Artificer

In spellfire-lit forges and great libraries one might find an Artificer, honing his craft. Utilizing ancient methods and iconic schema, the Artificer instills his own energy into weapons, armor, and devices of legend. Away from his workshop, the Artificer lends his power to the weapons of his allies, dispels ancient and deadly glyphs, and bends magical instruments to his will. When his allies come upon a ward surging with deadly necrotic energy, it is the Artificer they turn to safely harness the accursed device and unravel the threads of its magic into the void. Returning to his workshop, the Artificer puts down his bounty and takes up his quill. With a loyal homunculus by his side, he records his observations and devises new schema. For him, each answered question only sharpens his curiosity about the primal forces at work in the world.

Role: Artificers are a great utility and support class. Infusions can provide extra offensive capability to the party's front line, or protect the party's more vulnerable members. Artificers make the most of recovered treasure, turning inappropriate but valuable weapons and armor into tailored equipment for party members. Their proficiency with Use Magic Device ensures that no scroll or wand is beyond use. The Artificer's skills and powers make them second to none at disarming traps and unlocking vaults, especially when magic is involved. Few Artificers become front-line combatants, but when prepared they can be extremely deadly due to their extensive arsenal of items and situational enhancements.

Hit Dice: d8

Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int Modifier.

Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Dex), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge(Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Engineering) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Artificers are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the light hammer, short sword, hand crossbow, and light repeating crossbow. Artificers are also proficient with light armor and with shields (but not tower shields). An Artificer can cast spells while wearing light armor and using a shield without suffering spell failure. If he wears medium or heavy armor and attempts to cast arcane spells, he suffers arcane spell failure as normal.

Bonus Feats: As an Artificer progresses in level, he gains the following feats as bonus feats. He does not need to qualify for the specified feats listed, but does for any bonus feat he gets to choose. Artificers gain Brew Potion and Scribe Scroll at 1st level, Craft Wondrous Item and Craft Wand at 3rd level, Craft Magic Arms and Armor at 5th level, Forge Ring at 7th level, Craft Rod at 9th level and Craft Staff at 11th level. In addition to these specific feats, at 2nd level and every 4 levels thereafter, Artificers gain an additional bonus feat chosen from the following list: any metamagic feat, any item creation feat not already listed, Skill Focus, or Magical Aptitude.

Cantrips:An Artificer automatically knows all 0-level spells that appear on their spell list, but unlike normal spells, they do not require spell slots and can all be used repeatedly. In all other aspects, they act as normal spells.

Infusions: An Artificer has the ability to craft temporary item enchantments called Infusions, which are fueled by the Artificer's life energy and shaped by his skill in spellcraft. Infusions take a full round action to apply and require a spellcraft check, DC 15 + the level at which the Infusion becomes available to the Artificer (eg. +1 for Lesser Armor Infusion, +3 for Lesser Weapon Infusion, etc). An Artificer that is not stressed or threatened can take 10 on the spellcraft check to imbue an item, but in doing so causes the action to take one minute to perform (this is an exception to the standard rules regarding taking 10). An Artificer has a pool of points that are spent to power Infusions called Anima. The Artificer's has a number of Anima points equal to 1/2 their Artificer level (min 1) + their Intelligence modifier. Once the Anima are spent, the Artificer must rest for 8 hours before his Anima are renewed. Spells, Infusions, or other effects that only temporarily increase Intelligence do not grant additional Anima unless the duration of such effects is greater than 24 hours and the Artificer concludes his rest prior to the end of the effect (in such cases, the additional Anima are lost at the conclusion of the effect). Infusions can "stack" with other item enchantments but not with the bonuses of the same type. Thus a +1 flaming longsword cannot be imbued with a flaming property to cause twice the fire damage, but could be granted the icy property to cause additional cold damage. If the Infusion and the item's enchantment are the same, then only the more powerful one manifests (such as a +1 longsword being imbued with a +3 enhancement bonus – for the duration of the Infusion, the weapon would behave as a +3 weapon, and would revert to a +1 weapon once the Infusion wore off). In most cases, an item can only take one Infusion at a time, however armors and weapons can hold an enhancement bonus Infusion as well as an enhancement equivalent property Infusion (such as flaming). All calculations of level-dependent durations refer to the creators’ Artificer class level. (Note that, as all Infusions are Supernatural abilities, the effects cannot be dispelled or disjoined, but are subject to Anti-magic effects.)


 * Lesser Armor Infusion: The Artificer can imbue an item to replicate any armor property with a +1 market price for 10 minutes per level. Alternatively the Artificer can imbue an item to grant an Armor Enhancement bonus equal to the maximum bonus that he could craft with the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat (1/3 level) for 1 hour per level. This Infusion costs 1 Anima point.


 * Personal Weapon Infusion: The Artificer can imbue his own weapon to replicate any +1 property other than Bane, for 10 minutes per level. Alternatively the Artificer can imbue his own weapon to grant a +1 enhancement bonus to his weapon for 1 hour per level. The Infusion can be used to enchant up to 50 items of ammunition as well. If the weapon leaves the Artificer's possession, the Infusion remains active but will not function until the weapon is wielded by the Artificer again. This Infusion costs 1 Anima point.


 * Guidance Infusion: At 2nd level the Artificer can imbue any item to grant either a circumstantial bonus to a particular skill or a resistance bonus to particular saving throw lasting 10 minutes per level. Skill bonuses granted start at a +2 and increase by +1 for every two levels after this ability is gained (so +3 at level 4, +4 at level 6, etc). Resistance bonuses granted start at a +1 and increase by +1 for every four levels after this ability is gained (so +2 at level 6, +3 at level 10, etc). This Infusion costs 1 Anima point.


 * Spell Storing Infusion: At 2nd level the Artificer can imbue an item to act as a one-time use spell completion item with a spell from his schema record (see below). The Artificer must use an amount of silver ink costing 12.5gp x spell level x caster level. The spell still requires the appropriate Use Magic Device roll to infuse, and is activated similarly to a scroll, though the Artificer need not make any additional checks for activation. This Infusion takes 1 minute to craft, and lasts for 1 hour per level. It costs 1 Anima point per spell level of the spell stored.


 * Lesser Weapon Infusion: At 3rd level The Artificer can imbue a weapon similarly to that resulting from his Personal Weapon Infusion. This Infusion grants a weapon property with a +1 market price or an enhancement bonus of an amount that the Artificer could craft with the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat (1/3 level). Alternatively, the Infusion can used to enchant up to 50 items of ammunition. This Intinction costs 1 Anima points.


 * Ability Infusion: At 4th level the Artificer can imbue an item to grant an enhancement bonus to an attribute for 10 minutes per level. The enhancement bonus granted is +2, and increasing by +2 per 4 levels above 4th. This Infusion costs 2 Anima points.


 * Armor Infusion: At 7th level the Artificer can imbue an item to replicate any armor property with a +3 market price or lower, for 10 minutes per level. Alternatively the Artificer can imbue an item to grant a Deflection bonus equal to the maximum Armor Enhancement bonus he can craft for 1 hour per level (see Lesser Armor Intinction). This Infusion costs 2 Anima points.


 * Weapon Infusion: At 10th level the Artificer can imbue an item to replicate to replicate any +3 market price or lower enchantment on a weapon, for 10 minutes per level. This Infusion costs 2 Anima points.


 * Greater Armor Infusion: At 14th level the Artificer can imbue an item to replicate any armor property with a +5 market price or lower for 10 minutes per level. This Infusion costs 3 Anima points.


 * Greater Weapon Infusion: At 17th level the Artificer can imbue an item to replicate up to any weapon property with a +5 market price or lower for 10 minutes per level. This Infusion costs 3 Anima points.


 * Charging Infusion: At 18th level the Artificer can imbue a spell trigger item that uses charges with additional charges, essentially re-charging the item. At the beginning of the Infusion, the Artificer must first make a Use Magic Device check, DC 20 + the item's caster level, to properly access the spell trigger item and allow the Infusion to take the form of its charges. Spell trigger items whose spells have a costly material component, such as Stoneskin, must have an appropriate amount of that material component to fuel the charges to be imbued. This Infusion costs a number of Anima points equal to the charges imbued into the item.

Schema Record: An Artificer keeps a special spellbook called a Schema Record, in which he records magical notations and spells he has had the chance to study. Using his Schema Record, an Artificer can emulate the prerequisite spells that other spellcasters use in crafting, including for the crafting of spell completion and spell trigger items. However, an Artificer can only emulate spells in this way if he is familiar with them. An Artificer can copy any spell, arcane or divine, into his Schema Record, as long as it has a spell level no greater than 1/2 the character's Artificer level, rounded up. The Artificer starts with all of the 0-level cantrips from the Artificer spell list, as well as three 1st level spells from any of the Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, or Sorcerer/Wizard spell lists in his Schema Record, plus a number of additional spells equal to his Intelligence modifier. As the Artificer gains experience, he researches spells to add them to his Record. Any time the Artificer gains a level after 1st, he can select 2 spells from the Artificer spell list, of a level that he can cast, and add them to his Schema Record for free. The Artificer may also add other spells from any source at the same cost that a Wizard adds spells to his spellbook; such copying must be done from a scroll or other magical writing (such as from a Wizard’s Spellbook). When crafting a magic item, the Artificer must employ his Use Magic Device skill to emulate the spells he wants to include in the crafting. The Artificer need only emulate the spell once in order to count it towards satisfying the creation prerequisites for the item. The DC to emulate a spell for crafting is 20 + the desired caster level of the spell. If the check fails, the Artificer can still craft the item, but that spell requirement is not met, which increases the spellcraft DC for crafting the item by 5 (the normal penalty for ignoring a requirement while crafting). In the special case of Spell Trigger and Spell Completion items, the Artificer cannot craft the item unless the Use Magic Device check succeeds. For these items, if the Use Magic Device checks fails by 4 or less, none of the material components are ruined, and the Artificer can try again having lost only the initial 8 hours of work. If the checks fails by 5 or more, then half the materials are ruined in the failed attempt. If the roll fumbles a scroll mishap occurs.

Spellcasting: While making a study of spell effects and magic, there are some spells that the Artificer has a keen insight for, and can learn to cast. These spells often have item targets or modify items or ongoing magical effects. The Artificer can prepare these spells as a Wizard does, but can also choose to spontaneously cast any Artificer spell directly from his Schema Record with an empty spell slot of the appropriate level by advancing the casting time of the spell one category (anything less than a full-round casting time moves to a full-round, full-round casts move to 1 minute castings, 1 minute castings move to 10 minutes, 10 minute castings take an hour). To cast spells the Artificer must have an Intelligence score at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Artificer's spell is 10 + the spell level + Artificer's Intelligence modifier. Like other spellcasters, the Artificer can only cast a limited number of spells per day, as listed on the Artificer class table. He receives bonus spells per day based on his Intelligence score. Artificers are as reliant on their Schema Records as Wizards are on their spellbooks. An Artificer who loses his Schema Record cannot prepare any spells except for Read Magic. All Artificer spells are arcane spells. Any spell not on the Artificer spell list is recorded as a spell of the level indicated by its source. For example, Break Enchantment is available as a Bard, Cleric, Paladin, and Sorcerer/Wizard spell at varying spell level (bard 4, cleric 5, paladin 4, sorcerer/wizard 5), if the Artificer copied the Bard or Paladin version of the spell into his Schema Record, he would denote it as a 4th level spell instead of a 5th level spell if it were copied from a clerical, sorcerous or wizardly source. Thus, the Artificer should be careful to denote the source of his spells, especially in cases where he has records of a spell from multiple sources. While the Artificer cannot memorize and cast spells that are not listed on his class spell list, he may elect to copy them into his Schema Record anyway, for the purposes of easier crafting; indeed it is only in this way that he can create Scrolls and Wands of most spells.

Trapfinding: An Artificer's study of devices, both magic and mundane, aids him in dealing with traps. He adds 1/2 his level to any Perception checks to locate traps and Disable Device checks made on traps (minimum +1). An Artificer can interact with magical traps just as a Rogue can.

Craft Homunculus: At 4th level, an Artificer is considered to have the Craft Construct feat, but only for constructs that are of Small size or smaller and have a maximum Hit Die equal to his Artificer level minus 2. Any attempt to create a construct larger than Small size or with more HD then his artificer level minus 2 still requires the normal Craft Construct feat. All other aspects of the construct creation process remain the same (time, money, skill checks, etc).

Plural Infusion: At 5th level an Artificer learns to split an Infusion as swift action, once per day, allowing it to be imbued in 2 items. Both items need to be within 5 feet of the Artificer. The Artificer crafts the Infusion as normal, using the normal investment of time and Anima for the Infusion (the Anima cost is not doubled). Both Infusions have standard durations, as indicated by their descriptions. The number of times per day an Artificer can craft a Plural Infusion increases to twice per day at 10th level, and 3 times per day at 15th level.

Augmented Use: At 6th level the Artificer learns how to augment the spells cast from a spell trigger item (such as a wand or staff). He may apply any metamagic feat he knows to a spell trigger item he is using, as a swift action. He must have the appropriate Item Creation feat for the item to be augmented, and the effective level of the spell cast from the device cannot exceed 1/2 the Artificer's class level. Altering the spell costs a number of extra charges equal to the metamagic feat's spell level modifier (for example, using Maximize Spell would cost 3 extra charges).

Distill Radical: At 6th level, an Artificer gains the ability to salvage the value from an enchanted item for the sole purpose to create a new enchanted item or further enchant an existing magical item. The artificer must spend 4 consecutive hours with the item and he must also have all of the necessary Item Creation feats to create the item he is salvaging and access to a work space suitable for creating such an item (Distill Radical "on the road" takes 8 hours). After the 4 hours the Artificer must make a Spellcraft check of the same DC as if he were crafting the item in question, including modifiers for whether the Artificer has the spell prerequisites in his Schema Record (although he need not make the Use Magic Device checks to emulate spell requirements in this situation). If the Spellcraft check is successful, the item is destroyed and the Artificer is left with a Radical (a magical gem that can take almost any shape) or absorbs the magical energy into a preexisting Racial, growing it in size. The gp value of a radical is 1/2 the market price of the item it came from. A Radical weighs half a pound per 100gp of energy stored within (minimum .5 pounds).

Skill Mastery: At 9th level, an Artificer can take 10 when making Spellcraft or Use Magic Device checks, even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so. This ability circumvents the normal rule that a character may not take 10 on a Use Magic Device check.

Mass Infusion: At 20th level an Artificer learns to craft a Plural Infusion that effects items on allies within 30 feet. Crafting a Mass Infusion requires a swift action, in addition to the normal Infusion time, and is usable once per day. If there is no item on a particular ally that can accept the Mass Infusion (such as if there is an unarmed combatant among a Mass Infusion of weapons) then that person does not benefit from the Infusion.