Artificer (Dungeons & Dragons)

Artificer

A Dungeons & Dragons character class
Publication history
First appearance	Eberron Campaign Setting
Editions	3.5, 4th, 5th
(as alternate class)	3.5, 4th, 5th

The artificer is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. The class first appeared in the 3.5 edition of D&D and was introduced in the Eberron campaign setting. The artificer is a unique base class that reflects many of the core themes of Eberron.

Campaign setting

Though introduced as a prestige class for gnome arcane spellcasters in the Magic of Faerûn, artificers are a standalone class in the Eberron campaign setting, where they are a major defining feature their own Dragonmarked house, House Cannith. The common people in the metropolis of Sharn and other cities rely heavily on artificers to maintain the magical infrastructure. Artificers represent many of the high-magic elements of Eberron as a campaign setting.

Publication history

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition

The first appearance of an artificer as a wizard specialist introduced in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition supplement Player's Option: Spells & Magic where artifice was a newly added specialty within the School of Thaumaturgy. This artificer channels magic into or through non-living items for their own personal use, thus any spells in the Enchantment/Charm school which happen to affect living things, and the entire school of Necromancy are opposed to the Artifice specialty and off limits to the artificer of AD&D 2nd edition.

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition

In D&D 3rd edition, the artificer was introduced as a base class in the Eberron Campaign Setting.

The artificer's abilities act primarily on items and constructs. The artificer uses Intelligence-based Infusions instead of typical magics and psionics. Infusions work similarly to spells but must be implanted in a specific object, giving it a temporary magic effect.

An artificer can create magic items for which he or she does not have access to the prerequisite spells. Artificers receive a number of craft reserve points every level. These points can be used instead of experience points in the creation of new magic items. Thus Artificers are able to make use of item creation feats without the experience penalty that other spell casters must take.

Constructs, mechanical beasts, and particularly Warforged fall under the artificer's area of influence. Specific infusions can be cast to repair or inflict damage to any creature with a construct subtype. At fourth level Artificers may craft a homunculus companion. A homunculus is similar to a Wizard's familiar but more intelligent and generally better equipped to a single task.

No published race has artificer as a favored class, though being a warforged artificer gives players the advantage of being able to use infusions on themselves.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition

The artificer appeared in the Eberron Player's Guide (July 2009). Artificers are arcane leaders. They can use rods, staves, and wands as implements.

Artificers use arcane spells called infusions to imbue objects with magical power, and focus on buffing, healing and protecting allies. Many of their powers relate to weapons or armor.

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition

The fifth edition version of the artificer first appeared in a 5th edition playtest. The final version was included in the Eberron: Rising from the Las War campaign setting book. It was the first base class published for fifth edition since the Player's Handbook. It includes three subclasses, the alchemist, focused on potions and sliders, the artilerist, focused on ranged weaponry and defenses, and the battle smith, focused on constructs and combat.

Reception

Charlie Hall, in his review of Eberron: Rising From The Last War for Polygon, highlighted potential game balance issues with the Artificer, the first new character class for 5th edition. He wrote "trouble is that one of the big issues with D&D over the years has been magical item spam. [...] Imagine setting up a big climactic encounter, and then a player opens his magical Swiss Army knife and just ends it. [...] It got so bad in the 4th edition that the 5th edition introduced a system called 'attunement,' [...]. The Artificer class will be the first to allow players to attune to more than three magical items at one time. In fact, by 18th level they'll be able to attune to up to six magic items in all. [...] I'm just saying, as someone who has DM'd for quite a while now, maybe think twice about allowing an Artificer into your campaign. It might be a bit more trouble than its worth". Corey Plante, for Inverse, wrote "Why has it taken this long for a new character class, especially one this awesome, to be finalized for D&D 5th edition? The answer is that if you want to tinker with magical inventions, the process takes time. [...] Why is now the perfect time for the Artificer's big debut? The answer has surprisingly little to do with the game itself. Instead, it has everything to do with the setting of Eberron in this latest sourcebook. It's a realm steeped in magic and war after the Artificers created the Warforged, a race of biomechanical robots shaped from wood, metal, and magic. It's no accident that this dramatic overhaul to the world of D&D is coming hand-in-hand with a new class. In a way, you can't have one without the other. [...] In a world shaped equally by science and magic, there's no better herald than the Artificer".

Other media

The artificer appears as a class in Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO). DDO community manager Amanda Grove said she enjoyed playing the class in the game, although she said using two hands to shoot rather than one was difficult.

References

Bibliography

• Sharn: City of Towers (November 2004, ISBN 0-7869-3434-4)
• Races of Eberron (April 2005, ISBN 0-7869-3658-4)
• Magic of Eberron (October 2005, ISBN 0-7869-3696-7)
• Player's Guide to Eberron (January 2006, ISBN 0-7869-3912-5)