So I’ve been working on retooling my favorite artificer for a potential new game a buddy of mine is building. Totally homebrew setting, no relation whatsoever to either Faerun or Eberron, with custom character generation rules.
i.e. “Crash 77”, in which players create a stat array consisting of exactly 77 points, starting stats capped at 17, with at least one score above 15 and at least one score below 10, after racial stat modifiers. No rolling, no point-buy ‘Scores above 13 are punitively expensive because Wizards hates its players” horseshit – much like every modern game ever, players instead simply create the character they would like to play. Players are typically also allowed one racial/non-combat bonus feat at level 1, because every DM in our group is also a player and we are all sick unto death of 5e’s near-total lack of meaningful character customization and insistence on piss-poor rolls for everybody. In this case the character is starting at level 5, as part of the DM’s session-one story wonkiness in which he promises that Shit Will Get Weird.
As a note, Star’s level 4 Artificer feat is always going to be Skilled, until/unless someone gives me a pretty massively convincing argument otherwise. Artificers benefit hugely from additional tool proficiencies, and a big part of Star’s background is her UA proficiency with the Herbalism Kit and the special magic-infused teas she can brew with it. Only way to get Herbalism Kit proficiency now is Skilled, which means Skilled it is.
Ana Indyria/Starlight Through Driving Rain, my previously standing tiefling UA Alchemist and the character I was working on for this campaign, was unfortunately more or less destroyed by the Eberron Rising rules changes. She relied heavily on Arcane Assault and her homunculus, both of which were taken away from her. So…yeah. Great. I am left struggling to rebuild but I am also committed to the character since I coordinated her backstory closely with a friend I don’t want to leave hanging.
I’ve got a few ideas for possible ways to fix this, but most of them involve “switch to Battlesmith a.k.a. the one remaining useful artificer subclass”, which…just doesn’t quite fit right for Star short of a high-level multiclassing mix. I’m curious if anyone else has been working on rebuilding an Alchemist the Eberron Rising rules destroyed, and if so how they’ve gone about doing that.
Any clues for someone who just wants that awesome Indiana Jones-y adventurous field tinkerer-explorer feeling back?
Primarily because homebrewing new subclasses is thoroughly awful, and I'd have to redesign the UA Alchemist to make it fit the new level breakpoints anyways. If I'm doing that, I may as well just invent a new subclass out of whole cloth and make it something interesting and unique to me, which is in turn a real hard sell with most DMs. My group is more permissive than many, but I suppose I was curious what other folks had done with their own wrecked Alchemists before I committed to all of that bothery.
Gotcha. Heh, so curiosity compels me to ask: how are you considering fixing your Archivist? Or are you just giving it up as a bad job and scrapping the character?
Yurei I have actually done my damndest to fix that accursed experimental elixir and homunculus
Here are my fixes.
1. Homunculus infusion now has an HP of (your INT modifier)*(your artificer level + 1), so it actually has value in combat
2. Experimental Elixir remains the same mechanically, but the following options are the elixirs now:
Healing: A creature that drinks this is healed 2d4 + your INT modifier (minimum of 1) + half your artificer level (rounded up) hit points.
Growth: A creature that drinks this acts as if the Enlarge/Reduce spell has been cast on them for the next 10 minutes. This creature chooses whether they grow or shrink when they drink this.
Speed: A creature that drinks this adds 20 to their walking speed for 1 hour.
Knowledge: A creature that drinks this acts as if the spell Detect Thoughts has been cast on them for 10 minutes, using your spell save DC.
Buoyancy: A creature that drinks this gains a flying speed of 10 feet for the next hour.
Transformation: A creature that drinks this acts as if the Alter Self spell has been cast on them for the next hour.
That doesn't really help, Bunsen. I could debate the merits of your particular homebrew with you, but I'm more curious if anyone else has managed to find ways to accommodate this new, crap-ass version of the Alchemist ruleset with their existing characters. I can homebrew whatever I like if that's the way things go, and if I do this entire 'Experimental Elixir' thing is on the chopping block, but realistically? That's not a valid solution for most tables.
Oh. Well, without suggesting you multiclass into life cleric for a level to get better use of your extra healing + more spell slots, as well as wizard (probably transmutation for thematic purposes) for a couple levels to get extra spell slots, I do not really know what to suggest.
Bunsen. I can build a new alchemist just fine. Heh, the whole question I was asking was whether or not anyone else had built an alchemist prior to the new rules, as a character that was actually an Adventurer who could take care of herself rather than a timid spineless largely pointless out-of-combat heal dispensary. If so, had they stumbled upon any interesting tricks or ideas for rebuilding that type of character.
Clearly the wrong question to ask. Suppose I'll have to talk with some folks in that game and see what they think. Nrrrgh, so frustrating!
Go acid splash and firebolts cantrip wise and take the homunculus infusion. Keep the homunculus on or near your person at all times in combat, because you do NOT want that thing taking damage, and you can ranged force attack with it as a bonus action to deal some extra oomph. After 9th level, be sure to stock up some extra elixirs to get that sweet temp hp. Try to save one spell slot on your person at all times. One of the good things (of few) about experimental elixir is that it essentially gives you a bunch of extra spells prepared, so you can spend those few preparations you have on different spells, unless it is something like cure wounds after your level 5 feature. And, if you can, try to convince your DM to give you a ring of spell storing, so you can stock up on a few extra pre-spells to use more elixirs when it comes to it.
So I’ve been working on retooling my favorite artificer for a potential new game a buddy of mine is building. Totally homebrew setting, no relation whatsoever to either Faerun or Eberron, with custom character generation rules.
i.e. “Crash 77”, in which players create a stat array consisting of exactly 77 points, starting stats capped at 17, with at least one score above 15 and at least one score below 10, after racial stat modifiers. No rolling, no point-buy ‘Scores above 13 are punitively expensive because Wizards hates its players” horseshit – much like every modern game ever, players instead simply create the character they would like to play. Players are typically also allowed one racial/non-combat bonus feat at level 1, because every DM in our group is also a player and we are all sick unto death of 5e’s near-total lack of meaningful character customization and insistence on piss-poor rolls for everybody. In this case the character is starting at level 5, as part of the DM’s session-one story wonkiness in which he promises that Shit Will Get Weird.
As a note, Star’s level 4 Artificer feat is always going to be Skilled, until/unless someone gives me a pretty massively convincing argument otherwise. Artificers benefit hugely from additional tool proficiencies, and a big part of Star’s background is her UA proficiency with the Herbalism Kit and the special magic-infused teas she can brew with it. Only way to get Herbalism Kit proficiency now is Skilled, which means Skilled it is.
Ana Indyria/Starlight Through Driving Rain, my previously standing tiefling UA Alchemist and the character I was working on for this campaign, was unfortunately more or less destroyed by the Eberron Rising rules changes. She relied heavily on Arcane Assault and her homunculus, both of which were taken away from her. So…yeah. Great. I am left struggling to rebuild but I am also committed to the character since I coordinated her backstory closely with a friend I don’t want to leave hanging.
I’ve got a few ideas for possible ways to fix this, but most of them involve “switch to Battlesmith a.k.a. the one remaining useful artificer subclass”, which…just doesn’t quite fit right for Star short of a high-level multiclassing mix. I’m curious if anyone else has been working on rebuilding an Alchemist the Eberron Rising rules destroyed, and if so how they’ve gone about doing that.
Any clues for someone who just wants that awesome Indiana Jones-y adventurous field tinkerer-explorer feeling back?
Please do not contact or message me.
Any reason why you can't just homebrew the older version and keep going with that?
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Primarily because homebrewing new subclasses is thoroughly awful, and I'd have to redesign the UA Alchemist to make it fit the new level breakpoints anyways. If I'm doing that, I may as well just invent a new subclass out of whole cloth and make it something interesting and unique to me, which is in turn a real hard sell with most DMs. My group is more permissive than many, but I suppose I was curious what other folks had done with their own wrecked Alchemists before I committed to all of that bothery.
Please do not contact or message me.
Ah, fair. I was primarily interested in the Archivist subclass, so since that got dumped, I haven't looked too closely at what else has changed.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Gotcha. Heh, so curiosity compels me to ask: how are you considering fixing your Archivist? Or are you just giving it up as a bad job and scrapping the character?
Please do not contact or message me.
Yurei I have actually done my damndest to fix that accursed experimental elixir and homunculus
Here are my fixes.
1. Homunculus infusion now has an HP of (your INT modifier)*(your artificer level + 1), so it actually has value in combat
2. Experimental Elixir remains the same mechanically, but the following options are the elixirs now:
That doesn't really help, Bunsen. I could debate the merits of your particular homebrew with you, but I'm more curious if anyone else has managed to find ways to accommodate this new, crap-ass version of the Alchemist ruleset with their existing characters. I can homebrew whatever I like if that's the way things go, and if I do this entire 'Experimental Elixir' thing is on the chopping block, but realistically? That's not a valid solution for most tables.
Please do not contact or message me.
Oh. Well, without suggesting you multiclass into life cleric for a level to get better use of your extra healing + more spell slots, as well as wizard (probably transmutation for thematic purposes) for a couple levels to get extra spell slots, I do not really know what to suggest.
Bunsen. I can build a new alchemist just fine. Heh, the whole question I was asking was whether or not anyone else had built an alchemist prior to the new rules, as a character that was actually an Adventurer who could take care of herself rather than a timid spineless largely pointless out-of-combat heal dispensary. If so, had they stumbled upon any interesting tricks or ideas for rebuilding that type of character.
Clearly the wrong question to ask. Suppose I'll have to talk with some folks in that game and see what they think. Nrrrgh, so frustrating!
Please do not contact or message me.
Go acid splash and firebolts cantrip wise and take the homunculus infusion. Keep the homunculus on or near your person at all times in combat, because you do NOT want that thing taking damage, and you can ranged force attack with it as a bonus action to deal some extra oomph. After 9th level, be sure to stock up some extra elixirs to get that sweet temp hp. Try to save one spell slot on your person at all times. One of the good things (of few) about experimental elixir is that it essentially gives you a bunch of extra spells prepared, so you can spend those few preparations you have on different spells, unless it is something like cure wounds after your level 5 feature. And, if you can, try to convince your DM to give you a ring of spell storing, so you can stock up on a few extra pre-spells to use more elixirs when it comes to it.