Arcanist

Arcanist: Base Class

Arcanist Features

Base Traits

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d6 per arcanist level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 16 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per arcanist level after 1st

Proficiencies and Training

Armour: Light armour, medium armour, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: Thieves' tools, tinker's tools, one type of artisan's tools of your choice
Saving throws: Constitution, Intelligence
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Sleight of Hand

*The secrets of gunpowder weapons have been discovered in various worlds across the multiverse. If your Dungeon Master’s world includes firearms, your arcanist is proficient with two firearms of your choice.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

•          any two simple weapons of your choice

•          a repeating crossbow and 20 bolts

•          your choice of studded leather armour or scale mail

•          thieves’ tools and a dungeoneer’s pack

Features

Arcane Craft

At 1st level, you chose a type of arcane craft to specialise in. Select an arcanist vocation from the list of arcanist vocations. As you progress in levels, you gain the additional abilities of your chosen vocation. The vocation you choose at 1st level is your primary vocation.

Magical Tinkering

At 1st level, you learn how to invest a spark of magic into mundane objects. To use this ability, you must have thieves’ tools or artisan’s tools in hand. This feature grants you two abilities: minor magic and infuse cantrip.

Minor Magic

This ability allows you to touch a tiny nonmagical object as an action and give it one of the following magical properties of your choice:

•          The object sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet.

•          Whenever tapped by a creature, the object emits a recorded message that can be heard up to 10 feet away. You utter the message when you bestow this property on the object, and the recording can be no more than 6 seconds long.

•          The object continuously emits your choice of an odor or a nonverbal sound (wind, waves, chirping, or the like). The chosen phenomenon is perceivable up to 10 feet away.

•          A static visual effect appears on one of the object’s surfaces. This effect can be a picture, up to 25 words of text, lines and shapes, or a mixture of these elements, as you like.

The chosen property lasts indefinitely. As an action, you can touch the object and end the property early.

You can bestow this magic on multiple objects, touching one object each time you use this feature, though a single object can only bear one property at a time. The maximum number of objects you can affect with this feature at one time is equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of one object). If you try to exceed your maximum, the oldest property immediately ends, and then the new property applies.

Infuse Cantrip

You can spend 10 minutes tinkering with an object infusing it with the ability to produce a magical effect. When you use this ability, you must choose a cantrip from any spell list and the object gains a number of charges equal to your Intelligence modifier. Until all charges have been used, the wielder of the object can expend one charge to cast that cantrip. This casting of the cantrip uses your intelligence as its spell casting modifier. In addition, the cantrip does not require verbal or somatic components to cast, instead the cantrip has a material component that is the infused object. You can use this ability two times to infuse a non-magical object with a cantrip. You regain this ability when you finish a long rest.

At 5th level and again at 10th level, you can use this ability one additional time (for a total of four times between long rests at level 10).

Infuse item

Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch a non-magical object and imbue it with one arcanist infusion you know, turning it into a magic item.

When you gain this feature, you only know one infusion, the signature infusion granted by your ‘arcane craft’ feature. At higher levels, you gain more infusion options. Your infusion works on only certain kinds of objects, as specified in the infusion’s description, and a creature must attune to the item (as a magic item) to gain the benefits of the infusion.

You can attune yourself to the item when you infuse it. If you decide to attune to the item later, you must do so using one hour to attune yourself to the item as normal (see the rules for “attuning to magic items”).

Signature infusions

The vocations you gain through your ‘arcane craft’ and ‘arcanist second vocation’ features, gained at 1st and 3rd level, each grant you a signature infusion from the arcanist’s list of infusion (see the list of infusions below). You can infuse one item with each of your signature infusions. If you place a signature infusion on another item, that signature infusion immediately ends on any other infused item. Also, when you attune to one of your signature infusions, it does not count towards the maximum number of items you can attune to.

Infusing an Item

Each arcanist infusion you know has three infusion option. When you infuse an item, you must choose one of the available infusion options for that infusion. The item becomes a magical item with the chosen benefits.

The item remains infused indefinitely, but when you die, the infusion vanishes after a number of days have passed equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1 day). The infusion also vanishes if you give up your knowledge of the infusion for another one.

Spellcasting

At 2nd level, you learn how to cast spells.

Arcanist Spells

You learn spells from the arcane spell list. These arcane spells must come from the abjuration, conjuration, evocation, and transmutation spell schools.

Armoured Casting

You ignore spell failure from armour when you cast arcanist spells wearing light or medium armour.

Focus Required

You produce your arcanist spells through your tools and can use any Artisan’s tools as spellcasting focus for your spells. When you use a spell slot to cast any of your arcanist spells, you must have a spellcasting focus in hand when you cast it (meaning you add an additional material component to all you arcanist spells when you cast them even if they normally do not require a material component). You must be proficient with the tool to use it in this way. In addition to tools, you can also use any item bearing one of your infusions as a spellcasting focus.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

The spells known column of the arcanist table shows when you learn more arcanist spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you finish a long rest, you can choose one of the arcanist spells you know and replace it with another arcanist spell, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Spell Slots

The arcanist table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your arcanist spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Spellcasting Ability

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your arcanist spells; your understanding of the theory behind magic allows you to wield these spells with superior skill. You use your Intelligence whenever an arcanist spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for an arcanist spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Skilled Crafter

At 2nd level, you have honed your abilities as a master crafter. You can add half your proficiency bonus on ability checks using any artisan’s tools you are not proficient with.

Secondary Arcanist Vocation

Arcanists pursue many disciplines. At 3rd level, you begin exploring a different arcanist vocation. Choose a different arcanist vocation than the one you chose at 1st level. This vocation is your secondary arcanist vocation.

As you progress in levels, you gain the additional abilities of your secondary vocation.

Tool Expert

Starting at 3rd level, you gain expertise with any tool proficiency gained through your arcanist vocations.

Feat

At 4th level, you gain a feat from the list of feats. You must meet the prerequisites for the feat.

You gain an additional feat at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level.

Arcanist infusions

At 5th level, you expand the number of items you can create with your infuse item ability as shown in the infusions and infusions known column on the arcanist table.

Infusions Known

When you gain this feature, pick two arcanist infusions to learn from the list of arcanist infusions and add them to your list of infusions known. You also learn additional infusions of your choice when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Infusions Known column of the Arcanist table.

Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the arcanist infusions you learned through this feature with a new one.

You also know the infusions you gained through your signature infusion feature. If you create one of these with this feature instead, you treat it as any other arcanist infusions instead of a signature infusion (this allows you to have two infusions of your signature infusions. One that counts as a signature infusion object and one that counts as a regular arcanist infusion).

Active infusions

In addition to your signature infusions, you can infuse a number of nonmagical object at the end of a long rest:

•          The maximum number of objects appears in the Infusions column of the arcanist table.

•          Each of your known infusion can be on only one object at a time.

•          No object can bear more than one of your infusions at a time.

•          If you try to exceed your maximum number of infusions, the oldest arcanist infusion immediately ends before the new infusion applies.

If an infusion ends on an item that contains other items, like the luggage infusion, its contents harmlessly appear in and around its space.

Spell infusion

At 6th level, you master the art of weaving spellcasting into your infused items. When you finish a long rest, you can touch one item you have infused and give it the ability to cast a single spell. When you use this feature, you must choose one 1st level arcane spell from any spell school. Once between long rests, a creature that is attuned to the infused item can use an action to cast the spell without expending a spell slot using your spellcasting ability.

When you reach 11th level, the spell you chose for this feature can be any arcane spell of 2nd level or lower, and at 17th level the spells you chose can be any arcane spell of 3rd level or lower.

Improved infusions

At 10th level, your mastery over magic infusions improves. When you infuse an item with your arcanist infusions or signature infusions, you gain the following features:

•          You can choose up to two of the infusion option available to an infusion (instead of only one) when you infuse a non-magical item.

•          You can place your infusions on magic items or items that already are infused with one of your arcanist infusions. When you do so, you only select one of the options available to that infusion. You can only place one such infusion on any magic or already infused item.

Magic Item Adept

When you reach 10th level, you achieve a profound understanding of how to use magic items:

•          You can attune to a magic item in 1 minute instead of 1 hour.

•          You can attune to one additional magic item.

•          You ignore all class, race, spell, and level requirements on attuning to or using a magic item.

Spell-Storing Item

At 11th level, you have advanced your ability to store magic and spells in objects. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one non-magical item or one magic item and make it a spell-storing item:

•          Non-magical item. If you target a non-magical object with this feature, you can choose one 1st level spell from any spell list to imprint on the object. The spell can be cast a number of times equal to twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum of twice) from the object by any creature that is holding or wearing the item. Only creatures that know the imprinted spell can cast it from the item.

•          Magical item. If you target a magical object with this feature, you can choose one 2nd level or lower arcane spell that you know to imprint on the object. The spell can be cast a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once). Only creatures attuned to the item can cast it from the item. If the item did not already require attunement, making it a spell-storing item makes the item require attunement.

While holding or wielding the spell-storing item, a creature can cast the imprinted spell from it without expending a spell slot, using your spellcasting ability. The spell chosen must be one that requires and action to cast and must not consume a costly material component. If the spell requires concentration, the creature that cast the spell must concentrate on the spell.

If you use this feature again to store a spell in an object, any previous object loses this ability if it had any uses left.

Arcane Manipulator

At 14th level, you become a master at manipulating the magic imbued in magic items, granting you the following features:

•          Once between long rests while touching one of your infused magic items, you can spend 10 minutes to change it into another magic infusion that you know or change the infusion options for that item.

•          When wielding a magic item that has charges that allow you to cast spells, you can spend any number of charges to cast an arcane spell you have prepared instead. The number of required charges is equal to the level of the spell. You can use this ability once between short or long rests.

Perfected Spell Infusion

Beginning at 17th level, you can use your ‘spell infusion’ feature on any item you infuse with magic instead of only one.

Magic Item Savant

At 18th level, your skill with magic items deepens more. You can swap one of your known infusions whenever you finish a short or long rest. You can also infuse items after short or long rests.

Magic Item Master

Starting at 20th level, you your mastery over magic item creation is unmatched:

• When you use your ‘infuse item’ feature, you can touch an existing magic item and create a duplicate of that item instead. You treat the duplicate as an arcanist infusion, and this duplicate vanishes if you use this ability to duplicate another magic item.
• When you touch a magic item that has a limited number of charges that it can regain or a magic item that can only be used a number of times between rests, you can spend an action to immediately have the item regain all its charges or uses. You can use this feature once between long rests.