Aetherbrand Plasma Caster

Aetherbrand Plasma Caster

Weapon (martial ranged), legendary, requires attunement by an artificer with an INT score of 20

 

This exotic rifle hums with contained aetheric energy. Golden coils and blackened steel vents bleed a jade light, and the barrel etched in magical equations releases jade sparks into the air when it fires.

 

Properties: Two-handed, range 120/360 ft

You gain +3 to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. 

Aetheric Core: The caster doesn’t use ammunition. It channels ambient magical energy through your focus and intellect.

Cognitive Targeting: You may use your Intelligence modifier for attack and damage rolls with this weapon instead of Dexterity.

Empowered Cantrips. Whenever you cast an artificer cantrip using this weapon you add your Intelligence modifier to the damage roll of the spell (minimum +1)

Photon Beam. While you wield this weapon, you can use a magic action to divert its stored energy and shoot a blistering beam of energy in a 5-foot-wide line up to 40 feet long. A creature that starts its turn in the line or moves into it for the first time on a turn must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking the weapons normal damage on a failed save or half as much on a success. This beam requires concentration to maintain (as if concentrating on a spell).

At the start of each of your subsequent turns, you can use an action to prolong the beam by making a successful Intelligence check to stabilize the heat. The DC begins at 10 and increases by 2 each time you successfully prolong the beam. As part of this action, you can also re-orient the beam's line. If you don't take this action, if you fail the check, or are disarmed, the beam ends. When the beam ends, the Intelligence check DC resets to 10 and the weapon can't produce a beam again for 1d6 + 2 hours while it cools down.

“If the Weave is a tapestry, this is the needle that burns as it sews.” — Inscribed on the prototype, in the inventor’s own hand._

It’s up to you to decide whether a character has proficiency with a firearm. Characters in most D&D worlds wouldn’t have such proficiency. During their downtime, characters can use the training rules in the Player’s Handbook to acquire proficiency, assuming that they have enough ammunition to keep the weapons working while mastering their use.

Notes: Damage: Radiant, Ignore Weapon Property: Ammunition, Bonus: Magic Item Attack With Intelligence, Bonus: Magic, Artificer and INT score of 20, Damage, Combat, Range, Two-Handed, Ammunition (Firearms), Reload, Sap