Sorry, but do you mean the Steel Defender is just “created” after a long rest? Is that what most DMs allow???? My DM is having me spend 8 uninterrupted hours building it (my first one), and then having me roll next session to see how I did or if I succeeded 😣
Your GM is either misunderstanding the rules or running an extremely unfair house rule.
You do not have to spend eight hours rebuilding a destroyed Steel Defender. Nor do you need to make any sort of skill or ability check to do so. In order to create a new Steel Defender, all you need to do is take a long rest and have a set of smith's tools available, at which point you magically create a Steel Defender, no action or check necessary.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Sorry, but do you mean the Steel Defender is just “created” after a long rest? Is that what most DMs allow???? My DM is having me spend 8 uninterrupted hours building it (my first one), and then having me roll next session to see how I did or if I succeeded 😣
Ruleswise, yes. Storywise it's probably nice to describe how you finish fastening the last bolts on your robot or infusing a pile of parts with "life" (if I ever play a Battlesmith from level 1 he's going to go around picking up pieces of armour, clothing and tools that he keeps tinkering with until at level 3 he finally manages to put everything together).
Ruleswise though it's nothing different from say a Wizard regaining spell slots or a cleric picking spells for the day. No roll required, it just happens.
Sorry, but do you mean the Steel Defender is just “created” after a long rest? Is that what most DMs allow???? My DM is having me spend 8 uninterrupted hours building it (my first one), and then having me roll next session to see how I did or if I succeeded 😣
Yeah, just waking up to it being there is technically how it’s sposta work. But “sposta” is a very dangerous idea. 😉
Sorry, but do you mean the Steel Defender is just “created” after a long rest? Is that what most DMs allow???? My DM is having me spend 8 uninterrupted hours building it (my first one), and then having me roll next session to see how I did or if I succeeded 😣
The first sentence of the feature is "By 3rd level, your tinkering has borne you a faithful companion, a steel defender." This basically states that you have been working on it for the first few levels and at level 3 you have finished creating it.
There is also a sentence later that says "At the end of a long rest, you can create a new steel defender if you have your smith’s tools with you." It doesn't say anything about making a check, it simply says 'You can do a thing if you have these tools'. I could see the argument that because of this, you should only get your first steel defender after a long rest. That makes sense. However it also makes sense to level up during a long rest as well, so you should get the defender in that same rest.
Wow! Thank you all for your help and clarification of the rules! I was so excited to play an Artificer - my gregarious gnome battlesmith is as close to my own personality as I could make. 😁 here’s hoping I can work out something with the DM.
Mine steel defender is dachshund, just jolly little companion, that morphs into mechanical boxer dog when we roll iniative. It is blast that I can have cute little fellow just hopping around while not in combat, but in combat it is fierce defender. Also we as I'm gnome I could basically ride my defender, but as it is normally dachshund we have house rule that I have to roll animal handling to morph it to boxer with saddle to be able to mount it, also I needed to tinker little bit to create this mount mode for it.
It is blast to have this kind of versatile companion instead it to be just big dog all the time.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that a lot of smaller dogs were used as hunting companions but they were more of retrievers than hunters. Basically, someone would shoot small game (such as birds or rabbits). The dog would then go find it, finish it off it's still alive, and then bring it back to its owner. They used smaller dogs for this because they could get through the brush easier.
Dachshunds were bread to go into rodent holes and hunt out pests. They are so aggressive however (even against other dogs) that immoral people use them as bait dogs to train fighting dogs to kill. A 15 pound dachshund would not hesitate to attack a 60 pound pit until one of them is dead. That’s part of how those SoBs operate. 🤬 (Sorry, touchy subject. My wife and I rescue and used to foster dogs.)
But when trained properly they get along great. My Dachshund used to love playing with our male pitty (while he was alive), and our female pitty gives him a bath every night before bed. (She’s such a mama dog, such a good lady.) He also loves to wrastle with our Chin. (Little tiny floofball looks like a miniature fu dog.) But when our neighbors’ chihuahua gets out him and my Dachs tell each other what for through the fence because they are two “big tough guys.” 😂
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that a lot of smaller dogs were used as hunting companions but they were more of retrievers than hunters. Basically, someone would shoot small game (such as birds or rabbits). The dog would then go find it, finish it off it's still alive, and then bring it back to its owner. They used smaller dogs for this because they could get through the brush easier.
Entirely depends on the race. Some were used like that, others were hunting more independently. Great Danes for example were used to tackle boars and wrestle them to the ground so the human had an easier time (one of the reasons why they seemingly don't feel pain). Chihuahuas were bred to hunt rats and while ideally they chased them out of their holes it didn't always work out that way so they often hunted independently as well. And so on and on.
I don't think Great Danes can be considered small dogs.
Regardless, I don't think an in depth discussion of behavior or training of dogs is very relevant to this thread.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that a lot of smaller dogs were used as hunting companions but they were more of retrievers than hunters. Basically, someone would shoot small game (such as birds or rabbits). The dog would then go find it, finish it off it's still alive, and then bring it back to its owner. They used smaller dogs for this because they could get through the brush easier.
Small dogs aren't really that good for retrieving, mainly because they can't carry as large a prey. Dogs have been bred in varying sizes for numerous reasons and just because a dog has a certain size does not mean it has been bred for a certain purpose. But I agree, this is not really a D&D topic. :)
True, my original point was that the idea of a Dachshund as a Steel Defender was awesome because I could totally picture it attacking anything the DM puts in front of it. 😂
Sorry, but do you mean the Steel Defender is just “created” after a long rest? Is that what most DMs allow???? My DM is having me spend 8 uninterrupted hours building it (my first one), and then having me roll next session to see how I did or if I succeeded 😣
Your GM is either misunderstanding the rules or running an extremely unfair house rule.
You do not have to spend eight hours rebuilding a destroyed Steel Defender. Nor do you need to make any sort of skill or ability check to do so. In order to create a new Steel Defender, all you need to do is take a long rest and have a set of smith's tools available, at which point you magically create a Steel Defender, no action or check necessary.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Ruleswise, yes. Storywise it's probably nice to describe how you finish fastening the last bolts on your robot or infusing a pile of parts with "life" (if I ever play a Battlesmith from level 1 he's going to go around picking up pieces of armour, clothing and tools that he keeps tinkering with until at level 3 he finally manages to put everything together).
Ruleswise though it's nothing different from say a Wizard regaining spell slots or a cleric picking spells for the day. No roll required, it just happens.
Yeah, just waking up to it being there is technically how it’s sposta work. But “sposta” is a very dangerous idea. 😉
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The first sentence of the feature is "By 3rd level, your tinkering has borne you a faithful companion, a steel defender."
This basically states that you have been working on it for the first few levels and at level 3 you have finished creating it.
There is also a sentence later that says "At the end of a long rest, you can create a new steel defender if you have your smith’s tools with you."
It doesn't say anything about making a check, it simply says 'You can do a thing if you have these tools'.
I could see the argument that because of this, you should only get your first steel defender after a long rest. That makes sense. However it also makes sense to level up during a long rest as well, so you should get the defender in that same rest.
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Wow! Thank you all for your help and clarification of the rules! I was so excited to play an Artificer - my gregarious gnome battlesmith is as close to my own personality as I could make. 😁 here’s hoping I can work out something with the DM.
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Got to host it somewhere else like imgur.com first.
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Mine steel defender is dachshund, just jolly little companion, that morphs into mechanical boxer dog when we roll iniative. It is blast that I can have cute little fellow just hopping around while not in combat, but in combat it is fierce defender. Also we as I'm gnome I could basically ride my defender, but as it is normally dachshund we have house rule that I have to roll animal handling to morph it to boxer with saddle to be able to mount it, also I needed to tinker little bit to create this mount mode for it.
It is blast to have this kind of versatile companion instead it to be just big dog all the time.
According to studies, Dachshunds are the most aggressive breed of dog towards humans followed closely by Chihuahuas and Jack Rustles.
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Largely because they aren't respected/feared by humans, a problem that something the size and ferocity of a steel defender likely wouldn't have.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that a lot of smaller dogs were used as hunting companions but they were more of retrievers than hunters. Basically, someone would shoot small game (such as birds or rabbits). The dog would then go find it, finish it off it's still alive, and then bring it back to its owner. They used smaller dogs for this because they could get through the brush easier.
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Dachshunds were bread to go into rodent holes and hunt out pests. They are so aggressive however (even against other dogs) that immoral people use them as bait dogs to train fighting dogs to kill. A 15 pound dachshund would not hesitate to attack a 60 pound pit until one of them is dead. That’s part of how those SoBs operate. 🤬 (Sorry, touchy subject. My wife and I rescue and used to foster dogs.)
But when trained properly they get along great. My Dachshund used to love playing with our male pitty (while he was alive), and our female pitty gives him a bath every night before bed. (She’s such a mama dog, such a good lady.) He also loves to wrastle with our Chin. (Little tiny floofball looks like a miniature fu dog.) But when our neighbors’ chihuahua gets out him and my Dachs tell each other what for through the fence because they are two “big tough guys.” 😂
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I don't think Great Danes can be considered small dogs.
Regardless, I don't think an in depth discussion of behavior or training of dogs is very relevant to this thread.
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Small dogs aren't really that good for retrieving, mainly because they can't carry as large a prey. Dogs have been bred in varying sizes for numerous reasons and just because a dog has a certain size does not mean it has been bred for a certain purpose. But I agree, this is not really a D&D topic. :)
True, my original point was that the idea of a Dachshund as a Steel Defender was awesome because I could totally picture it attacking anything the DM puts in front of it. 😂
My apologies for the digression.
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No need to apologize, a dachshund defender is a great idea.
I just felt like we (including myself) could end up completely derailing this thread. :P
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Now I kinda wanna make a Goliath Battle Smith with a Dachs as a Defender. It would be hil-arious.
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