Artificer (Tales from Thedas)

*"Sure you might be faster, stronger, smarter, harder working, blessed by the Stone, blessed by the Maker, empowered by the Blight, and luckier—but **I** had more time to prepare."*

— One-Eye Notaro

The better-armed and better-prepared dwarf always wins, or so the artificers of the Carta believe. Intricate mechanisms are the core of the artificer’s craft: deadly traps; distracting contraptions; marvels of engineering turned to deadly purpose. If an artificer is standing at the far end of a seemingly innocuous stretch of the battlefield, you should find another path. If he or she is smiling? Best just to hope your affairs are in order.

Adapted from the base D&D 5E Ranger, Hunter subclass, and the homebrew Fighter, Gunslinger subclass. *Not* based on the D&D 5E Artificer, despite the name.

(Back to Character Creation)

* **Hit Dice:** 1d10
* **Saving Throws**: Strength, Dexterity
* **Proficiencies:** Light armor, medium armor, shields, simple weapons, martial weapons, and grenades
* **Skills:** Choose three from Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and Survival

### **Equipment**

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your origin:

* (a) scale mail or (b) leather armor
* A repeating crossbow and 20 bolts (1 gp cost per bolt, 1d8 piercing, range 60/240, reload after 4)
* 50 guilder's worth of grenades
	+ ***Pitch Grenade.*** (5 g) 5ft radius, DEX saving throw. On a fail, target's speed is reduced to 5ft per turn, and do not add their DEX bonus to their AC. On a success, targets are unaffected.
	+ ***Antivan Fire Grenade.*** (10 g) 5ft radius, DEX saving throw. On a fail, target takes 3d6 fire damage. On a success, damage is halved.
	+ ***Jar of Bees.*** (20 g) 10ft radius, 5 turns before bees disperse. Each turn a creature begins in the bee swarm, they take 1d4 piercing damage and must make a CON saving throw. On a fail, they have disadvantage on all attacks, and enemies have advantage on attacks against them.
	+ ***Healing Mist Grenade.*** (30 g) 10ft radius, 2d4 healing to all targets in radius.
* (a) a dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
* a handaxe and dagger

## **Favored Enemy**

Beginning at 1st level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy commonly encountered in the wilds.

Choose a type of favored enemy: beasts, humanoids, darkspawn, Fade creatures, or undead. You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with weapon attacks against creatures of the chosen type. Additionally, you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.

When you gain this feature, you also learn one language of your choice, typically one spoken by your favored enemy or creatures associated with it. However, you are free to pick any language you wish to learn.

## **Urban Explorer**

You have lived in cities your whole life, and know them like the back of your hand. This grants you the following benefits while you are in an urban environment:

* You ignore difficult terrain.
* You have advantage on initiative rolls.
* On your first turn during combat, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures that have not yet acted.

In addition, you are skilled at navigating the back alleys of Tantervale. You gain the following benefits when traveling for an hour or more:

* Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
* Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
* Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
* If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
* While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

## **Grenadier**

Although you and yours are a long way away from the miners and architects of the Deep Roads, you've still kept some of their skills. You are proficient with the use of grenades, and may add your INT modifier and proficiency bonus to the saving throw DC and your INT modifier to any damage or healing rolls.

**Grenade save DC =** 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

**Grenade range =** 30 + 10 x STR modifier feet

## **Adept Marksman**

Starting at 2nd level, you learn to perform powerful trick shots to disable or damage your opponents using your firearms.

***Trick Shots.*** You learn two trick shots of your choice. Many maneuvers enhance an attack in some way. Each use of a trick shot must be declared before the attack roll is made. You can use only one trick shot per attack. You learn an additional trick shot of your choice at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level. Each time you learn a new trick shot, you can also replace one trick shot you know with a different one.

***Grit.*** You gain a number of grit points equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). You regain 1 expended grit point each time you roll a 20 on the d20 roll for an attack with a firearm, or deal a killing blow with a firearm to a creature of significant threat (DM’s discretion). You regain all expended grit points after a short or long rest.

***Saving Throws.*** Some of your trick shots require your targets to make a saving throw to resist the trick shot’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

**Trick shot save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier

## **Tinker**

Starting at 2nd level, you gain proficiency with Tinker’s Tools. You may use them to craft ammunition and grenades at half the cost, repair damaged crossbows, or even craft new ones or upgrade existing ones.

## **Crossbow Specialist**

Starting at 3rd level, as an Artificer of the Carta, you have become a specialist with a repeating crossbow. Thus, you automatically gain the following two Fighting Styles.

### **Archery**

You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

### **Close Quarters Shooter**

When making a ranged attack while you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature, you do not have disadvantage on the attack roll. Your ranged attacks ignore half cover and three-quarters cover against targets within 30 feet of you. You are also able to make opportunity attacks with your crossbow as if it was a melee weapon. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls on ranged attacks.

## **Dwarven Savvy**

At 3rd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

***Colossus Slayer.*** Your tenacity can wear down the most potent foes. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 damage if it’s below its hit point maximum. You can deal this extra damage only once per turn.

***Giant Killer.*** When a Large or larger creature within 5 feet of you hits or misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to attack that creature immediately after its attack, provided that you can see the creature.

***Horde Breaker.*** Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack, you can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of your weapon.

## **Ability Score Improvement**

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

## **Extra Attack**

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

## **Greater Favored Enemy**

At 6th level, you are ready to hunt even deadlier game. Choose a type of greater favored enemy: abominations, golems, awakened darkspawn, or dragons. You gain all the benefits against this chosen enemy that you normally gain against your favored enemy, including an additional language. Your bonus to damage rolls against all your favored enemies increases to +4. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against the spells and abilities used by a greater favored enemy.

## **Defensive Tactics**

At 7th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

***Escape the Horde.*** Opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.

***Multiattack Defense.*** When a creature hits you with an attack, you gain a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.

***Quickdraw.*** You can add your proficiency modifier to initiative rolls.

***Steel Will.*** You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

## **Fleet of Foot**

Beginning at 8th level, you can use the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn.

## **Hide in Plain Sight**

Starting at 10th level, you can remain perfectly still for long periods of time to set up ambushes.

When you attempt to hide on your turn, you can opt to not move on that turn. If you avoid moving, creatures that attempt to detect you take a −10 penalty to their Wisdom (Perception) checks until the start of your next turn. You lose this benefit if you move or fall prone, either voluntarily or because of some external effect. You are still automatically detected if any effect or action causes you to no longer be hidden.

If you are still hidden on your next turn, you can continue to remain motionless and gain this benefit until you are detected.

## **Volley**

At 11th level, you can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon’s range. You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target.

## **Vanish**

Starting at 14th level, you can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. Also, you can't be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

## **Lightning Reload**

Starting at 15th level, you can reload your crossbow as a bonus action.

## **Vicious Intent**

At 18th level, your crossbow attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19-20, and you regain a grit point on a roll of 19 or 20 on a d20 attack roll.

## **Foe Slayer**

At 20th level, you become an unparalleled hunter of your enemies. Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack you make against one of your favored enemies. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.