Machinist
A machinist is a mechanic, a pilot, a shipwright, a grease monkey—a master of motion and all the intricate work needed to make it happen. They know every inch of every vehicle they work on and are able to identify an errant gear or joint by ear alone, and most importantly the miraculous things that a little elbow grease can make happen.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you select this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with air vehicles, land vehicles, and water vehicles. If you already had any of these proficiencies you gain an expertise die with that type of vehicle instead.
Custom Vehicle
At 3rd level you gain the ability to create your own custom personal vehicle, a marvel of engineering that you constantly improve upon and redesign. Your custom vehicle is a land vehicle with statistics as shown on Table: Machinist's vehicle.
You can create this custom vehicle over the course of 8 hours of uninterrupted work. This vehicle is unique and its exact appearance is up to you. Your custom vehicle requires your regular care, and if you attempt to create another vehicle using this feature any vehicles you’ve previously constructed in this way fall apart into useless scrap. So long as you have access to your tools of artifice, you can restore your custom vehicle to full hit points and remove any malfunctions during a long rest.
For more detailed information regarding vehicles, see Chapter 4: Equipment in the Adventurer’s Guide.
Whenever you finish a long rest , you can make modifications to your custom vehicle by expending infusion uses. These modifications only remain functional due to your infusions, and you can maintain these modifications as if they were infused items. Any modifications you fail to maintain are removed whenever you finish a long rest. You can install any of the following modifications at the cost of 1 infusion each.
Table: Machinist's Vehicle
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* The damage caused by collisions with Medium vehicles is 2d6.
Armor Plating
Your custom vehicle’s AC increases by 2.
All-Terrain
Your custom vehicle ignores difficult terrain .
Chemical Boosters
While driving your vehicle, you can use a bonus action to increase its speed by 30 feet for 1 minute. Once the vehicle’s speed is increased in this way it cannot benefit from this modification again until you finish a long rest maintaining or reinstalling this modification.
Enhanced Brakes
Your custom vehicle can take the Stop action even if it has momentum. When it stops in this way it loses momentum.
Integrated Spell Invention
When you prepare your spell inventions and modifications to your custom vehicle, you may choose to integrate a spell invention into it. You may only cast spells using integrated spell inventions while you are driving your custom vehicle. If an integrated spell invention would burn out and be destroyed, instead your custom vehicle suffers the integrity malfunction (the integrity malfunction can be suffered multiple times). Any integrated spell inventions are destroyed if your custom vehicle is destroyed.
Mechanical Legs
Your custom vehicle gains a climb speed of 30 feet or 3 miles per hour.
Motorized Wheels
Your custom vehicle’s Speed increases to 50 feet or 5 miles per hour.
Passenger Seat
Your custom vehicle loses its personal property. It can carry you plus one Medium-sized or smaller passenger.
Ramming
Whenever a collision occurs with your custom vehicle, the damage it takes is reduced by 1d6, and damage dealt to other impacted objects and vehicles is increased by 2d6.
Seaworthy
Your custom vehicle becomes a water vehicle (with a swim speed of 30 feet or 3 miles per hour) in addition to being a land vehicle. When making checks for your custom vehicle, treat it as a water vehicle while it travels over water and as a land vehicle when it travels overland.
Shielded Cockpit
While driving your custom vehicle, you gain the benefits of half cover .
Machinist Spells
Also at 3rd level, when you prepare your artificer spells you can prepare certain spells and create spell inventions for them (or forgo them for modifications to your custom vehicle) in addition to your normal number of prepared spells. These spells count as artificer spells for you, even if they aren’t on the artificer spell list.
Table: Machinist Spells
3rd expeditious retreat , grease
5th heat metal , levitate
13th freedom of movement , stone shape
17th animate objects , creation
Pinpoint Maneuvering
Starting at 5th level, your driving skills allow you to swerve around obstacles and through tight spaces where vehicles couldn’t normally function. While driving a vehicle, whenever an action would allow you to change the vehicle’s facing up to 90 degrees, you may change it up to 180 degrees instead.
In addition, whenever an attack hits a vehicle you’re driving or a collision occurs involving a vehicle you are driving, you can use your reaction to avoid the worst of it, reducing the damage your vehicle would take by the result of a vehicle check (air, land, or water as appropriate to the vehicle).
Advanced Vehicle Modifications
At 9th level you’ve been inspired to stretch your custom vehicle to the limits of technology and magic. The following modifications are added to your list of modification options using your Custom Vehicle feature at the cost of two infusion uses instead of one.
Airborne
The vehicle becomes an air vehicle (with a fly speed of 50 feet or 5 miles per hour) in addition to being a land vehicle. When making checks for your custom vehicle, treat it as a land vehicle while it is grounded and an air vehicle while it is airborne.
Buzzsaws
Your custom vehicle gains inbuilt defenses in the form of motorized saws. While driving your custom vehicle you can make an attack using the saws as an action at any time during the vehicle’s movement. They are a 2d12 weapon, they can target any creature adjacent to the vehicle, and they add your Intelligence modifier for their attack and damage rolls.
Enclosed Cockpit
While driving your custom vehicle, you gain the benefits of three-quarters-cover .
Grabbing Claws
Your custom vehicle has a pair of mechanical claws that you can attack with by using an action while driving it. You gain proficiency with the claws and may use your Intelligence when making attack and damage rolls with them. On a hit the claws deal 2d6 bludgeoning or piercing damage (chosen when you make the modification) and a creature makes a Strength or Dexterity saving throw against a DC equal to your passive Engineering score or becomes grappled . Creatures can attempt to escape this grapple as normal, using your passive Engineering score instead of your maneuver DC. Your custom vehicle’s movement is not impeded by grappling a creature, and your vehicle may grapple a maximum of 1 creature at a time.
In addition, while driving your custom vehicle you may use the mechanical claws to lift or manipulate objects. The mechanical claws use your Intelligence to determine their carrying capacity, and when using them to make an Athletics check you may make an Engineering check instead.
Submersible
Your custom vehicle becomes a water vehicle (with a swim speed of 40 feet or 4 miles per hour, or an existing swim speed increased by 20 feet or 2 miles per hour) in addition to being a land vehicle. When making checks for this vehicle, treat it as a water vehicle while it travels over water and as a land vehicle when it travels overland. In addition, your custom vehicle gains the three-dimensional vehicle property when traveling in water. You and any passengers you take can breathe normally for up to 1 hour while your custom vehicle is submerged, after which it must surface or else any occupants begin to suffocate.
Mobile Fortress
At 15th level you’ve expanded on your initial designs and what was once a small prototype has been upgraded into a full-fledged mobile fortress.
Whenever you make modifications to your custom vehicle, you may choose to expand it into a Huge-sized vehicle. If you do, it gains the following benefits.
- 50 additional hit points.
- Your custom vehicle can carry up to 80 Supply.
- Your custom vehicle loses the personal property and can carry up to 6 passengers in addition to you.
- In combat your custom vehicle grants you and other passengers the benefits of half cover.