A man is shaken down in the dark alley of Waterdeep, several ruffians surrounding him while they laugh and jeer. The man's warnings are met with a punch, and several bottles of glass begin to rise from the ground around him.

A kindly old lady suspends a teapot in midair, a saucer and cup floating beneath it as it pours. She asks what brings her guest through her village, as she sets down the floating cup on her tablecloth while levitating another cup upwards.

A shrill scream sounds out in the cold night as a kobold meets his demise, speared against the ground with a sword. A lantern's light crests a hill, revealing the glittering display of several other weapons suspended in the cool air, hungry for their turn.

Animator's Tools

When you pick this subclass at level 3 you gain proficiency with Smith's Tools if you don't already have it.

Animated Weapons

Beginning at 3rd level, you have developed the ability to wield weapons that levitate at your side, and fight alongside you. You are limited in this skill by your experience, shown by the “Animated Weapon Points” in the Animated Blade table.

These Animated weapons differ from normal weapons in several ways; Due to their levitation you do not need to hold them, they do not receive any bonuses to hit or to damage based on your ability modifiers, they are always treated as melee weapons and do not have the ranged property, they can not be used as an arcane focus, and their damage is not dependent on the weapons themselves. Instead, the damage is determined by their characteristics and by your proficiency.

Using Smith’s tools or through a suitable analog (Such as a weaponsmith, and at your DM’s discretion), you may spend a long rest attuning to weapons with which you have proficiency. Different weapons with different characteristics cost a different amount of Animated Weapon Points, as listed below;

• Weapons with the ‘Light’ property cost 1 Animated Weapon Point, and invariably deal 1d4 points of their respective damage type. Examples of such weapons include Sickles, Daggers or Light Hammers. Light weapons do not add their proficiency bonus to damage on a hit (An example is provided below).
• Weapons without any property (except range or finesse) cost 2 Animated Weapon Points, and invariably deal 1d6+1 of their respective damage type. Examples of such weapons include Shortswords, Rapier, or a Morningstar.
• Weapons with the two-handed or versatile property cost 3 Animated Weapon Points, and invariably deal 2d6+2 points of their respective damage type. Examples of such weapons include Longswords, Battleaxes, and Mauls. Any attack roll made with these weapons suffers a -1 penalty.
• Shields cost 1 Animated Weapon Point, and grant you +2 AC but can not be used to attack (You do not have to hold the shield for this benefit). You can only gain this benefit once.
• Weapons with the Reach property require an additional (1) Animated Weapon Point to attune to. Examples of such weapons include Whips, Lances and Halberds.
• Improvised weapons cost 1 Animated Weapon Point to attune to, and invariably deal 1 damage of a suitable damage type.

You are proficient in these Animated Weapons and they float vertically within a 5ft³ amount of space you occupy. It takes an action to stow or sheathe all of your Animated Weapons at once. When you take the Attack action on your turn, each of your Animated weapons rolls to hit (Roll separately for each weapon, though this does count as one single attack roll for any features or effects) adding the lower of your Strength or Dexterity modifiers to the hit roll, and your proficiency bonus to the hit roll and to overall damage (except for light weapons). As an example, if you hit a creature with a Rapier at first level, the damage roll would be 1d6 + 1 + proficiency, but if you had three Daggers it would instead be 3d4, and a single Greatclub would roll 2d6 + 2 + proficiency. When making an attack of opportunity, you may only roll for one weapon.

If you obtain a magical weapon that you are proficient in, you may attune to it. If it usually has more than one damage die, it uses only one as in the table above (It still gains the magical enhancement to damage and to hit, however), but you may choose between any of its damage types listed. Additionally, if the weapon counts as magical for the purposes of damage, it deals magical damage when you hit with it. All other magical effects upon the weapon still apply, such as the 20 effect on Vorpal Sword.

You may not use this feature while wielding a weapon, arcane focus, or while wearing a shield. The attack made with this feature can not be used with Sneak Attack, and you can not perform unarmed strikes on the same turn an Animated weapon hits.

 

╔═══════╤════════════════════════╗
║ Level │ Animated Weapon Points ║
╠═══════╪════════════════════════╣
║ 3rd   │                      4 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 4th   │                      4 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 5th   │                      4 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 6th   │                      5 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 7th   │                      5 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 8th   │                      5 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 9th   │                      6 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 10th  │                      6 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 11th  │                      6 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 12th  │                      7 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 13th  │                      7 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 14th  │                      7 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 15th  │                      8 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 16th  │                      8 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 17th  │                      8 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 18th  │                      9 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 19th  │                      9 ║
╟───────┼────────────────────────╢
║ 20th  │                     10 ║
╚═══════╧════════════════════════╝

Running with Scissors

When you make an Athletics check you may add a bonus to the roll equal to your Dexterity modifier.
At 11th level your movement speed is increased by 5 feet while your Animated weapons are not stowed.

Bladesurge

At 7th level you have become more comfortable with the idea of large weapons floating in your vicinity, and have learned some deadly tricks as a result. As a Bonus Action, you may move up to half of your movement speed (rounded up) directly towards a creature before attacking it with an amount of Animated weapons up to your Strength modifier. This does not use your action.

If this attack incapacitates a creature, you may repeat the attack on another target up to the same distance away at the cost of one level of exhaustion. If a creature is not reachable within half of your movement speed, or is already within 5ft of you, you may not use this feature.

When you reach 11th level, you may instead move up to your full movement speed directly towards a creature instead of half, and do not take the exhaustion penalty.

You may use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus before needing to complete a long rest, and you can only ever use Bladesurge on two or fewer targets.

Deft and Dangerous

Beginning at 7th level, you can reroll a saving throw that you fail. If you do so, you must use the new roll, and you can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest. You can use this feature twice between long rests starting at 11th level and three times between long rests starting at 15th level.

Lust for Life

When you reach 10th level, you uncover ways to push yourself and learn how to force your way through difficult endeavors. As a bonus action, you may heal yourself for 1d10, as well as gaining temporary hitpoints equal to the combination of your Strength and Dexterity modifiers. The amount of dice you can heal for increases by one at 15th level.

Weakspot

At 15th level, your mastery over your Animated weapons allows you to perform extraordinarily flashy feats. If you use your Bladesurge feature without incapacitating the targeted creature, you may use your Action to attack. This attack can be done with advantage, and incorporates all of your Animated weapons. If this attack incapacitates the creature, you may proceed with Bladesurge as normal. If you performed the attack with advantage, you can not do so again until you complete a long rest.

Additionally, you cannot be surprised.

Animated Mastery

At 15th level your blades seem possessed, moving and swinging in time with your thoughts. Your Animated weapons now deal increased damage.s

• Weapons with the ‘Light’ property add 1 to their damage rolls,
• Weapons without a property add 2 to their damage rolls
• Weapons with the ‘Heavy’ or 'Versatile" property add 4 to their damage rolls.