10 Unique Ideas For Your Next D&D Artificer Character Build | Reflavoring Your Abilities

oi are you done yet one second well hurry he's impatient okay okay all right okay okay uh here it is here it is oh that's perfect it's not every day you turn 500. my best work yet hello acolytes welcome to the cleric corner my name is riker and here we talk about all things dungeons and dragons tapping into our higher powers to create worlds more unique and stories more impactful according to the player's handbook artificers are incredible inventors that seek to improve lives or topple governments they seek to fix the unfixable by combining science and magic but if you've been around the channel for a while you know that we're going to take those archetypes subvert it and create some new ways that you can play your artificer because what if your artificer was just a lowly cobbler or powered their machines with souls and just to warn you i will be pronouncing artificer in multiple different ways during this video not because i think one is right but because that's just how my brain works but i'll be going over 10 artificer concepts to help get the gears turning and with a little magical tinkering create a character you'll love make sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss future videos first up let's look at an artificer who is not an inventor themselves but taken advantage of items that they found that came from ancient times the ancient tech art officer in this case has compiled items that they've dug up from archaeological sites or they were just a regular commoner who on a fateful day fell down a well and found them there lost to the ages it is slow going for this artificer to figure out how these items work these items being from cultures that are thousands of years old or cultures that are thousands of light years away with alien tech in this case it would be a good excuse to bring in a lithium or slaad into your campaign perhaps they are returning to claim what's always been theirs but just as well this future tech could be from a time traveler who left it behind or even a modern scientist who died before they could bless the world with their invention give your artificer enough time and they too can figure out how to make their own items with this technology but instead of these technologies coming from some alien species perhaps they're the technology of the gods themselves the revelator artificer was specifically chosen by the gods to further their purposes using you to further develop the world's technologies and push it into the next age but these revelations could also come from darker forces who wish not to cultivate the world but to drive it into chaos a great example of the revelator archetype would be percy from critical roles vox machina driven by revenge this dark force gave him the ability and the know-how to create a gun in a medieval world but of course as we know the being had ulterior motives themselves but knowing that these gods can be all-knowing omniscient and not beholden to the bonds of time this artificer is granted a small portion of the knowledge that the gods have this might even change your artificer's magic origin to be more divine instead of arcane but then we have to ask ourselves what if the magic instead came from nature the nature craft artificer uses rock stone sticks and leaves to imbue their artificer magic into they are your boy scouts who know how to work the land to their benefit they carve runes into a hollow tree stump to make an elder's cannon or make a magical armor out of animal skins these skins and armor they use could come from monsters and aberrations instead of beasts cashing in on the spoils that the party ranger kills for them they find that using organic matter in their magic is way more potent than metal they could even store magical elements in natural gemstones that they find and when placed in the diy contraptions that they make imbue magical abilities but what if the magic imbued into these crystals are not magic but the essence of creatures themselves the soul trapper artificer has a darker way of imbuing their magic into items they understand that in a world of magic science and progression comes at a price so they either capture these essences and souls as they're adventuring or steal them covertly from the populace as necessary these items then become your regular sentient items in a world of dnd perhaps you come across a sentient sword with an ancient warrior imbued inside somehow someway possibly an artificer put it there an unfortunate side effect if the soul is very annoying but could act as a guide and help to a warrior in the future but now let's not forget that morality is a spectrum while the peaceful artificers use arcana and the more ambitious artificers use souls we look at an artificer who just combines both body and item to meet in the middle a vivimancer artificer splices and graphs parts of individuals to become amalgamations or cyborgs they stitch displacer beast tentacles to your back to give you increased ac or give you a marsupial pouch of holding or they replace your eye with some mechanical orb or put a flamethrower inside of your arm these are your best kinds of experimental surgeons they could even replace your inner organs with that of other creatures possibly being some sort of grave robber where they dig up the body take the lung out to enchant it with let's say water breathing and then do surgery to now give you this lung if you've ever read the book or seen the tv series shadow and bone they do use parts of monsters and beasts as amplifiers to their magic the bones of antlers in this case melding with the collar bones of the main character making her magic more powerful but speaking of modifications there's a lot of other things that you can do that are more generally accepted by society in this case we're talking more beauty and aesthetics the modifier artificer at ground level can use magical tattoos to imbue magical effects for those less permanent you can use henna or body paints for those more artistic artificers for the more permanent they apply piercings for more magical jewelry or do plastic surgery to give you higher cheekbones or horns on your head these may even give you disguise self or charming benefits or this artificer could be a fashion designer where they can go edna mode and stitch runes into the fabric for their best pieces hats gloves masks you name it there's a ton that you can do in the beauty industries if you like what i do here and think this video adds value to you consider supporting me on patreon one of my goals on this channel is to create a space where creators can truly expand on their ideas and cultivate creativity especially in a world that's a little more judgmental and a little less cultivating so if that resonates with you the link will be in the description but getting back to it let's say that your artificer is the quick on their feet type they rarely prepare but are very confident in their ability to get out of any situation the scrapper artificer sees the treasure in the trash and knows exactly the full potential of any mundane item they are your macgyver character where the only things that they need to open a safe is a paper clip and bubble gum they can make a bomb with just the materials that they find in a tavern or they can make a flashlight with just a potato and a lemon the flashes of genius is a common trait with these artificers but other artificers still rely on dependable skills and tools that are readily on hand practice in their craft and good at it too the tradesman artificers are your professionals in the tool trades cobblers bakers leather workers blacksmith jewelers and cartographers but they're not your average players in the game no no they are magical artisans that imbue their mundane items with magic the cobbler specializes in magical footwear and the baker specializes in magical edibles along with the craft you can also focus hard on the tools that you use as your magical foci xanathar's guide to everything goes into full detail of all the multiple things that you can do with each of these toolsets you should also be able to use them in fun and unique ways perhaps all of these craftsmen are a part of some sort of secret organization of tradesmen oh but speaking of secret organizations your artificer could be a secret agent a part of some government's program with the spy artificer you get to play a little james bond using your gadgets and whirly gigs to accomplish missions you could play the james bond ask character yourself or be more like q from the series or the quartermaster who in the movies was the one who provided all of their agents with their gadgetry these missions could be stealth or straight bombs and sabotage this could also be your inspector gadget where you're arguably part warforged but always having the right tool hidden somewhere in your person or your batman or iron man where all you need to make these fancy gadgets is money but some prefer the simpler life and focus on the enjoyment of children and in the little things the toy maker artificer imbues their magical items with love and creativity giving a teddy bear that has warding capabilities or a toy soldier that can act as a familiar you could still get maniacal like the dc villain the toy maker but for this example we're going to go pacifist they just try their best to improve the world around them in small and simple ways they know that as long as they help people smile that their purpose is fulfilled perhaps this artificer is a child and their unbridled emotions and desires are the things that imbue these items with their magic giving your paladin their favorite toy because it helped them not be afraid and thus giving your paladin resistance to fear far as this child is concerned all they want to do is help but with all of these artificial ideas i hope that i gave you the flash of genius that you need for your next character or npc if you have any other ideas for an artificer or wish to share one that you're playing add them to the comments below as always you can continue the discussion in my discord linked below and stick around as we'll be going over the fighter class next but in the meantime go out there and spread the good word of dnd and make the world a better place both on and off your tables see in the next one

Channel: The Cleric Corner

Views: 42,168

Keywords: dnd, dungeon and dragons, d&d, homebrew, theclericcorner, dmtips, dungeon master, ttrpg, character build, subclass, character creation, d&d5e, roleplay, dnd class, world building, character concepts, artificer, artificer class, artificer subclass, artificer feats, artificer ideas, how to play an artificer, artificer concepts, flash of genius, dnd artificer

Id: znFxF5KhI00

Length: 10min 5sec (605 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 06 2022