Artificer

The school of artifice is composed of spells that store or channel magical energy through items carried by the wizard. In effect, the artificer is a wizard who creates temporary magical items for his own use. The advantages of this thaumaturgical method lie in the wizard’s ability to increase his spell power by carrying extra spells in various magical items and to unleash powerful enchantments with a single command word. A wizard must have an Intelligence/Knowledge of 12 and a Constitution/Health of 15 in order to choose this specialty. The school of artifice is opposed by the school of necromancy and those spells in the school of enchantment/charm which affect living beings.

Like the alchemist, the artificer must maintain a well-equipped laboratory and workshop. A first-level artificer begins play with a suitable facility in his base of operations. Building a new laboratory costs at least 1,000 gp per character level, and existing laboratories cost 50 gp per level to maintain each month. An artificer without a laboratory loses access to the bonus spell provided by specialization, and can’t conduct research, make magical items or add new spells to his spellbook.

Artificers have the normal benefits and restrictions of specialist wizards, but have no saving throw modifiers and impose no saving throw penalties on the targets of their spells. At fourth-level, the artificer gains the ability to store spells in prepared items, saving his memorization slots for other spells. Once placed in an item, a stored spell may be indefinitely retained for ready casting. The spell to be stored must be one which the wizard knows and can cast; at any given time, a wizard may have no more total spell levels stored than his own character level, so a fifth-level artificer could store up to five levels of spells.

Preparing an item to receive one stored spell requires one uninterrupted week of work, and the actual process of casting the spell into the item requires one day and 500 gp per level of the spell. The item must be of the finest workmanship, worth at least 100 gp; after the spell it holds has been discharged, the artificer can re-enchant it. Only the artificer may release the stored spell, with a casting time of 1; in all other respects the spell is treated as if the artificer had cast it normally. Also, an item can only contain one spell at a time. Any attempt to cast another spell into the item will simply replace the current spell. In effect, this ability allows the artificer to create one-shot magical items such as a ring enchanted with feather fall or a cloak prepared with protection from normal missiles.

At seventh-level, the artificer may create a temporary magical item. Any magical item in the DMG not specifically restricted to nonwizards is allowed, but the item will function only for the artificer. This is a special ability unrelated to the enchant an item spell. First, the artificer must successfully research the item creation process, taking one week per 500 XP value of the item and spending at least 100 gp per week. This time is halved if the artificer has a sample of the item to copy or if he succeeds in a contact other plane, legend lore or another research spell. The artificer must pass a learn spells check to succeed and may never know the processes for more magical items than his maximum number of spells per level. Actually building and enchanting the item requires half the research time and 2d6 x 100 gp, plus the cost of the item itself. Fine materials must be used, but rare and exotic materials and processes aren’t necessary for temporary items. After completing the work, the artificer must pass another learn spells check to successfully enchant the temporary item.

A temporary item lasts 1d6 days, plus one day per level of the artificer. Once the enchantment fades, the item can be re-enchanted with one uninterrupted week of work, the expenditure of 2d6 x 100 gp, and another learn spells check. If the temporary item normally possesses charges, the artificer automatically places one charge per level into the item when creating it.

Selthos the wizard desires a carpet of flying, since he wishes to investigate an old tower perched high on an inaccessible peak. Looking up the carpet’s XP value (7,500 XP), the player realizes that it will take 15 weeks just to research the item! Selthos decides that a carpet of flying is too formidable a challenge and searches for a cheaper alternative. Investigating his alternatives, he decides that a cloak of the bat (1,500 XP) is a much more palatable option.

Selthos begins his research, working for three weeks and spending a total of 1,000 gp (an arbitrary amount set by the DM; he would have had to spend at least 300 gp, or 100 per week). Fortunately, he succeeds in the learn spells check, and his research is successful — from now on, Selthos can produce a cloak of the bat anytime he desires, without repeating the research.

Actually making the cloak requires one week and four days (half the research time) and 2d6 x 100 gp, plus the cost of the cloak. The DM decides that a suitable cloak costs 100 gp (the minimum allowed, but it’s only an article of clothing), and rolls 700 gp for the cost of the enchantment. Again, Selthos succeeds in a learn spells check, so he now possesses a cloak of the bat that will last for 1d6 days, plus one day per level. With some urgency, he sets off at once to investigate the tower before his enchantment fades!

Several months later, Selthos decides that he needs his cloak again. He can re-enchant the cloak with one week of work, another 2d6 x 100 gp, and a learn spells check.

Artificers may create permanent magical items using the normal magical item creation rules and the enchant an item spell when they reach the appropriate levels. (If an artificer creates a true magical item he once made a temporary version of, his research time and expense is reduced to its minimum value. Artificers gain a +10% bonus to their chance to successfully enchant items.

In addition, artificers have a 20% chance at first-level to identify the general purpose and function of any magical item simply by examining it for one full turn. This is similar to the bard’s ability, but is based on the artificer’s ability to analyze the construction and enchantments on the item, not the item’s historical significance. This chance increases by 5% per level, so a fifth-level artificer can identify items with a 40% chance of success.

While artificers are fairly weak at first, once they reach middle levels they can quickly become some of the most useful and powerful wizards in the game. The DM should always consider the artificer’s proposed item research and construction very carefully; any item that the DM feels is too powerful or out-of-character can be disallowed. In particular, items with absorption or negation powers should be considered very carefully — these can be very unbalancing in a game.