|
1 person marked this as a favorite.
|
Tried posting this once already but accidentally did it on the second edition forum. Whoops. Anyways, long story short. I have been home-brewing some stuff. Came across the artificer class from earlier editions. Wanted to try my hand at porting it to Pathfinder.
I looked through three or four versions other people made, but while I really liked elements of each, none of them fully fit the idea of the class that I had in my head. I went ahead and created my own, mostly as a fun side project.
Thought it might be fun to post my version (and three archetypes called the clockwork tinkerer, chemical scientist, and magical engineer) for people to look over and provide feedback. I feel pretty good about what I have, though without play-testing it is hard to say for sure.
For transparency, I took inspiration for some of the class abilities from multiple first party classes as well as the artificer classes on D20PFSRD by Adamant Entertainment, Eberron Pathfinder, and Elghinn Lightbringer's Stonehelm Emporium on Pathfidner Community.
Here is the link: Artificer.
If anyone bothers to take the time to read it, let me know what you think.
|
1 person marked this as a favorite.
|
I'm not someone who's good at critiquing the nuts and bolts of things, generally relying on others to do those sorts of analyses. But from a player's standpoint, I think this would be a pretty fun class to play. I've never really had much interest in an Artificer-type class (it's the same with me and Alchemists. There's nothing wrong with them, they just don't interest me enough to want to play them). However, I like this well enough that if I were given the chance, I'd play it. Thanks for sharing!
Good to have your free version of a PF1e Artificer out there, Golarion Wizard Express. ;)
I was thinking of homebrewing a Medieval Engineer. I will read what you did and see if you filled the need.
Update, I do not have access to your google docs.
|
1 person marked this as a favorite.
|
Goth Guru wrote: I was thinking of homebrewing a Medieval Engineer. I will read what you did and see if you filled the need.
Update, I do not have access to your google docs.
Apologies. I do not know why that would be the case. It seemed to work on Reddit. Well, I was working on it off and on so maybe it got messed up. Anyways, here is another link that should work as far as I can tell.
Artificer Class plus Archetypes.
Also, at the request of a good friend of mine, I added a fourth archetype which focuses more on bombs called the Demolitionist, as well as a new artificer technique which is functionally just the alchemist's Vestigial Arm discovery, but reflavored.
I also revised the whole document several times. I think I am pretty happy with its current form, but I welcome feedback.
On the whole, it looks OK. It's a full-BAB martial with decent skills and saves and a sackload of crafting. An artificer would be great as a cohort, but might be a bit one-dimensional in actual games because he relies so much on the kit he can make, but that's all essentially mundane (he has no inherent way to use magic things - no UMD, for example - even if he made them himself).
The exception is the magical engineer, which might be much more versatile.
I'd be wanting something more in the Mad Scientist line. To see what I mean, do yourself a favour and read Girl Genius. Warning: you won't be doing anything else for weeks.
You need to define the duration of Professional Opinion.
I'm with Mudfoot on this. You seem to be trying to avoid magic too much. I would prefer Someone who creates devices with magical power. That would explain how no one else can use them and how their clockwork cohort could somehow see. If they only have spells related to their craft, they might have repair, make whole, enlarge, and reduce at the appropriate levels. Someone with a growth ray would be much more versatile as their monstrous companion could be a giant vermin and they could enlarge the fighter during combat.
Mudfoot wrote: It's a full-BAB martial with decent skills and saves and a sackload of crafting. I may be misunderstanding what you mean by this, but it is actually a 3/4 BAB class not a full-BAB class.
Mudfoot wrote: Might be a bit one-dimensional in actual games because he relies so much on the kit he can make, but that's all essentially mundane (he has no inherent way to use magic things - no UMD, for example - even if he made them himself). I guess I am not sure why this would be an issue any more than a fighter being unable to use UMD? I see this artificer as trading a bit of the fighter's martial prowess for crafting prowess, which gives more out of combat versatility I would think.
However, as I have not yet had the chance to play-test it in a real module or campaign, I also cannot say you are wrong. I added an artificer technique called "Magical Theorist" which essentially opens the door to using UMD to a degree. Would you consider that to compensate for the problem you pointed out?
Mudfoot wrote: You need to define the duration of Professional Opinion. Very good catch. Fixed. Thanks for pointing that one out.
And thanks for your feedback in general too.
Goth Guru wrote: You seem to be trying to avoid magic too much. I would prefer Someone who creates devices with magical power. That was essentially my goal in creating the Magical Engineer. Someone who is a caster for all intents and purposes, but flavored as a mundane craftsman.
I haven't added a spell list for the Magical Engineer quite yet. I need to go through the spells at some point and figure out which ones would be suited to the archetype and which would not.
Was going to take most of the options available to this artificer.
Goth Guru wrote: That would explain how no one else can use them and how their clockwork cohort could somehow see. I am not entirely sure what you mean here be the clockwork cohort?
Golarion Wizard Express wrote: Mudfoot wrote: It's a full-BAB martial with decent skills and saves and a sackload of crafting. I may be misunderstanding what you mean by this, but it is actually a 3/4 BAB class not a full-BAB class. Serves me right for skimming it; probably blinded by the weapon & armour proficiencies. As the class has no particular abilities other than crafting, it probably should be full-BAB, or it'll have a hard time keeping up in a fight (think Rogue with no sneak attack). Slightly better kit won't make much of a difference.
Golarion Wizard Express wrote:
Mudfoot wrote: Might be a bit one-dimensional in actual games because he relies so much on the kit he can make, but that's all essentially mundane (he has no inherent way to use magic things - no UMD, for example - even if he made them himself). I guess I am not sure why this would be an issue any more than a fighter being unable to use UMD? I see this artificer as trading a bit of the fighter's martial prowess for crafting prowess, which gives more out of combat versatility I would think.
Sure, lots more out of combat versatility...than a fighter. The poster boy for no out of combat versatility at all. Ideally, you'd want him to be able to craft useful gadgets in the field, though defining that isn't trivial. You might look into games like GURPS and Savage Worlds for their Gadgeteer character types.
Golarion Wizard Express wrote:
However, as I have not yet had the chance to play-test it in a real module or campaign, I also cannot say you are wrong. I added an artificer technique called "Magical Theorist" which essentially opens the door to using UMD to a degree. Would you consider that to compensate for the problem you pointed out?
If it made it a class skill, yes. Int instead of Cha helps. Thing about UMD: it's a waste of time unless you're good at it.
A thought. If you want to make him good in a fight, give him ways to break things in ways that he can fix afterwards (so not to destroy treasure). Ideally with Imp / Greater Sunder in one Technique. And maybe a way to apply effects like Slow or ability damage to constructs.
And where are his Skill Unlocks to Craft, Disable Device, Appraise, K-Engineering and so on?
I feel that Refining Touch makes up for the lower BAB and adds a lot of combat versatility on its own. It allows you to tailor your equipment each day and at a certain point you can change stuff around on a whim. Mix and match weapon properties or enhancement bonuses as your heart desires.
I also feel that the class puts a decent focus on Intelligence, enough to make that bonus comparable to UMD as a class skill, or greater. And the half level to using wands and such essentially covers that area doesn’t it? Doesn’t need to be a UMD specialist or anything I don’t think, necessarily.
There are artificer techniques for getting the Sunder feats and also techniques for getting essentially spell-like abilities for mending items, so that line of play is possible if you build into it.
Can always come up with more artificer techniques that do more things, but I worry about trying to pack too much of everything in all at once.
As for the skill unlocks, some of that is baked into the class features, at least for Craft it is. Maybe not so much for the others you mentioned, but like I said I worry about trying to just cram a little bit of everything in all at once.
I know it's been a few years but if you could repost it it looks like its been deleted
Recent threads in Homebrew and House Rules
|
