Artificer 2024: Creating Items with Limited Uses/Consumable

With how the Artificer works, I had a thought about how to make certain magic items that get consumed and break. Two examples would be a necklace of fireballs and beads of force

When you find a NoF, it comes with 1d6 + 3 beads, and for a BoF, it’s listed as a singular object but the description reads as “Typically, 1d4 + 4 Beads of Force are found together.”

So, would these rules still apply when creating these items as a 2024 Artificer, or would you only be able to get one use from both? I honestly think it would be ok to keep the randomization, as long as you can only use one slot to make said item per day, except for rarer items like the necklace which should be more limited

These two items are defined very differently, so the answer is going to be different.

A Bead of Force is a single bead, so when you're crafting or replicating it, you're crafting/replicating one.

A Necklace of Fireballs is a necklace with a random number of beads on it, so when you're crafting or replicating it, you're crafting/replicating the necklace and the beads. I think the rules are kind of ambiguous about how this is supposed to work; unfortunately the 5.5e crafting rules are full of holes and ambiguities. I think there are two reasonable ways to look at it:

1. The item description says the necklace has 1d6+3 beads, so it has 1d6+3 beads. You roll the die to determine this when you create it.
2. The intent of the item description is to describe the item as it might be found in "loot" somewhere, where it's potentially already been partially used. When someone is creating one from scratch, none of the beads have been used, so it has the maximum number of beads (9).

Personally I'd lean toward approach #2, though again I think both are reasonable. There is no reason to think a crafted/replicated Necklace of Fireballs would only have one use; that's not supported by the rules at all.

This whole conversation directly overlaps with the question of Spell Wrought Tattoos, which show up in the Replication list on DDB due to being classified as Common Wonderous Magic item.   This is effectively a oversight of the website, due to the limited way they can tag things, and does not seem like a definitive representation of the actual rules.  A DM can rule either way, and it would more or less align with Rules as Written.   

The core argument to had here is if something is classified as a "consumable".   "Charges" are explicitly for items that gain or lose uses under certain conditions, but the item itself is still intact.   Consumables are things which use up an item, and are permanently lost after.   Necklace of Fireballs is named as a single magic item, but come as a SET of beads.  And when you use the effect, you consume a bead in the process.  Think about how Arrows are individual item, but are technically priced and sold in sets of 10.   

Getting back to the Spell Wrought Tattoo.  That is single use, consumable magic item. Even in the description, the tattoo disappears after use.  This butts head with another Artificer feature to Transmute magics from one plan to another.   The Design intention is that you can expend all the charges of the magic item, and then consume it for change to a different one so its not dead weight in your inventory, and to facilitate use of the two extra plans you have without having to do a long rest.  The assumption this is based on, is the magic item still physically exists to be transmuted into the new plan.   

This also brings up a quirk of the wording for the Common, Uncommon and Rare "magic item" entries in the replication list.   The lvl 2 Common explicitly excludes Potions and Scrolls (both consumables), but allows every other class of magic items (which are usually permanent by default, unless explicitly stated in the item description).   The Uncommon and Rare options are explicitly in the Wonderous Items category, which contains single use items (different from single charge), but are NOT usually tagged as consumables.   Its also worth noting the rest of the feature's design does seem to intentionally 'not' include open ended spell casting items like Enspelled gear, wands, staves and Rings, as well as Weapons and Armor; instead giving you a curated list to pick from instead.   The only category that is purposely left open is Wonderous items.  

And a final consideration is that non-rechargeable or consumable magic items generally have a greater number of uses for their rarity compared to a permanent magic item that would do the same, or cast the same spell, AND/OR lack attunement. Granted the WotC team are bad at managing it (much less 3rd party), all of these factor into an item's power budget.  An enspelled item that could cast fire ball is upper Rare tier, has 6 charges, and requires attunement. 

With those factors laid out, the debates around the topic thus would first want to determine if it is effectively a consumable, and if that is valid for the RMI feature.  If it is a valid option, the next question is how to treat the item when fully expended for the purposes of Transmutate magic item.  Because the feature lets you restore charges with spell slots or destroy the item to restore spell slots.  The last, and probably most DM relevant question is....  how to handle the logistics of the Artificer recreating an item every long rest.  Presumably to get a fully charged item, or a restore a full "set" of bundled magical items.  IE: how many charges do you end up with.    Some folks will get into the tiny minutia of how the feature is written, due to the general interpretation being rather open.  

In practice some might rule consumable items, especially powerful ones that can cast 3rd level+ spells, to be single use, due to not having any other restrictions.  Others may rule that they expire at the end of the day, and you reroll for an amount.  In the case of the Spell Wrought Tattoo, our DM limited it to spells on my Spell list; but letting me change the spell daily instead of one fixed spell, IE One fixed plan, that the feature tends to imply.