Artificer Subclass - Innovator 

(^ It's set up to play nice in D&D Beyond character sheets ^ )

The brief idea of this is I've always liked Artificers being a class that is able to take the complexities of magic and reinvent it into a device of accessibility. Infusions are also really awesome because anyone can use them, but a lot of times they're more commonly treated like invocations because there are such few that can be active and it benefits the player more. 

So I wanted to create an artificer subclass that rewards the following for creating infusions for allies:

• Granting other players earlier access to magic items
• Allowing the artificer to play with spell range
• Provide interesting utility available to their team

Roleplay: This is class can very easily go a direction of someone making them to be a borderline war criminal like nearly every Artificer meme suggests, it can also really play into players who roll into town and immediately want to help provide locals with what they need or to thrive. Most of all, you might notice a common theme with the abilities always loom around, "But what if this got into the wrong hands"? Which should be a nice fitting lore obstacle to play with. 

Key Focuses:

• Does this feel like a solid caster path for Artificer?
• Does it feel like it rewards creating infusions for teammates over the artificer?
• Do the class spells help paint a picture for the class description?
• Does it appeal as having a support playstyle?
• Does it make Alchemist or Artillerist (the other more caster oriented Artificers) feel redundant/overshadowed?

Thoughts and Notes:

These are some things I was considering when creating the Innovator abilities.

Lvl3: Tool Specialization

The heart of the class really felt like their main artificer tool would be the Tinker's Tools, and it seemed pointless to give expertise in it because of level 6, so I just went a similar direction with the Eberron Dragonmark abilities to add a d4. Largely in the flavor of a player being the, "I have just the tool for this!"

Lvl3: Innovator Spells

This was very intentionally decided to be a C-tier, maybe B-tier, of Artificer subclass spells largely to support the duality of how the class could be played/presented. They've got a knowledge and ability to do great things for the benefit of people, or the cause a lot of destruction in their pursuits.

Lvl3: Magical Conduits

This was very carefully approached to avoid stepping on the toes of the Armorer. I very intentionally wanted it to have more infusions it could create than the Armorer, but I didn't want it to be right at the start because it might get pretty powerful, pretty fast. 

It's suppose to be a tough call for what the Innovator wants to infuse for themselves and what they want to infuse for others because of the spell range designations, but also that it felt like a fun addition for touch spells or cone spells to be cast from somewhere like the frontline fighter. Additionally, the additional cantrips scale to lend itself to the Lvl5 ability.

Lvl5: Arcane Innovation

This is very strong reading it, and maybe not as crazy once analyzing it. I wanted to avoid +Int damage for on-hit spells because of items like the All-Purpose Tool magic item that could make something like Eldritch Blast an artificer spell to result in... bam, they've got agonizing blast without needing any Charisma or levels in Warlock. Ignoring a target's ability to avoid damage on a successful save seems very big, but there didn't seem to be a ton of creatures that actually have this sort of ability, and it made things seem very interesting when getting to 9th level and 15th level in instances where the villain has access to the Innovator's stuff.

Allies with infusions being able to cast cantrips seems really fun, but is largely situational. Most players with extra attack are not going to trade it for a cantrip. A Cleric or Bard might get the most use of it. A Rogue might if the Artificer takes Green-Flame Blade or something similar. For NPCs, CR+2 was because most spellcaster monsters have the spellcaster level of CR+3 to 4, so +2 just to be safer. 

Lvl9: Magical Device

I was worried about this overshadowing the Alchemist, but the Alchemist gets 1-5 free casts of Lesser Restoration and their potions start adding bonus HP. To still keep it tamed, it does provide any spell at the highest spell slot an artificer has, but they can't recast the spell, and the wording is very intention in the event of someone who shouldn't have the item does. 

Imagine the Innovator created one with Fireball and labeled it "Big Boom". Well, even saving against the spell, people are taking half damage... but the villain nabbed it. Alternatively, it can make some nice roleplaying moments too like if the Innovator gave the device with Plant Growth to a farmer as a parting gift to ensure the farmer's crop would be thriving and well. 

Lvl15: Amplified Arcana

Here I did take a little bit from Warlock and Sorcerer. It's a spellcasting oriented half-caster, so it seemed good to give it some potential to have a 9th-level spell, but really only a spell at a 9th-level spell power. It seemed right for the borderline war criminal Artificer player who imagined they crafted together a nuke, but the DM wasn't comfortable with letting downtime days and crafting lead to the player building an actual nuke. Also to revisit the "villain stole the item" for a real scare. 

It seemed a little lackluster to just make it 4 charges and you're done, but way too powerful to allow it to be recharged in an instant, so.. short rests. This seemed fitting to use their own resource to amplify their spells, and to have an interaction with their class ability: Spell-Storing Item.

1. Why is the spell list nature themed? Seems kind of off-brand for an Inventor subclass. I was expecting to see things like Cloud of Daggers, Grease, Animate Object, Enhance Ability, Summon Construct, Borrowed Knowledge, Augury, Divination, Catapult. Plant Growth,Fabricate,and Shatter work, but I'm really confused about most of the others.
2. Magical Conduit needs rephrasing, and the targeting of the spell should still require your senses, also infusions are used on items you can't use an infusion on a creature. Basically change it to just be:
   Suggested Rewrite: "You can infuse 1 additional item. When you cast a spell, it can originate from any item you have infused or yourself but you must use your senses to target the spell."
3. Arcane Innovation isn't very good, it's confusing and this: "Targets that succeed on their saving throw against your cantrips or spells still take half damage even if they have abilities that might prevent them from taking any damage on success." is WAY too general and really nonsensical. No amount of innovation should allow a fire-spell deal damage to a creature made entirely of fire, and you'll get weird illogical things like Golems healing by absorbing certain damage types but also taking damage from them.
   Suggested Rewrite: "You learn 1 additional cantrip, when you infuse an item you can attach one of your cantrips to that infusion. A creature that is holding or wearing that infused item can cast the attached cantrip using your spell attack modifier/spell DC and your class level. They must use the normal action/bonus action to cast it and if it requires concentration they must concentrate on it."
4. Magic Device needs to specify how it works with spells with consumed / gold-value having material components.
5. Amplified Arcana the charges should not be rechargable as the game is designed around casters have very limited access to spellslots of 6th level or higher - and never getting more than 1x 9th level slot. This ability breaks that - note that even Sorcerers cannot gain 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th level slots with their Font of Magic.

the game is designed around casters have very limited access to spellslots of 6th level or higher - and never getting more than 1x 9th level slot. This ability breaks that - note that even Sorcerers cannot gain 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th level slots with their Font of Magic.

I think there's an important distinction here - being able to cast a 5th level spell at 9th level is not the same thing as being able to cast a 9th level spell. Sorcerers can't regain those slots more because of the nature of higher-level spells than the inherent power of the slots themselves.