What exactly is the artificer's arcane firearm? Does it actually work as a gun? If you used a non-magical wand to make the firearm, could you infuse it with repeating shot to shoot bullets?
I think the description of the ability makes it pretty clear what it is. It’s a wand, staff, or rod. None of these is a gun.
If your DM lets you have a wand, staff, or rod that is also a gun, then it could be infused with repeating shot, but that has nothing to do with the Arcane Firearm feature per se.
D&D is a fantasy game that features magic (which doesn’t exist) quite heavily. It often invents new uses for existing words to suit its fantastic nature. Usually (and certainly in this case), there’s a description that says exactly what the game means. It’s good to get in the habit of reading these. They’re usually good at answering questions like the one you posed in the OP (though certainly not always, thus this forum).
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
Spells and abilities in 5E do exactly what they say they do and no more. Nowhere in the ability's description does it say that it turns the staff into an actual gun, therefore it does not. It doesn't need to tell you that the arcane firearm can't fire bullets at enemies for the same reason that it doesn't need to tell you that it can't summon infinite nachos.
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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.
The Artificer in 5e suffers from a serious case of poor system support (via DDB in particular). The whole system is deeply slanted toward a low-tech/low-magic world. They didn't want us to really be able to do crafting at all in this edition, and firearms of any tech level were an extreme afterthought.
The Arcane Firearm feature is not a gun. It is a stick that can be used to cast spells. Can you flavor it as a gun? Absolutely. Part of what they did right about Artificer is to suggest players come up with creative narrative descriptions of how they uniquely cast spells. The lore I use for mine is that the arcane sigils inscribed on the wand/rod/staff that will becomehis AF are transmutation sigils that alter the appearance to something more resembling a gun. Spells are cast by loading a special brass cartridge inscribed with a specific spell's sigils imbued with his energy (spell slots). Can it shoot bullets? No, it shoots Fire Bolts.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
A d8 boost on an AOE like Shatter isn’t too bad though. I actually heard one YouTuber call it broken (as in too powerful)
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
A d8 boost on an AOE like Shatter isn’t too bad though. I actually heard one YouTuber call it broken (as in too powerful)
It's a nice boost but it's nowhere close to being broken. An extra 1d8 is typically weaker than adding your spellcasting ability modifier would be most of the time, except for the rare times when you cast a spell that makes an attack roll and you roll a crit.
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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.
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
A d8 boost on an AOE like Shatter isn’t too bad though. I actually heard one YouTuber call it broken (as in too powerful)
It's a nice boost but it's nowhere close to being broken. An extra 1d8 is typically weaker than adding your spellcasting ability modifier would be most of the time, except for the rare times when you cast a spell that makes an attack roll and you roll a crit.
I agree and I thought the same thing and said so in the comments of their video. I guess they were coming from the angle that if you caught a creature in every square (so 16 squares for shatter iirc) then that’s an extra 16d8 for a class feature. But how often does that really happen.
Depending on how you rule that Magic Missile works (been loads of discussions about it) it could be a big boost for that spell. IMO it isn't in any way broken but it certainly isn't a weak feature either, an extra D8 on damage rolls is more than other foci add.
Depending on how you rule that Magic Missile works (been loads of discussions about it) it could be a big boost for that spell. IMO it isn't in any way broken but it certainly isn't a weak feature either, an extra D8 on damage rolls is more than other foci add.
However, there's no RAW way to get Magic Missile as an artificer spell for an Artillerist, so it's a bit moot. (Not that that hasn't also been discussed to dead-horse-status as well.)
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
A d8 boost on an AOE like Shatter isn’t too bad though. I actually heard one YouTuber call it broken (as in too powerful)
It's a nice boost but it's nowhere close to being broken. An extra 1d8 is typically weaker than adding your spellcasting ability modifier would be most of the time, except for the rare times when you cast a spell that makes an attack roll and you roll a crit.
I agree and I thought the same thing and said so in the comments of their video. I guess they were coming from the angle that if you caught a creature in every square (so 16 squares for shatter iirc) then that’s an extra 16d8 for a class feature. But how often does that really happen.
Not very, and it's still not as much damage (on average) as an evoker or dragon soul sorcerer would get by adding their Int/Cha to a spell with the same radius and the same number of targets.
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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.
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
A d8 boost on an AOE like Shatter isn’t too bad though. I actually heard one YouTuber call it broken (as in too powerful)
It's a nice boost but it's nowhere close to being broken. An extra 1d8 is typically weaker than adding your spellcasting ability modifier would be most of the time, except for the rare times when you cast a spell that makes an attack roll and you roll a crit.
I agree and I thought the same thing and said so in the comments of their video. I guess they were coming from the angle that if you caught a creature in every square (so 16 squares for shatter iirc) then that’s an extra 16d8 for a class feature. But how often does that really happen.
Not very, and it's still not as much damage (on average) as an evoker or dragon soul sorcerer would get by adding their Int/Cha to a spell with the same radius and the same number of targets.
Technically, but the difference is nominal. The average of a d8 is 4.5; a character is unlikely to have a +5 casting stat mod before 8th level. Obviously you’ll get more consistency from the mod, but unless the feature only rarely procs, it should average out to so close to equivalent you wouldn’t notice the difference.
However, there's no RAW way to get Magic Missile as an artificer spell for an Artillerist, so it's a bit moot. (Not that that hasn't also been discussed to dead-horse-status as well.)
That's right, knew I was forgetting something that made it a non-issue.
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What exactly is the artificer's arcane firearm? Does it actually work as a gun? If you used a non-magical wand to make the firearm, could you infuse it with repeating shot to shoot bullets?
I like jellyfish
I think the description of the ability makes it pretty clear what it is. It’s a wand, staff, or rod. None of these is a gun.
If your DM lets you have a wand, staff, or rod that is also a gun, then it could be infused with repeating shot, but that has nothing to do with the Arcane Firearm feature per se.
I'm confused because the definition of a firearm is a gun
I like jellyfish
D&D is a fantasy game that features magic (which doesn’t exist) quite heavily. It often invents new uses for existing words to suit its fantastic nature. Usually (and certainly in this case), there’s a description that says exactly what the game means. It’s good to get in the habit of reading these. They’re usually good at answering questions like the one you posed in the OP (though certainly not always, thus this forum).
And an arcane firearm is a spellcasting focus. It shoots spells not bullets.
There is nothing in the feature description that specifies one way or the other. It just says that you turn the wand/staff/rod into an arcane firearm. Whether they mean an actual firearm or just a gussied-up spell focus is not mentioned. It seems kind of weak for a 5th level feature, for it to be just a spell focus with a d8 boost.
Spells and abilities in 5E do exactly what they say they do and no more. Nowhere in the ability's description does it say that it turns the staff into an actual gun, therefore it does not. It doesn't need to tell you that the arcane firearm can't fire bullets at enemies for the same reason that it doesn't need to tell you that it can't summon infinite nachos.
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.
The Artificer in 5e suffers from a serious case of poor system support (via DDB in particular). The whole system is deeply slanted toward a low-tech/low-magic world. They didn't want us to really be able to do crafting at all in this edition, and firearms of any tech level were an extreme afterthought.
The Arcane Firearm feature is not a gun. It is a stick that can be used to cast spells. Can you flavor it as a gun? Absolutely. Part of what they did right about Artificer is to suggest players come up with creative narrative descriptions of how they uniquely cast spells. The lore I use for mine is that the arcane sigils inscribed on the wand/rod/staff that will become his AF are transmutation sigils that alter the appearance to something more resembling a gun. Spells are cast by loading a special brass cartridge inscribed with a specific spell's sigils imbued with his energy (spell slots). Can it shoot bullets? No, it shoots Fire Bolts.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
A d8 boost on an AOE like Shatter isn’t too bad though. I actually heard one YouTuber call it broken (as in too powerful)
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
It's a nice boost but it's nowhere close to being broken. An extra 1d8 is typically weaker than adding your spellcasting ability modifier would be most of the time, except for the rare times when you cast a spell that makes an attack roll and you roll a crit.
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.
I agree and I thought the same thing and said so in the comments of their video. I guess they were coming from the angle that if you caught a creature in every square (so 16 squares for shatter iirc) then that’s an extra 16d8 for a class feature. But how often does that really happen.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Depending on how you rule that Magic Missile works (been loads of discussions about it) it could be a big boost for that spell. IMO it isn't in any way broken but it certainly isn't a weak feature either, an extra D8 on damage rolls is more than other foci add.
However, there's no RAW way to get Magic Missile as an artificer spell for an Artillerist, so it's a bit moot. (Not that that hasn't also been discussed to dead-horse-status as well.)
Not very, and it's still not as much damage (on average) as an evoker or dragon soul sorcerer would get by adding their Int/Cha to a spell with the same radius and the same number of targets.
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.
Technically, but the difference is nominal. The average of a d8 is 4.5; a character is unlikely to have a +5 casting stat mod before 8th level. Obviously you’ll get more consistency from the mod, but unless the feature only rarely procs, it should average out to so close to equivalent you wouldn’t notice the difference.
That's right, knew I was forgetting something that made it a non-issue.