Masters of invention, artificers use ingenuity and magic to unlock extraordinary capabilities in objects. They see magic as a complex system waiting to be decoded and then harnessed in their spells and inventions. You can find everything you need to play one of these inventors in the next few sections.
Artificers use a variety of tools to channel their arcane power. To cast a spell, an artificer might use alchemist's supplies to create a potent elixir, calligrapher's supplies to inscribe a sigil of power, or tinker's tools to craft a temporary charm. The magic of artificers is tied to their tools and their talents, and few other characters can produce the right tool for a job as well as an artificer.
You must have an Intelligence score of 13 or higher in order to multiclass in or out of this class.
The Artificer | Spell Slots per Spell Level | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Infusions Known | Infused Items | Cantrips Known | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | |
1st | +2 | Magical Tinkering, Spellcasting | - | - | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | |
2nd | +2 | Infuse Item | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | |
3rd | +2 | Artificer Specialist, The Right Tool for the Job | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | |
4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | |
5th | +3 | Artificer Specialist feature | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | |
6th | +3 | Tool Expertise | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | |
7th | +3 | Flash of Genius | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | |
8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | |
9th | +4 | Artificer Specialist feature | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | |
10th | +4 | Magic Item Adept | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | |
11th | +4 | Spell-Storing Item | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | |
12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | |
13th | +5 | - | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | |
14th | +5 | Magic Item Savant | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | |
15th | +5 | Artificer Specialist feature | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | |
16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | |
17th | +6 | - | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
18th | +6 | Magic Item Master | 12 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 12 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
20th | +6 | Soul of Artifice | 12 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
As an artificer, you gain the following class features.
Hit Dice:
1d8 per artificer level
Hit Points at 1st Level:
8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels:
1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per artificer level after 1st
Armor:
Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons:
Simple weapons
Tools:
Thieves’ tools, tinker’s tools, one type of artisan’s tools of your choice
Saving Throws:
Constitution, Intelligence
Skills:
Choose two from Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Sleight of Hand
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
Alternatively, you may start with 5d4x10 starting gold
The secrets of gunpowder weapons have been discovered in various corners of the D&D multiverse. If your Dungeon Master uses the rules on firearms in the Dungeon Master's Guide and your artificer has been exposed to the operation of such weapons, your artificer is proficient with them.
At 1st level, you've learned how to invest a spark of magic into mundane objects. To use this ability, you must have thieves' tools or artisan's tools in hand. You then touch a Tiny nonmagical object as an action and give it one of the following magical properties of your choice:
The chosen property lasts indefinitely. As an action, you can touch the object and end the property early.
You can bestow magic on multiple objects, touching one object each time you use this feature, though a single object can only bear one property at a time. The maximum number of objects you can affect with this feature at one time is equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of one object). If you try to exceed your maximum, the oldest property immediately ends, and then the new property applies.
You've studied the workings of magic and how to cast spells, channeling the magic through objects. To observers, you don't appear to be casting spells in a conventional way; you appear to produce wonders from mundane items and outlandish inventions.
You produce your artificer spell effects through your tools. You must have a spellcasting focus - specifically thieves' tools or some kind of artisan's tool - in hand when you cast any spell with this Spellcasting feature (meaning the spell has an "M" component when you cast it). You must be proficient with the tool to use it in this way. See the equipment chapter in the Player's Handbook for descriptions of these tools.
After you gain the Infuse Item feature at 2nd level, you can also use any item bearing one of your infusions as a spellcasting focus.
At 1st level, you know two cantrips of your choice from the artificer spell list . At higher levels, you learn additional artificer cantrips of your choice, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Artificer table.
When you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the artificer cantrips you know with another cantrip from the artificer spell list .
The Artificer table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your artificer spells. To cast one of your artificer spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
You prepare the list of artificer spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the artificer spell list . When you do so, choose a number of artificer spells equal to your Intelligence modifier + half your artificer level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
For example, if you are a 5th-level artificer, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With an Intelligence of 14, your list of prepared spells can include four spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell Cure Wounds , you can cast it using a lst-level or a 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn't remove it from your list of prepared spells.
You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of artificer spells requires time spent tinkering with your spellcasting focuses: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your artificer spells; your understanding of the theory behind magic allows you to wield these spells with superior skill. You use your Intelligence whenever an artificer spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for an artificer spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
You can cast an artificer spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.
At 2nd level, you've gained the ability to imbue mundane items with certain magical infusions, turning those objects into magic items.
When you gain this feature, pick four artificer infusions to learn. You learn additional infusions of your choice when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Infusions Known column of the Artificer table.
Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the artificer infusions you learned with a new one.
Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch a nonmagical object and imbue it with one of your artificer infusions, turning it into a magic item. An infusion works on only certain kinds of objects, as specified in the infusion's description. If the item requires attunement, you can attune yourself to it the instant you infuse the item. If you decide to attune to the item later, you must do so using the normal process for attunement (see the attunement rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide ).
Your infusion remains in an item indefinitely, but when you die, the infusion vanishes after a number of days equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1 day). The infusion also vanishes if you replace your knowledge of the infusion.
You can infuse more than one nonmagical object at the end of a long rest; the maximum number of objects appears in the Infused Items column of the Artificer table. You must touch each of the objects, and each of your infusions can be in only one object at a time. Moreover, no object can bear more than one of your infusions at a time. If you try to exceed your maximum number of infusions, the oldest infusion ends, and then the new infusion applies.
If an infusion ends on an item that contains other things, like a bag of holding, its contents harmlessly appear in and around its space.
At 3rd level, you choose the type of specialist you are. Your choice grants you features at 5th level and again at 9th and 15th level.
Specialty | Source |
---|---|
Alchemist |
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
Eberron: Rising from the Last War |
Armorer | Tasha's Cauldron of Everything |
Artillerist |
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
Eberron: Rising from the Last War |
Battle Smith |
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
Eberron: Rising from the Last War |
Archived Unearthed Arcana | |
Archivist | Unearthed Arcana 58 - Artificer |
Armorer | Unearthed Arcana 69 - Subclasses, Part 3 |
At 3rd level, you've learned how to produce exactly the tool you need: with thieves' tools or artisan's tools in hand, you can magically create one set of artisan's tools in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. This creation requires 1 hour of uninterrupted work, which can coincide with a short or long rest. Though the product of magic, the tools are nonmagical, and they vanish when you use this feature again.
When you reach 4th level, 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.
At 6th level, your proficiency bonus is now doubled for any ability check you make that uses your proficiency with a tool.
At 7th level, you've gained the ability to come up with solutions under pressure. When you or another creature you can see within 30 feet of you makes an ability check or a saving throw, you can use your reaction to add your Intelligence modifier to the roll.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
When you reach 10th level, you achieve a profound understanding of how to use and make magic items:
At 11th level, you can now store a spell in an object. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one simple or martial weapon or one item that you can use as a spellcasting focus, and you store a spell in it, choosing a 1st- or 2nd-level spell from the artificer spell list that requires 1 action to cast (you needn't have it prepared).
While holding the object, a creature can take an action to produce the spell's effect from it, using your spellcasting ability modifier. If the spell requires concentration, the creature must concentrate. The spell stays in the object until it's been used a number of times equal to twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum of twice) or until you use this feature again to store a spell in an object.
At 14th level, your skill with magic items deepens more:
Starting at 18th level, you can attune up to six magic items at once.
At 20th level, you develop a mystical connection to your magic items, which you can draw on for protection: