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-   -   DF: Artificers? (https://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=37992)

LoneWolf23k 03-24-2008 04:04 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm
I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing until I read this post a day after I had written the first draft of DF 4. I was using the more usual English-language definition of "artificer" ("a skilled craftsman or inventor").
Duly noted. And frankly, I do think this version fits the term better. For Eberron-style "artificers", perhaps a Gadgeteering/Gizmo variant on the Enchanter would work.

dataweaver 03-24-2008 04:34 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm
That's exactly what I was aiming for. Artificers aren't really supposed to revolutionize the setting's technology or retire on earnings from patents. I hinted that there are people like this in town but that the artificer PC differs from these in that he revels in solving problems on the fly instead of inventing the big stuff. It's the "wizard vs. enchanter" distinction all over again, but in the context of technology rather than magic. Put another way, artificers are MacGyver, not Captain Nemo.
OTOH, some recent "dungeon-delving" gaming has dealt with limited steampunk technology, usually of dwarfish, goblin, or gnomish design. I would have liked the Gadgets chapter to have covered that topic as well as what it did cover, with advice on how to keep steampunk delvers from dominating the game while at the same time keeping them viable.

Kromm 03-24-2008 08:14 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
Well . . . steampunk tech is its own topic. However, as I loathe steampunk myself*, it won't be a topic I write about when the boss gives me a week or two to write something for fun.

--

* Not all steampunk -- just steampunk in fantasy.

dataweaver 03-24-2008 08:28 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
Fair enough.

Kromm 03-24-2008 08:30 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
And maybe I lied, because then I went and said that TL(3+1) and TL(3+2) would be interesting power-ups for artificers. Thinking about it more, maybe there would be ways to do that without it being strictly "steampunk." For instance, I like the idea of TL3 diverging by one or two TLs not because of what I feel is out-of-idiom Industrial Age speculative technology, but as a direct result of alchemy, magical materials, and spells. Hm.

sir_pudding 03-24-2008 09:13 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm
And maybe I lied, because then I went and said that TL(3+1) and TL(3+2) would be interesting power-ups for artificers. Thinking about it more, maybe there would be ways to do that without it being strictly "steampunk." For instance, I like the idea of TL3 diverging by one or two TLs not because of what I feel is out-of-idiom Industrial Age speculative technology, but as a direct result of alchemy, magical materials, and spells. Hm.
You've just described Eberron, BTW.

LoneWolf23k 03-25-2008 03:14 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
I agree with the idea of techno-magic engineering, and I've had a few ideas along those lines myself. Just for one exemple: A horseless chariot driven by a clockwork engine, powered by the Propel spell. ...And why not a clockwork motorcycle, while we're at it?

dataweaver 03-25-2008 03:22 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
In a dungeon?

carllarson 03-25-2008 04:34 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
Dungeon Artificer fits in real well with what I do with the Iron Kingdoms setting, as does the Scholar. My thanks.

LoneWolf23k 03-25-2008 08:54 PM
Re: DF: Artificers?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dataweaver
In a dungeon?
...Well, okay, maybe not in the dungeon...

A simpler idea I had was for an Artificer/Wizard with Machine Control/TL3 or 4 at level 20, using it as a kind of "Mental Interface" for portable mechanisms, like a wrist-mounted grappling hook launcher, or a clockwork mechanical arm carried on a portable mount, to serve as a third arm.


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