I've written here before, I think, about the disappointment I felt when Chronicle Volume III came out and there was no mention specifically about the Lich King actually being an entity out of the Shadowlands - not created by Kil'jaeden, but taken and used by him.
The book simply said that he made the armor, stuck Ner'zhul's spirit in there, and set him to work. Given that the Scourge are my favorite Warcraft villains, it felt underwhelming for them to simply remain a byproduct of the Burning Legion - just another failed scheme by the demons.
So I was very happy to hear that that lore is, in fact, getting expanded upon in Shadowlands. Sure, Kil'jaeden might have bound Ner'zhul to that armor, but even if he did make it, he had to go to the Shadowlands to do so.
We got some lore with the announcement of the expansion, but it's very fragmentary and thin - I think we're going to get much bigger stuff revealed some time early next year as the beta comes near.
We know that there is a major evil called the Jailor (or Jailer, if you prefer that spelling.) He seems to be malevolent, and he has pointedly been shown only in Shadow, and even appears to be bound by chains similar to the ones that Sylvanas used against Bolvar in their fight. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that, while these chains might bind him, they also represent his own power.
Is the Jailor Mueh'zalla? I think that's possible, though it begs the question. We barely know what Mueh'zalla is, so giving the Jailer another name doesn't tell us a whole lot. It would mean that the Trolls know about him, but given that the Jailer is feared across the Shadowlands as a kind of afterlife boogeyman, it wouldn't be that hard to imagine that those who travel between the material world and the Shadowlands, such as Bwonsamdi, could spread that knowledge to mortals. His being Mueh'zalla only tells us that there's a name that people use to refer to him. That being said, it also gives him the epithet "Father of Sleep," which links him to certain Ilgynoth prophecies and also suggests a connection to, perhaps, the Emerald Dream?
Another big question that could be answered involves Odyn's eye. Much like his Norse myth equivalent, Odyn gives his eye in exchange for great knowledge, though Odyn's is specifically the necromantic magic required to create the Val'kyr. We're only told that he gave his eye to a powerful entity in the Shadowlands.
Now, we're primed to believe that such a being must be evil. After all, Odyn's a dick (a well-intentioned but egotistical, arrogant, and utterly callous dick) and this sort of bargain is usually struck with dark and evil beings (though I believe in the Norse myth it's done with the relatively benign Mimir.)
So was the Jailor the entity that he gave his eye to?
It would make some sense, except perhaps it doesn't.
The Val'kyr are, it would seem, a kind of imitation of the Kyrians. Kyrians are from Bastion, the afterlife of faithful service, and the Kyrians are basically a race of angel-people. If Val'kyr are Warcraft's Valkyries, that makes sense that they'd be connected, as Valkyries are kind of sort of a Norse equivalent for angels. While the Kyrian Covenant might be disturbed by the perversion of their system, it also seems that if Odyn were to learn how to make bootleg Kyrians, it ought to be here that he did so.
Maybe the biggest hole in all of this is that we're told that no one until us has escaped the Maw, the Jailor's domain and possibly prison. Is the Domination Forge, where Frostmourne and the Helm of Domination were created, in the Maw? If so, how did anyone get them out? And furthermore, did Sylvanas escape it first? And then, can the Jailor communicate out of it enough to make deals?
During BFA, we've heard talk about the "Hand of Valor" being some entity that even Eyir considers beyond her scope of power, and that this was what determined Vol'jin should become what he is - a Loa, maybe. Is the Hand of Valor the Arbiter? Or one of her instruments/servants?
Finally, we're told that the machinery of death is broken, and that we're at a point where every soul, whether it deserves to or not, is being sent to the Maw. Is that a new phenomenon, simply caused by Sylvanas' shattering of the Helm of Domination? Or has it been going for a while, and is the mystery of this phenomenon going to be part of the expansion's mystery?
Monday, December 16, 2019
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Pulling the Trigger on My Ravnica Campaign
I've sent out invites to players for my Ravnica campaign.
It's a little nervous-making, doing so, given that I haven't really started a big, ongoing campaign since the very first one I started four years ago. That campaign is still technically on, but given that we only had 4 or 5 sessions over the last year, I wanted to get this one going to hopefully be a more regular game.
So far, a couple of players have started to sketch out their characters, and I've decided to officially invite people months ahead of time (our first game is scheduled for March 2nd) so that we can work on figuring out characters ahead of time.
Characters will begin in relative isolation - the premise is that some time between Dragon's Maze and Guilds of Ravnica, the severely understaffed Office of the Guildpact has reached out to the guilds to send them recruits to help perform the duties of the Guildpact while Jace is busy. There's about five hundred people working there for a city of I believe 800 billion (Ravnica's supposed to be about the size of the moon, and I estimated it has a density comparable to New York City, and just did some math.)
There's going to be a background arc-plot, but I've intentionally left the early adventures largely separated. Indeed, there will be several different major villains with their own schemes that may or may not be connected to the campaign's big bad.
I've created villains in each guild, and my hope is to establish the morally grey atmosphere of Ravnica in the early sessions - yes, the Boros Legion is led by angels, but their self-righteousness can allow them to excuse heinous behavior if they feel it's "just," and a group like the Cult of Rakdos, so frightening and horrific, might also serve as a loving home for the weird goth kids who don't fit in with their family.
Obviously, as with any D&D campaign, we're playing in the DM and players' version of the world, and I'm trying to emphasize the humanity across all of Ravnica, while also providing otherworldly and terrifying monsters for people to fight.
This is a far bigger group than I'm used to DMing, but the intention is that there will be enough players that we can be missing over half of them and still play.
We're, of course, months away from the actual game, and I'm trying not to do too much planning in advance, but I'm very excited for it to start.
It's a little nervous-making, doing so, given that I haven't really started a big, ongoing campaign since the very first one I started four years ago. That campaign is still technically on, but given that we only had 4 or 5 sessions over the last year, I wanted to get this one going to hopefully be a more regular game.
So far, a couple of players have started to sketch out their characters, and I've decided to officially invite people months ahead of time (our first game is scheduled for March 2nd) so that we can work on figuring out characters ahead of time.
Characters will begin in relative isolation - the premise is that some time between Dragon's Maze and Guilds of Ravnica, the severely understaffed Office of the Guildpact has reached out to the guilds to send them recruits to help perform the duties of the Guildpact while Jace is busy. There's about five hundred people working there for a city of I believe 800 billion (Ravnica's supposed to be about the size of the moon, and I estimated it has a density comparable to New York City, and just did some math.)
There's going to be a background arc-plot, but I've intentionally left the early adventures largely separated. Indeed, there will be several different major villains with their own schemes that may or may not be connected to the campaign's big bad.
I've created villains in each guild, and my hope is to establish the morally grey atmosphere of Ravnica in the early sessions - yes, the Boros Legion is led by angels, but their self-righteousness can allow them to excuse heinous behavior if they feel it's "just," and a group like the Cult of Rakdos, so frightening and horrific, might also serve as a loving home for the weird goth kids who don't fit in with their family.
Obviously, as with any D&D campaign, we're playing in the DM and players' version of the world, and I'm trying to emphasize the humanity across all of Ravnica, while also providing otherworldly and terrifying monsters for people to fight.
This is a far bigger group than I'm used to DMing, but the intention is that there will be enough players that we can be missing over half of them and still play.
We're, of course, months away from the actual game, and I'm trying not to do too much planning in advance, but I'm very excited for it to start.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Repelling Blast and Mad Max in Hell
In my weekly Descent into Avernus game, my Warlock finally had a chance to unleash the potential of his Eldritch Invocation, Repelling Blast.
Repelling Blast is one of those things that looks sort of innocuous at first - each time you hit with Eldritch Blast, you can choose to push the target back 10 feet. But when you consider the implications, this can be profound.
First off, the pushback does not involve any sort of Strength saving throw. It just happens if you hit the target at or above their armor class. You could be fighting a Kraken and push it back 10 feet (I'd say you could do this to a Tarrasque, but their reflective scales would just bounce the attack back at you.)
Second, this happens every time it hits. Unlike the closest equivalent cantrip, Firebolt, Eldritch Blast is broken up into multiple attacks. In many ways, an EB-wielding Warlock is more akin to a Ranged-combat Fighter, only they get a fourth attack at level 17, not having to wait until 20. That helps in a lot of other ways - using Hex, for instance, gives you an extra d6 of damage on each hit, and if you have Agonizing Blast, you're adding your Charisma modifier to the damage of every strike.
So, by level 5, when you're attacking twice per cast, if you hit both times, you push them back a full 20 feet.
There are many ways that this guaranteed - or at least unresistable - pushback can be a lifesaver.
One use is to save a squishy character. If your Wizard or Sorcerer is stuck in melee with some heavy-hitter and they don't have the action economy to take the disengage action, you can knock these monsters loose to give your ally a chance to run.
Naturally, you can also use this to force creatures into environmental hazards.
The story that inspired me to write about this was in my Descent into Avernus game. After descending from the sort of secondary starting zone to the plains of Avernus itself, we got ourselves an Infernal War Machine - a jury-rigged Mad-Max-style wheeled vehicle. Not long after we started traveling across Avernus, we were attacked by a much bigger War Machine with several lycanthropes. (Our DM did confess she nerfed the fight by removing several enemies given that only three players of a usual seven showed up tonight - it's the holidays.)
The thing is, with a bunch of Wererats clinging to the top of their war machine, I was perfectly positioned while our Barbarian took the wheel to knock these little rat-dudes off their vehicle. While the DM gave them Dex saves to grab back onto the vehicle, I was able to knock one clean off.
What didn't come up (we wanted to keep their vehicle intact so we could steal it, and we did!) was that even if I had hit the vehicle, I could have pushed that entire Huge or Gargantuan monstrosity (ok, technically a construct) up to 20 feet a turn as well. Even with a damage threshold that might have negated some of the damage, Repelling Blast says nothing about having to do damage for it to work (though it probably assumes most things will take damage from a spell that does Force damage.)
Warlocks are, of course, a sort of odd class - working more like a weapon-fighter than a pure caster, despite having access to the highest level spells. But this is one of those great bits of utility that they never run out of that makes the class feel really potent.
Repelling Blast is one of those things that looks sort of innocuous at first - each time you hit with Eldritch Blast, you can choose to push the target back 10 feet. But when you consider the implications, this can be profound.
First off, the pushback does not involve any sort of Strength saving throw. It just happens if you hit the target at or above their armor class. You could be fighting a Kraken and push it back 10 feet (I'd say you could do this to a Tarrasque, but their reflective scales would just bounce the attack back at you.)
Second, this happens every time it hits. Unlike the closest equivalent cantrip, Firebolt, Eldritch Blast is broken up into multiple attacks. In many ways, an EB-wielding Warlock is more akin to a Ranged-combat Fighter, only they get a fourth attack at level 17, not having to wait until 20. That helps in a lot of other ways - using Hex, for instance, gives you an extra d6 of damage on each hit, and if you have Agonizing Blast, you're adding your Charisma modifier to the damage of every strike.
So, by level 5, when you're attacking twice per cast, if you hit both times, you push them back a full 20 feet.
There are many ways that this guaranteed - or at least unresistable - pushback can be a lifesaver.
One use is to save a squishy character. If your Wizard or Sorcerer is stuck in melee with some heavy-hitter and they don't have the action economy to take the disengage action, you can knock these monsters loose to give your ally a chance to run.
Naturally, you can also use this to force creatures into environmental hazards.
The story that inspired me to write about this was in my Descent into Avernus game. After descending from the sort of secondary starting zone to the plains of Avernus itself, we got ourselves an Infernal War Machine - a jury-rigged Mad-Max-style wheeled vehicle. Not long after we started traveling across Avernus, we were attacked by a much bigger War Machine with several lycanthropes. (Our DM did confess she nerfed the fight by removing several enemies given that only three players of a usual seven showed up tonight - it's the holidays.)
The thing is, with a bunch of Wererats clinging to the top of their war machine, I was perfectly positioned while our Barbarian took the wheel to knock these little rat-dudes off their vehicle. While the DM gave them Dex saves to grab back onto the vehicle, I was able to knock one clean off.
What didn't come up (we wanted to keep their vehicle intact so we could steal it, and we did!) was that even if I had hit the vehicle, I could have pushed that entire Huge or Gargantuan monstrosity (ok, technically a construct) up to 20 feet a turn as well. Even with a damage threshold that might have negated some of the damage, Repelling Blast says nothing about having to do damage for it to work (though it probably assumes most things will take damage from a spell that does Force damage.)
Warlocks are, of course, a sort of odd class - working more like a weapon-fighter than a pure caster, despite having access to the highest level spells. But this is one of those great bits of utility that they never run out of that makes the class feel really potent.
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Artificers of Ravnica
Yes, I'm obsessing a bit about Artificers.
Introduced in Eberron: Rising from the Last War, Artificers are the newest D&D class. Given that Ravnica is now an official D&D setting, though, and mentioned in the Green blurb "Artificers of Other Worlds," I thought I'd speculate on where you might find Artificers in Ravnica, and possibly other Magic planes.
Indeed, Artificers are profoundly important to Magic's lore. Urza, the greatest and most important Planeswalker in the game's lore (at least for the first decade or so) was an Artificer (though I think I'd have put him as having 20 levels of Wizard on top of 20 levels of Artificer - remember that Planeswalkers were basically gods back then.)
Looking specifically to Ravnica, it's very obvious that one guild in particular feels like the place for Artificers: the Izzet League.
Called out explicitly in the Eberron book, the Izzet, as essentially magical engineers and experimentalists, naturally would have tons of Artificers in their employ.
However, thinking about the Character Creation chapter in Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, I thought I'd speculate on which guilds might also make use of them.
Guilds do, after all, cooperate with one another sometimes to provide services to one another.
First, stepping more into Magic's gameplay mechanics, we should talk about Artifacts and colors. Artifacts in Magic are cards that represent anything that was constructed or built to serve as a tool, weapon, or other kind of artificial useful item (though things like buildings are usually treated as lands instead.) Artifacts are typically colorless, meaning anyone can use them, but some colors tend to be more destructive toward artifacts (Green and Red, usually) while others often have synergy with them (Blue, primarily.)
The Izzet League is the Red and Blue guild, which in a way works perfectly - they love to build artifacts but also blow them up. Naturally, I think any flavor of Artificer could work perfectly in the Izzet League.
There are three other Blue Guilds - the Azorius Senate (Blue and White,) the Simic Combine (Blue and Green) and House Dimir (Blue and Black.) Each of these could, I think, make use of Artificers.
First off, my favorite guild, House Dimir. The Dimir already have some proprietary technology in the form of a Spy's Murmur, which is essentially an earpiece radio to talk to other agents. I could see a Dimir Artificer working quite well as a kind of technologically advanced assassin. Having expertise in all manner of tools would be useful not just to build traps and hidden compartments in a room, but also to be able to disassemble weapons.
Despite arguably being the loudest of Artificer subclasses, I actually think that the Artillerist makes a lot of sense for a kind of magical sniper, who could set up their turret in advance of a target coming into view and firing it from a hidden position.
Moving on, the Azorius are known to use Homunculi as office assistants, and given their tendency to try to enforce the law on the streets, I could see an Azorius Arrester who fights with their intellectual guile backed up by a hulking Steel Defender being a very good fit - meaning a Battle-Smith could work quite well for them.
Meanwhile, the Simic are all about seeing the results of various things on biological specimens, which to me screams Experimental Elixirs and the Alchemist subclass. You could even flavor your alchemy as using mutagenic agents - the effects being temporary mutations in the subject.
Moving outside of the Blue guilds, I could imagine Artificers finding homes in several other guilds as well.
For much the same reason the Azorius would like Battle-Smiths, I could see the Boros doing the same, with a strong emphasis on their smithing abilities to outfit and arm the Legion. A Rakdos Artificer might be a master of Pyrotechnics - perhaps an Artillerist - who builds fireworks displays (and actual artillery, perhaps aimed at the audience) for Rakdos shows. The Gruul would probably really not like Artificers in general, but you could play one as a sort of... um, how do I put this... Eco terrorist? Using technology to blow up buildings?
The point is, Artificers would be very much at home in Ravnica, with its quasi-modern magical technology similar to Eberron. Given that I'm planning on running a Ravnica campaign next year, I'm hoping some of my players consider the class.
Introduced in Eberron: Rising from the Last War, Artificers are the newest D&D class. Given that Ravnica is now an official D&D setting, though, and mentioned in the Green blurb "Artificers of Other Worlds," I thought I'd speculate on where you might find Artificers in Ravnica, and possibly other Magic planes.
Indeed, Artificers are profoundly important to Magic's lore. Urza, the greatest and most important Planeswalker in the game's lore (at least for the first decade or so) was an Artificer (though I think I'd have put him as having 20 levels of Wizard on top of 20 levels of Artificer - remember that Planeswalkers were basically gods back then.)
Looking specifically to Ravnica, it's very obvious that one guild in particular feels like the place for Artificers: the Izzet League.
Called out explicitly in the Eberron book, the Izzet, as essentially magical engineers and experimentalists, naturally would have tons of Artificers in their employ.
However, thinking about the Character Creation chapter in Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, I thought I'd speculate on which guilds might also make use of them.
Guilds do, after all, cooperate with one another sometimes to provide services to one another.
First, stepping more into Magic's gameplay mechanics, we should talk about Artifacts and colors. Artifacts in Magic are cards that represent anything that was constructed or built to serve as a tool, weapon, or other kind of artificial useful item (though things like buildings are usually treated as lands instead.) Artifacts are typically colorless, meaning anyone can use them, but some colors tend to be more destructive toward artifacts (Green and Red, usually) while others often have synergy with them (Blue, primarily.)
The Izzet League is the Red and Blue guild, which in a way works perfectly - they love to build artifacts but also blow them up. Naturally, I think any flavor of Artificer could work perfectly in the Izzet League.
There are three other Blue Guilds - the Azorius Senate (Blue and White,) the Simic Combine (Blue and Green) and House Dimir (Blue and Black.) Each of these could, I think, make use of Artificers.
First off, my favorite guild, House Dimir. The Dimir already have some proprietary technology in the form of a Spy's Murmur, which is essentially an earpiece radio to talk to other agents. I could see a Dimir Artificer working quite well as a kind of technologically advanced assassin. Having expertise in all manner of tools would be useful not just to build traps and hidden compartments in a room, but also to be able to disassemble weapons.
Despite arguably being the loudest of Artificer subclasses, I actually think that the Artillerist makes a lot of sense for a kind of magical sniper, who could set up their turret in advance of a target coming into view and firing it from a hidden position.
Moving on, the Azorius are known to use Homunculi as office assistants, and given their tendency to try to enforce the law on the streets, I could see an Azorius Arrester who fights with their intellectual guile backed up by a hulking Steel Defender being a very good fit - meaning a Battle-Smith could work quite well for them.
Meanwhile, the Simic are all about seeing the results of various things on biological specimens, which to me screams Experimental Elixirs and the Alchemist subclass. You could even flavor your alchemy as using mutagenic agents - the effects being temporary mutations in the subject.
Moving outside of the Blue guilds, I could imagine Artificers finding homes in several other guilds as well.
For much the same reason the Azorius would like Battle-Smiths, I could see the Boros doing the same, with a strong emphasis on their smithing abilities to outfit and arm the Legion. A Rakdos Artificer might be a master of Pyrotechnics - perhaps an Artillerist - who builds fireworks displays (and actual artillery, perhaps aimed at the audience) for Rakdos shows. The Gruul would probably really not like Artificers in general, but you could play one as a sort of... um, how do I put this... Eco terrorist? Using technology to blow up buildings?
The point is, Artificers would be very much at home in Ravnica, with its quasi-modern magical technology similar to Eberron. Given that I'm planning on running a Ravnica campaign next year, I'm hoping some of my players consider the class.
Do I Want My Good Dragon Boy to Become a Little Steampunk?
For about a year, we've had a home game in which I've played Jax Sardare, a Blue Dragonborn Eldritch Knight Fighter (with a Sage background.)
He is, along with the group's Paladin, one of the tanks of the group. I've got a +1 shield, Splint Mail (Plate is SO EXPENSIVE, guys) and the defensive fighting style, which currently has his AC up to 21, and he has Shield to cast if anything actually hits him (he also has Absorb Elements to deal with Fireballs and such.)
Now, I've always liked the idea of a Battlemage - a heavily-armored battlefield warrior who can call upon arcane magic - mechanically it's something you can often find in Paladins, but I like the arcane, wizard-y flavor of this version better.
I really can't complain too much about the Eldritch Knight, which has proven to be quite the juggernaut and capable of dishing out a decent amount of damage. (He's level 6, so I'm looking forward to leveling up so he can get War Magic and thus Booming Blade for 2d8+4 and then strike again for 1d8+4 - and of course also looking forward to the next level so I can cap his strength.)
I think the character could be perfectly viable sticking with EK all the way to 20 (if we were ever to get there.) The character's backstory would also make it make sense for him to multiclass into Wizard at some point, as he'd always had ambitions to be more of a master of magic than just a fighter.
Of course, the Artificer has come along to distract me with its new hotness, and so now I'm contemplating multiclassing into that instead or as well (I could, of course, possibly go with a Fighter/Artificer/Wizard build.)
Jax currently has 18 Strength, 14 Intelligence, and 14 Constitution, so he meets the requirements for all the multiclassing and can also happily wear the heaviest of armors.
There's also a question of what his ultimate role for the group is.
I've really played him mostly as the group's tank, focusing on making him unhittable (our DM seems to crit me with shocking regularity, which my more paranoid imaginings suggest she's frustrated at all the Shielding I do, which by this point gives him an effective AC of 26, and thus fudges things, though I don't actually believe that.) Of course, with a +0 to both Wisdom and Dex, there are certainly some vulnerabilities he has (really hoping our Paladin hits 6 soon so I can stand next to him for his beautiful aura.)
So Jax is there to be the immovable object, and admittedly, multiclassing into anything is probably not going to make him tankier.
For one thing, Artificers have a lower hit die and Wizards' are even lower - I'm giving up effectively one or two max HP for every level I put in those respective classes.
The other thing that makes me hesitate is that Fighters get additional Ability Score Improvements. I've used two of these so far, but there are 5 more for me to take, which would allow me to potentially get my CON or INT up to 20 and the other up to 18, or of course I could get some Feats (resilient Wisdom feels like a useful one, and Warcaster feels almost mandatory - Booming Blade as an opportunity attack? Isn't that nasty? That's what, 4d8+4 damage immediately, and more as I level up?)
If I were to MC into Wizard or Artificer, there are only 5, and only 3 I'd have access to given my existing 6-level investment into Fighter. Naturally I think I'd wait until I had 8 levels of Fighter so I could get by 3rd Fighter ASI, which would leave 3 from the other classes. So six, or rather three left. So Strength is maxed and then I could either bump both INT and CON to 16 and get Warcaster or favor one or the other.
Now, let's talk spells and features.
EKs are "Third Casters," I believe, and so I was never going to get super powerful spellcasting. If we assume I'm going to 8 in Fighter, that gives me only two levels as a caster (I could get 3 if I put another level into the class, but that might not be so useful just for spells.)
If we put the next twelve levels into playing a Wizard, the total "Spellcaster" level would be 14, which would mean I could eventually have 7th level spells, but never 8th or 9th.
The real benefit, I think, of going Wizard is that I could get a Spellbook, which would allow me to swap out spells much more easily (even with a single-level dip) especially given that all my EK spells are Wizard spells anyway. 12 levels of Wizard would also mean getting all but the final Arcane Tradition feature, and no Signature Spells. Ritual Casting could also be very nice.
Given that the character was originally built to be a kind of "Time Cop," enforcing the proper timeline (though we're nowhere near that tier of play just yet,) I think having advanced spellcasting could be very good, and something like Divination (Portent is pretty darn powerful, folks) would be quite good.
Of course, my focus is already very Strength-based, and I only have a +2 to Intelligence. Granted, I could focus on a lot of spells that don't care about spellcasting ability, but it does hobble things a little. I'd need to either spend every ASI to get Int to 20 (which means no Warcaster) or resign myself to not quite maxing out his spells (unless we come across those books that raise your skills.)
Now, let's say we go Artificer. Again, assuming we get to 8 in Fighter, that leaves 12 levels of Artifcer, which means by level 20, we're an 8th level spellcaster. This gives us only 4th level spells, which is where EKs cap out anyway, so that might be notable - there's no real advantage in terms of spellcasting here. If I were to just immediately go into Artificer, forgoing War Magic and my level 8 ASI, I could get 14 levels of Artificer and thus be a 9th level spellcaster, with 5th level spells (again, right at 20, mind you.) Now, this would get us plenty of cool Artificer abilities, including Magic Item Savant (5 attuned items and no restrictions on what you can attune to) and all of their Arcane Infusions.
It's interesting.
We'd also have to consider which subclass to go for. Going Battle-Smith feels the most natural for a melee-fighter, but on the other hand, the ability to use Intelligence for attack rolls is less exciting when you already have 18 or potentially 20 strength, likewise the Extra Attack feature. So the only real benefit of the Battle-Smith is getting smite-like spells and the robot buddy (which, to be fair, is pretty darn cool.)
I could go Alchemist, which would give me some healing capabilities, but with a Cleric and a Paladin in the party, I'm not sure how much we really need that.
As an Artillerist, we'd get some bigger ranged nukes, and given that our only ranged arcane caster is a Warlock (great single-target damage, a bit more limited for AOE) that might be something we could use.
Now, what about mix-and-matching?
First off, what in the Figher would I be missing? The extra ASIs are definitely nice.
Eldritch Knights also get some cool things, like Arcane Charge (which allows them to teleport after they use Action Surge.) And Indomitable feels pretty important to deal with nasty abilities that require saving throws.
The additional extra attacks seem really fun, though perhaps with War Magic that's less important (Booming Blade is going to level up regardless of what classes I pour levels into, so while multiple attacks from the weapon are going to be better thanks to the additional Strength bonuses, by 17 I will be doing 4d8+5 and then 1d8+5 if I hit with both Booming Blade and the War Magic bonus attack. So that's 32.5 mix of slashing and thunder on average versus 38 slashing with four attacks at level 20. (Yes, the Booming Blade will also do an additional 4d8 thunder if the target moves, but that has never happened - it seems to work more as a deterrent than a real damage source.))
Of course, the loss of health is also a bit sad.
So right now, I'm thinking that this build just might not be right for the character I'm playing. I think a dip into Wizard might work out, and with three levels of Wizard I'd get up to 5th level spells, not to mention a Spellbook and Ritual Casting.
I think we've got some time before I really need to make this decision (or possibly ask a friendly DM to let me re-do some of my leveling. It is a home game after all, and if Matt Mercer was willing to let Travis bump up his Strength to 13 so Fjord could become a Paladin, maybe I can do something similar!)
While I love the idea of a Steampunk battlemage (he even has some steampunk goggles already!) I think this does not quite fit the character I've created. Oh well.
Still, it makes me really want to try something in another game.
He is, along with the group's Paladin, one of the tanks of the group. I've got a +1 shield, Splint Mail (Plate is SO EXPENSIVE, guys) and the defensive fighting style, which currently has his AC up to 21, and he has Shield to cast if anything actually hits him (he also has Absorb Elements to deal with Fireballs and such.)
Now, I've always liked the idea of a Battlemage - a heavily-armored battlefield warrior who can call upon arcane magic - mechanically it's something you can often find in Paladins, but I like the arcane, wizard-y flavor of this version better.
I really can't complain too much about the Eldritch Knight, which has proven to be quite the juggernaut and capable of dishing out a decent amount of damage. (He's level 6, so I'm looking forward to leveling up so he can get War Magic and thus Booming Blade for 2d8+4 and then strike again for 1d8+4 - and of course also looking forward to the next level so I can cap his strength.)
I think the character could be perfectly viable sticking with EK all the way to 20 (if we were ever to get there.) The character's backstory would also make it make sense for him to multiclass into Wizard at some point, as he'd always had ambitions to be more of a master of magic than just a fighter.
Of course, the Artificer has come along to distract me with its new hotness, and so now I'm contemplating multiclassing into that instead or as well (I could, of course, possibly go with a Fighter/Artificer/Wizard build.)
Jax currently has 18 Strength, 14 Intelligence, and 14 Constitution, so he meets the requirements for all the multiclassing and can also happily wear the heaviest of armors.
There's also a question of what his ultimate role for the group is.
I've really played him mostly as the group's tank, focusing on making him unhittable (our DM seems to crit me with shocking regularity, which my more paranoid imaginings suggest she's frustrated at all the Shielding I do, which by this point gives him an effective AC of 26, and thus fudges things, though I don't actually believe that.) Of course, with a +0 to both Wisdom and Dex, there are certainly some vulnerabilities he has (really hoping our Paladin hits 6 soon so I can stand next to him for his beautiful aura.)
So Jax is there to be the immovable object, and admittedly, multiclassing into anything is probably not going to make him tankier.
For one thing, Artificers have a lower hit die and Wizards' are even lower - I'm giving up effectively one or two max HP for every level I put in those respective classes.
The other thing that makes me hesitate is that Fighters get additional Ability Score Improvements. I've used two of these so far, but there are 5 more for me to take, which would allow me to potentially get my CON or INT up to 20 and the other up to 18, or of course I could get some Feats (resilient Wisdom feels like a useful one, and Warcaster feels almost mandatory - Booming Blade as an opportunity attack? Isn't that nasty? That's what, 4d8+4 damage immediately, and more as I level up?)
If I were to MC into Wizard or Artificer, there are only 5, and only 3 I'd have access to given my existing 6-level investment into Fighter. Naturally I think I'd wait until I had 8 levels of Fighter so I could get by 3rd Fighter ASI, which would leave 3 from the other classes. So six, or rather three left. So Strength is maxed and then I could either bump both INT and CON to 16 and get Warcaster or favor one or the other.
Now, let's talk spells and features.
EKs are "Third Casters," I believe, and so I was never going to get super powerful spellcasting. If we assume I'm going to 8 in Fighter, that gives me only two levels as a caster (I could get 3 if I put another level into the class, but that might not be so useful just for spells.)
If we put the next twelve levels into playing a Wizard, the total "Spellcaster" level would be 14, which would mean I could eventually have 7th level spells, but never 8th or 9th.
The real benefit, I think, of going Wizard is that I could get a Spellbook, which would allow me to swap out spells much more easily (even with a single-level dip) especially given that all my EK spells are Wizard spells anyway. 12 levels of Wizard would also mean getting all but the final Arcane Tradition feature, and no Signature Spells. Ritual Casting could also be very nice.
Given that the character was originally built to be a kind of "Time Cop," enforcing the proper timeline (though we're nowhere near that tier of play just yet,) I think having advanced spellcasting could be very good, and something like Divination (Portent is pretty darn powerful, folks) would be quite good.
Of course, my focus is already very Strength-based, and I only have a +2 to Intelligence. Granted, I could focus on a lot of spells that don't care about spellcasting ability, but it does hobble things a little. I'd need to either spend every ASI to get Int to 20 (which means no Warcaster) or resign myself to not quite maxing out his spells (unless we come across those books that raise your skills.)
Now, let's say we go Artificer. Again, assuming we get to 8 in Fighter, that leaves 12 levels of Artifcer, which means by level 20, we're an 8th level spellcaster. This gives us only 4th level spells, which is where EKs cap out anyway, so that might be notable - there's no real advantage in terms of spellcasting here. If I were to just immediately go into Artificer, forgoing War Magic and my level 8 ASI, I could get 14 levels of Artificer and thus be a 9th level spellcaster, with 5th level spells (again, right at 20, mind you.) Now, this would get us plenty of cool Artificer abilities, including Magic Item Savant (5 attuned items and no restrictions on what you can attune to) and all of their Arcane Infusions.
It's interesting.
We'd also have to consider which subclass to go for. Going Battle-Smith feels the most natural for a melee-fighter, but on the other hand, the ability to use Intelligence for attack rolls is less exciting when you already have 18 or potentially 20 strength, likewise the Extra Attack feature. So the only real benefit of the Battle-Smith is getting smite-like spells and the robot buddy (which, to be fair, is pretty darn cool.)
I could go Alchemist, which would give me some healing capabilities, but with a Cleric and a Paladin in the party, I'm not sure how much we really need that.
As an Artillerist, we'd get some bigger ranged nukes, and given that our only ranged arcane caster is a Warlock (great single-target damage, a bit more limited for AOE) that might be something we could use.
Now, what about mix-and-matching?
First off, what in the Figher would I be missing? The extra ASIs are definitely nice.
Eldritch Knights also get some cool things, like Arcane Charge (which allows them to teleport after they use Action Surge.) And Indomitable feels pretty important to deal with nasty abilities that require saving throws.
The additional extra attacks seem really fun, though perhaps with War Magic that's less important (Booming Blade is going to level up regardless of what classes I pour levels into, so while multiple attacks from the weapon are going to be better thanks to the additional Strength bonuses, by 17 I will be doing 4d8+5 and then 1d8+5 if I hit with both Booming Blade and the War Magic bonus attack. So that's 32.5 mix of slashing and thunder on average versus 38 slashing with four attacks at level 20. (Yes, the Booming Blade will also do an additional 4d8 thunder if the target moves, but that has never happened - it seems to work more as a deterrent than a real damage source.))
Of course, the loss of health is also a bit sad.
So right now, I'm thinking that this build just might not be right for the character I'm playing. I think a dip into Wizard might work out, and with three levels of Wizard I'd get up to 5th level spells, not to mention a Spellbook and Ritual Casting.
I think we've got some time before I really need to make this decision (or possibly ask a friendly DM to let me re-do some of my leveling. It is a home game after all, and if Matt Mercer was willing to let Travis bump up his Strength to 13 so Fjord could become a Paladin, maybe I can do something similar!)
While I love the idea of a Steampunk battlemage (he even has some steampunk goggles already!) I think this does not quite fit the character I've created. Oh well.
Still, it makes me really want to try something in another game.
Artificer Gameplay Impressions
A week and a half ago I got a chance to play an Artificer during a one-shot. My usual Adventurer's League Descent into Avernus game wasn't playing the day before Thanksgiving, so those of us who were still in town decided to come into the store anyway and do an all-Warforged party.
We played at level 8, which of course means we didn't get quite all of the big class features. But here's the general sense I got of the class:
I was playing a Battle-Smith, which meant I was doing some pretty standard physical combat. It was nice to be able to use Intelligence for weapon attacks, and it makes me think that the "Hex Warrior" feature that Hexblade Warlocks get really ought to be a part of Pact of the Blade instead (at least the part where you use Charisma for weapon strikes.)
The DM gave us all some magic items to start off with, and I got a Laser Pistol and a +1 shield, sadly relegating the Musket I had built to my bags, but putting my medium-armor-wearing Warforged at a whopping 22 AC (between some +1 Half Plate with +2 - actually +3, but medium armor - Dex, which got me to 18, the Warforged bonus that put me at 19, and the +1 shield bumping it to 22) with a hand free to shoot the pistol, which I then infused with Repeating Shot, so it was a +1 Laser Pistol (which deals 3d6 Radiant on hit.)
Combat-wise, the Artificer has a couple of tricks. One trick I absolutely forgot to use was Flash of Genius, which lets you, as a reaction, give an ally (or yourself) a bonus to a saving throw or... I think ability check or attack roll equal to your Intelligence modifier (mine was 5 by level 8.) As a Battle-Smith, you also have your Steel Defender, which has frightening low AC (15) that can't be boosted, but can attack foes if you use a bonus action to tell it to and also has a reaction that can impose disadvantage when an adjacent ally is attacked - which I did, actually, remember to use.
Because you can use Mending to heal your Defender (as well as your turret if you're an Artillerist,) you can basically assume that if you have a couple minutes between fights you'll always get these guys to full before a fight breaks out. Oh, and they can also heal themselves and other constructs.
The Steel Defender (or Turret) are probably the most notable things for two of the three Artificer subclasses, and Alchemists can take the Homunculus infusion to have their own in-combat pet.
Spell-wise, I had some fun with Heat Metal when we were facing a powerfully-armored Githyanki (it was basically a Spelljammer game,) though it was hard to pass up using my Laser Pistol to attack.
I'd say that in-combat, the class sort of surprised me in how normal it felt.
However, outside of combat, I think Artificers are going to be very exciting for any campaign that makes use of downtime. As a Warforged Artificer with the Izzet Engineer background (not being an AL game I strove to use as many disparate sources as possible) I had proficiency (and thus expertise) in seven different types of artisan's tools.
If ever you wanted to supply your party with armor, weapons, mechanical contraptions, and potions, holy crap is this the class for you. Hell, an Artificer NPC could be a huge ally to the party even if they don't get into the fight, as you can infuse items with various magical enchantments. I imagine that the more traditional, permanent enchantments would also be something they can do with downtime, but the relative ease of making any weapon into, say, a +1 magic weapon, is pretty damn useful while on the road. (Especially because if your Fighter finds a magic sword, you can just end the infusion on their old one and infuse the Monk's staff instead.)
While I enjoyed playing the class, I actually think this is a class that might be a lot more fun to play over the course of a whole campaign, being the sort of Donatello to your party's Ninja Turtles.
The fact that they're a half-caster means that their spells are not going to get into the crazy stuff that pure casters get. In fact, I think your subclass is going to very dramatically affect your spell choices, not only because each one gets an expanded spell list of always-prepared spells (kind of a best-of-both-worlds between Warlocks and Clerics' domain spells.) Artillerists, for instance, will get things like Fireball (though later than Wizards and Sorcerers) while Battle-Smiths will get various smites.
I'll confess that I have less of a strong sense of the Alchemist as a subclass, but it seems like you'll be able to play a fairly effective healer/buffer.
The Artificer is going to fit nicely into any group, a bit like the Bard, and also like the Bard, can fill various roles.
We played at level 8, which of course means we didn't get quite all of the big class features. But here's the general sense I got of the class:
I was playing a Battle-Smith, which meant I was doing some pretty standard physical combat. It was nice to be able to use Intelligence for weapon attacks, and it makes me think that the "Hex Warrior" feature that Hexblade Warlocks get really ought to be a part of Pact of the Blade instead (at least the part where you use Charisma for weapon strikes.)
The DM gave us all some magic items to start off with, and I got a Laser Pistol and a +1 shield, sadly relegating the Musket I had built to my bags, but putting my medium-armor-wearing Warforged at a whopping 22 AC (between some +1 Half Plate with +2 - actually +3, but medium armor - Dex, which got me to 18, the Warforged bonus that put me at 19, and the +1 shield bumping it to 22) with a hand free to shoot the pistol, which I then infused with Repeating Shot, so it was a +1 Laser Pistol (which deals 3d6 Radiant on hit.)
Combat-wise, the Artificer has a couple of tricks. One trick I absolutely forgot to use was Flash of Genius, which lets you, as a reaction, give an ally (or yourself) a bonus to a saving throw or... I think ability check or attack roll equal to your Intelligence modifier (mine was 5 by level 8.) As a Battle-Smith, you also have your Steel Defender, which has frightening low AC (15) that can't be boosted, but can attack foes if you use a bonus action to tell it to and also has a reaction that can impose disadvantage when an adjacent ally is attacked - which I did, actually, remember to use.
Because you can use Mending to heal your Defender (as well as your turret if you're an Artillerist,) you can basically assume that if you have a couple minutes between fights you'll always get these guys to full before a fight breaks out. Oh, and they can also heal themselves and other constructs.
The Steel Defender (or Turret) are probably the most notable things for two of the three Artificer subclasses, and Alchemists can take the Homunculus infusion to have their own in-combat pet.
Spell-wise, I had some fun with Heat Metal when we were facing a powerfully-armored Githyanki (it was basically a Spelljammer game,) though it was hard to pass up using my Laser Pistol to attack.
I'd say that in-combat, the class sort of surprised me in how normal it felt.
However, outside of combat, I think Artificers are going to be very exciting for any campaign that makes use of downtime. As a Warforged Artificer with the Izzet Engineer background (not being an AL game I strove to use as many disparate sources as possible) I had proficiency (and thus expertise) in seven different types of artisan's tools.
If ever you wanted to supply your party with armor, weapons, mechanical contraptions, and potions, holy crap is this the class for you. Hell, an Artificer NPC could be a huge ally to the party even if they don't get into the fight, as you can infuse items with various magical enchantments. I imagine that the more traditional, permanent enchantments would also be something they can do with downtime, but the relative ease of making any weapon into, say, a +1 magic weapon, is pretty damn useful while on the road. (Especially because if your Fighter finds a magic sword, you can just end the infusion on their old one and infuse the Monk's staff instead.)
While I enjoyed playing the class, I actually think this is a class that might be a lot more fun to play over the course of a whole campaign, being the sort of Donatello to your party's Ninja Turtles.
The fact that they're a half-caster means that their spells are not going to get into the crazy stuff that pure casters get. In fact, I think your subclass is going to very dramatically affect your spell choices, not only because each one gets an expanded spell list of always-prepared spells (kind of a best-of-both-worlds between Warlocks and Clerics' domain spells.) Artillerists, for instance, will get things like Fireball (though later than Wizards and Sorcerers) while Battle-Smiths will get various smites.
I'll confess that I have less of a strong sense of the Alchemist as a subclass, but it seems like you'll be able to play a fairly effective healer/buffer.
The Artificer is going to fit nicely into any group, a bit like the Bard, and also like the Bard, can fill various roles.
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