Hi, I've played dnd quite a bit and my favourite class is artificer, but I've always wanted the aspect of them being able to make and particularly replicate magic items to be more focused on. I was thinking about making a homebrew sub-class that is solely about making new or replicating more items. I want to ask about ideas to help keep this balanced and fair as this is the first time I'm making something myself and I'm still learning.
So far I have come up with a basic idea of being able to make higher tier replicas (of all magic items not just the listed ones) depending on levels, requiring more time, certain materials and help from others depending on the item. It will also have restrictions on how many items there can be at once, with higher tiers taking more 'slots'. This would give the replicate magic item infusion and allow all items to be made, but nothing new can be made (such as unique items like other artificer sub-class stuff or legendary weapons) and all items that are replicated need knowledge of it and lots of rare materials to craft as decided by the DM.
Another idea was the player being able to make a limited amount of their own unique items. This can be any item that is both within the tier of the players level, balanced with all functions stated and conditions of the actual item (such as design, weaknesses, limitations, ect) listed, and the DM's agreement to the item. Each new item can not be unlearnt or switched (maybe modifications allowed at higher tiers) and the DM can help decide on materials and time it takes to both plan and then make the item. Also, each item must be within the limitations of the game/DM (no insta kill one time use items or the such). Each item can be made more then once after it has been planned, but they will take up more slots to prevent and entire party with custom legendary weapons or something.
The issue with balancing a subclass around magic items is that the rarity for magic items is so all over the place that it doesn't do anything to arrange them in power or value. This means you'd have to make your own table or just judge things on the fly as the dm.
Another issue with an item based subclass is that their effectiveness is highly dependent on the DM and how much magical loot they give out in their games. There are games where just having the basic atificer infusions at lv 2 make the class incredibly good, and games where there is so much magical gear that it's hard to even find something to make that isn't redundant. This will make balancing something like this pretty table dependent.
Some ways you might be able to make it work would be to allow the class 2 extra infusions that can be used to make any replicate item for your level as an action 1/LR. This lets them have a lot of on demand utility instead of picking a specific item on level up and then prepping it at the end of a long rest.
You could also look at some of the warlock invocations to reflavor as items/infusions.
I don't know that it isn't viable, but it could certain be tricky to balance!
I wonder if you could do it through some kind of "enhanced effect" mechanic, that lets you pick one of several effects to apply to a replicated item? Some ideas off the top of my head:
Additional Charges: An item with limited charges gains a number of additional charges equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded down). If the item allows spending multiple charges at once, this does not increase the normal limit (e.g- if the item had 3 charges and now has 5, you can still only spend 3 at once).
Enhanced Capacity: An item with a limited weight or volume capacity can hold twice as much.
Enhanced Duration: An item whose effect has a duration now lasts twice as long.
Greater Enhancement: An item which grants an improved ability score, grants an additional +1 to that score. You may not use this on multiple items.
Basically the idea is that you'd initially gain the ability to apply one or two of these to your replicated item(s), and gain more uses (and possibly stronger options) at higher levels.
If I were you I'd think about trying to expand the theme slightly so you're not too locked into all of the features being item related; maybe consider broadening it a little into conjuration or flexibility. I really like Bodanger's idea of allowing the sub-class to have the ability to do an "on-demand" item replication to just pull out a required item when you need it, though I'd probably limit that to once per long rest, or limit the level of item it can produce (i.e- it can do any item except the highest level that you can create).
Enhanced regular crafting of items is nice in theory, but crafting is so poorly defined in 5e; if you want it to be balanced I'd have any feature maybe just reduce the time that it takes to craft an item, or let you roll some kind of check to see how much time you save (e.g- 15+ is a quarter less time, 20+ is a third less time, 25+ is half time)?
Just some ideas, I definitely think it's possible to make the sub-class, but it'll be tricky.
In terms of how you balance a sub-class, first thing to do is build your sub-class, then put it away for a day or two. Go back to it, re-read it, fix up all the mistakes you'll notice that you just don't at the time (or on an immediate re-read), do this a few times considering it. It might sound weird to step away, but often inspiration hits when you're not trying to think about it. After a few rounds when you're happy, you'll want to see if you can organise a playtest; see if any of your DMs are interested in letting you play a possible unbalanced sub-class, or find fellow players who'd like to try it while you DM (it's good to get both perspectives). One-shots are the easiest way to avoid disrupting any existing campaigns you're playing, and one shots are just good to have in your back pocket for any time you can't get enough players for a main campaign (and remember, you can still play a character while DMing, it's a lot to juggle but for a small, focused one-shot it can work). If you're really struggling to find players or get enough testing in, copy and paste your sub-class into a topic here on the forums; playtesting is better if you can do it, but having more eyes on a sub-class is invaluable.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
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Hi, I've played dnd quite a bit and my favourite class is artificer, but I've always wanted the aspect of them being able to make and particularly replicate magic items to be more focused on. I was thinking about making a homebrew sub-class that is solely about making new or replicating more items. I want to ask about ideas to help keep this balanced and fair as this is the first time I'm making something myself and I'm still learning.
So far I have come up with a basic idea of being able to make higher tier replicas (of all magic items not just the listed ones) depending on levels, requiring more time, certain materials and help from others depending on the item. It will also have restrictions on how many items there can be at once, with higher tiers taking more 'slots'. This would give the replicate magic item infusion and allow all items to be made, but nothing new can be made (such as unique items like other artificer sub-class stuff or legendary weapons) and all items that are replicated need knowledge of it and lots of rare materials to craft as decided by the DM.
Another idea was the player being able to make a limited amount of their own unique items. This can be any item that is both within the tier of the players level, balanced with all functions stated and conditions of the actual item (such as design, weaknesses, limitations, ect) listed, and the DM's agreement to the item. Each new item can not be unlearnt or switched (maybe modifications allowed at higher tiers) and the DM can help decide on materials and time it takes to both plan and then make the item. Also, each item must be within the limitations of the game/DM (no insta kill one time use items or the such). Each item can be made more then once after it has been planned, but they will take up more slots to prevent and entire party with custom legendary weapons or something.
Any feedback/ideas? Thank you
The issue with balancing a subclass around magic items is that the rarity for magic items is so all over the place that it doesn't do anything to arrange them in power or value. This means you'd have to make your own table or just judge things on the fly as the dm.
Another issue with an item based subclass is that their effectiveness is highly dependent on the DM and how much magical loot they give out in their games. There are games where just having the basic atificer infusions at lv 2 make the class incredibly good, and games where there is so much magical gear that it's hard to even find something to make that isn't redundant.
This will make balancing something like this pretty table dependent.
Some ways you might be able to make it work would be to allow the class 2 extra infusions that can be used to make any replicate item for your level as an action 1/LR. This lets them have a lot of on demand utility instead of picking a specific item on level up and then prepping it at the end of a long rest.
You could also look at some of the warlock invocations to reflavor as items/infusions.
I don't know that it isn't viable, but it could certain be tricky to balance!
I wonder if you could do it through some kind of "enhanced effect" mechanic, that lets you pick one of several effects to apply to a replicated item? Some ideas off the top of my head:
Basically the idea is that you'd initially gain the ability to apply one or two of these to your replicated item(s), and gain more uses (and possibly stronger options) at higher levels.
If I were you I'd think about trying to expand the theme slightly so you're not too locked into all of the features being item related; maybe consider broadening it a little into conjuration or flexibility. I really like Bodanger's idea of allowing the sub-class to have the ability to do an "on-demand" item replication to just pull out a required item when you need it, though I'd probably limit that to once per long rest, or limit the level of item it can produce (i.e- it can do any item except the highest level that you can create).
Enhanced regular crafting of items is nice in theory, but crafting is so poorly defined in 5e; if you want it to be balanced I'd have any feature maybe just reduce the time that it takes to craft an item, or let you roll some kind of check to see how much time you save (e.g- 15+ is a quarter less time, 20+ is a third less time, 25+ is half time)?
Just some ideas, I definitely think it's possible to make the sub-class, but it'll be tricky.
In terms of how you balance a sub-class, first thing to do is build your sub-class, then put it away for a day or two. Go back to it, re-read it, fix up all the mistakes you'll notice that you just don't at the time (or on an immediate re-read), do this a few times considering it. It might sound weird to step away, but often inspiration hits when you're not trying to think about it. After a few rounds when you're happy, you'll want to see if you can organise a playtest; see if any of your DMs are interested in letting you play a possible unbalanced sub-class, or find fellow players who'd like to try it while you DM (it's good to get both perspectives). One-shots are the easiest way to avoid disrupting any existing campaigns you're playing, and one shots are just good to have in your back pocket for any time you can't get enough players for a main campaign (and remember, you can still play a character while DMing, it's a lot to juggle but for a small, focused one-shot it can work). If you're really struggling to find players or get enough testing in, copy and paste your sub-class into a topic here on the forums; playtesting is better if you can do it, but having more eyes on a sub-class is invaluable.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.