Excuse me if a similar question was answered before. Currently I am playing an artificer (subclass: Artillerist) and I've been thinking in this little combo:
Infusion: Replicate Magic Item (Spellwrought tattoo: Find Familiar, is a common magic item from Tasha's)
Feat: Fey Touched (Misty Step + Hex)
Artillerist Feature: Eldritch Cannon
My DM (in advance) will let me flavor my familiar and make it a flying drone (hawk block) instead of a celestial or fiend. My artillerist is a James Bond-like character full of gadgets to help the party. Investigation, arcana, perception and persuation are his profficency skills. So my idea was creating a flying spy drone that could also shoot my oponents from the back (using my eldritch cannon equipped in the drone)
Is that possible? I am not breaking any rules? (Also using my drone to use hex through it before even engaging combat)
It would depend if your cannon is too heavy for your hawk-drone. Also, an unstable platform for firing might impose disadvantage or penalties on your cannon.
RAW, your Eldritch Cannon can be tiny and you can activate your Eldritch Cannon as long as it's within 60 feet of you, regardless of whomever is carrying it. There's no description of how much it weighs but a tiny object should be pretty light.
If you're using the stat block of a hawk for your familiar then with its strength score of 5 as a tiny creature it can carry up to 37.5 lbs.
It's still a DM call to allow or not it but that seems sufficiently strong enough to carry an eldritch cannon to me.
Keep in mind that a Tiny hawk, even if strong enough to carry a Tiny cannon, will still move at half speed while doing so.
Why?
The Eldritch Cannon is an object not a creature, further the rules for half movement with carrying a creature are more to do with grappling an opponent which involves moving a creature against their will and would be actively resisting being moved.
Keep in mind that a Tiny hawk, even if strong enough to carry a Tiny cannon, will still move at half speed while doing so.
Why?
The Eldritch Cannon is an object not a creature, further the rules for half movement with carrying a creature are more to do with grappling an opponent which involves moving a creature against their will and would be actively resisting being moved.
It applies to dragging an ally out of melee too. But good point about the cannon being an object, the hawk wouldn't have its speed reduced.
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Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
I was about to say that I wouldn't allow this to work simply because there's really no good way for a Hawk to hold a gun... but really you decide the shape and appearance of your eldritch cannon, and that could mean building an eldritch canon that is overtly designed for the purpose of being carried by a drone that has all the stats of a hawk. It's decent investment of resources, so I think it earns the additional options you're giving yourself
But I'm curious myself about why not use a Homunculus Servant. Since it's an infusion, which you can use as a spellcasting focus, do you need to be holding the Servant to use it as such (aside from the Channel Magic feature for Touch spells)?
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What would be the benefit of this combo versus using a homunculus servant in the same manner?
A Homunculus Servant requires a bonus action to be commanded to do anything other than the Dodge Action, while a Familiar is more versatile in that regard, with the trade-off being that it can't attack on its own. So a Familiar can still do something like the Help Action, Hide action, or Dash action while still freeing up the Artificer to use their Bonus Action to command their Eldritch Cannon instead.
As well, a Familiar can be Dismissed to a pocket dimension, making it easier to sneak a Familiar into locations or have one disappear in dangerous situations, which I think pairs just a little bit better with an espionage-focused character, which I assume a character inspired by James Bond would prefer.
What would be the benefit of this combo versus using a homunculus servant in the same manner?
I have 3 reasons:
First, the Homunculus Servant uses my bonus action, which I meant to use in my Eldritch Cannon.
Second, the Homunculus Servant doesn't share senses (at least, it's not specified), as I want something to spy or investigate in dungeons, I want to able to see or hear from it.
Third, even if I cannot attach the cannon (as the stats may change), the fact I can change the familiar to another kind will be more helpful, bat in a cave and need some echolocation or even octopus if I need it to hide underwater. I feel there is more versatility in it than the Homunculus.
Another idea I have is using my magical tinkering, I can record 6 seconds in a coin (the feature doesn't specify whose voice speaks the message), with a +5 int, I can record up to 30 seconds, so I can use my drone, link senses and record a little conversation using my coins from my safe place with the proper voice of the person my familiar hears. Those corrupt nobles and traitors won't believe it when their own voices come from a coin and speak all their intentions.
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Excuse me if a similar question was answered before. Currently I am playing an artificer (subclass: Artillerist) and I've been thinking in this little combo:
My DM (in advance) will let me flavor my familiar and make it a flying drone (hawk block) instead of a celestial or fiend.
My artillerist is a James Bond-like character full of gadgets to help the party. Investigation, arcana, perception and persuation are his profficency skills.
So my idea was creating a flying spy drone that could also shoot my oponents from the back (using my eldritch cannon equipped in the drone)
Is that possible? I am not breaking any rules? (Also using my drone to use hex through it before even engaging combat)
It would depend if your cannon is too heavy for your hawk-drone. Also, an unstable platform for firing might impose disadvantage or penalties on your cannon.
RAW, your Eldritch Cannon can be tiny and you can activate your Eldritch Cannon as long as it's within 60 feet of you, regardless of whomever is carrying it.
There's no description of how much it weighs but a tiny object should be pretty light.
If you're using the stat block of a hawk for your familiar then with its strength score of 5 as a tiny creature it can carry up to 37.5 lbs.
It's still a DM call to allow or not it but that seems sufficiently strong enough to carry an eldritch cannon to me.
I don't see any rules broken with this combo. :)
Keep in mind that a Tiny hawk, even if strong enough to carry a Tiny cannon, will still move at half speed while doing so.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
Why?
The Eldritch Cannon is an object not a creature, further the rules for half movement with carrying a creature are more to do with grappling an opponent which involves moving a creature against their will and would be actively resisting being moved.
It applies to dragging an ally out of melee too. But good point about the cannon being an object, the hawk wouldn't have its speed reduced.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
I was about to say that I wouldn't allow this to work simply because there's really no good way for a Hawk to hold a gun... but really you decide the shape and appearance of your eldritch cannon, and that could mean building an eldritch canon that is overtly designed for the purpose of being carried by a drone that has all the stats of a hawk. It's decent investment of resources, so I think it earns the additional options you're giving yourself
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What would be the benefit of this combo versus using a homunculus servant in the same manner?
I finally noticed this. Hex is not a spell with range of Touch, so you would not be able to cast it through the familiar.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
But I'm curious myself about why not use a Homunculus Servant. Since it's an infusion, which you can use as a spellcasting focus, do you need to be holding the Servant to use it as such (aside from the Channel Magic feature for Touch spells)?
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
A Homunculus Servant requires a bonus action to be commanded to do anything other than the Dodge Action, while a Familiar is more versatile in that regard, with the trade-off being that it can't attack on its own. So a Familiar can still do something like the Help Action, Hide action, or Dash action while still freeing up the Artificer to use their Bonus Action to command their Eldritch Cannon instead.
As well, a Familiar can be Dismissed to a pocket dimension, making it easier to sneak a Familiar into locations or have one disappear in dangerous situations, which I think pairs just a little bit better with an espionage-focused character, which I assume a character inspired by James Bond would prefer.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
I have 3 reasons:
Another idea I have is using my magical tinkering, I can record 6 seconds in a coin (the feature doesn't specify whose voice speaks the message), with a +5 int, I can record up to 30 seconds, so I can use my drone, link senses and record a little conversation using my coins from my safe place with the proper voice of the person my familiar hears. Those corrupt nobles and traitors won't believe it when their own voices come from a coin and speak all their intentions.