I'm running a Battle Smith Artificer in a campaign currently and we recently hit level 12. I've been working with the DM to try and figure out how to craft or invent new weapons and gadgets but the system in 5e isn't the best for that. I figured out how to simulate the idea of 'I just made this last night so let's see how it works! without making the DM stress out over making up rules for crafting everything. I simply reflavor appropriate spells and the DM has me make a Tool Proficiency check on the fly. If I make the roll well, he allows me to gain some minor perk to using the gadget like an extra die of damage or better range or whatever. If I barely make the roll, the gadget emulates the spell. If I duff the roll, I get a reduced effect. The nice part about this is that I can't abuse it because I have to roll every time I use an item so they won't all be hopped-up and there's a risk of wasting an Action on a dud. Some examples:
Revivify is a defibrillator. Cure Wounds is a self-applying healing kit. Detect Magic is a PKE meter. Feather Fall is a parachute. Dark Vision is a set of low-light goggles with an 8-hour battery life. You can do almost anything with this.
We haven't figured out some of the things yet (like Cantrips because they can have infinite castings) but we're happy with the results.
That's a cool idea. Might look at something similar for my own game. Do you have any advice for costs of parts?
So far we've only done Common and Uncommon stuff because I'm at the level where I get a point break for those. Essentially, we use the spell component cost for the associated spells.
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I'm running a Battle Smith Artificer in a campaign currently and we recently hit level 12. I've been working with the DM to try and figure out how to craft or invent new weapons and gadgets but the system in 5e isn't the best for that. I figured out how to simulate the idea of 'I just made this last night so let's see how it works! without making the DM stress out over making up rules for crafting everything. I simply reflavor appropriate spells and the DM has me make a Tool Proficiency check on the fly. If I make the roll well, he allows me to gain some minor perk to using the gadget like an extra die of damage or better range or whatever. If I barely make the roll, the gadget emulates the spell. If I duff the roll, I get a reduced effect. The nice part about this is that I can't abuse it because I have to roll every time I use an item so they won't all be hopped-up and there's a risk of wasting an Action on a dud. Some examples:
Revivify is a defibrillator. Cure Wounds is a self-applying healing kit. Detect Magic is a PKE meter. Feather Fall is a parachute. Dark Vision is a set of low-light goggles with an 8-hour battery life. You can do almost anything with this.
We haven't figured out some of the things yet (like Cantrips because they can have infinite castings) but we're happy with the results.
That's a cool idea. Might look at something similar for my own game. Do you have any advice for costs of parts?
So far we've only done Common and Uncommon stuff because I'm at the level where I get a point break for those. Essentially, we use the spell component cost for the associated spells.