Operative

While many artificers devote their lives to towering workshops, arcane laboratories, or the creation of permanent magical marvels, Operatives take a different path. Their inventions are not meant to endure for centuries, but to solve today's problems with ruthless efficiency. Every gadget, every mechanism, and every enchanted device is built with a single purpose in mind: accomplishing the mission.

Masters of preparation, Operatives spend countless hours studying their objectives, gathering intelligence, and assembling specialized equipment before setting out. Success is rarely determined on the battlefield itself, but during the quiet hours spent anticipating every challenge and preparing the right solution in advance.

Many Operatives serve as scouts, infiltrators, intelligence agents, treasure hunters, monster hunters, or elite military specialists, though their expertise is valuable wherever adaptability, ingenuity, and careful planning are required. Whether slipping unnoticed into an enemy fortress, exploring forgotten ruins, recovering priceless relics, or carrying out precision strikes against dangerous targets, they rely on an ever-changing arsenal of gadgets and experimental magical devices designed for a single purpose before being discarded or dismantled.

Smoke bombs, optical instruments, mechanical contraptions, concealed launchers, alchemical compounds, and disposable magical inventions all become extensions of their craft. Every creation is temporary, every resource is finite, and every decision made before the mission may determine its outcome.

An Operative understands a simple truth: victory belongs not to the one carrying the most equipment, but to the one who anticipated the challenge before it ever appeared.

Level 3: Operational Training

An Operative is expected to function in unpredictable and often hostile environments, where ingenuity alone is not always enough. Alongside their technical expertise, they receive extensive training in the practical use of advanced weaponry suited for field operations.

You gain proficiency with martial weapons and firearms.

Level 3: Chosen Craft

Every Operative develops their own approach to invention. Some excel at precision optics and glasswork, others master intricate mechanical craftsmanship, while others rely on alchemical ingenuity. As your skills grow, you refine the discipline that best complements your methods.

Choose one of the following tool proficiencies: Alchemist's Supplies, Glassblower's Tools, Jeweler's Tools

Expert Construction. Gadgets that primarily rely on your chosen tools are crafted with exceptional precision. At the DM's discretion, such Gadgets may receive a minor improvement appropriate to their design, such as a slightly increased range, a higher saving throw DC, or another small numerical benefit. These improvements should never significantly alter a Gadget's intended power and are intended to reward creative descriptions of its construction and operation. 

The DM determines whether a Gadget qualifies for this benefit, taking into account both its intended function and the player's description of how it was designed and constructed.

Alchemist's Supplies

You gain proficiency in Alchemist's Supplies

Glassblower's Tools

You gain proficiency in Glassblower's Tools

Jeweler's Tools

You gain proficiency in Jeweler's Tools

Level 3: Operative Spells

When you reach an Artificer level specified in the Operative Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Operative Spells

Artificer Level	Prepared Spells
3	Disguise Self, Feather Fall, Silent Image
5	Invisibility, Pass without Trace
9	Haste, Nondetection
13	Arcane Eye, Dimension Door
17	Passwall, Rary's Telepathic Bond

Level 3: Arcane Devices

An Operative understands that true preparation often means storing magic long before it is needed. Through careful craftsmanship and arcane engineering, you can bind spells into specialized devices designed for a single, precise purpose.

When you finish a Long Rest, you may spend 1 hour constructing one or more Arcane Devices before undertaking any other activity. Arcane Devices are created using the spell slots regained at the end of that Long Rest. For each device you create, expend one of those spell slots and choose an Artificer spell you have prepared whose level does not exceed the expended spell slot. Spell slots used in this way are unavailable until regained normally. Spells stored within an Arcane Device are always cast at their base level and can't be upcast, regardless of the spell slot used to create the device. If a stored spell normally requires Concentration, you must maintain Concentration on it as though you had cast the spell yourself.

Only spells with a casting time of 1 Action or 1 Bonus Action can be stored within an Arcane Device. Spells with longer casting times require more extensive magical procedures and cannot normally be condensed into portable devices, though the DM may allow exceptions for individual spells when appropriate.

Each Arcane Device is a unique invention that channels a single spell through mechanical and magical means, taking whatever form its creator deems appropriate. A defensive spell might be housed within a compact barrier projector, while another could be contained in an alchemical grenade, a mechanical injector, an optical apparatus, or any other suitable invention. While holding one of your Arcane Devices, you can activate it as a bonus action, producing the effects of the stored spell as though you had cast it, without expending a spell slot. Only you can activate an Arcane Device you create.

Creating an Arcane Device requires specialized materials according to the table below, in addition to any material components required by the stored spell. Instead of paying this cost with gold, you may use appropriate materials, components, or salvaged parts gathered during your adventures, provided they could reasonably be incorporated into the device. The DM determines whether the available materials are sufficient.

Spell Slot Level	Material Cost
1st	10 gp
2nd	30 gp
3rd	60 gp
4th	100 gp
5th	150 gp

 

Arcane Devices remain functional until the end of your next Long Rest, after which their unstable arcane mechanisms become inert. During that Long Rest, you may dismantle any unused Arcane Devices, recovering materials worth half their original construction cost.

Level 3: Field Gadgets

Preparation is the defining strength of an Operative. Through ingenuity, mechanical expertise, and countless hours of experimentation, you develop a versatile arsenal of specialized Gadgets designed to overcome obstacles that weapons or spells alone cannot.

You know every Gadget available to an Operative of your level.

When you finish a Long Rest, you prepare a Field Kit containing a number of Gadgets equal to your Intelligence modifier + twice your proficiency bonus (minimum of one). You may construct multiple copies of the same Gadget.

Each Gadget is a carefully engineered device designed for a single purpose. Unless a Gadget's description states otherwise, Gadgets are nonmagical and are destroyed immediately after they are activated. Unused Gadgets remain functional until the end of your next Long Rest, after which they become unstable or deteriorate beyond practical use and can no longer be activated.

Unless otherwise specified, activating a Gadget requires either an Action or Bonus Action, as indicated in its description. If a Gadget requires a creature to make a saving throw, the save DC equals your Artificer spell save DC.

Some Gadgets require you to make a Gadget Attack against a creature. A Gadget Attack is a ranged weapon attack made using your Dexterity modifier, and you are proficient with it. The attack is considered part of the Gadget's activation and doesn't require the Attack action or replace any attacks you can normally make.

The Gadgets presented here represent the most common inventions developed by Operatives, but they are by no means exhaustive. A player may design additional Gadgets in cooperation with the DM. If the DM approves the Gadget's design and determines that its power is appropriate for the Operative's current level, it can be treated as a Gadget available at that level.

 

Level 3

Gadget	Effect
Laser Sight	Bonus Action. Attach a laser module to a ranged weapon you are holding. The next ranged weapon attack you make before the start of your next turn has Advantage.
Grappling Launcher	Action. Fire a grappling hook and move up to 20 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. This movement ignores difficult terrain and doesn't provoke opportunity attacks.
Flashbang	Action. Throw a flashbang to a point within 30 feet. Creatures within 5 feet must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be Blinded until the start of your next turn.
Surveillance Bird	Bonus Action. Deploy a tiny mechanical bird that scouts an area within 120 feet before returning and magically reporting basic information about creatures, exits, obstacles and obvious hazards.
Caltrops Dispenser	Bonus Action. Scatter reinforced caltrops across six contiguous 5-foot squares within 15 feet. The area becomes difficult terrain and creatures moving through it take 1d4 piercing damage for every 5 feet moved.

 

Level 5

Gadget	Effect
Tactical Smoke	Action. Create a 10-foot-radius heavily obscured smoke cloud until the start of your next turn.
Alarm Mine	Bonus Action. Deploy an alarm mine that remains active until the end of your next Long Rest. It alerts you mentally or with an audible alarm when triggered by creatures other than those designated when you deploy it.
Nightscope Visor	Bonus Action. Until the start of your next turn, gain Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks, ignore penalties from dim light and darkness, and perceive invisible creatures for the purpose of those checks.
Reactive Deflector	Reaction. When you are hit by an attack, increase your AC by 3 against that attack and until the start of your next turn.

 

Level 7

Gadget	Effect
Adhesive Foam Launcher	Action. Creatures in a 15-foot line must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or become Restrained until escaping with a Strength check against your Gadget save DC. Large or bigger creatures cannot be restrained by this Gadget effect.
Magnetic Clamp	Bonus Action. A creature wearing metal armor or wielding a metal weapon must succeed on a Strength saving throw or have its speed reduced by 10 feet and be unable to take reactions until the start of your next turn.
Decoy Projector	Action. Deploy a holographic decoy. Until the start of your next turn, the first attack targeting you automatically destroys the decoy instead.
Poison Dart	Bonus Action. Make a Gadget Attack against a creature within 30 feet. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become Poisoned until the start of your next turn.

 

Level 9

Gadget	Effect
Sonic Disruptor	Action. Creatures in a 15-foot cone must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions and have Disadvantage on Constitution saving throws made to maintain Concentration until the start of your next turn.
Shock Net Launcher	Action. Make a Gadget Attack against a creature within 30 feet. On a hit, the target takes 2d6 lightning damage, becomes Restrained and cannot take reaction until escaping with a Strength check against your Gadget save DC.
Emergency Med Injector	Bonus Action. A creature within 5 feet regains 2d8 + your Intelligence modifier hit points and immediately ends the Poisoned condition.
Bola Launcher	Bonus Action. Make a Gadget Attack against a Large or smaller creature within 30 feet. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be Restrained until the start of your next turn.

 

Level 11

Gadget	Effect
Drone Swarm	Bonus Action. Deploy miniature drones. Until the start of your next turn, you have Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks, and hidden creatures within 30 feet can't remain hidden from you.
Chameleon Cloak	Action. Become Invisible until the start of your next turn. The effect ends immediately if you make an attack or cast a spell.
Breaching Charge	Action. Place an explosive charge that detonates at the end of your turn, destroying mundane doors, locks, barricades and similar objects.
Pocket Cover	Bonus Action. Deploy a reinforced barrier in an adjacent unoccupied 5-foot space. The barrier provides Three-Quarters Cover, has AC 15 and 20 hit points, and remains until the start of your next turn.

 

Level 13

Gadget	Effect
Phase Beacon	Bonus Action. Deploy a beacon. Before the start of your next turn, you may use a Bonus Action to teleport to an unoccupied space adjacent to it. The beacon is then destroyed.
Kinetic Booster	Bonus Action. Until the start of your next turn, your speed increases by 20 feet, you ignore difficult terrain, and your jump distance is doubled.
Thermite Gel	Action. Apply an alchemical gel to a nonmagical object. Over the next minute it melts through metal bars, chains, locks and similar obstacles.
Concussion Round	Action. Make a Gadget Attack against a creature within 60 feet. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become Stunned untill the start of your next turn.

 

Level 15

Gadget	Effect
Arc Cage	Action. Deploy a portable energy field in a 10-foot-radius area within 30 feet. The area becomes difficult terrain, and creatures can't teleport into or out of it until the start of your next turn.
Adaptive Exoskeleton	Bonus Action. Until the start of your next turn, your speed increases by 10 feet, standing from prone costs no movement, and you have Advantage on Strength (Athletics) and Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
Tracking Dart	Bonus Action. Make a Gadget Attack against a creature within 60 feet. On a hit, the dart remains attached for 1 hour. Until then, you always know the target's direction while it remains on the same plane, and it can't benefit from being hidden from you.
Tether Harpoon	Bonus Action. Make a Gadget Attack against a Large or smaller creature within 30 feet. On a hit, you may immediately pull yourself up to 15 feet toward the target, pull the target up to 10 feet toward you, or choose not to move either creature. This movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks.

 

Level 5: Combat Integration

Through constant training, you learn to seamlessly combine your weapons and inventions into a single, fluid fighting style.

Once on each of your turns, immediately after you take the Attack action and make at least one weapon attack as part of that action, you can activate one Gadget. If that Gadget normally requires an Action to activate, you activate it as a Bonus Action instead. If it normally requires a Bonus Action, you activate it without expending an Action or Bonus Action. This reduction in activation cost applies only to that Gadget and only as part of this feature.

Level 9: Rapid Reconfiguration

Your experience allows you to quickly adapt your equipment to changing circumstances.

During a Short Rest, you may dismantle any number of Gadgets you currently possess and rebuild them into different Gadgets of your choice. In addition, you may construct a number of new Gadgets equal to half your maximum Gadget capacity (rounded down). You can't exceed your maximum Gadget capacity through this feature.

Level 15: Integrated Arsenal

Whenever you activate a Gadget, including as part of your Combat Integration feature, you can activate one additional Gadget as part of the same action used to activate the first Gadget. The second Gadget can't require more time to activate than the first and can't be the same Gadget. You can benefit from this feature only once on each of your turns.