The Artificer is now available on D&D Beyond! @ToddKenreck spoke with @JeremyECrawford about the challenges behind the creation of this new class. https://t.co/wQm6SpxNOi
— D&D Beyond (@DnDBeyond) March 14, 2019
The Artificer is now available on D&D Beyond! @ToddKenreck spoke with @JeremyECrawford about the challenges behind the creation of this new class. https://t.co/wQm6SpxNOi
— D&D Beyond (@DnDBeyond) March 14, 2019
Ironic that they wanted to focus on choice, but then don’t include any options for people who aren’t interested in micro-managing a pet of some sort.
Using the older version of the Arcanist, I made a folksy Halfling marksman who carries around a thunder cannon taller than he is, and who only has one shot each turn, so he really has to make it count.
He prided himself not just on his aim, but also on his good tactical sense – proper battlefield positioning and good sightlines were super important for him, in order to ensure he could make the most of his limited shots.
Now, his thunder cannon is gone. Instead, at best he can have a crossbow. Oh, sure – you can always ask your DM to allow the optional firearm rules from the Dungeon Master’s Guide, but 1) the overwhelming trend is for optional rules to NOT be allowed, 2) the firearms in the DMG don’t scale beyond the earliest levels without extra attacks, 3) such guns aren’t magical, and 4) the character theme of being a precision marksman who makes every shot count is destroyed, by requiring you to rely on multiple attacks per round instead of scaling single shots.
Replacing my lovely thunder cannon is… a generic robot turret minion, which the class relies on heavily for much of its power. Thanks, but no thanks – I don’t want to play a pet based class. Summoning a spider-bot with a flamethrower and remote-controlling it around the battlefield isn’t the same as being a marksman.
My character was a very self reliant person, who used his brains to overcome his short stature and lack of strength, in order to personally contribute to the success of the party. It doesn’t quite feel the same to just deploy an auto turret and rely on its powers instead. It’s still brains over brawn, but it’s so much more impersonal.
Was there really no room for a third subclass, one which doesn’t rely on a pet, and which focuses more on augmenting your own equipment with magic?