Mech Pilot

Mechs are massive constructs made in the image of some of the most fearsome creatures in the world. These pilots make and control their own mech, using ingenuity, science, and knowledge to pilot it. They must always be constantly managing their mech's energy levels in combat, to ensure they don't become a sitting duck to whatever they are fighting, and no two mechs are usually the same, for they are almost always being customized and tweaked by their creators and pilots to better fit their needs and personalities.

Create Mech

You gain a mech sharing your ability scores but doubled, to the max of 30 for each score. Choose a size for it to be which will greatly affect your playstyle based on which one you choose. Your mech can be piloted by you alone, or by someone who makes a DC 20 intelligence check and succeeds. Piloting it gives you full control over it, while still being able to act yourself on your own turn, and means you are inside of it, with the same rules for mounting and dismounting as a mount, and giving you full cover from everything on the outside of your mech, meaning that anything that attempts to hit you while you possess this cover must have their attack redirected to the mech before making the attack roll, likewise for your attacks against anything outside the mech. If your first mech is destroyed, then you can make a new one using resources and time which depend on the mech's size, and tinker's tools. Once you choose the size of your mech, you cannot change it in future builds, as that would be the only build you have the knowledge of how to make at that point. Your mech has a number of energy points equal to 5x your artificer level, and regains 1 at the end of every turn it doesn't use them for. If your mech has 0 energy points then it is considered incapacitated and can't passively regenerate energy points. You can see uninhibited through your mech while you pilot it, but anything outside of it still has full cover in every other way from you except the ability to see them. You determine what your mech looks like whenever you build it, including whether or not it has basic limbs, wheels, etc. It has basic actions logical for whatever basic features you gave it. Anything that is of an equal or greater size in relation to the mech is unable to pilot it. Any ability that requires you and not your mech to see a target that is used while in your mech cannot be used by you while piloting it. You cannot have more than one mech at a time.

Gargantuan

Gargantuan mechs are often far away from their pilots, serving as support for them from far away, or ferrying them across large distances as a sort of mobile home, but some pilots prefer to instead of being supported by their mech from a large distance, BE the support by piloting their mech from a large distance away from the action. Your mech is likely to not fit with you in many places due to its size, as such, it is likely to stay within about a mile of you and be used for long distance travel, or you are likely to stay with it and support your allies by piloting it from afar. It is a construct with an HP of 300, an AC of 18, and has its own interior that is fully decorated as you see fit with functioning basic facilities. It has a base walking speed of 120ft. It takes a month of downtime and 1,000 gold to create. While piloting it, you can cast the Message cantrip with a range of 1 mile with the mech as your arcane focus.

Huge

Huge mechs are often the cavalry of a situation, which arrives to their pilots as a sort of backup in tough situations, usually just in time for them to be able to turn the tide with its power. Your mech is likely not around at most times due to its clumsy and overall too big build, but when it is around, it is one of the most valuable powerhouses in many situations, able to be called down by you in crucial moments. It is a construct with an HP of 200, an AC of 19, and enough space on the outside of it to hold 2 passengers, who may or may not be able to maneuver around outside parts to gain varying degrees of cover, depending on what you design the mech to look like. It has a base walking speed of 80ft. It takes a week of downtime and 500 gold to create. As an action while you are within 1 mile of it, you can cause it to expend 10 energy points to make reaching a space within 5ft of you to be its top priority, activating it without a pilot in the process until it accomplishes said goal, counting itself as its own pilot for that time.

Large

Large mechs are nearly always piloted by their pilots, as they are usually just small enough to fit into most places with them, thereby making them a far more active, yet somewhat smaller and therefore weaker size of mech. You are likely either always piloting your mech, or you always have it available to you to be piloted as a tactical option. It is a construct with an HP of 100, an AC of 20, and has enough space to riskily carry 1 passenger on the outside of it, without big enough parts to take cover behind. It has a base walking speed of 40ft. It takes 24 hours of downtime and 100 gold to create. As an action while you are piloting it, you can cause it to expend 5 energy points to mechanically fold up into a small container with a design of your choosing that you may easily carry on your person. Said container can double as a shield if you so choose that to be its design, and as an action while the container is on your person, you can cause it to expend 5 energy points to unfold into your mech once more, with you being immediately piloting it when it finishes.

Mech Augmentations

Mechs have an incredible amount of customization options, making it so that hardly any two mechs are the same as each other. These options grant mechs different capabilities and powers, which assist them in whatever needs their pilots have for them, usually at the cost of energy points.

At 3rd level, you gain two mech augmentations of your choice. When you reach artificer levels 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, and 18, you gain one more augmentation of your choice at each of those levels.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the augmentations you know and replace it with another augmentation that you could learn at that level.

If a mech augmentation has prerequisites, you must meet them to learn it. You can learn the augmentation at the same time that you meet its prerequisites. A level prerequisite refers to your level in this class.

Additional Weapon Attachment

Your mech now wields a(nother) non-magical weapon of your choice, designed to fit its size, with the only other difference from a normal weapon being that it will always have the light property no matter what the weapon is when wielded by the mech, and any properties that would prevent it from being used for two-weapon fighting are negated in this circumstance.

Aerial Adaptation

Your mech now has a flying speed equal to its base walking speed while above half health, and is considered to be airtightly sealed with 2 hours worth of air inside of it, resetting this timer whenever the outside of it is exposed to regular breathable air.

Air Strike

Whenever your mech is within 1 mile of you, you can expend your action to make it expend 15 energy points and its action to send high speed, volatile ordnance from it to a point of your choosing that you can see within 30ft of you. Every creature within 5ft of that point must make a dex save against your spell save DC or take 6d6 force damage, be pushed out of that 5ft area to the nearest free space, and be knocked prone. If they succeed on the dex save, then they only take half the damage and are not pushed or knocked prone. If there is not an at least 1ft wide path of free space between you and your mech when you try to use this ability, then the point of your choice is moved to be the first point of obstruction along that path. You can also do this while piloting your mech, with you choosing a point within 1 mile for the ordnance to go to, expending an action and 15 energy points, with the same area and effects when it hits, but with the path needing to be from your mech to the point you chose.

Alter-Planar Hud

While piloting your mech, you can see 60ft into the ethereal plane while on the material plane, and vice versa.

Aquatic Adaptation

Your mech now has a swimming speed equal to its base walking speed while above half health, and is considered to be airtightly sealed with 2 hours worth of air inside of it, resetting this timer whenever the outside of it is exposed to regular breathable air.

Arcane Cannon

Your mech gains an arcane cannon attachment that is much more compact than most, being Medium sized, and that costs 10 energy to fire, but no longer requires a cooldown after firing for your mech.

Arcane Synergy

Whenever you cast a spell while piloting your mech, you can now choose to cast it through your mech by expending 5 of its energy points along with its reaction to count it as the caster of the spell, while also using your mech as an arcane focus.

Assault Chip

As an action while you are within 1 mile of your mech, you can cause it to expend 10 energy points to make killing a creature of your choice within 30ft of you to be its top priority, activating it without a pilot in the process until it accomplishes said goal, counting itself as its own pilot for that time.

Ball Form

You can use a bonus action while piloting your mech to cause it to expend 10 energy points to fold up, with you inside of it, into the form of a small sized, gyroscopically controlled ball, as it curls you up to fit the new space. While in this form, you can no longer see out of your mech, but have a tremorsense of up to 30ft away. You can roll around quite fast with a base walking speed of 60ft, and the ball is somewhat adhesive so you have a climbing speed equal to that base walking speed. Your mech gains a +2 bonus to AC in this form from being faster and smaller, and therefore harder to hit. While in this form, you can use an action to cause your mech to expend 5 energy points to force every creature within 5ft of you to make a str save against your spell save DC or take 2d4 force damage and be pushed back 5ft away from you, while also doubling your movement speed at the same time until the start of your next turn. If they succeed the saving throw then they only take half damage and are not pushed away from you. You can expend a bonus action while in this form to cause your mech to spend 5 energy points to transform back into your original piloting form. While in this form you cannot dismount from your mech, and this form has no limbs.

Crafting Station

Your mech gains a crafting station inside of it which functions as every variety of artisan's tools, but is immobile, being a part of the inside of your mech.

Dash Boost

Your mech can now dash as a bonus action, and gains a +1 bonus to AC whenever it dashes at all, stacking with each dash it takes on a turn, and resetting at the start of its next turn.

Defensive Armaments

Whenever a creature moves within 30ft of your mech or starts its turn within that range while you are piloting it, you can choose to expend 5 of your mech's energy points and both your and its reaction to make an attack roll against that creature using your intelligence modifier and adding your proficiency bonus to the roll. On a hit, the creature takes 2d8 piercing damage plus your intelligence modifier.

Escape Pod

Your mech is now loaded with 8 large sized hollow escape pods, which can be fired from the inside of them using a bonus action. When fired, the creature expending the bonus action must make an attack roll using their intelligence modifier, whilst picking a direction to try to launch in. The attack roll determines how close they are to firing at their desired trajectory, with a 1 being completely off course, and with a 20 being exactly on course. The pod is guaranteed to travel at least 300ft in a straight line before other forces take effect and it is left in fate's hands. Your mech can regain a missing escape pod by expending and being unable to regain 5 energy points for the next 8 hours, with the pod finishing its reconstruction on board at the end of those 8 hours.

Jump Boost

Your mech's jump distance/height is doubled. In addition, your mech can expend a bonus action at the peak of a jump to jump again, as if doing a standing jump.

Laser Beam Strike

While piloting your mech, you can target a point that you can see as an action, causing your mech to expend 50 energy points and its action to shoot a massive laser strike at that point. Any creature within 20ft of that point must make a dex save against your spell save DC or take 24d6 radiant damage. If a creature dies to this damage then they are vaporized completely. On a successful save, a creature only takes half the damage rolled, instead of the full amount.

Last Resort

While piloting your mech, you can expend your bonus action and 15 of your mech's energy points to cause you to be shot out of your mech and 40ft upwards, just before your mech explodes, killing itself, and dealing 12d6 fire damage to everything within 30ft of it, unless they succeed on a dex save with a DC equal to your spell save DC, which causes them to take only half the normal damage on a success.

Life Support Systems

Your mech is now air tightly sealed if it wasn’t already, and has an infinite amount of breathable air on the inside of it.

Lightning Charger

Whenever your mech takes lightning damage, it now regains energy points equal to the damage taken. If the number of points restored would go over the maximum amount of energy points, then it gains temporary energy points equal to the amount of damage taken minus the amount already converted to regular energy points. These temporary energy points function basically the same as temporary hit points, but count as energy points rather than hit points, obviously.

Ordnance Volley

You can use an action while piloting your mech to cause it to expend 50 energy points and its action to fire a volley of 12 projectiles. Choose 1 target within 60ft that you can see for each of the 12 projectiles, one target can be targeted by multiple projectiles. Each projectile deals 1d4 fire damage and 1d4 force damage to whatever target was chosen for it to go to.

Phase Dash

Whenever your titan takes the dash action while you're piloting it, you can cause it to expend 5 energy points and its bonus action to shift into the ethereal plane from the material plane, or into the material plane from the ethereal plane. While in the ethereal plane, your mech's energy point regeneration rate is increased to 5 per turn, all its movement speeds are doubled, and it doesn't expend energy points to use abilities that normally cost them. If you phase dash into an occupied space, then you and your mech are shunted to the nearest unoccupied space and both you and your mech take 1d10 force damage for every 10ft you are shunted.

Range Booster

Your mech’s abilities that have a range of 1 mile now instead have infinite range.

Repair Crew

Your mech gains a crew of 10 operator drones, except each one of this variety has no mech to control, they can cast the Mending cantrip at will, and their main priority is to keep your mech alive. Your mech can expend 10 energy points whenever there are less than 10 of them left in order to cause a new one to be made on board. It cannot have more than 10 of these drones at a time.

Retroreflective Array

Your mech can now cast invisibility on itself by expending 10 energy points, but only targeting the outside of itself, so that anything inside is also invisible from the outside, but can see everything else on the inside with it, along with still being able to see out of it if piloting it.

S.M.R.T. Aim

Super-accurate Machine-based Reticle-enhanced Total-hit Aim, or, for short, S.M.R.T. Aim, allows you to use an action while piloting your mech to cause it to expend 25 energy points and its bonus action to auto-succeed on any attack rolls that it makes within the next minute, while also being unable to regain energy points for this same duration.

Scanner Hud (Gargantuan)

As an action while piloting your mech, you can cause it to expend 15 energy points to have you choose a point that you can see to scan a large area around. Choose a creature type, you can see creatures of that type highlighted through any non-magical obstructions for as long as they are within 1 mile of the point that you chose. You may use a bonus action to end this effect, energy does not regenerate while this effect is active, and the effect also ends if you dismount from your mech. While piloting it, you can cause your mech to use its action and 5 more energy points to move the area to a different point of your choice that you can see, and to change the creature type as well if so desired. This effect lasts until ended. While this effect is active, you also have truesight of up to 30ft away.

Scanner Hud (Huge)

As an action while piloting your mech, you can cause it to expend 10 energy points to scan a large area around you. Choose a creature type, you can see creatures of that type highlighted through any non-magical obstructions for as long as they are within 300ft of you. You may use a bonus action to end this effect, energy does not regenerate while this effect is active, and the effect also ends if you dismount from your mech. While piloting it, you can cause your mech to use its action and 5 more energy points to change the creature type if so desired. This effect lasts until ended. While this effect is active, you also have truesight of up to 30ft away.

Scanner Hud (Large)

As an action while piloting your mech, you can cause it to expend 10 energy points to scan the area around you. You can see creatures and their creature types highlighted through any non-magical obstructions for as long as they are within 30ft of you. You may use a bonus action to end this effect, energy does not regenerate while this effect is active, and the effect also ends if you dismount from your mech. This effect lasts until ended. While this effect is active, you also have truesight of up to 30ft away.

Seismic Crash

Your mech is now immune to falling damage. In addition, whenever your mech falls from a height that would cause it to take fall damage, it can choose to have every creature within 30ft of it when it lands to make a str save against your spell save DC or each take the falling damage your mech would've taken instead. On a successful save, they only take half the falling damage they would've taken.

Shield Generator

Your mech can now cast Shield using 5 energy points.

Subterranean Adaptation

Your mech now has a burrowing speed equal to its base walking speed through loose ground and unrefined rock while above half health, and is considered to be airtightly sealed with 2 hours worth of air inside of it, resetting this timer whenever the outside of it is exposed to regular breathable air.

Supply Dropper

Your mech now has a supply drop facility, which you can load with up to three medium or smaller items while within the interior of your mech. As an action while within 1 mile of your mech, you can make your mech expend 5 energy points to teleport the loaded items in a large container that is destroyed when opened to an empty space within 30ft of you. In addition, as an action while piloting your mech, you can make your mech expend 5 energy points to teleport the loaded items in a large container that is destroyed when opened to an empty space within 1 mile of you.

Targeted Magic Scan

If you know the spell Detect Magic, then you can cast it while piloting your mech with no mech-based restrictions such as sight, with a range of 1 mile, targeting a willing creature within range to be the center of the area, which still counts as though you yourself had cast the spell. The spell when cast in this way ends when you dismount from your mech or whenever it would normally end.

Teledrop Titan

You can use an action while piloting your mech to make it expend 50 energy points and its bonus action to teleport in a warforged titan to an unoccupied space within 1 mile of you. While piloting your mech, you can see through the titan's eyes and hear what it hears until it dies, expires, or moves out of the 1 mile range of you. You have full control over what it does while piloting your mech and while within 1 mile of it. The titan lasts for 10 minutes, until it dies, until you stop piloting your mech, or until it is out of the 1 mile range of you, after which it disappears. Your mech cannot regain energy while the titan is still active.

Teleporter

Your mech gains a teleporter room which counts as a teleportation circle. The pilot can choose to expend an action to make the mech spend 20 energy points to cast Teleport on every creature present in that room, as if the pilot had cast it at will. In addition, while piloting it, you can cause your mech to expend 25 energy points to cast Teleport on a willing creature within 1 mile, with the destination being the teleportation circle in the teleporter room, as if you had cast it at will.

Titanic Defenses

Your mech now gains a resistance to one damage type of your choice, in addition to gaining resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

At 15th level, the resistance you chose becomes an immunity.

Warforged Crew

Your mech gains a crew of 6 warforged soldiers who consider you and your mech as allies, and will follow any orders given to them by you to the best of their abilities. When not ordered, they will try to do whatever will keep your mech alive on their turns. They can be rebuilt if destroyed by expending 15 energy points and your mech's action to rebuild one of them. You cannot have more than 6 of these at a time.

Warpcall

Whenever you use your action to call your mech to get to a point within 5ft of you, you can use a bonus action at any point during its travel time to cause it to expend 20 energy points to immediately teleport to its destination point within 5ft of you. If there is a creature within that space when this occurs, then that creature takes 6d6 force damage and is shunted to the next nearest empty space.

Weapon Attachment

Your mech now wields a non-magical weapon of your choice, designed to fit its size, with the only other difference from a normal weapon being that it will always have the light property no matter what the weapon is when wielded by the mech, and any properties that would prevent it from being used for two-weapon fighting are negated in this circumstance.

Zoom Hud

While piloting your mech, you can choose to have objects viewed by you be magnified to up to 16x their size. This magnification ends when you dismount from your mech.

Emergency Repairs

Pilots must learn to think quickly when it comes to repairing their mech, and they must especially know how to repair it in general. As such, you learn the Mending cantrip, if you didn't know it already, and from now on whenever it is cast on your mech by you while not piloting it, it regains 10 energy points and 2d8 hit points. If it is cast on it by any other creature than you that isn't piloting it, it regains 1 energy point and 1d4 hit points.

Operator Drone

Pilots often figure out how to make drones to control their mechs whilst they are unable to. As such, you gain a tiny sized construct with a base flying speed of 30ft, an HP of 10, an AC of 15, ability scores matching yours, but halved, senses matching yours, proficiencies matching yours, languages matching yours, and no limbs. It can speak and read, and is considered sentient. It considers you an ally and will obey any command delivered to it by you. It takes an action to command it. It can operate your mech while it is not piloted as long as it is within a mile of it, allowing it to be fully active without a pilot when it normally wouldn't be able to. It follows you around and attempts to help you in any way it thinks it can when not commanded to do otherwise by you. It can use an action to turn invisible at will, and can end this effect as a bonus action. If it is destroyed, then it can be rebuilt using tinker's tools, 10 gold, and a long rest. You can only have one of these drones at a time.

Artificial Intelligence

This stage is the most advanced degree a mech and its pilot can reach, when the mech can deliver its own insights and ideas to the pilot that they may not have thought of. Your mech is now considered sentient, but still not able to pilot itself. Instead, it can speak, read, and write all the languages that you can, shares the same senses that you possess, has proficiencies matching yours, and can telepathically communicate with your drone as long as it is within 1 mile of it, along with whoever is piloting it at any given time. It can see through your drone's eyes and hear what it hears at all times, along with also perceiving through its own senses at the same time.