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A buddy of mine came up with the core idea for this potential Archetype. We hashed it out and have a solid baseline that needs some polish. Essentially born from wanting something more for Talismans. Figured best to post it and get some feedback. (Anything in Parenthesis is my comments on the reasoning behind some of the rules, ignore them when reading the rules for clarity). Without further to do:
Artificer Archetype
Feat Level 2 (Could be higher looking at other Archetypes, but wanted to start at 2 and see what people think.)
Requirement: Expert in Craft, Int 14, Magical Crafting* (May waive the Magical Crafting feat requirement.)
Grants Talisman Specialist (Based VERY roughly off of Snare Specialist, though I generally have little love for Snares as implemented currently). You specialize in creating magical trinkets to assist your allies on their adventures. If your proficiency rank in Crafting is expert, you gain the formulas for three common or uncommon Talismans (page 565). If your rank is master, you gain 6. If your rank is legendary, you gain 9. Each day during your daily preparations, you can prepare four Talismans from your formula book for without paying their cost. You craft these special Talismans as a part of your daily preparations, they do not require any additional time to craft. The number of Talismans increases to six if you have master proficiency in Crafting and eight if you have legendary proficiency in Crafting. Talismans prepared in this way don’t cost you any resources to Craft. (This is essentially carbon copied from the Snare Specialist Ranger Class Feat. I do not necessarily like the way you gain Forumulas through this rule, nor necessarily the amount of "free" talismans it grants. Feedback would be appreciated.)
Level 4 Feat: Quick Talismans
You can affix talismans rapidly, potentially even in combat. If your proficiency rank in Craft is Expert, you can affix a Talisman in 1 minute. If your rank is Master you can affix a Talisman in 3 interact actions. If your rank is Legendary you can affix a Talisman in 1 interact action. (Feels pretty standard.)
Level 4 Feat: Extended Talismans
Your Talismans are more potent than the standard versions. When a Talisman you have crafted is activated, the activating character makes a DC 15 flat check. On a Success the Talisman remains potent and is not consumed. On a failure the Talisman is consumed as normal. (Not sure how much mileage a character can really get out of this. Was considering lowering the DC of the Flat check based on Craft proficiency. We wanted to avoid making players track "charges" or something similar.)
Level 6 Feat: Powerful Talismans
Your Talismans are more powerful than the standard versions. Talisman effects lasting less than one turn now last until the end of your turn. Talisman effects lasting until the end of your turn now last until the end of your next turn. A Talisman with an effect triggered by a failed check does not extend its duration. (The intent here is mostly targeted at things like Bloodseeker Beak or Potency Crystal. Any Talisman that just reduces the failure of a check by 1 level wouldn't apply for obvious reasons. Need help with wording though.)
Level 6 Feat: Rework Talisman
Requirement: You have a Talisman equipped and the conditions for activating it have not been met.
You can rapidly rework the magic of a talisman to suit a different purpose. If you are in a situation that would satisfy the requirements for a talisman which you have the Formula for, you can expend your equipped Talisman to benefit from the effects of that other talisman. Once you benefit from that talisman it is consumed, even if you have Extended Talismans. (This felt neat.)
Level 10 Feat: Resonant Talisman
Requirement: Extended Talismans
Whenever you benefit from a Talisman, your allies also benefit from that Talisman. Your allies must meet the activation requirements of that Talisman, but do not need to spend an action if an action is required. If a Talismans effect is extended by Powerful Talismans, any time an ally meet the activation requirements of that Talisman they immediately gain its effects. (This feels suitable as the "capstone" of the Archetype. Any thoughts?)
That is what we have for now. Are exploring potential higher level feats for the archetype, but this felt like a good starting point.
Comments? Questions? Ideas?
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Cool concept, but I would change the name. Anyone familiar with Eberron will have an idea of what an artificer is, and this only covers part of it. Not sure what you’d call it, though. Talismaner? Enchanter? Magical Craftsman?
Another idea for the name was some sort of area specific shaman, though my lore knowledge came up short on what area would be appropriate.
Cool concept, has a shamanistic vibe to it. Balance wise I see no problems, it's based of the Rangers snare feats and snares and talismans are both consumables.
Powerful Talismans sounds a bit complicated. I'm not sure I wanted to check all the cases when activating a talisman.
Resonant Talismans sounds really strong or not working at all, depending on if I read it right. Oo What does "Your allies must meet the activation requirements of that Talisman" mean? If I activate a Bloodseeker Beak, do my allies need to hit a creature at the same time? That would be impossible...
And one note: If the dedication is level 2, only require Trained in Crafting. Expert at Crafting on level 2 is only doable for Rogues. :)
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Cool concept, has a shamanistic vibe to it. Balance wise I see no problems, it's based of the Rangers snare feats and snares and talismans are both consumables.
Powerful Talismans sounds a bit complicated. I'm not sure I wanted to check all the cases when activating a talisman.
Resonant Talismans sounds really strong or not working at all, depending on if I read it right. Oo What does "Your allies must meet the activation requirements of that Talisman" mean? If I activate a Bloodseeker Beak, do my allies need to hit a creature at the same time? That would be impossible...
And one note: If the dedication is level 2, only require Trained in Crafting. Expert at Crafting on level 2 is only doable for Rogues. :)
Good points. It was a rough first pass really, so i'm not surprised there are some holes to fill.
Powerful Talisman's intended effect is to extend the triggered effects duration through your turn. So if say you use it with a potency crystal, instead of the effect (The weapon becoming a +1 striking weapon) lasting for one attack, it instead lasts for your turn in total. Mostly it is there to help things like Effervescent Ampoule that have an effect that would be nice to have for more than 1 turn. I'll take a look at the wording and see if theres a way to clean it up a bit.
Resonant Talisman was intended to require Powerful Talismans, not extended. I swapped the names of those two when writing it up and forgot to fix that. When I say that the ally must "meet the activation requirements of that Talisman," I mean that any time they could benefit from an activated talisman, they do. For example, you activate a Bronze Bull Pendent which provides a +2 Status bonus to Athletics checks used to Shove. Under Resonant Talismans, any time an ally would attempt to shove an opponent, they would gain that +2, so long as they are trained in Athletics as the Talisman requires. Wording will be looked at.
Regarding the training in crafting, that is a good point. I was actually considering bumping the level requirement to 4, requiring Magical Crafting and rolling the Quick Talismans feat into the Dedication. Then rework the existing feats into higher level feats.
Thanks for the feedback!
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How about "Talismonger"?
"What do you think I am, some common Talismonger?!"
I like it.
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Powerful Talisman's intended effect is to extend the triggered effects duration through your turn. So if say you use it with a potency crystal, instead of the effect (The weapon becoming a +1 striking weapon) lasting for one attack, it instead lasts for your turn in total. Mostly it is there to help things like Effervescent Ampoule that have an effect that would be nice to have for more than 1 turn. I'll take a look at the wording and see if theres a way to clean it up a bit.Resonant Talisman was intended to require Powerful Talismans, not extended. I swapped the names of those two when writing it up and forgot to fix that. When I say that the ally must "meet the activation requirements of that Talisman," I mean that any time they could benefit from an activated talisman, they do. For example, you activate a Bronze Bull Pendent which provides a +2 Status bonus to Athletics checks used to Shove. Under Resonant Talismans, any time an ally would attempt to shove an opponent, they would gain that +2, so long as they are trained in Athletics as the Talisman requires. Wording will be looked at.
After rereading Powerful Talismans and Resonant Talismans, I'm still not sure it works.
Lets take those two feats and a Potency Crystal:
- I activate the Crystal and can make 3 attacks with its effect.
- Then my turn ends and the crystals effect too.
- Then my allies get their turn but gain no benefit because the crystals effec is already over.
- The only way my allies could benefit from its effect is by Readying a strike so they can strike during my turn.
Wouldn't it make more sense to extend the effect of one-shot talismans like the Potency Crystal until then begin of your next round? That way my allies are actually affected (as would be my AoO/reaction).
Also, Powerful Talismans needs a radius I think. I don't think it's intended to power up allies on the other side of the globe. :)
Note: I kinda like this free-consumables-per-day line of feats, be it the Ranger Snares, your Talismonger or the playtest's Investigator elixirs. I expect them to pop up for some other consumables. Magic Archer creating daily ammunition for example.
Having this be a real thing would make talismans much more interesting and fun to use. I think masda has a good point with the whole duration thing and how to patch that hole, overall me likey a lots, nice job!