The Problem with Artificers in D&D

I am playing a bioengineer that has almost exactly the same backstory as Orla! She´s a reflavoured circle of stars druid though, the group I play her with doesnt allow homebrew or third party content... But oh my god, how much I´d love to play her with this subclass!

Please do illrigger no

Please look into Illrigger, I’m curious what your thoughts were on it

Hi, die-hard artificer fan here. I think artificer and bloodhunter are literally the only two classes I've played in D&D for three years. Much as Hat's subclass is a nice solution, I do want to give a suggestion to all my other artificer friends.

Holy shit, play pathfinder. I didn't really jump on the bandwagon when everyone boycotted 5e a few years ago, but a friend group finally convinced me to try the system. I cannot believe what a better job of evoking the particular vibe of an artificer it does. Not to mention, it's split up into multiple classes, so each of those particular vibes can focus in a lot harder on the actual fantasy of the class.

Great video. Other than the Dragon age clips lol

This is so great. You're awesome ❤

Keith Baker (creator of Eberron) made 2 super cool artificer subclasses:
Forge Adept and Maverick
One will get a weapon (only for himself) and get to make it super OP, getting up to a +3 bonus and +1d6 elemental damage
The other will get extra spells and spell slots
Neither is stronger than the present options and neither is able to do things in a way superior to the others.
But, both are fun and unique to play.

They're in the Exploring Eberron book, I super recommend it!

I really like you French, sir! But you are a Moira main ¬¬

speaking as an artificer main...your not wrong

2016 Artificer was really the best option... alchemist etc options. Mystics.... were complex but great.

Glorious evolution?

>”Why are you playing Bugs Bunny?

I literally played a harengon artificer based on Bugs Bunny. His spells were mainly toonforce

There's actually 3 more Subclasses for Artificer, but they're in other Eberron Supplementary books. I thought they were actually pretty cool, so i'll just share a tiny bit of what they entail since i have the books for them

Mastermaker from "Dread Metrol: Into the Mists"
This class is all about replacing limbs and having a "Battlefist" which is basically turning your arm into a really good modifiable weapon and spell casting focus! At later levels you basically turn into a cyborg and can even count yourself as a construct when being targeted by spells. However its not only melee focused but very self focused, so you won't be supporting your team as often with this one.

Forge Adept from "Exploring Eberron"
This one is a lot more specific to the lore about Goblins in Eberron. I don't know much about the lore but it definitely a cool subclass. It's a primarily melee focused, but does have a good amount of team buffs, adding elemental damage to your and nearby allies attack. At high levels it can even be a tank and convert "to hit" bonus directly to AC which i've never seen anything else do ever.

Maverick from "Exploring Eberron"
This is my absolute favorite, out of ANY artificer subclass in my opinion. If you wanted to multiclass as artificer but were worried about being MAD, this is the solution. As it levels, you can just add an ENTIRE class spell lists to your own spell list and they count as artificer spells. The spell lists you can add are bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard. You can add a spell list at 3rd, 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels, so literally 5 spell lists on top of the artificer one. The possibilities are amazing!

as an artificer player, Spell-storing item is actually twice your intelligence modifier of uses, and you only have 6 Active Infusions at level 20, but 12 infusion formulas, just sounds like you got whats doubled flipped

Each new homebrew make d&d more... "Pathfinder".)

My last "artificer" was an arcane archaeologist (abjurer/thief hybrid), fluff wise. Her arcane turret was a barrier spell, she cast shield, aid, cure wounds, and other support spells, and her attacks were mostly with a hand crossbow. Was fun.

So... a medic from TF2?

Something feels really off about this video, like normally they go into and explain how things actually work but like their are several inaccurate statements and like some momenst where it feels like it was skim read compared to the level of detail they normally read into.

Like the artificers just cast fireball but from a wrench, instead of what it explains as your casting isn't just casting like a wizard it's creating gadgets and stuff that mimic the effects of a spell, like they arnt just wizards like pointy hat try's to make it seem.

Also with the infuse magic item they ignore the fact that the list is an example and then it says any common magic item, so you know, spell crystals arcane tattoos ect ect, it also suggests talking with a dm about learning how to replicate and study other items.

My longest running game had an artificer, mystic, and blood hunter.

Honestly, I play artificer in settings where I can't have a yeehaw rooty-shooty six-gun cowboy; because I find it funny to juxtapose cowboys and wizards in the same setting. If the GM's not that fun, I'm not at that table; plain and simple.

Didnt even go to the armorer or battle smith dang. is that cuz of the srd stuff? Or just for videos length sake

As a dm, Im realising this idea was literally my main thing 4 my campaign😭 the artificer was the “villain” and would alter her own body and others in the name of science , but she ended up as a outcast for her practices so she essentially makes deals in order to continue her research

This subclass is so fun

I disagree with the notion that artificers would affect the technology level of the setting. The items they make are still magic items, for example their infusions stop working some time after the artificer die. Just because a vorpal sword is an item that exist in the setting and someone made it doesn't imply that soon after someone made the first one it will be mass produced and eventually become something you find everywhere.

I made a artificer that essentially was a monster builder. Using parts collected and science and magic

For those who do want more artificer subclasses, Exploring Eberron by Keith Baker (the OG creator of the setting) has the Forge Adept and Maverick subclasses. And the Dread Metrol book has the Mastermaker.

Antonio, (PointyHat/Human Familiar), do you have a link to your compiled homebrew?

Biomedical artificer sounds something the Simic from Ravnica would do.

Problem with Artificers is that making things is hard…kind of like properly sizing minis or providing art for cards on a subpar, mismanaged Kickstarter of yours that shipped out years too late.

Theives tools are in fact tools. So your profient and can make the gloves of theiving letting you pick locks better than most rouges

I think a cool subclass addition could be "Evolutionary" and "Lifebinder" Artificers.

Bodily augmentations, separated by tech and life. One is your Doc Ocks and Viktor from Arcanes. The other is your Moira from Overwatch and...Viktor from Arcanes. Adding or replacing limbs and enhancing sesnses or, bolstering healing and debuffing without the use of cleanses and ritualist techniques.

I don't even play d&d but these videos give me LIFE also please keep on shoving in those drag race references bestie

As an average artificer enjoyer i too concocted a subclass
it kinda revolves around being versatile by replicating spells from other classes and enhancing them to fit the situation at hand just right
like improvising a solution on the fly
from the balance perspective it's kinda where it exactly needs to be. versatile but not specialized on one thing
Alchemist or this bio engineer is a better support
Artillerist is a better DD or temp hp dispenser
This one is the jack of all trades and it's power directly scales with your own problem solving skills

I solve the world tech problem by telling my tables that any artificer made will be the only artificer in the world, and that it's roughly Dwemer (Skyrim) themed.

I love 2 things about artificers that almost no one thinks about (atleast that I know)...
Artificers can be exclusively magic or tech flavoured with not much effort. Your artificer (alchemist) can be improvising a chemical solution/potion and throwing it instead of "casting fireball", using a tiny drone to retrieve objects from far away (mage hand) or slapping a pair of mechanical wings on someone (flight)
While instead of summoning an arcane "cannon" you can be summoning a magic catalist made to emulate a dragon's breath, a wand or tiny spirit that shoots energy blasts or instead of creating a mechanical automaton to defend yourself and party, you can summon a golem powered by nature spirits or plants. Crafting magic items? Why not literally summoning magical replicas of existing ones through a ritual?

Artificers fit anywhere if given enough love and thought like the other classes, and that's why I absolutely adore them. (haha funny magic gun goes boom)

Make a video about Yuan-ti please.

wait, are artificers generally liked? I never got that impression, maybe because I them but still, is it because of CR?

I now want to make an artificer that is all about having the most boots possible

Been playing an artificer for years now.
They are super weak imo and WoTC was too afraid of them being overpowered ao they restricted them A LOT.
But my main gripe with them is that they should be FULL caster but they are only half casters and thus dont imo properly represent the fantasy of being an artificer.

Don't know if it's a video yet, but "The Problem with Artisan Tools in D&D" would be cool. I've always wanted to play in a game where they actually come into play throughout the campaign.

Artificer bans, at least in my experience, also sprout from the "well theres no good reason I couldn't figure out how to make rotary cannons and thermonuclear bombs" meme

Artificers = Eternia style world.

In regards to the Biomamcer Artificer. Doesn't the blood domain cleric from Critical Role's Tal'Dorei Reborn have the ability to concentrate on two spells at once with disadvantage on concentration checks?
It would be awkward if two classes have the double concentration at the same time😅

The problem with artificers is their ties to Eberron. If you don't know what Eberron or Krynn or Athlas are, then you've proved my point. These are the forgotten children of Dungeons and Dragons. After decades of neglect, WOTC remembered that they have other campaign settings besides the Forgotten Realms (5e's default campaign setting). As a soulless cash grab, they published a single source book for each setting and then went right back to forgetting they even exist. You can't run an Eberron campaign with just one book. You can't bring Krynn alive with a Dragonlance campaign with only one source book. These 5e books are nostalgia bait, or remember berries. 5e is basically setting-less. The company wants you to forget the SCAG even exists. Back to artificers. They can't expand on any of these settings without feeding the fans and they don't want to put effort or money into making that happen. Don't believe me? Where are the latest D&D novels? Where are the fan magazines? Where is the sequel to the Dungeons and Dragons movie? Where is the Dragonlance TV series? Where is the sequel to Baldurs Gate 3? Why are none of these projects going forward? WOTC or maybe Hasbro aren't going to "waste" any more money on them. The rules needed a refresh, but WOTC pushed digital over physical for the first time by acquiring DnDBeyond. So they are willing to spend some money on the digital side of the game. Same with the VTT. It's digital, and so they feel they can monetize it better than pen and paper D&D. Anything they do with Eberron or DL or SJ or Planescape will be shallow and not enough to maintain these settings, especially since they all but abandoned them. These settings are the Fantastic Four movie rights. Every FF movie was made to ensure those rights didn't revert to Marvel. Even the unreleased one. I can only hope that someone buys WOTC and honors the past by building on these ruins.

Artificers getting regular spellcasting is just not right. Oh, sure, they make "inventions" that copy the spells, but that's just phrasing. The original 3E artificers had a bespoke spell list that was all spells you could see as putting on ITEMS, not PEOPLE. No Fire Bolts or healing. They worked with the magic inherent in THINGS, so all of their magic was in ITEMS.

They added this rune carver background/feat thing that could EASILY been made a subclass similar to the new Arcane show

So now that we've talked about artificers, what is your favorite DnD setting and why is it eberron 😌🔧