New player, first time playing DnD, so I apologize in advanced if this is an obvious question or I missed something with regards to spellcasting requirements and equipping items.
Say I'm playing an Armorer Artificer (Infiltrator mode) with my special weapon on the chest. I wield a Shield on the left hand and All-Purpose Tools+1 on the right (to boost artificer spells). The idea is to be able to shoot with my chest normally while casting boosted spells with right-hand for support and having the left hand with a Shield for the extra AC.
Say I picked up the Fey-Touched feat and chose either A:Bless (VSM) or B:Charm Person (VS).
A. Can I cast Bless in combat with my current equipment setup (assuming I have a component pouch on me but not in my hand)?
B. Can I cast Charm Person in combat with my current setup (since both my hands are full and Fey-Touched doesn't say it makes those spells Artificer/class spells)?
I'm not too familiar with the "free actions" so idk how those work here, but I would really appreciate an explanation of how these scenarios could/would work out. Thanks!
Both your hands are occupied, and neither of those spells is an Artificer spell, so you'd have to change your "setup" to cast them --- to have a suitable focus or material components in one hand for Bless, or to have a hand free for somatic components for Charm Person.
Both your hands are occupied, and neither of those spells is an Artificer spell, so you'd have to change your "setup" to cast them --- to have a suitable focus or material components in one hand for Bless, or to have a hand free for somatic components for Charm Person.
And how would this work with dropping items or free actions concerning grabbing an item from your inventory to cast a non-artificer spell?
And how would this work with dropping items or free actions concerning grabbing an item from your inventory to cast a non-artificer spell?
Well, it takes a full action to don or doff a Shield, so you don't change that.
Free action: drop something
Interact with object (can do once as part of your action): pick up, draw, or stow something
So for a non-artificer spell with M, you drop your All-Purpose Tool, draw your focus, and cast. Next turn, you drop your focus, pick up your All-Purpose Tool, and cast away.
For a non-artificer spell with only S, you stow your All-Purpose Tool and use your free hand to cast. Next turn, you draw your All-Purpose Tool and cast away.
If you have a lenient DM, you might be able to get away with:
The All-Purpose Tool can become any artisan tool, which (presumably) includes any part of any artisan tool. [The DM needs to agree to this interpretation]
Per Xanathar's, the Herbalism Kit includes leather gloves. [The DM needs to agree to use the Xanathar's lists of tool parts]
The DM could agree to let you turn the All-Purpose Tool into a pair of leather gloves, wear them, and count as wielding the All-Purpose Tool when wearing them, despite having other stuff in your hands. [This is a big ask; generally you can't double-up on a hand like this.]
If your DM is really gonzo about this, Alchemist's Supplies and Poisoner's Kits include a "glass stirring rod" and your DM could rule that that counts as a "Rod" (the arcane focus). But that seems less likely (even though it would allow an Artillerist to turn an All-Purpose Tool into an Arcane Firearm...)
Other option: wait until 14th level to get Magic Item Savant, and convince your DM to let you use the Replicate Magic Item infusion to get a Wand Sheath (normally a Eberron-only, Warforged-only common item) to keep a wand (arcane focus) wielded without a hand. (Which could help you with Bless but not Charm Person.)
Otherwise, Armorer (Infiltrator) and Alchemist are the only kinds of Artificers that can keep an All-Purpose Tool in hand while still optimally using their (sub)class features. Which is fine; there's no obligation for a magic item to optimally combine with all your (sub)class features, and this is a cute little bonus for Alchemists (who can use the tool as their Alchemist's Supplies).
Thanks! This was very informative and covers a lot of what I wanted to learn. The case for only S seems to fit what I was looking for (where I can sort of freely swap between regular Artificer spells and other spells every turn without dropping precious equipment).
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New player, first time playing DnD, so I apologize in advanced if this is an obvious question or I missed something with regards to spellcasting requirements and equipping items.
Say I'm playing an Armorer Artificer (Infiltrator mode) with my special weapon on the chest. I wield a Shield on the left hand and All-Purpose Tools+1 on the right (to boost artificer spells). The idea is to be able to shoot with my chest normally while casting boosted spells with right-hand for support and having the left hand with a Shield for the extra AC.
Say I picked up the Fey-Touched feat and chose either A: Bless (VSM) or B: Charm Person (VS).
A. Can I cast Bless in combat with my current equipment setup (assuming I have a component pouch on me but not in my hand)?
B. Can I cast Charm Person in combat with my current setup (since both my hands are full and Fey-Touched doesn't say it makes those spells Artificer/class spells)?
I'm not too familiar with the "free actions" so idk how those work here, but I would really appreciate an explanation of how these scenarios could/would work out. Thanks!
Both your hands are occupied, and neither of those spells is an Artificer spell, so you'd have to change your "setup" to cast them --- to have a suitable focus or material components in one hand for Bless, or to have a hand free for somatic components for Charm Person.
And how would this work with dropping items or free actions concerning grabbing an item from your inventory to cast a non-artificer spell?
Well, it takes a full action to don or doff a Shield, so you don't change that.
If you have a lenient DM, you might be able to get away with:
Other option: wait until 14th level to get Magic Item Savant, and convince your DM to let you use the Replicate Magic Item infusion to get a Wand Sheath (normally a Eberron-only, Warforged-only common item) to keep a wand (arcane focus) wielded without a hand. (Which could help you with Bless but not Charm Person.)
Otherwise, Armorer (Infiltrator) and Alchemist are the only kinds of Artificers that can keep an All-Purpose Tool in hand while still optimally using their (sub)class features. Which is fine; there's no obligation for a magic item to optimally combine with all your (sub)class features, and this is a cute little bonus for Alchemists (who can use the tool as their Alchemist's Supplies).
Thanks! This was very informative and covers a lot of what I wanted to learn. The case for only S seems to fit what I was looking for (where I can sort of freely swap between regular Artificer spells and other spells every turn without dropping precious equipment).