Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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I've come here to discover if any consensus might be had. (I doubt to receive an official ruling on the matter, but I enjoy the discussion nonetheless)
In the most recent campaign that I am a part of, I've had the pleasure of testing out the new Armorer Artificer Subclass, especially the Dreadnaught armor. Now based on how things initially looked I figured i wanted to try and utilize the extra reach with pushing and pulling enemy targets (especially with that free 10 feet of reach), but I began to wonder if I couldn't do more.
Through internet scrambling I discovered that no official ruling had been done on the potential use of Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade and whether or not the Force Demolisher from the Dreadnaught Armor could proc the effects.
(I did see a discussion on reddit that for the most part I agree with that neither the Guardian nor Infiltrator Models would be able to utilize the afore mentioned cantrips)
However, the description for the Dreadnaught's Force Demolisher weapon seems quite a bit different as it Describes the weapon as a simple weapon akin to a Warhammer (or other blunt melee weapon), It's also stated that this weapon is formed from the armor itself. (I believe this fulfills both the simple melee weapon and monetary cost (minimum 1sp value) requirements for the Booming Blad & Green Flame Blade cantrips).
Stipulations for balance purposes I think also should be mentioned, the cantrips themselves both state the caster must be within 5 feat of the target (so no 10-20 foot reach and applying BB or GFB). Additionally, the Armorer would have to choose between doing a Cantrip boosted attack at near or making multiple reach attacks at later levels providing different strategies.
I've found this to add fun little ways for the Dreadnaught to reliably proc BB as when they hit with the Weapon (as long as the target is smaller than them) it will apply BB and push the target back. (Whether it procs still depends on your dm and whether they want to move the creature.)
PS, a Fun additional way to apply BB is taking the Telekinetic Feat for Telekinetic shove. Apply BB->TK Shove->Wait for DM to move mob.
Of course all of this stems around some ambiguous interpretations of the rules surrounding those 2 particular cantrips and the Dreadnaught's Built in Weapon, but let me know if you've found some other fun quirky mechanics for Armorer.
PPS. I know the damage from Booming Blade doesn't proc unless the creature moves willingly on their turn. (Gotta hope and pray the DM moves the creature otherwise wasted turn)
The Force Demolisher, Guardian Gauntlets, and Lightning Launchers are not weapons with a GP cost and so cannot be used as weapons for those spells. I doubt that it's unbalanced, but if you want the RAW answer, the answer is no. All three special weapons (and the Psychic Blades of the Soul Knife Rogue) cannot be used be used as the material component for those Cantrips. There is nothing special about the others. All of them are weapons with no cost given for the weapon.
As a DM, I would probably allow it (for all of the weapons if they otherwise qualify; True Strike with a Lightning Launcher but no Booming Blade), but that would be a house rule that you would need to check with your DM.
Do you have a friend that can make the Suggestion that the enemy melees you?
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.
Also slight issue is you have to be brandishing, ie holding the weapon, when you cast the spell, then you attack with the weapon and much as artificier which i love but yeah, you not brandishing the weapons. Same as true strike, those weapons are just features of the armor. All of that wouldn't be raw.
If you are open to 3rd party these two blade cantrip spells are fun and do not require that you "brandish" the weapon. One gives you fire damage + exploding Dice and other gives you a 15' ranged lightning attack with a melee weapon (not much of a benefit given the reach). Still need to meet the 1cp value but... Also both can be learned with the Spellblade Feat.
Burning Blade VSS:PP2
Evocation Cantrip
Casting Time: Action
Range: Self
Components: S, M (a Melee weapon with which you have proficiency and that is worth 1+ CP)
Duration: Instantaneous
Encasing the weapon used in the spell's casting in flames, you make one melee attack. The attack uses your spellcasting ability for the attack and damage rolls instead of using Strength or Dexterity. If the attack deals damage, it can be Fire damage or the weapon's normal damage type (your choice). If the weapon's damage die or any of the spell's damage dice roll the highest number, you can roll that die again and add it to the damage, rolling again if it is the highest number, and so on. You can add a maximum number of dice to the damage roll equal to your spellcasting ability modifier.
Cantrip Upgrade. Whether you deal Fire damage or the weapon's normal damage type, the attack deals extra Fire damage when you reach levels 5 (1d6), 11 (2d6), and 17 (3d6).
Arc Blade VSS:PP2
Evocation Cantrip
Casting Time: Action
Range: 15 feet
Components: S, M (a Melee weapon with which you have proficiency and that is worth 1+ CP)
Duration: Instantaneous
As lightning surges through the weapon used in the spell's casting, you make one attack. This attack can be a melee attack or ranged spell attack using the weapon with a range of 15 feet, as a wave of energy extends from the weapon. The attack uses your spellcasting ability for the attack and damage rolls instead of using Strength or Dexterity. If it is a ranged attack, it deals Lightning damage. Otherwise, it can deal Lightning damage or the weapon's normal damage type (your choice).
Cantrip Upgrade. Whether you deal Lightning damage or the weapon's normal damage type, the attack deals extra Lightning damage when you reach levels 5 (1d6), 11 (2d6), and 17 (3d6).
Those spells still require that the weapon have a monetary cost, so they don't work for the same reason official spells don't.
Understood but even Jeremy Crawford has said that was not the intention of putting monetary values on these types of spells. The X post below was talking about Booming Blade and Shadow Blade (and I know that JC's comments are not official addendums) but I think many DMs would let this work based on JC's comments:
Jeremy Crawford @JeremyECrawford
As DM, I'd totally let the combo work. Shadow Blade creates a simple melee weapon, and if another rule cares about that weapon's value, I'd pick a value from the list of simple melee weapons in the Player's Handbook and apply that value ad hoc to the shadowy blade.
11:30 AM · Nov 12, 2020
https://x.com/JeremyECrawford/status/1326925328267177984?lang=en
It seems to me the monetary value was meant to exclude weapons that are not at all physical. I would argue that the Artificer's replicated and armorer weapons act as physical weapons in every other way and also that it would be easy to persuade an NPC to purchase one for a copper piece, even if it would be unethical to do so.