[poll] Steampunk artificer

[Gwaihir Windlord]

Well this one started out as a modified Artificer from Ebberon, but it turned out that I was changing more than I wasn't, so here is the beta version.  Click the link in Game Rule Information for the 20-level table.

[spoiler=Game Rule Information]The Artificer

Game Rule Information
Artificers have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Intelligence is by and away the most important ability for the artificer; as the Craft skills are based off of it.  Dexterity is also important, as it improves the ranged combat.

Alignment: Any
Hit die: d6

Class Skills
The artificer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (technology) (Int), Knowledge (architecture and engineering) (Int), Listen (Wis), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), and Use Technological Device (Int).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) X 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.

 http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pLMZmMCpXpmhgEqjlUAJ_Zw&hl=en
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Class Abilities]Infusions
     An artificer can cast any Infusion from the list spontaneously.  Infusions are not arcane or divine in nature; rather they represent some inherent quality in the item created.
     When creating or repairing an object, an artificer can choose to use on of his infusions to effectively enchant the object.  The object is considered magic for the purposes of damage reduction, and must be masterwork to be infused.  If the artificer is creating a fresh item, it may be infused so long as it is being crafted as masterwork.  
     An artificer may also retrofit mundane technological weapons and armor to masterwork quality.  He must sacrifice an infusion slot to while making a Craft (technological) check as if he was repairing the object.  
     An artificer may also remove one infusion on a given object by sacrificing an infusion slot of equivalent level to the infusion being removed or higher.
     Each level the artificer receives new infusions.  Any infusions from the previous level that were not used do not carry over and are lost.

Craft Reserve
     Artificers have a reserve of Craft points that they use when crafting items.  Each Craft points is worth 1 gp of raw materials, representing the artificers ability to make superior items with inferior materials.  The pool is refreshed every level; any leftover points do not carry over and are lost.

Craft Tech
     The three versions of Craft Tech all follow a standard template.  Craft Tech I gives the basic item creation feat associated with the field (gunpowder, steam, or clockwork).  Craft Tech II gives the masterwork item creation feat, and Craft Tech III gives a +5 bonus on Craft (mechanical) checks involving the technology.

Artificer Knowledge
     An artificer can make a special artificer knowledge check with a bonus equal to his artificer level + his Int modifier to determine what the task of a technological object is.
   The artificer must hold (if possible) and examine the object for 1 minute (+1 minute for every size category above Small).  A successful check against DC 15 determines what the object is desined to do, but does not tell for how long or how well the object is functioning (or if it even is at all, though a Spot check usually will tell you if it's working or not).
   An artificer cannot take 10 or take 20 on this check.  A particular item can only be examined in this fashion one time; if the check fails, the artificer can learn no more about that object (the DM can determine if a retry is appropriate, or if the artificer needs some outside help to try again).
Artisan Bonus
   An artificer gets a +2 bonus on Use Technological Device checks to activate an item for which he has the appropriate Craft Tech feat.

Disable Trap
   Artificers have the technological know-how to shut down technological wonders just as easily as they can create them.  Artificers can use the Disable Device skill to disable steam-powered and clockwork traps.  Normally the Disable Device skill can only be used to disable simple machine traps.

Bonus Feats
At levels 3, 7, 9, 11, 17, and 20 artificers receive a bonus feat.  The feat must be chosen from the list below, and the artificer must meet all the prerequisites as normal.
Augment Clank**, Craft Focus (Clank)**, Craft Focus (Clockwork)**,  Craft Focus (Gunpowder)**, Craft Focus (Steam)**, Exceptional Artisan*, Extraordinary Artisan*, Legendary Artisan*, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Reload, Skill Focus (must be a class skill), Weapon Focus (firearms)
*from the Ebberon Campaign Setting
**new feat described below[/spoiler]

[spoiler=New Feats and Skills]New Feats and Skills
New Skills

Craft (mechanical) (Int)
Used as the other Craft skills, Craft (mechanical) allows the construction and repair of technological items.

Use Technological Device (Int)
As Use Magical Device, but for technological items that one does not have the creation feat for.

New Feats

Craft Focus:
The character has learned through study and experience how best to assemble and maintain technological items within the field chosen.
Prerequisite: Skill Focus: Craft (steam), (clockwork), (gunpowder), or (clanks)
Benefit: Once per day an Artificer may re-roll any Craft check with which he as the Skill Focus feat. He further gains an additional +1 to Craft checks made to build or maintain technological items, weapons or armor within the chosen field. The fields are Steam, Clockwork, Gunpowder, and Clanks.
Special: This feat can be chosen up to 4 times. Each time the benefit applies to a different field of technology.
Special: An Artificer may take this feat regardless as one of his Bonus feats even if he does not have the prerequisites for it.

Augment Clank
The character has learned how to position members and gears within a clank to increase strength and durability.
Prerequisite: 10 ranks in Craft (technological), Craft Clank
Benefit: Clanks you craft receive +4 to Strength and hardness.

Craft Clank
Allows the crafting of clanks (steam powered or clockwork robots), as per the Craft rules.  The function of the clank varies, but a guideline of DCs and raw material pricing for clanks is below

(-there should be a chart here, but right now I am too lazy to put one up.  Assume slightly lower costs than the battle clank for servant, laborer and transporter clanks-)

The raw material cost for a battle clank is 2,000 gp per size category.  A battle clank can only be from size Small '" Colossal.  This cost does not include weapons for the clank.

All clank material costs are given for iron clanks.  A clank can be made out of a special material by adding to the price as normal. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Infusion List]Artificer Infusion List
All infusions are from the Ebberon Campaign Setting, Magic of Ebberon, or the Player's Handbook v 3.5

Level 1
Ablative Armor: Infuse armor with DR 0 + caster level (max 20).
Armor Enhancement, Lesser: Infuse armor with a +1 bonus.
Light: Infuse object with a light (light shines as a torch).
Resisting Item: Infused item gives bearer a +1 bonus on saving throws.  Clanks receive a +1 bonus on their saving throws.
Skill Enhancement: Infused item bestows a circumstance bonus on skill checks.  Clanks receive a circumstance bonus on their own skill checks.
Spell Storing Item: Store one spell in infused item.
Weapon Augmentation, Personal: Infused weapon with a +1 bonus.  Can not be retrofitted.

Level 2
Armor Enhancement: Infuse armor with up to a +3 bonus.
Lucky Blade: Infused weapon grants a single re-roll of an attack.
Reinforce Clank: Infused clank gains 1d6 + 1/level extra hit points.
Chill Metal: Cold metal items damage those who touch them.  Steam items cannot be infused in this manner.
Heat Metal: Hot metal items damage those who touch them.
Toughen Clank: Infused clank gains +2 or higher bonus to hardness.
Weapon Augmentation, Lesser: Infuse weapon with a +1 bonus.

Level 3
Armor Enhancement, Greater: Infuse armor with up to a +5 bonus.
Suppress Requirement: Item that requires a class feature, race, ability score, or alignment to function no longer does.
Adamantine Item: Infuse item with adamantine properties.

Level 4
Invulnerability, Lesser: Infused item cannot be harmed by 1st-3rd-level spells
Item Alteration: Item that provides a certain type of bonus provides a different type of bonus to the same value or roll.
Weapon Augmentation: Infuse weapon with up to a +3 bonus.

Level 5
Bear's Endurance: Infused clank receive +4 to hardness.
Bull's Strength: Infused clank receive +4 to Str.
Cat's Grace: Infused clank receive +4 to Dex

Level 6
Disable Clank: Shuts down clank.
Invulnerability: As Lesser Invulnerability, but 4th-level spells as well.
Hardening: Item's hardness increases by 1 per 2 levels.
Weapon Augmentation, Greater: Infuse weapon with up to a +5 bonus.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Credits]
Since I have taken Elemental Elf's feat verbatim, I now have to credit my collaborators.
Craft Focus feat
Elemental Elf
Everything Else
Gwaihir Windlord[/spoiler]

[LordVreeg]

Can you provide poor me with a tad of fluff to describe your creation?  I do love artificers...

[Loch Belthadd]

that seems way overpowered. Basically an artificer can make anything into a permanent magic item at no extra cost to himself.

[Elemental_Elf]

I'm not seeing the point of the Craft Tech, it seems really open ended unless you have items and flavor in mind for all 4.

The one problem I have with Craft Focus is that people could combo that with Skill Focus (Craft (xxx)). Why not just eliminate a needless feat and stick to basics. Then make Craft Focus something more interesting, like say:

Craft Focus:
The character has learned through study and experience how best to assemble and maintain technological items within the field chosen.
Prerequisite: Skill Focus: Craft (steam), (clockwork), (gunpowder), or (clanks)
Benefit: Once per day an Artificer may re-roll any Craft check with which he as the Skill Focus feat. He further gains an additional +1 to Craft checks made to build or maintain technological items, weapons or armor within the chosen field. The fields are Steam, Clockwork, Gunpowder, and Clanks.
Special: This feat can be chosen up to 4 times. Each time the benefit applies to a different field of technology.
Special: An Artificer may take this feat regardless as one of his Bonus feats even if he does not have the prerequisites for it.

This way it makes for a really interesting and powerful feat and still nets the Artificer a +5 on the check but the benefits are spread over 2 feats.

[Gwaihir Windlord]

Thanks for getting back to me.  Here comes my answers.

Can you provide poor me with a tad of fluff to describe your creation?  I do love artificers...

I'll get back to you on that; check back tomorrow or Tuesday.

that seems way overpowered. Basically an artificer can make anything into a permanent magic item at no extra cost to himself.

That was my biggest worry.  I tried to balance it by not giving the artificers all the fun upgrades that regular magic items do, limiting their infusions per level, and having infused weapons not count as magic for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction(did I mention that?  I forget).  What are you recommendations for balancing that?

I'm not seeing the point of the Craft Tech, it seems really open ended unless you have items and flavor in mind for all 4.

The one problem I have with Craft Focus is that people could combo that with Skill Focus (Craft (xxx)). Why not just eliminate a needless feat and stick to basics. Then make Craft Focus something more interesting, like say:

Craft Focus:
The character has learned through study and experience how best to assemble and maintain technological items within the field chosen.
Prerequisite: Skill Focus: Craft (steam), (clockwork), (gunpowder), or (clanks)
Benefit: Once per day an Artificer may re-roll any Craft check with which he as the Skill Focus feat. He further gains an additional +1 to Craft checks made to build or maintain technological items, weapons or armor within the chosen field. The fields are Steam, Clockwork, Gunpowder, and Clanks.
Special: This feat can be chosen up to 4 times. Each time the benefit applies to a different field of technology.
Special: An Artificer may take this feat regardless as one of his Bonus feats even if he does not have the prerequisites for it.

This way it makes for a really interesting and powerful feat and still nets the Artificer a +5 on the check but the benefits are spread over 2 feats.

I really like that, and I'll change it.  Thanks for the feat.

[Loch Belthadd]

[spoiler=gwaihir]What are you recommendations for balancing that?[/spoiler]

I would say make it cost a large amount of gold, and maybe even a little XP.

[Gwaihir Windlord]

I don't want to give it an XP cost.  I think XP costs are retarded.  I get why they are there, but I don't like the application of them.

A ton of gold makes sense...  Perhaps have the gold cost as if you were crafting a magic item.  What do you think about that?

[Elemental_Elf]

I don't want to give it an XP cost.  I think XP costs are retarded.  I get why they are there, but I don't like the application of them.

Amen to that!

A ton of gold makes sense...  Perhaps have the gold cost as if you were crafting a magic item.  What do you think about that?

Maybe you should create a few of these items, to show off the differences between each of the 4 styles, which will also give us a better idea of where you are taking the class.

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=WindLord]I don't want to give it an XP cost. I think XP costs are retarded. I get why they are there, but I don't like the application of them.[/blockquote]  Yeah, I have to agree as well.  Ok, I created this, and now I know a little less...

[Gwaihir Windlord]

Maybe you should create a few of these items, to show off the differences between each of the 4 styles, which will also give us a better idea of where you are taking the class.

Well, basically what I wanted is what the styles are called.  Clanks are constructs, but without any magic powering them.  Thus, they are a cheaper but not as long lasting.  Firearms are, by and large, gunpowder weapons however this category allows for steam-powered repeating crossbows, and clockwork telescoping polearms and the like.  Armor is powered armor, whether steam or clockwork, and objects are, well, engines.  Devices for powering stuff that doesn't fall into the other categories.

For example, say you wanted a powered wagon.  Your options would be to take a regular wagon, upgrade the axles and wheels to metal to withstand the increased pressure, and build a steam or clockwork engine to power your wagon.  Ta-da!, now you don't need horses.  Option B is to build a transporter clank.  The clank would be more expensive because it would need an AI of sorts; otherwise it would just be an engine with a custom chassis.  But it would be the same process for creating, just standard Craft checks with the DCs set by the DM; but I would recommend these DCs:

Weapons
Steam-powered - DC 20
Clockwork - 27
Infused - 35

Armors
Steam-powered - DC 18
Clockwork - DC 24
Infused - DC 30

Engine:
Steam-powered - DC 15
Clockwork - DC 20
Infused - DC 25

Clank:
Steam-powered - DC 24
Clockwork - DC 35
Infused - DC 45

I've been talking about steam-powered and clockwork stuff for a while, here are the differences:

Steam powered is cheaper, heavier, and requires more maintenance.  Since this is steampunk, not true steam tech, you can make man-portable steam-powered stuff, but it still requires more stuff (but not as high quality stuff) as clockwork.
Clockwork technology is the way of the future.  A well-made clockwork clank will wind itself, never stopping unless you shut it down (this is steampunk, who cares about the First Law of Thermodynamics) and takes up only half the space of steam!

I mentioned Infused tech in the bit about DCs, and I just want to clarify.  An Infused item is the epitome of technology, taking on qualities nearing magical in behavior.  Only artificers of great level can create Infused item of greater than negligible strength.  Items are Infused during creation, and as such an artificer has to proceed with the greatest of caution, hence the higher DC.  When retro-fitting an item with an Infusion, you have to make Craft rolls as if crafting from scratch.  Simply assume the cost of the original item already made.

I'll probably ax the Infusion from the first 5 levels or so, to justify the fluff I just put up.

Can you provide poor me with a tad of fluff to describe your creation?  I do love artificers...

I'll get back to you on that; check back tomorrow or Tuesday.

Sorry, I'm still fleshing out the fluff.  It'll come soon enough.