to roll a random ability.
Crit Failure: player has to roll a random ability and if they critically fail a roll that uses the invention (attacks for the weapon, saves for the armor, the robot doing anything on its own) the invention will explode and be rendered non functional until rebuilt. However, if the inventor takes rime to study the broken parts of the invention they get a bonus (+5 maybe) to the next check they make to rebuild it.

I feel like this setup, instead of over pumping machines and making them explode a lot, would better represent the process of invention, improvement, and attempting to implement your tools; even if they aren't quite working as you wanted.

So the effect of the spell Spellwrack requires that a creature is affected by a spell with "a duration". It will then deal damage to that creature and reduce the duration of the spell effecting them by a round, each round.

Sigil can be cast on a creature.

level 9 Sigil has a duration of infinite, but still a duration. Or 5 minutes to scrub off (if you leave it somewhere they can reach it, or if they know its there)

Sigil + Spellwrack = death.

So androids being able to survive in the vacume of space and all gave me the idea to hop (or grapple) from my crews space ship to our opponents and deal damage to their systems from the outside. There are no rules for anything dealing damage to ships except for other ships. There are also no explosives that i can use with the detonator exept grenades (which makes it kinda useless). Final point, with all of the classes that work with tech there is a huge lack of destruction ability as far as ive seen. (I may have overlooked things so if there are rules pretaining to this please let me know)