what if a Battle Smith takes a Feat instead of an ASI, but not for them, rather for their Steel Defender? The character would forgo their own improvement to improve their companion.
Mobile, Charger, Resilient are obvious. But what about e.g. Chef? You programmed it to cook yummy food...
Would you DMs out there allow that? And what are your ideas for funny Feats for companions?
(The same could be applied to the Beastmaster Ranger or even Wildfire Druid...)
I mean it is entirely homebrew, so it would absolutely be up to the DM. I think after talking to the player and feeling why they want to do this I'd be able to be persuaded. The only problem I could see would be if you'd take a feat like Magic Initiate or Shadow Touched or some others that would give the SD actions that might allow it to punch far over their weight. But a coocking bot? Sure, have at it!
Thank you for your kind reply. However, I do disagree that it is "entirely homebrew", as far as I know, the RAW don`t prohibit this. If I gave my ASI or Feat to another PC, of course, is against the rules. But my companion is part of my character. Maybe we can get a sage advice on this sometime.
As you mention Shadow Touched: I noticed for the first time, that it doesn`t have the "Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell" like spell sniper (which would be an awesome pick for you companion, if allowed...), neither has Fey touched, or "Prerequisite: Intelligence or Wisdom of 13 or higher." like Ritual Caster. So, why not? It can become invisible and disguise itself, or Misty Step and cast Sleep, whatever. Nice ways to program it, very thematic. Because, eventually, does it matter if you pull off that shenanigan, or your buddy?
Thank you for inspiring reply! But, unfortunately I can only infuse "a non-magical object", so not my SD. Maybe I could come around that by barding it with an infused armor for a mount, but you will need a generous DM for that, since there are no official rules for barding a mount in 5e.
But the Idea of integrating that Alchemy Jug into your Homunculus, having a flying Acid- or Mayonnaise-Bomber, is hilarious! Or bag of holding, Bag of tricks, maybe to spawn random animals. Let`s test our DMs´ borders!
While there is no rule against giving the feat to your companion, there is nothing in the rules that would suggest it could be possible. As I said, I would allow it in some/most cases, but it would be absolutley homebrew.
As per homebrew: I have a homebrew with my DM that I CAN infuse magical items, but effects don't stack (so no +1 Item +1 infusion = +2 weapon shenanigans). It allows me to use the cool magic items my DM wants me to have without comparing them to the stuff I could do with my class features(mainly repeating shot was the problem). A similar homebrew rule could be applied here.
I'm also of the mindset that an Artificer should be able to use Infusions directly on their constructs... even if it does functionally just bestow specific feats on them.
That said, as a DM, here's what I would allow... if a player wants to give their Steel Defender a feat, they can simply spend time and resources tinkering to build some kind of add-on onto the Steel Defender that grants them the benefits of that feat. If you want your Steel Defender to have the Chef feat, then spend a work-week and a few hundred gold to install a hot plate and little arms it can use to manipulate foodstuffs. Then my ruling would be that this specific Steel Defender has those specific modifications, so if your SD is destroyed somehow and you're forced to create a new one, it won't have the Chef feat, since that was something you went out of your way to install on the original SD.
what if a Battle Smith takes a Feat instead of an ASI, but not for them, rather for their Steel Defender? The character would forgo their own improvement to improve their companion.
Mobile, Charger, Resilient are obvious. But what about e.g. Chef? You programmed it to cook yummy food...
Would you DMs out there allow that? And what are your ideas for funny Feats for companions?
(The same could be applied to the Beastmaster Ranger or even Wildfire Druid...)
I mean it is entirely homebrew, so it would absolutely be up to the DM. I think after talking to the player and feeling why they want to do this I'd be able to be persuaded. The only problem I could see would be if you'd take a feat like Magic Initiate or Shadow Touched or some others that would give the SD actions that might allow it to punch far over their weight. But a coocking bot? Sure, have at it!
Thank you for your kind reply. However, I do disagree that it is "entirely homebrew", as far as I know, the RAW don`t prohibit this. If I gave my ASI or Feat to another PC, of course, is against the rules. But my companion is part of my character. Maybe we can get a sage advice on this sometime.
As you mention Shadow Touched: I noticed for the first time, that it doesn`t have the "Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell" like spell sniper (which would be an awesome pick for you companion, if allowed...), neither has Fey touched, or "Prerequisite: Intelligence or Wisdom of 13 or higher." like Ritual Caster. So, why not? It can become invisible and disguise itself, or Misty Step and cast Sleep, whatever. Nice ways to program it, very thematic.
Because, eventually, does it matter if you pull off that shenanigan, or your buddy?
Thank you for inspiring reply! But, unfortunately I can only infuse "a non-magical object", so not my SD. Maybe I could come around that by barding it with an infused armor for a mount, but you will need a generous DM for that, since there are no official rules for barding a mount in 5e.
But the Idea of integrating that Alchemy Jug into your Homunculus, having a flying Acid- or Mayonnaise-Bomber, is hilarious! Or bag of holding, Bag of tricks, maybe to spawn random animals. Let`s test our DMs´ borders!
While there is no rule against giving the feat to your companion, there is nothing in the rules that would suggest it could be possible. As I said, I would allow it in some/most cases, but it would be absolutley homebrew.
As per homebrew: I have a homebrew with my DM that I CAN infuse magical items, but effects don't stack (so no +1 Item +1 infusion = +2 weapon shenanigans). It allows me to use the cool magic items my DM wants me to have without comparing them to the stuff I could do with my class features(mainly repeating shot was the problem). A similar homebrew rule could be applied here.
Also barding is in the rules of 5e. (I'm a link, click me hard, daddy ;) ) As per infusing it that might be a debate with your DM, too.
I'm also of the mindset that an Artificer should be able to use Infusions directly on their constructs... even if it does functionally just bestow specific feats on them.
That said, as a DM, here's what I would allow... if a player wants to give their Steel Defender a feat, they can simply spend time and resources tinkering to build some kind of add-on onto the Steel Defender that grants them the benefits of that feat. If you want your Steel Defender to have the Chef feat, then spend a work-week and a few hundred gold to install a hot plate and little arms it can use to manipulate foodstuffs. Then my ruling would be that this specific Steel Defender has those specific modifications, so if your SD is destroyed somehow and you're forced to create a new one, it won't have the Chef feat, since that was something you went out of your way to install on the original SD.
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