Tldr: Tinkers magic can create any nonmagical object that can be purchased for 5 gold or less. Including custom objects, and repairs. Created items last 24+1d4 hours. Objects give a 10+1d4 minute warning before they dissappear.
The rules as written create some odd corner case issues.
First: artificers arent vending machines
Very limited item list: The list of items you can create is specifically enumerated, with zero room for player creativity. The ships wheel is broken, and needs some nonstandard, custom part to fix it, that part would cost 2gp from a blacksmith, but its not on any list so cant use tinkers magic to create it. The player wants to put a hasp on the door so it will lock after they go through it. It would cost a few silver for a blacksmith to make it, but its not on any inventory item list. The aetificer is about to remove the golden head statue from the trigger plate, and they need exactly 16 pounds of lead to put in its place. Not on any item list, cant make it with tinkers magic.
Fix: in addition to the list, allow tinkers magic to create any non magical object worth 5gp or less. No food or water to turn tinkers magic into a goodberry machine. Maybe make it any inorganic material. Or organic material thats been proceesed, like leather objects or cotton cloth. If player comes up with an object that isnt on any inventory list, if the dm decides an npc could make it for less than 5gp, the artificer can create it with tinkers magic as an action.
Tinkers magic currently makes artificers into vending machine with a fixed, finite list of goods you can acquire. But artificers are about crafting custom solutions to fix some weird specific problem that is in the party's way now.
I would go so far as to add this: if an item could be repaired by an npc for 5gp or less, tinkers magic can repair it as an action. Artificers should be better at fixing things than the Mending spell.
Perhaps instead of trying to delineate organic versus inorgamic, with exceptions for cotton cloth and leather goods, if its something craftable from materials by tools, then tinkers magic can make it.
Second: duration
Items created by tinkerd magic disappear after a long rest. Characters can do things while long resting without dusturbing their rest. This might include using tinkers magic. If the party encounters a problem just before their long rest ends, and the artificer uses tinkers magic to fix it, the object created will dissappear in minutes. This renders the feature nearly useless.
Fix: objects created by tinkers magic disappears after 24 + 1d4 hours. Objects created last for a day plus some random amount of time. The 1d4 would be rolled by the DM so the players dont know exactly how long the object will last and cant use its duration to create a highly accurate time keeping device, which are worth much more than 5gp.
Third: instant dissapear
The rules for Magical Tinkering (from tashas) said that when an artificer creates a number of objects exceeding some limit, the oldest object (ETA: effect) disappears. Instantly. The rules for Tinkers Magic say the objects last until the player finishes a long rest, but does not specify how it dissappears.
If the object instantly disappears, it could be used to trigger some sort of trap with no warning to the target.
But many lower level spells specifically disallow insta-kill uses. The levatate spell allows a player to lift an npc into the air, but if concentration ends, the npc safely floats to the ground. Levitate cant be used to impose falling damage. Players would need to use a much higher spell for that, like telekenisis or something. "Phantom Steed" is a level three spell, creates a steed for an hour, and at the end, it gives the rider a 1 minute warning to safely dismount.
Objects created by tinkers magic should dissappear after some randomly determined amount of time so players dont use the feature as a remote-instant-detonator. And when objects dissappear, they should signal they are fading to give creatures time to handle the impending dissappearance.
Fix: items created by tinkers magic give a 10+1d4 minute warning of their impending dissappearance. The 1d4 is rolled by the DM so that the players dont know wxactly when the object will dissappear, and use it as a high precision timer.
During the warning phase, the object will blink in and out of existence so that charcters know.something is up with that object.
The rules for Magical Tinkering (from tashas) said that when an artificer creates a number of objects exceeding some limit, the oldest object disappears. Instantly.
No. In Tasha's, the magical effectdisappears. The mundane item that the magical effect must be placed upon does not disappear.
The effects you can create are light, a sound, a smell, or a static visual effect. You can also create a short recorded verbal message that plays when the item is tapped.
It's true that being able to make the effect disappear by oversubscribing your magic capacity is a big part of the fun. Your scenario of a disappearing rope was not possible in the 2014 version. The only way you could use it to trigger a trap or the like by dismissing the effect would be if the trap was triggered by the absence of light or sound or smell.
You can potentially use it to create an alarm by having it play a message when tapped.
If the 2025 Tinker's Magic ability allowed for items to be dismissed early, even if it required a touch to do so, it would be much more interesting.
I edited the post to clarify its the effect that dissappears instantly.
"If the 2025 Tinker's Magic ability allowed for items to be dismissed early, even if it required a touch to do so, it would be much more interesting."
Interesting and over-powered, considering its a level 1 feature. That was my point. Use tinkers magic to create a rope, use rope in a bomb-trigger. Plane shift far away. Put yourself somewhere you have an alibi. When time arrives when you know target is in location, take a long rest. Boom.
How high a level of spell would you need to do something like that?
I edited the post to clarify its the effect that dissappears instantly.
"If the 2025 Tinker's Magic ability allowed for items to be dismissed early, even if it required a touch to do so, it would be much more interesting."
Interesting and over-powered, considering its a level 1 feature. That was my point. Use tinkers magic to create a rope, use rope in a bomb-trigger. Plane shift far away. Put yourself somewhere you have an alibi. When time arrives when you know target is in location, take a long rest. Boom.
How high a level of spell would you need to do something like that?
You said that people "have used" this to remove a magically created rope with specific timing, and they have not, that's not something anyone has done RAW under either ruleset. I posit though that it is a very cool thing to be able to do that requires thought and creative tactics.
To planeshift ... or even move very far away! - that requires more than a level 1 character. :-) And during that long rest, that's 8 hours your target has to move so that seems a pretty impractical trap. If you can pull it off, honestly IMHO more power to you.
Probably easier to rig up a more conventional trap, if you want it to trigger while you're not there at some undefined time in the future. You wouldn't even know if you were successful or how to time it using an action to dismiss.
Rule chamge suggestion:
Tldr: Tinkers magic can create any nonmagical object that can be purchased for 5 gold or less. Including custom objects, and repairs. Created items last 24+1d4 hours. Objects give a 10+1d4 minute warning before they dissappear.
The official Tinkers Magic is described here:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/efota/the-artificer#Level1TinkersMagic
The rules as written create some odd corner case issues.
First: artificers arent vending machines
Very limited item list: The list of items you can create is specifically enumerated, with zero room for player creativity. The ships wheel is broken, and needs some nonstandard, custom part to fix it, that part would cost 2gp from a blacksmith, but its not on any list so cant use tinkers magic to create it. The player wants to put a hasp on the door so it will lock after they go through it. It would cost a few silver for a blacksmith to make it, but its not on any inventory item list. The aetificer is about to remove the golden head statue from the trigger plate, and they need exactly 16 pounds of lead to put in its place. Not on any item list, cant make it with tinkers magic.
Fix: in addition to the list, allow tinkers magic to create any non magical object worth 5gp or less. No food or water to turn tinkers magic into a goodberry machine. Maybe make it any inorganic material. Or organic material thats been proceesed, like leather objects or cotton cloth. If player comes up with an object that isnt on any inventory list, if the dm decides an npc could make it for less than 5gp, the artificer can create it with tinkers magic as an action.
Tinkers magic currently makes artificers into vending machine with a fixed, finite list of goods you can acquire. But artificers are about crafting custom solutions to fix some weird specific problem that is in the party's way now.
I would go so far as to add this: if an item could be repaired by an npc for 5gp or less, tinkers magic can repair it as an action. Artificers should be better at fixing things than the Mending spell.
Perhaps instead of trying to delineate organic versus inorgamic, with exceptions for cotton cloth and leather goods, if its something craftable from materials by tools, then tinkers magic can make it.
Second: duration
Items created by tinkerd magic disappear after a long rest. Characters can do things while long resting without dusturbing their rest. This might include using tinkers magic. If the party encounters a problem just before their long rest ends, and the artificer uses tinkers magic to fix it, the object created will dissappear in minutes. This renders the feature nearly useless.
Fix: objects created by tinkers magic disappears after 24 + 1d4 hours. Objects created last for a day plus some random amount of time. The 1d4 would be rolled by the DM so the players dont know exactly how long the object will last and cant use its duration to create a highly accurate time keeping device, which are worth much more than 5gp.
Third: instant dissapear
The rules for Magical Tinkering (from tashas) said that when an artificer creates a number of objects exceeding some limit, the oldest object (ETA: effect) disappears. Instantly. The rules for Tinkers Magic say the objects last until the player finishes a long rest, but does not specify how it dissappears.
If the object instantly disappears, it could be used to trigger some sort of trap with no warning to the target.
But many lower level spells specifically disallow insta-kill uses. The levatate spell allows a player to lift an npc into the air, but if concentration ends, the npc safely floats to the ground. Levitate cant be used to impose falling damage. Players would need to use a much higher spell for that, like telekenisis or something. "Phantom Steed" is a level three spell, creates a steed for an hour, and at the end, it gives the rider a 1 minute warning to safely dismount.
Objects created by tinkers magic should dissappear after some randomly determined amount of time so players dont use the feature as a remote-instant-detonator. And when objects dissappear, they should signal they are fading to give creatures time to handle the impending dissappearance.
Fix: items created by tinkers magic give a 10+1d4 minute warning of their impending dissappearance. The 1d4 is rolled by the DM so that the players dont know wxactly when the object will dissappear, and use it as a high precision timer.
During the warning phase, the object will blink in and out of existence so that charcters know.something is up with that object.
Another issue is object DC.
When an artificer crafts or uses tinker magic to create an object, some of those objects have a DC rating associated with them.
Manacles and hunting trap are two examples. Manacles have a dc 20 sleight of hend to wiggle out of them, and a dc 15 to pick the lock.
I would like to see some way to reflect that a device made by a level 20 artificer is probably better than one made by a level 1 artificer.
Suggest that all DCs of objects crafted by an artificer add some bonus, perhaps
rounddown(int(artificer level/4))
So a level 20 artiificer would have a +4 to the manacles they craft or create with tinkers magic.
I dont think its too OP.
Thoughts?
No. In Tasha's, the magical effect disappears. The mundane item that the magical effect must be placed upon does not disappear.
The effects you can create are light, a sound, a smell, or a static visual effect. You can also create a short recorded verbal message that plays when the item is tapped.
It's true that being able to make the effect disappear by oversubscribing your magic capacity is a big part of the fun. Your scenario of a disappearing rope was not possible in the 2014 version. The only way you could use it to trigger a trap or the like by dismissing the effect would be if the trap was triggered by the absence of light or sound or smell.
You can potentially use it to create an alarm by having it play a message when tapped.
If the 2025 Tinker's Magic ability allowed for items to be dismissed early, even if it required a touch to do so, it would be much more interesting.
"No. In Tasha's, the magical effect disappears"
I edited the post to clarify its the effect that dissappears instantly.
"If the 2025 Tinker's Magic ability allowed for items to be dismissed early, even if it required a touch to do so, it would be much more interesting."
Interesting and over-powered, considering its a level 1 feature. That was my point. Use tinkers magic to create a rope, use rope in a bomb-trigger. Plane shift far away. Put yourself somewhere you have an alibi. When time arrives when you know target is in location, take a long rest. Boom.
How high a level of spell would you need to do something like that?
You said that people "have used" this to remove a magically created rope with specific timing, and they have not, that's not something anyone has done RAW under either ruleset. I posit though that it is a very cool thing to be able to do that requires thought and creative tactics.
To planeshift ... or even move very far away! - that requires more than a level 1 character. :-) And during that long rest, that's 8 hours your target has to move so that seems a pretty impractical trap. If you can pull it off, honestly IMHO more power to you.
Probably easier to rig up a more conventional trap, if you want it to trigger while you're not there at some undefined time in the future. You wouldn't even know if you were successful or how to time it using an action to dismiss.
Updated