Puppeteers are artificers who utilize their magical engineering to produce life-like constructs to astonish, trick, frighten, or entertain. Realizing their puppets are useful for more than just for show, they become master multitaskers, summoning and dismissing numerous puppets, bringing them to life thorugh magic and ventriloquy, and controlling the battlefield by their invisible strings.

Tools of the Trade

When you adopt this specialization at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with woodcarver's tools. If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan's tools of your choice. You also gain  proficiency with a musical instrument of your choice.

Puppeteer Spells

Starting at 3rd level, you always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Archivist Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.

Archivist Spells

SPELL LEVEL	SPELLS
3rd	dissonant whispers, unseen servant
5th	crown of madness, mirror image
9th	counterspell, spirit guardians (takes the form of a platoon of small modrons from Mechanus)
13th	compulsion, guardian of faith (takes the form of a large modron guard from Mechanus)
17th	danse macabre, mislead

 

Mechanical Puppets

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to fashion hollow lifelike automotons with rudimentary functioning abilities, infused with the spectral power of the Ethereal Plane. After each long rest, you create one Mechanical Puppet which you store in the Ethereal Plane waiting for you to call upon it. When you summon a Mechanical Puppet, you do so in one of a number of forms, the first of which, the Uncanny Automaton, is described below. You gain the ability to summon Mechanical Puppets in other forms at higher levels. The number of Puppets you may summon each Long Rest increases to two at 5th level, three at 9th level, four at 13th level, and five at 17th level. You may have multiple Mechanical Puppets operating simultaneously. All active or unused Mechanical Puppets disintegrate when you take a Long Rest or if they are more than 150 feet away from you or one of your Artificer Infusions; any unused stored spells are then lost. 

Uncanny Automaton
As an action, you may summon the Mechanical Puppet as an Uncanny Automaton from the Ethereal Plane, causing it to appear in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you. When you do so, you may determine whether the Puppet takes the form of a generalized mechanical bipedal person, or as a convincing facsimile of yourself. If the puppet is a facsimile of you, all creatures of your choice must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC to realize that the Automized Puppet is a replica; otherwise, they believe that the Puppet is you and that you are an insignificant replica.

Upon summoning an Uncanny Automaton, you roll its initiative separately from your own, and you determine how many hit points it has, from as few as 1 to as many as twice your total character level, signifying the resilience or fragility of its material. The Puppet has an AC of 10 + your Intelligence modifier, a movement speed of 30 feetno proficiencies, no vulnerabilities or resistences, and is immune to the Charmed, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, and Stunned conditions. The Uncanny Automaton has a modifier of +0 to all of ability scores. It may only take the Dodge, Dash, Hide, and Help actions, does not invoke opportunity attacks, and may provide flanking: the Dodge, Dash, and Hide actions it may take an indeterminate number of times, but may only take the Help action a total of three times. After the third use of the Help action, the Uncanny Automaton falls apart. The Uncanny Automaton also falls apart and is destroyed if it drops to 0 hit points. If you have multiple Uncanny Automatons operating simultaneously, they share the same initiative, but each have separate hit points. 

You may also choose, when you summon an Uncanny Automaton, to expend a spell slot in order to store a spell of the spell slot's level or lower within it. The spell must have an target area of effect of sphere, cube, cone, or line, and must not require concentration; your DM may also allow you to store other kinds of spells at their discretion. When the Uncanny Automaton with a spell stored within drops to 0 hit points, it detonates and the spell immediately takes effect, centered or originating from the Uncanny Automaton's space. You may also use a Bonus Action to detonate the Uncanny Automaton early, destroying it and triggering the spell.

Hollow Guardians

Starting at 5th level, you may call upon your Mechanical Puppets in a new way to provide protection to yourself and allies. As an Action, you may summon a Mechanical Puppet as a Hollow Guardian, binding it to yourself or a creature of your choice you can see within 30 feet. The Hollow Guardian shares a space with the creature of your choice, moving around it to block incoming threats. When summoned as a Hollow Guardian, the Mechanical Puppet does not possess any stats except for hit points equal to twice your total character level, does not have its own initative, has no actions, and does not function as a creature of its own. Instead, when any weapon or spell attack successfully strikes the creature that the Hollow Guardian is guarding, the attacker must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a successful save, the attack strikes the intended target as expected; on a failed save, the attack instead strikes the Hollow Guardian. If it drops to zero hit points, the Hollow Guardian falls apart and is destroyed. If the attack that destroys it deals greater damage than the Hollow Guardian's remaining hit points, the intented target takes the remainder of the damage.

A Mechanical Puppet that has already been summoned as a Hollow Guardian cannot be changed into an Uncanny Automaton or any other manifestation of Mechanical Puppet, nor vice versa. 

Uncanny Resemblences

Starting at 9th level, your increased crafting skill allows you to form Puppets of more diverse appearances. When you summon an Mechanical Puppet as an Uncanny Automaton, it may now also take the form of any creature that is wearing one of your Artificer Infusions. As before, upon seeing that Puppet for the first time any creature of your choice must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw to recognize the Puppet as a facsimile rather than as the real person.

In addition, you may project your voice through an Uncanny Automaton using ventriloquy; any creature that is convinced that the Puppet is a real person is also reasonably convinced of its voice.

Proxy

At the 9th level, you hone your craft and control over your ethereally-infused Mechanical Puppets, allowing you to switch places in a pinch. When you are about to take damage (after, for example, a failed saving throw or a successful attack roll against you, or from environmental hazards) as a Reaction you may disappear into the Ethereal Plane, summoning an Automatized Puppet as a Proxy. The Proxy appears in your former location, absorbing the hit. The Proxy is immediately destroyed, and the attack does not affect you. You instanteously reappear from the Ethereal Plane in an unoccupied space of your choice within 10 feet of your original location.

Proxy must be activated after the hit is confirmed, but before the damage dice are rolled. Mechanical Puppets summoned as other manifestations (such as Uncanny Automatons or Hollow Guardians) cannot be changed into Hollow Proxies, nor vice versa.

Puppet-Sarcophagus

At the 15th level, you gain mastery over controlling your Mechanical Puppets, allowing you to summon them on and around targets to seal them inside. As an action, you may summon a Mechanical Puppet as a Puppet-Sarcophagus around a target with a size of Large or smaller. Upon activating this ability, the Puppet-Sarcophagus begins to gradually materialize from the Ethereal Plane piece by piece as it progressively encloses the target, enforcing the Restrained condition upon the target. Immediately after the Puppet-Sarcophagus is summoned, and then at the end of each of its turns, the target must make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC to fight against the forming Puppet-Sarcophagus. If the target succeeds on three saving throws, the effect is ended and the forming Puppet-Sarcophagus vanishes. If the target fails three saving throws, then the Puppet-Sarcophagus seals the target within, causing the target to become Petrified until the effect is ended. The Puppet-Sarcophagus then becomes a regular object in the form of a unanimated mechanical person, does not vanish when you take a Long Rest, and does not count as one of your Mechanical Puppets after your Long Rests. If the Petrified effect is ended on the creature enclosed in the Puppet-Sarcophagus, the Puppet-Sarcophagus shatters and is destroyed, and the creature returns to normal.

You may only attempt to summon a Puppet-Sarcophagus once per Long Rest. When targeting a creature of Medium size or smaller, one Mechanical Puppet is expended in the process; when targeting a creature of Large size, you must expend two Mechanical Puppets to form a Puppet-Sarcophagus.