Are Artificers balanced?
In all honesty? No, definitely not. HOWEVER, they're hella fun, and their reliance on limited non-renewable resources gives the DM some leeway in mitigating them. And, as with so many things in D&D, you should houserule. Not only that, but *lots* of things in D&D are unbalanced. Don't let that ruin your fun. As long as you make sure to prevent any gross abuses (and *most* classes in D&D have gross abuses available to them), you should be fine.
It's also notable that one of their biggest strengths is in *support,* and this supporting power makes the *rest* of the party powerful, which can contribute to, you know, not making the other players feel useless even if the artificer becomes the driving powerhouse behind the party (which shouldn't happen just as a result of the class itself, particularly with proper DMing).
How have they worked out on people's games?
They've always been fine in my games. Great, in fact. Far less problematic than some other classes, actually (there are problems in D&D that are worse than imbalance! I've had far more problems with a Monk than with a Wizard, simply because the exceedingly poor design of the class hampers player creativity and limits gameplay). However, this is partly because of *my influence as a DM.*
Are Artificers balanced? Reading through them, they look a bit iffy to me. How have they worked out on people's games?
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=813665
I still cannot wrap my head around an artificer.
The class is described as the ultimate magical dabbler, who can utilize arcane and divine magic.
But isn't an artificer bound to his infusion lists (and new infusions if the GM let's find him some artifacts)? Plus he can use all magic items and scrolls via UseMagicDevice, if I am correct.
But without scrolls or magic items an artificer has only (still very nice and helpful) his infusions?
I am so disoriented, because a friend played an artificer in an adventure some month past and he often cast like a wizard. This irritates me without end. How did he get access to "normal" spell casting?
But isn't an artificer bound to his infusion lists (and new infusions if the GM let's find him some artifacts)? Plus he can use all magic items and scrolls via UseMagicDevice, if I am correct.
Correct.
But without scrolls or magic items an artificer has only (still very nice and helpful) his infusions?
Also correct, but to be perfectly fair, an Artificer without scrolls and magic items is like a Fighter without swords and armor.
I am so disoriented, because a friend played an artificer in an adventure some month past and he often cast like a wizard. This irritates me without end. How did he get access to "normal" spell casting?
Sounds like your friend is playing the class wrong (as in, "you can't do that" wrong). If you jump through the right hoops (and he may well be doing so), you can *LOOK* like you're casting like a normal wizard, but the xp cost would get fairly annoying after a while. You could use Spell Storing Infusion to store a "normal" spell in an object, like your belt, and then activate it at a later point in the day (by higher levels, that infusion can last all day). Hence, he could be spending 15-20 minutes infusing his gear with stored spells and then firing them off later in the day like a wizard, but then he wouldn't have any of his normal infusions for the day.
And don't worry about not getting it, the Artificer is a *VERY* complicated class. With enough work and preparation, there pretty much is nothing it cannot do.
1) Before casting Weapon Augmentation, personal - Bane, the Artificer must properly identify the type of enemy through a knowledge skill roll.
This is often obvious and no roll is necessary, such as for most humanoids, but occasionally not so much. Aberrations and Magical Beasts are often difficult to distinguish between each other.
2) The Artificer may never use a metamagic rod in combination with a spell trigger item or spell completion item.
Allowing this leaves artificers with ridiculous capabilities.
3) Magic Items created by an Artificer ARE either Arcane or Divine.
This throws out what the errata states about artificer made items. But frankly, without my rule, I don't think Eberron makes much sense. How can the world advance into magic technologicalism if no one can use Artificer items without a successful UMD roll? Afterall, only the rogue, artificer, and magecrafter npc class get UMD as a class skill. So, I dumped the errata rule.
The most important thing to note about this rule, however, is that it institutes ASF onto arcane scrolls and spell stored items used by an Artificer!!!! This definitely starts to reduce the power level of the Artificer. Most artificers I've played with start using fewer arcane scrolls and lower their armor levels to mithril chain shirt (and then put twilight onto the shirt). This costs them a pretty penny and lowers their AC a bit. Helps the balance, I have seen.
Maybe others could contribute to how they balance the Artificer?
How can the world advance into magic technologicalism if no one can use Artificer items without a successful UMD roll? Afterall, only the rogue, artificer, and magecrafter npc class get UMD as a class skill.
You forgot the Expert. :P Remember, this rule only covers scrolls - anyone can use wands and staves if they have the contained spells on their list. I always looked at it as people don't typically purchase Artificer scrolls, they just hire an Artificer to perform some type of magic for them (which might require crafting and using a scroll).
3) Magic Items created by an Artificer ARE either Arcane or Divine.
This throws out what the errata states about artificer made items. But frankly, without my rule, I don't think Eberron makes much sense. How can the world advance into magic technologicalism if no one can use Artificer items without a successful UMD roll? Afterall, only the rogue, artificer, and magecrafter npc class get UMD as a class skill. So, I dumped the errata rule.
1) Because magewrights make magic items normally, and there are very few Artificers in Eberron. Remember, they're a PC class, only the cream of the crop have PC class levels in Eberron, all the rest of the NPCs actually use the NPC classes. There isn't a small army of artificers out there making scrolls, there is a small army of magewrights out there making scrolls.
2) You've opened up the can of worms the errata was designed to fix. Namely that now a party with an Artificer and a Wizard means that the Wizard has every spell in the game without having to research them, or even pay full price for them. The Artificer just makes a scroll of it at cost for the wizard, and the wizard then scribes it over into their spellbook. Since there is no limit to what scrolls the Artificer can make, there is no limit to what arcane spells the Wizard can have. You've basically just turned the Wizard into a Cleric, they know every Arcane spell in the game, and just pick which ones they want in the morning.
2) You've opened up the can of worms the errata was designed to fix. Namely that now a party with an Artificer and a Wizard means that the Wizard has every spell in the game without having to research them, or even pay full price for them. The Artificer just makes a scroll of it at cost for the wizard, and the wizard then scribes it over into their spellbook. Since there is no limit to what scrolls the Artificer can make, there is no limit to what arcane spells the Wizard can have. You've basically just turned the Wizard into a Cleric, they know every Arcane spell in the game, and just pick which ones they want in the morning.
That's a lot of money still.
Or I'd say just rule the wizard can't copy an artificer scroll. As said, no one could use an artificer item, and magic item crafters in Eberron, are going to be artificers or magerites. And a magerites spell list is limited. So most scrolls you buy would probably be made by artificers, and would end up being unusable, and you'd have no idea until you used them.
Or I'd say just rule the wizard can't copy an artificer scroll.
Are you prepared to arbitrarily tell the wizard he can't copy a random scroll he finds in a dungeon as treasure into his spellbook?
That, and the sheer amount of alchemical items that they can make and buy (though his goes for any intelligent party with some sort of caster). I have been in groups where we had enough alchemical items to frostbomb a church of Tiamat (non-Eberron game). And now that the plastiques from Secrets of Sarlona have been found by our group... we killed a rather large red dragon with some dust of dryness, a bag of holding full of water, and some (100vials of) alchemists frost. That Dracolich living in a mountain? Yea, he doesn't stand a chance.
On the other hand, everything you bring up... applies only to the party make-up. Sure, if he has a Wizard in the party, that can be a problem. But it can be fixed in character, by having the wizard be jealous of the artificer, and refuse to take these goodies, while the artificer is a horder(sp*) of knowledge, and refuses to share it (might be a worshiper of the Keeper even).
That aside, Edy, it still takes time (the most valuable resource) to copy spell into your spellbook. And if you think of it like that, what stops you from heading into Morgrave and copying down some spells? Oh, right. The flavor that says Morgrave likes to protect their collection.
So why wouldn't you just ask your artificer, ooc, to be the same, to protect the game from himself.
Artificers are great if you allow custom magic items (you know, like an amulet of diplomacy +10 or a gauntlet that casts knock twice per day), if you limit the number of charges they burn to what a wizard of the same level might be able to cast (i.e, if he's 11th level using a wand of fireball then he's got three charges to use for metamagic), and you use action points so that they can get that critical infusion done in the heat of battle.
Artificers are very complex and can be very powerful, but their investment to output ratio is high. You end up spending most of your money on wands. Also keep your homunculi to a minimum - a dedicated wright in a portable hole is handy, but devoted defenders are too expensive (including feats spent buffing them) and not powerful enough to maintain.
My concern is how they will fit into the 4e game. They're a defining aspect of Eberron, so they will have to be in there somehow.
And honestly? Homunculi can work in battle, if you prepare them right. The Arbalester and that walking trunk one are the best. Why? Because They can be adapted to fly, and pepper the battlefield to suit your needs. Just focus on spellcasters first, like every other intelligent party.
Consider this: At 5th level your artificer gets a homunculi. He then gets imp homunculi. Create an arbalester that has Flight and/or Sneak Attack dice. Target the enemy caster. At D8+potential sneak attack damage, the enemy caster (presumably at fifth level) will need between 11 and 18. Assuming a 10 for con, and 10 on the roll, maxed conc ranks, she has 18 exactly. They will probably lose their spell at least 25% of the time. If there is a rogue or a wizard in your party, apply rogue and familiar/wiz homunc as necessary.
And... what else would his gold go to but item creation? its a whole lot cheaper to make it yourself than to buy it, is it not?
Sort of like a sports car. Yeah, looks great, goes fast, but then you realize it gets 3 miles to the gallon.
Yeah, the artificer is powerful, but you gotta sink a *LOT* of resources into it to make it work.
Sort of like a sports car. Yeah, looks great, goes fast, but then you realize it gets 3 miles to the gallon.
Very very true. The Artificer in my first Eberron campaign burned out "his engine" so to speak and eventually ran out of "fuel". He was however a lot of fun to have around in the party - especially when they first encountered a Cadaver Collector.
"Oh look a malfunctioning warforged - I'll just go fix it and we will be fine...."