I've been working on an NPC for my players to interact with based on Taimi, a character from Guild Wars 2 . I wanted something very specific for her that couldn't just be hand-waved with the existing sub-classes, and creating this new Specialization wound up being the only way to get what I needed for my campaign.
For those who aren't familiar, the character Taimi is an Asura - kind of like a Svirfneblin, or Deep Gnome in D&D - who suffers from a degenerative disease that makes it difficult to move. She's a child savant, utterly brilliant, formidable, and adorable, who built and uses a golem (named Scruffy) to get around and carry out her arcane/scientific research. One of my favorite NPCs of all time, and the voice actor Debi Derryberry is the absolute END.
So, I created this sub-class as a way of providing an Artificer who combines aspects of the Battle Smith (Iron Defender), Artillerist (wand/cantrip infusion), but is balanced out by how strongly their skills are tied to the golem. I'm still trying to work out potential abuses - I know the NPC will be mostly flavor, so it's not a huge deal for me, but I want it to be as balanced as possible in case my future players want a crack at it - and I'm pretty sure the size of the golem could be problematic for Medium characters, but I'm working on that. Please enjoy, if this idea appeals to you, too!
GOLEMANCER
A Golemancer blurs the boundaries between the mechanical and the arcane, inbuing intricately faceted gems with powerful magic and using them to empower constructs with limited sentience. Learning from their cutting-edge colleagues, they fuse the craftsmanship of Battle Smiths with the practicality of Artillerists and the raw creativity of Archivists.
Golemancers tend to be eccentric geniuses (at least in their own minds). Their enthusiasm for experimentation, combined with their calculated disregard for safety standards, leads many to become famous purveyors of wondrous items.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
By the time you adopt this specialty at 3rd level, you’re deeply familiar with employing its tools.
Proficiencies. You gain proficiency with jeweler's tools and smith's tools, assuming you don't already have them. You also gain jeweler's tools and smith's tools for free - the result of tinkering you've done as you prepared for this specialization.
Crafting. If you craft a magic item in the Wondrous Item category, it takes you a quarter of the normal time, and it costs you half as much of the usual gold.
GOLEMANCER SPELLS
Starting at 3rd level, you always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Golemancer Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.
ARCANOMECHANICAL GOLEM (use the stat block for the Iron Defender)
By 3rd level, the tinkering in your free time has borne you a faithful companion, an Arcanomechanical Golem. This metallic creature resembles a typical humanoid in shape, one size larger than you, with a spherical compartment in its torso which allows you to mount and control it. While mounted on it, this golem can be used as an arcane focus for your artificer spells, instead of your regular tools.
In combat, the golem shares your initiative count but takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action. You can take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take one of the actions in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, or Help action.
If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. If it has died within the last hour, you can use your tinker’s tools as an action to revive it, provided you are within 5 feet of it and you expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The golem returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored.
Over a period of 7 days you can create a new golem if you have your tinker's tools with you. If you already have a golem from this feature, the first one immediately perishes.
ARCANOMECHANICAL GOLEM - IMPOSING GENIUS
While mounted on your golem, you have proficiency in both the intimidation and perception skills. If you already have proficiency in these skills, you double your proficiency bonus when making checks with them.
MAGICAL TELEPHONY
At 6th level, you’ve learned how to magically channel your awareness through your golem.
While you are in physical contact with your golem, it acts as a telepathic amplifier. You can communicate telepathically with anyone carrying an item bearing one of your artificer infusions, as the golem magically transmits your thoughts. That person can also communicate telepathically with you as long as they have the item. This two-way communication can even cross planar boundaries.
In addition, you can cast find traps without expending a spell slot, provided you use the golem as the spellcasting focus. You can do so a number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once).
IMPROVED GOLEM
At 14th level, your Arcanomechanical Golem becomes more powerful:
When the golem successfully hits a creature with an attack, you can expend a spell slot to cause the target to make an Intelligence saving throw against your spell save DC, or be stunned until the end of your next turn.
Whenever your Arcanomechanical Golem uses its Defensive Pounce, the attacker takes force damage equal to 1d4 + your Intelligence modifier.
Edits:
Changed the 6th level feature from an Artillerist wand makeover to the Magical Telephony feature from the Archivist, focusing through the golem instead of an “artificial mind”. Makes much more sense this way, and is easier to hash out in the long run. (Bonus: it’s closer to how Taimi helps players in GW2, so yay!)
Deleted the proposed extra infusions; most can be hand-waved to be added to the golem if necessary (e.g. “Enhanced Defense”), instead of just a player.
Added ability to use the golem as an arcane focus while mounted on it.
Changed "Sickening Radiance" to "Blight" since the former is an XGTE spell and not PHB. (I guess all archetypes use PHB spells in any expanded spell lists they have?)
Changed "scorching ray" to "locate animals or plants", so as not to overbalance in favor of combat. Also, realized Animate Objects is already an Artificer spell, so I changed it to "Mislead" with the idea that it's a crystal or clockwork gyro displaying a holographic illusion. :-)
So think of a Rock Gnome with a little clockwork mouse. They can cast Find Familiar and you could flavor it like the spirit animate the mouse, which you have to tinker with each night to keep it working! Then spells like destructive wave, or fireball, you cast while seated in your golem and flavor it like you're "overloading the power crystal" and magically channeling radiation out at your foes, or firing a barrage of arcane energy bolts from it. You could treat blight like a "death ray" or something, lol!
Edit: I simplified much of the bloat, and I'm happier with this version. So many ways to tinker with this... Pun fully intended. :-p
I've been working on an NPC for my players to interact with based on Taimi, a character from Guild Wars 2 . I wanted something very specific for her that couldn't just be hand-waved with the existing sub-classes, and creating this new Specialization wound up being the only way to get what I needed for my campaign.
For those who aren't familiar, the character Taimi is an Asura - kind of like a Svirfneblin, or Deep Gnome in D&D - who suffers from a degenerative disease that makes it difficult to move. She's a child savant, utterly brilliant, formidable, and adorable, who built and uses a golem (named Scruffy) to get around and carry out her arcane/scientific research. One of my favorite NPCs of all time, and the voice actor Debi Derryberry is the absolute END.
So, I created this sub-class as a way of providing an Artificer who combines aspects of the Battle Smith (Iron Defender), Artillerist (wand/cantrip infusion), but is balanced out by how strongly their skills are tied to the golem. I'm still trying to work out potential abuses - I know the NPC will be mostly flavor, so it's not a huge deal for me, but I want it to be as balanced as possible in case my future players want a crack at it - and I'm pretty sure the size of the golem could be problematic for Medium characters, but I'm working on that. Please enjoy, if this idea appeals to you, too!
GOLEMANCER
A Golemancer blurs the boundaries between the mechanical and the arcane, inbuing intricately faceted gems with powerful magic and using them to empower constructs with limited sentience. Learning from their cutting-edge colleagues, they fuse the craftsmanship of Battle Smiths with the practicality of Artillerists and the raw creativity of Archivists.
Golemancers tend to be eccentric geniuses (at least in their own minds). Their enthusiasm for experimentation, combined with their calculated disregard for safety standards, leads many to become famous purveyors of wondrous items.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
By the time you adopt this specialty at 3rd level, you’re deeply familiar with employing its tools.
Proficiencies. You gain proficiency with jeweler's tools and smith's tools, assuming you don't already have them. You also gain jeweler's tools and smith's tools for free - the result of tinkering you've done as you prepared for this specialization.
Crafting. If you craft a magic item in the Wondrous Item category, it takes you a quarter of the normal time, and it costs you half as much of the usual gold.
GOLEMANCER SPELLS
Starting at 3rd level, you always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Golemancer Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.
Golemancer Spells
Artificer Level
Spell
3rd
find familiar, thunderwave
5th
locate animals or plants, web
9th
dispel magic, fireball
13th
blight, mordenkainen's private sanctum
17th
mislead, destructive wave
ARCANOMECHANICAL GOLEM (use the stat block for the Iron Defender)
By 3rd level, the tinkering in your free time has borne you a faithful companion, an Arcanomechanical Golem. This metallic creature resembles a typical humanoid in shape, one size larger than you, with a spherical compartment in its torso which allows you to mount and control it. While mounted on it, this golem can be used as an arcane focus for your artificer spells, instead of your regular tools.
In combat, the golem shares your initiative count but takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action. You can take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take one of the actions in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, or Help action.
If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. If it has died within the last hour, you can use your tinker’s tools as an action to revive it, provided you are within 5 feet of it and you expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The golem returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored.
Over a period of 7 days you can create a new golem if you have your tinker's tools with you. If you already have a golem from this feature, the first one immediately perishes.
ARCANOMECHANICAL GOLEM - IMPOSING GENIUS
While mounted on your golem, you have proficiency in both the intimidation and perception skills. If you already have proficiency in these skills, you double your proficiency bonus when making checks with them.
MAGICAL TELEPHONY
At 6th level, you’ve learned how to magically channel your awareness through your golem.
While you are in physical contact with your golem, it acts as a telepathic amplifier. You can communicate telepathically with anyone carrying an item bearing one of your artificer infusions, as the golem magically transmits your thoughts. That person can also communicate telepathically with you as long as they have the item. This two-way communication can even cross planar boundaries.
In addition, you can cast find traps without expending a spell slot, provided you use the golem as the spellcasting focus. You can do so a number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once).
IMPROVED GOLEM
At 14th level, your Arcanomechanical Golem becomes more powerful:
Edits:
So think of a Rock Gnome with a little clockwork mouse. They can cast Find Familiar and you could flavor it like the spirit animate the mouse, which you have to tinker with each night to keep it working! Then spells like destructive wave, or fireball, you cast while seated in your golem and flavor it like you're "overloading the power crystal" and magically channeling radiation out at your foes, or firing a barrage of arcane energy bolts from it. You could treat blight like a "death ray" or something, lol!
Edit: I simplified much of the bloat, and I'm happier with this version. So many ways to tinker with this... Pun fully intended. :-p