Artificer Specialists

Artificers pursue a variety of specializations in their endless quest for the knowledge of how things work. One of the more intensive specializations - the Construct Artificer - is presented here.

Construct Artificer

The Construct Artificer - affectionately called the "Clockwork Doctor" by some - is a career path artificers take when the "how do things work" becomes less of a question and more of a personal challenge. Flanked by robotic creations of their own design, Construct Artificers work to overcome their enemies with sheer numbers, flooding the battlefield with constructs created in the likeness of people that they've encountered.

Construct Aptitude

Starting when you choose this specialization at 1st level, you can create a construct to aid you in battle. The construct can be a Small or Medium humanoid, and it is modeled after any humanoid NPC of Challenge Rating 1 or lower, found in Appendix B of the Monster Manual. The construct has all the stats and abilities of its template, with the following changes:

It is a humanoid construct instead of its normal types.

It is immune to poison and the poisoned condition.

If its template has the Multiattack feature, it can only attack once.

It cannot make ranged attacks or use spells.

It gains Darkvision up to 60 feet if it does not already have it.

It can understand all languages you can speak but cannot speak itself.

Its hit point maximum equals your hit point maximum.

It cannot benefit from healing effects.

The construct shares your initiative but acts on its own. You can give the construct commands on your turn as an action, and it will use its turn to attempt to follow your commands to the best of your ability; it can move and attack but cannot take other actions. If you do not give it commands, it will attempt to protect you; it will use its turn to move between you and the closest visible enemy, but will not attack without being commanded to, and cannot take reactions.

At the beginning of each long rest, all of your active humanoid constructs deactivate and are considered destroyed. At 11th level, you gain the ability to create an additional humanoid construct. You can command both humanoid constructs with the same action.

Mechanical Medic

Also at 1st level, if one of your active constructs is reduced to 0 hit points but is not destroyed beyond repair, you can use your action to perform a DC 15 Intelligence check while within 5 feet of the construct. On a successful check, the construct is revived, and gains 1d8 + your Intelligence modifier hit points. You can use Tinker's Tools to perform this check, thus adding your proficiency bonus to the check if you are proficient.

You cannot perform this check on a construct that is within 5 feet of a hostile creature, and cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Upgrades and Scrap

You've disassembled and reassmebled your robotic companions enough that you have worked out ways to make them better. Beginning at 3rd level, whenever a construct is destroyed, you can spend 1 minute searching the remnants to gain 1 Scrap per construct searched, as well as 1 additional Scrap per active upgrade on the construct when it was destroyed. Scrap has a base value of 25 gp and each piece weighs roughly 5 lbs.

When you build your constructs during a long rest, you can spend this Scrap to upgrade them in a variety of ways. An upgraded construct can be controlled with a bonus action on your turn instead of an action.

The upgrades available to you are listed here:

Combat Upgrade. The construct gains a +1 to damage rolls for each 2 Scrap spent on this upgrade (up to +6).

Defense Upgrade. The construct gains a +1 to AC for each 2 Scrap spent on this upgrade (up to +6).

Agility Upgrade. 6 Scrap. The construct gains 10 feet of movement speed, and attacks of opportunity against it have disadvantage.

Elemental Upgrade. 8 Scrap. When you install this upgrade, choose an elemental damage type: fire, cold, acid, poison, or lightning. The construct gains resistance to the chosen damage type.

Arcane Upgrade. 10 Scrap + 1 Scrap per spell level. When you install this upgrade, choose one artificer spell that you know. You can infuse the construct with that spell, and you can command the construct to use the spell on your turn, targeting itself. The construct cannot lose concentration on the spell. The construct can only use this spell once; when it casts the spell, it is consumed. Only one construct can have this upgrade at a time, and only one instance of it.

Mechanical Servant. When you gain the Mechanical Servant feature at 6th level, you gain the following benefits in regards to that feature: The Mechanical Servant does not deactivate at the beginning of long rests.

You can choose to install upgrades to the Servant without rebuilding it from scratch. During a long rest, you can install upgrades to it using Scrap as normal. If you do so, it loses any previous upgrades, and you cannot also create humanoid constructs in the same long rest.

If the Servant is destroyed beyond repair, it grants an amount of Scrap equal to your Intelligence modifier, plus an additional 1 Scrap for each upgrade that was active on it at the time of its destruction.

Metallurgy

Beginning at 9th level, your constructs gain a bonus to their attack rolls equal to your Intelligence modifier. They also gain a bonus to their Hit Point maximum equal to your proficiency bonus plus your Artificer level, and their melee attacks count as magical for the purposes of overcoming magical resistances and immunities.

Efficiency

Beginning at 14th level, the material and gold costs of any crafting you do (including upgrading your constructs with Scrap) are halved.