Making an artificer and need advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

Making an artificer and need advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Acetyl_CoA
03-05-07, 07:48 PM I'm making an 18th level Artificer for a campaign that is fairly high in power level (couple extra feats have been given out, some extra treaure, etc..) and I'm wondering what an Artificer actually looks like at 18th level (or any level). Let me elaborate.

I have a couple images in my head. In comic book terms, they'd amount to Iron Man and Dr. Strange/Batman (pardon the references, but I think many people will know who I'm talking about). The Iron Man idea wears a lot of armor and the armor has a lot of effects built into it. Interesting idea, and I like the Iron Man comic character a lot. However, I'm not 100% sure how to make armor that can throw various spells around as if it had wands/staffs/scrolls built into it. I'm also not sure if that's an image the Artificer class really would fit. The Dr Strange/Batman idea is a guy who is up to his eyeballs in mystic options with amulets, cloaks, wands, staves, etc etc. Kinda like a Mystic Theurge except all the "spells" are items. The drawback in my head here is that this would mean having a zillion and one different things to carry around all the time. The Batman part of the concept is really the never-ending utility belt that he seems to have.

So I'm wondering what Artificers look like in other games. I want to avoid the standard "Archeficer", "Blastificer". "Buffificer" terminology and focus on the image and STYLE not the character optimization part, although some idea of how to build the various concepts and what equipment an 18th level artificer should have would be nice. What do you think of my ideas? Are they feasible/fun? Do they make sense? What other ideas are out there that might be better?

Thanks for the advice...
Edymnion
03-05-07, 08:22 PM See, thats just it though. There is no one artificer, or even a handful of artificers at that kind of level. The class is so flexible that you can literally be anything you want at that level (and frankly, I consider starting at that high of a level to be a waste of time, as you've missed out on 3/4 of what the setting has to offer).

Another problem is that, reguardless of what kind of artificer you make, its still going to fall into one of those catagories as they are broad catagories. If you focus on ranged offensive magic, you're a blastificer. If you focus on ranged attacks with a weapon, you're an archerficer. If you get into melee a lot, you're a meleeficer, etc etc etc.

You really need to focus in on what you want to make. Do you want to be a damage dealer? Front line, or back row? Do you want to focus in one area, or be a generalist with something for every occassion?

What you're asking here is really like asking "What does a high level fighter look like? But I don't wanna go for the stereotypes of a two handed weapon or one handed with a shield." You really have to nail down what kind of character you want to play, then we can help you more.
Acetyl_CoA
03-05-07, 08:40 PM Starting at 18 is not a waste because (a) the setting is not Eberron and (b) the plan for the campaign apparently revolves around replacing the current gods with the PCs to stave off a coming inter-planar disaster. The game is supposed to go to lvl 30 (started at level 3).

I think the flexibility is part of my problem, that's true. I normally try to focus like a lazer on one concept or image, but the Artificer is very generally useful and makes several different images in my head. To top it off, I'm not sure exactly how make-able the different concepts are.

I think the character they need in the party would be a generalist, somebody who can do damage, heal, and cover a lot of other bases in special circumstances. If the party gets flung to another plane, having a scroll of greater planeshift would be great, etc.. The idea would be to be useful all around, but not spectacular necesarily at any one thing.

That make any more sense?
Edymnion
03-05-07, 09:39 PM Starting at 18 is not a waste because (a) the setting is not Eberron and (b) the plan for the campaign apparently revolves around replacing the current gods with the PCs to stave off a coming inter-planar disaster. The game is supposed to go to lvl 30 (started at level 3).Okay, then you've got other problems to worry about. Namely that the Artificer is quite dependant on action points, which aren't in most games. Do you know if your DM is using them? Will you be getting the normal amount, more, less? Is he allowing all of the Eberron books for source material for the artificer, or just the ECS? I'm afraid that putting an Artificer in a non-Eberron setting, while entirely doable, just opens up a whole new set of problems to overcome.
To top it off, I'm not sure exactly how make-able the different concepts are.The artificer is a second rate everything. He is not *GOOD* at anything, not compared to other classes, but he can fill the roll of any party member in a pinch. Jack of all trades, master of none (except item making).I think the character they need in the party would be a generalist, somebody who can do damage, heal, and cover a lot of other bases in special circumstances. If the party gets flung to another plane, having a scroll of greater planeshift would be great, etc.. The idea would be to be useful all around, but not spectacular necesarily at any one thing.Then what you would want is just a generic artificer. There's nothing special at all you have to do to him. Just pick a weapon and some armor, slap whatever enchantments you want on it, and you're pretty much good to go.

Just a hint though, Spell Storing Infusion is your friend.
Acetyl_CoA
03-05-07, 09:54 PM Action points are available in the campaign. Yay!

Some more specific questions to address some clouds in my head (since based on the other things I've read on here, you appear to be the Master of the Artificers)..

1. If I wanted to make gauntlets that were say +2, that's easy. But what if I also want the gauntlets to have 50 charges which can cast a spell or two (lets say Heal and Harm)? Is that doable in the RAW? How would you price it?

2. Can you metamagic spell trigger or metamagic spell completion more than one metamagic feat at the same time? I think I read somewhere on here that the RAW is no, but I'm not certain.

3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here?
Edymnion
03-05-07, 10:11 PM Action points are available in the campaign. Yay!Okay, that solves those problems.
1. If I wanted to make gauntlets that were say +2, that's easy. But what if I also want the gauntlets to have 50 charges which can cast a spell or two (lets say Heal and Harm)? Is that doable in the RAW? How would you price it?No such item exhists in the books as written so far, so its going to depend on if the DM allows you to make custom magical items or not. This is one that we can't help with, you need to okay everything with the DM before you can get it. For guidelines though (and remember, they are guidelines, not rules, and can give you very erroneous results many times if you aren't careful), look in the DMG. I wouldn't make the guantlets charged items though, as once you burn them out, you're in trouble. Instead, I would go with charges per day. Price up the base guantlets, price up a uses per day spell item, and add the two together. Its not perfect, and will require tweaking, but its a good place to start.
2. Can you metamagic spell trigger or metamagic spell completion more than one metamagic feat at the same time? I think I read somewhere on here that the RAW is no, but I'm not certain.Gray area. Rules don't say one way or the other, but the general consensus is, for sake of game balance, no, you only get one metamagic at a time.
3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here?You're a near epic level Artificer. You can literally have anything in the game, it all depends on where you want to go with it.

A meleeficer is going to want the strongest weapons and armor he can get.
An archerficer will want bracers of archery and a veritable Green Arrow's worth of specialized arrows. The blastificer is going to want wands and staves. There is no single right answer, as it depends entirely on what kind of character you want to play.

My advice, stop thinking about game mechanics for right now.
Sit down with pencil and paper (or a keyboard and Word, whatever you prefer), and write a background history for your character. Where did he grow up? What happened to make him an adventurer instead of staying home where its safe? What kind of adventures did he have getting to 18th level? What kind of personality does he have?

PHBII has some good character generation stuff like that in it. Essentially, build a very clear picture of the kind of person this character is going to be. Know how they think, how they react, make a fully realized person to roleplay. Then, choosing equipment is literally no harder than sitting down with a list of stuff and going "Nah, he wouldn't use that. Nope, not his style. That might work. Oh yeah, gotta have that!" And before you know it, you'll have his gear picked out in no time, and you'll have one hell of a character ready to play.
Pinky's brain
03-05-07, 10:12 PM 1. If I wanted to make gauntlets that were say +2, that's easy. But what if I also want the gauntlets to have 50 charges which can cast a spell or two (lets say Heal and Harm)? Is that doable in the RAW?
No, custom magic item guidelines aren't rules ... it's up to your DM to allow such items on a case by case basis.
How would you price it?
The DMG guidelines for spell effect items have a couple of properties which makes them unbalanced a lot of the time, for these items they should work fine though.

6*CL*1800*.5 + 6*CL*1800*.5 * 1.5 (command word item, charged, multiple different abilities in the same slot). At CL18 the market price would be 6*18*1800*1.25 = 243K (half that to create).

You would use them just as casting the spell (you can cast the spell, move and make a single touch attack in the same round).
2. Can you metamagic spell trigger or metamagic spell completion more than one metamagic feat at the same time? I think I read somewhere on here that the RAW is no, but I'm not certain.
Debatable, ask your DM. Even if you can't you can still use both metamagic spell trigger and the metamagic item infusion to apply two metamagic feats at the same time.
3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here?
Depends on the books you are using, the other casters in your group and if you can create custom staffs and/or custom magic items.
Acetyl_CoA
03-05-07, 11:23 PM Custom magic items are encouraged actually. The DM is offering precious little guidance and will pretty much allow anything that's not totally overbearingly powerful. The party includes a Wizard who focuses on fire spells, and a water shujenga as the casting people. Any books from WotC are allowable, but certain individual spells/feats may be discounted no matter what book they're in. Basically he looks it over and decides after the fact instead of putting in guidance up front <grumble grumble>.
Elderich
03-06-07, 03:36 PM The MMST ability specifically mentions using multiple feats. Metamagic Spell Trigger (Su): At 7th 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.I suppose it might be read as one feat at a time.
Manus
03-08-07, 06:40 PM 3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here?

A few must-haves:

If your party is not based out of a particular city, a portable hole with your laboratory/forge and your dedicated wright in it. If you do have a regular base of operations, you can rent space in town. The former has the advantage of mobility. The latter has the advantage of the BBEG can't steal it from you as easily. Your wright should ALWAYS be working on something, even if it's just another blasting wand or healing wand.

A blasting wand or two. Some people favor scorching ray, others prefer the orb series of spells. Even if you're not a blastificer, you'll want one. If you are a blaster, you'll want 2 or 3. Energy substitution as a feat can be a real bonus here.

Minimum of one healing wand. Because who heals the cleric if the cleric gets ganked?

a heavily enchanted crossbow. Or melee weapon if you prefer.

Extra dimensional spaces. Heward's handy haversack is great for carrying your equipment, but you may also want a couple extra portable holes for my next point.

Grab the craft construct feat and whip up some effigy creatures (from complete arcane). My wife preferred effigy creatures to the homonculus options already available. She used to keep a pair of giants in a pair of portable holes that she could just whip out. Effigy dire animals work well too.

For those occasional jaw dropping "we're going to die" moments, a staff with the shapechange spell. My wife never actually used hers. But every arcane caster will tell you, it's the spell that just keeps getting better with every new monster manual that comes out.
Thanatose
03-10-07, 10:08 AM one thing you have not mentioned is what race you are. if you want to be "iron man" you will want to be WF, between normal Components and embedded ones you can be iron man. with wand sheath you have your blast cannon and with attached components like Battlefist you have your Halkbuster armor. and dont forget you can use your infushens on your self all day long. need this do it need that do it. :) you could be the first warforged god have fun
Edymnion
03-10-07, 01:50 PM one thing you have not mentioned is what race you are. if you want to be "iron man" you will want to be WF, between normal Components and embedded ones you can be iron man. with wand sheath you have your blast cannon and with attached components like Battlefist you have your Halkbuster armor. and dont forget you can use your infushens on your self all day long. need this do it need that do it. :) you could be the first warforged god have funNah, you can do Iron Man with a human much easier.
Spend your bonus feat for being human on Heavy Armor Proficiency, and make mithril full plate with physical stat boosters, and put a wand groove from dungeonscape into the back of your guantlets. Throw in some boots of flying, and boom, Iron Man armor.
Thanatose
03-10-07, 08:23 PM well we each have are opinion. A human can make a good one but cant use embedded components like the disk of energy resistance or a wand sheath. being able to be entirely augmented by an Artificer powers and being able to Live completely in what ever is augmented with out fear of being tired. and the ability to change weapons at all most will with things like arm blades, battle fists, and arm bows pulled from a bag of holding and jest attached( i would say probably a full round action. ) any way its all about the player i would say. but i can see a WF arty with 5lvls of wfj being a monster :) thats jest me
Edymnion
03-11-07, 01:04 PM well we each have are opinion. A human can make a good one but cant use embedded components like the disk of energy resistance or a wand sheath.The disks are nothing more than Amulets of Energy Resistance with a flavor change, and I already told how you can have a Wand Sheath without being a Warforged (look in Dungeonscape, Wand Slot, mundane addition to any weapon that lets you put a wand in it and have it count as being readied so that you can use the wand while holding the weapon, just put that in a guantlet).
being able to be entirely augmented by an Artificer powers and being able to Live completely in what ever is augmented with out fear of being tired.A human artificer could infuse the armor to get the personal bonus in the same way a WF artificer could infuse himself, the only differance is fluff. And since when was Iron Man ever immune to getting tired? He was still a human in a suit of armor. A drunkard to boot.
and the ability to change weapons at all most will with things like arm blades, battle fists, and arm bows pulled from a bag of holding and jest attached( i would say probably a full round action. )Move action to get it, and I believe its a full round action to attatch it, making changing out components in a fight rather difficult. But really, just make the guantlets locking as well as having a wand slot, and boom, all the same benefits of being an attatched weapon like an armblade, and you can stick any weapon you want in there.
Cabral
03-11-07, 06:43 PM Hmm... You may want to consider Renegade Mastermaker or Warforged (with Item Familiar) to be able to use warforged components (Wand sheath). Your Infusions don't have to be "magic". You can view them as "armor abilities". The spell storing item is perhaps the greatest tool in mimicing characters who have such a broad range of abilities.
RogueElement
03-11-07, 09:03 PM Throw in some boots of flying, and boom, Iron Man armor.
Just got this image of the little wings on his boots flapping furiously as he rushes to save the day. LOL.

It's pretty tough to make superheroes using D&D rules. D&D is focused more on limitations rather than possibilities. If you'll forgive the spam, Champions is definitely the game to play if you want comic book style superheroes: http://www.amazon.com/Champions-Aaron-Allston/dp/1583660046/ref=cm_lmf_***_12_rdssss0/104-0566021-5223962
Edymnion
03-12-07, 08:27 AM It's pretty tough to make superheroes using D&D rules. D&D is focused more on limitations rather than possibilities. If you'll forgive the spam, Champions is definitely the game to play if you want comic book style superheroes:Careful, the WizO's would probably consider that advertising, since you're linking directly to where you can buy the books.

Anyway, we all know that Mutants & Masterminds 2e is *THE* super hero system out there.
RogueElement
03-13-07, 11:52 AM Careful, the WizO's would probably consider that advertising, since you're linking directly to where you can buy the books.

Anyway, we all know that Mutants & Masterminds 2e is *THE* super hero system out there.

I'll have to try that game sometime. You've sold me on it! ;)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Acetyl_CoA 03-05-07, 07:48 PM	I'm making an 18th level Artificer for a campaign that is fairly high in power level (couple extra feats have been given out, some extra treaure, etc..) and I'm wondering what an Artificer actually looks like at 18th level (or any level). Let me elaborate. I have a couple images in my head. In comic book terms, they'd amount to Iron Man and Dr. Strange/Batman (pardon the references, but I think many people will know who I'm talking about). The Iron Man idea wears a lot of armor and the armor has a lot of effects built into it. Interesting idea, and I like the Iron Man comic character a lot. However, I'm not 100% sure how to make armor that can throw various spells around as if it had wands/staffs/scrolls built into it. I'm also not sure if that's an image the Artificer class really would fit. The Dr Strange/Batman idea is a guy who is up to his eyeballs in mystic options with amulets, cloaks, wands, staves, etc etc. Kinda like a Mystic Theurge except all the "spells" are items. The drawback in my head here is that this would mean having a zillion and one different things to carry around all the time. The Batman part of the concept is really the never-ending utility belt that he seems to have. So I'm wondering what Artificers look like in other games. I want to avoid the standard "Archeficer", "Blastificer". "Buffificer" terminology and focus on the image and STYLE not the character optimization part, although some idea of how to build the various concepts and what equipment an 18th level artificer should have would be nice. What do you think of my ideas? Are they feasible/fun? Do they make sense? What other ideas are out there that might be better? Thanks for the advice...
Edymnion 03-05-07, 08:22 PM	See, thats just it though. There is no one artificer, or even a handful of artificers at that kind of level. The class is so flexible that you can literally be anything you want at that level (and frankly, I consider starting at that high of a level to be a waste of time, as you've missed out on 3/4 of what the setting has to offer). Another problem is that, reguardless of what kind of artificer you make, its still going to fall into one of those catagories as they are broad catagories. If you focus on ranged offensive magic, you're a blastificer. If you focus on ranged attacks with a weapon, you're an archerficer. If you get into melee a lot, you're a meleeficer, etc etc etc. You really need to focus in on what you want to make. Do you want to be a damage dealer? Front line, or back row? Do you want to focus in one area, or be a generalist with something for every occassion? What you're asking here is really like asking "What does a high level fighter look like? But I don't wanna go for the stereotypes of a two handed weapon or one handed with a shield." You really have to nail down what kind of character you want to play, then we can help you more.
Acetyl_CoA 03-05-07, 08:40 PM	Starting at 18 is not a waste because (a) the setting is not Eberron and (b) the plan for the campaign apparently revolves around replacing the current gods with the PCs to stave off a coming inter-planar disaster. The game is supposed to go to lvl 30 (started at level 3). I think the flexibility is part of my problem, that's true. I normally try to focus like a lazer on one concept or image, but the Artificer is very generally useful and makes several different images in my head. To top it off, I'm not sure exactly how make-able the different concepts are. I think the character they need in the party would be a generalist, somebody who can do damage, heal, and cover a lot of other bases in special circumstances. If the party gets flung to another plane, having a scroll of greater planeshift would be great, etc.. The idea would be to be useful all around, but not spectacular necesarily at any one thing. That make any more sense?
Edymnion 03-05-07, 09:39 PM	Starting at 18 is not a waste because (a) the setting is not Eberron and (b) the plan for the campaign apparently revolves around replacing the current gods with the PCs to stave off a coming inter-planar disaster. The game is supposed to go to lvl 30 (started at level 3).Okay, then you've got other problems to worry about. Namely that the Artificer is quite dependant on action points, which aren't in most games. Do you know if your DM is using them? Will you be getting the normal amount, more, less? Is he allowing all of the Eberron books for source material for the artificer, or just the ECS? I'm afraid that putting an Artificer in a non-Eberron setting, while entirely doable, just opens up a whole new set of problems to overcome. To top it off, I'm not sure exactly how make-able the different concepts are.The artificer is a second rate everything. He is not GOOD at anything, not compared to other classes, but he can fill the roll of any party member in a pinch. Jack of all trades, master of none (except item making).I think the character they need in the party would be a generalist, somebody who can do damage, heal, and cover a lot of other bases in special circumstances. If the party gets flung to another plane, having a scroll of greater planeshift would be great, etc.. The idea would be to be useful all around, but not spectacular necesarily at any one thing.Then what you would want is just a generic artificer. There's nothing special at all you have to do to him. Just pick a weapon and some armor, slap whatever enchantments you want on it, and you're pretty much good to go. Just a hint though, Spell Storing Infusion is your friend.
Acetyl_CoA 03-05-07, 09:54 PM	Action points are available in the campaign. Yay! Some more specific questions to address some clouds in my head (since based on the other things I've read on here, you appear to be the Master of the Artificers).. 1. If I wanted to make gauntlets that were say +2, that's easy. But what if I also want the gauntlets to have 50 charges which can cast a spell or two (lets say Heal and Harm)? Is that doable in the RAW? How would you price it? 2. Can you metamagic spell trigger or metamagic spell completion more than one metamagic feat at the same time? I think I read somewhere on here that the RAW is no, but I'm not certain. 3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here?
Edymnion 03-05-07, 10:11 PM	Action points are available in the campaign. Yay!Okay, that solves those problems. 1. If I wanted to make gauntlets that were say +2, that's easy. But what if I also want the gauntlets to have 50 charges which can cast a spell or two (lets say Heal and Harm)? Is that doable in the RAW? How would you price it?No such item exhists in the books as written so far, so its going to depend on if the DM allows you to make custom magical items or not. This is one that we can't help with, you need to okay everything with the DM before you can get it. For guidelines though (and remember, they are guidelines, not rules, and can give you very erroneous results many times if you aren't careful), look in the DMG. I wouldn't make the guantlets charged items though, as once you burn them out, you're in trouble. Instead, I would go with charges per day. Price up the base guantlets, price up a uses per day spell item, and add the two together. Its not perfect, and will require tweaking, but its a good place to start. 2. Can you metamagic spell trigger or metamagic spell completion more than one metamagic feat at the same time? I think I read somewhere on here that the RAW is no, but I'm not certain.Gray area. Rules don't say one way or the other, but the general consensus is, for sake of game balance, no, you only get one metamagic at a time. 3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here?You're a near epic level Artificer. You can literally have anything in the game, it all depends on where you want to go with it. A meleeficer is going to want the strongest weapons and armor he can get. An archerficer will want bracers of archery and a veritable Green Arrow's worth of specialized arrows. The blastificer is going to want wands and staves. There is no single right answer, as it depends entirely on what kind of character you want to play. My advice, stop thinking about game mechanics for right now. Sit down with pencil and paper (or a keyboard and Word, whatever you prefer), and write a background history for your character. Where did he grow up? What happened to make him an adventurer instead of staying home where its safe? What kind of adventures did he have getting to 18th level? What kind of personality does he have? PHBII has some good character generation stuff like that in it. Essentially, build a very clear picture of the kind of person this character is going to be. Know how they think, how they react, make a fully realized person to roleplay. Then, choosing equipment is literally no harder than sitting down with a list of stuff and going "Nah, he wouldn't use that. Nope, not his style. That might work. Oh yeah, gotta have that!" And before you know it, you'll have his gear picked out in no time, and you'll have one hell of a character ready to play.
Pinky's brain 03-05-07, 10:12 PM	1. If I wanted to make gauntlets that were say +2, that's easy. But what if I also want the gauntlets to have 50 charges which can cast a spell or two (lets say Heal and Harm)? Is that doable in the RAW? No, custom magic item guidelines aren't rules ... it's up to your DM to allow such items on a case by case basis. How would you price it? The DMG guidelines for spell effect items have a couple of properties which makes them unbalanced a lot of the time, for these items they should work fine though. 6CL1800.5 + 6CL1800.5 * 1.5 (command word item, charged, multiple different abilities in the same slot). At CL18 the market price would be 6181800*1.25 = 243K (half that to create). You would use them just as casting the spell (you can cast the spell, move and make a single touch attack in the same round). 2. Can you metamagic spell trigger or metamagic spell completion more than one metamagic feat at the same time? I think I read somewhere on here that the RAW is no, but I'm not certain. Debatable, ask your DM. Even if you can't you can still use both metamagic spell trigger and the metamagic item infusion to apply two metamagic feats at the same time. 3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here? Depends on the books you are using, the other casters in your group and if you can create custom staffs and/or custom magic items.
Acetyl_CoA 03-05-07, 11:23 PM	Custom magic items are encouraged actually. The DM is offering precious little guidance and will pretty much allow anything that's not totally overbearingly powerful. The party includes a Wizard who focuses on fire spells, and a water shujenga as the casting people. Any books from WotC are allowable, but certain individual spells/feats may be discounted no matter what book they're in. Basically he looks it over and decides after the fact instead of putting in guidance up front <grumble grumble>.
Elderich 03-06-07, 03:36 PM	The MMST ability specifically mentions using multiple feats. Metamagic Spell Trigger (Su): At 7th 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.I suppose it might be read as one feat at a time.
Manus 03-08-07, 06:40 PM	3. What kinds of items should an artificer have at 18th level? Since I"m not "growing into" items, but starting out up there, what types of items should I be ballparking, or is there no right answer here? A few must-haves: If your party is not based out of a particular city, a portable hole with your laboratory/forge and your dedicated wright in it. If you do have a regular base of operations, you can rent space in town. The former has the advantage of mobility. The latter has the advantage of the BBEG can't steal it from you as easily. Your wright should ALWAYS be working on something, even if it's just another blasting wand or healing wand. A blasting wand or two. Some people favor scorching ray, others prefer the orb series of spells. Even if you're not a blastificer, you'll want one. If you are a blaster, you'll want 2 or 3. Energy substitution as a feat can be a real bonus here. Minimum of one healing wand. Because who heals the cleric if the cleric gets ganked? a heavily enchanted crossbow. Or melee weapon if you prefer. Extra dimensional spaces. Heward's handy haversack is great for carrying your equipment, but you may also want a couple extra portable holes for my next point. Grab the craft construct feat and whip up some effigy creatures (from complete arcane). My wife preferred effigy creatures to the homonculus options already available. She used to keep a pair of giants in a pair of portable holes that she could just whip out. Effigy dire animals work well too. For those occasional jaw dropping "we're going to die" moments, a staff with the shapechange spell. My wife never actually used hers. But every arcane caster will tell you, it's the spell that just keeps getting better with every new monster manual that comes out.
Thanatose 03-10-07, 10:08 AM	one thing you have not mentioned is what race you are. if you want to be "iron man" you will want to be WF, between normal Components and embedded ones you can be iron man. with wand sheath you have your blast cannon and with attached components like Battlefist you have your Halkbuster armor. and dont forget you can use your infushens on your self all day long. need this do it need that do it. :) you could be the first warforged god have fun
Edymnion 03-10-07, 01:50 PM	one thing you have not mentioned is what race you are. if you want to be "iron man" you will want to be WF, between normal Components and embedded ones you can be iron man. with wand sheath you have your blast cannon and with attached components like Battlefist you have your Halkbuster armor. and dont forget you can use your infushens on your self all day long. need this do it need that do it. :) you could be the first warforged god have funNah, you can do Iron Man with a human much easier. Spend your bonus feat for being human on Heavy Armor Proficiency, and make mithril full plate with physical stat boosters, and put a wand groove from dungeonscape into the back of your guantlets. Throw in some boots of flying, and boom, Iron Man armor.
Thanatose 03-10-07, 08:23 PM	well we each have are opinion. A human can make a good one but cant use embedded components like the disk of energy resistance or a wand sheath. being able to be entirely augmented by an Artificer powers and being able to Live completely in what ever is augmented with out fear of being tired. and the ability to change weapons at all most will with things like arm blades, battle fists, and arm bows pulled from a bag of holding and jest attached( i would say probably a full round action. ) any way its all about the player i would say. but i can see a WF arty with 5lvls of wfj being a monster :) thats jest me
Edymnion 03-11-07, 01:04 PM	well we each have are opinion. A human can make a good one but cant use embedded components like the disk of energy resistance or a wand sheath.The disks are nothing more than Amulets of Energy Resistance with a flavor change, and I already told how you can have a Wand Sheath without being a Warforged (look in Dungeonscape, Wand Slot, mundane addition to any weapon that lets you put a wand in it and have it count as being readied so that you can use the wand while holding the weapon, just put that in a guantlet). being able to be entirely augmented by an Artificer powers and being able to Live completely in what ever is augmented with out fear of being tired.A human artificer could infuse the armor to get the personal bonus in the same way a WF artificer could infuse himself, the only differance is fluff. And since when was Iron Man ever immune to getting tired? He was still a human in a suit of armor. A drunkard to boot. and the ability to change weapons at all most will with things like arm blades, battle fists, and arm bows pulled from a bag of holding and jest attached( i would say probably a full round action. )Move action to get it, and I believe its a full round action to attatch it, making changing out components in a fight rather difficult. But really, just make the guantlets locking as well as having a wand slot, and boom, all the same benefits of being an attatched weapon like an armblade, and you can stick any weapon you want in there.
Cabral 03-11-07, 06:43 PM	Hmm... You may want to consider Renegade Mastermaker or Warforged (with Item Familiar) to be able to use warforged components (Wand sheath). Your Infusions don't have to be "magic". You can view them as "armor abilities". The spell storing item is perhaps the greatest tool in mimicing characters who have such a broad range of abilities.
RogueElement 03-11-07, 09:03 PM	Throw in some boots of flying, and boom, Iron Man armor. Just got this image of the little wings on his boots flapping furiously as he rushes to save the day. LOL. It's pretty tough to make superheroes using D&D rules. D&D is focused more on limitations rather than possibilities. If you'll forgive the spam, Champions is definitely the game to play if you want comic book style superheroes: http://www.amazon.com/Champions-Aaron-Allston/dp/1583660046/ref=cm_lmf_***_12_rdssss0/104-0566021-5223962
Edymnion 03-12-07, 08:27 AM	It's pretty tough to make superheroes using D&D rules. D&D is focused more on limitations rather than possibilities. If you'll forgive the spam, Champions is definitely the game to play if you want comic book style superheroes:Careful, the WizO's would probably consider that advertising, since you're linking directly to where you can buy the books. Anyway, we all know that Mutants & Masterminds 2e is THE super hero system out there.
RogueElement 03-13-07, 11:52 AM	Careful, the WizO's would probably consider that advertising, since you're linking directly to where you can buy the books. Anyway, we all know that Mutants & Masterminds 2e is THE super hero system out there. I'll have to try that game sometime. You've sold me on it! ;)