What does a Dungeon Artificer do?

[alimantando]

I do not get a picture in my mind about the role of the Dungeon Artificer.
Could you give me some input?

What does he do? Whats his cool move?
How should the player let him act, to get most fun?
Maybe: What Thingies has the GM to provide so that the Dungen Artificers player doesn't get bored.

[Dammann]

Ever seen Goonies? Data from The Goonies is how I picture Artificers, but, uh, faux-medieval. Some people I know have a tool for every occasion, which, if exaggerated into a sort of super power, is how Artificers approach problem solving.

Combat isn't their thing, but traps can be. They can also take a slower approach to getting to difficult locations in the dungeon. If you're willing to have steam-punk elements in your DF, Artificers can create and use implements like Da Vinci sketched for warfare or transportation. GURPS Fantasy Tech 1 is a good resource for some technologies based on flawed notions that might fit into a world with magic.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by alimantando

What does he do? Whats his cool move?
How should the player let him act, to get most fun?

The Artificer is almost always a support character, more versatile and less focused than the more "classic" classes in some ways, but I personally think it's kind of neat. As we discussed in the "Which Four Classes?" thread a while back, you're almost never going to see it usurp a position in the Fighter / Thief / Cleric / Wizard core, but it makes a great fifth wheel.

The Artificer's primary cool move is Fast Gadgeteer. Read the notes on this in DF4 - It can do pretty much anything the GM agrees to in this setting. Found or carried objects can be converted to new gear of entirely different types as long as the materials involved are at least somewhat plausible, traps can be created and modified, etc. Speaking of traps, the Artificer starts off with the best Traps skill out of all the classes when you factor in its Talent, even the Thief. Its second big thing is a bunch of Gizmos (and I recommend using some of the discretionary points for more). These are not only great for solving odd problems that your equipment list didn't plan for, but also for replacing lost weapons (sucks to lose your sword when you're a hyper-specialized Swashbuckler and can't get a new one; sucks even more if you're depending on that guy to protect you from the monsters), and for making Alchemical potions on the fly (and oh hey, this class has the best starting Alchemy of all, including the Wizard) while you're in the field, not Town.

As the Artificer's player, it's probably the most fun to be a proactive problem-solver. Keep your eyes open for situations that could be handled better with some widget, take advantage of your high IQ when possible, and generally back the group up. I would also personally ham the "Mad Scientist" schtick way up, but that's a matter of taste.

Originally Posted by alimantando

Maybe: What Thingies has the GM to provide so that the Dungen Artificers player doesn't get bored.

Stuff to mess around with, potential supplies for jury-rigged alchemy, and situations that could be slam-dunked with the judicious use of an item nobody in the party would ever have on their sheet.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by alimantando

I do not get a picture in my mind about the role of the Dungeon Artificer.
Could you give me some input?

What does he do? Whats his cool move?
How should the player let him act, to get most fun?
Maybe: What Thingies has the GM to provide so that the Dungen Artificers player doesn't get bored.

He's probably not as potentially cool as the 11 core "classes" in DF1, but I still imagine an Artificer can be a legitimate adventurer. Think MacGyver, except with more bad behaviour.

He'll probably be better at working locks and traps than a Thief. And not only can he bypass traps, he can probably reset or re-configure them so that they work against his foes, due to having much higher skill (boosted by Talent, and maybe by high-quality trap-working gear, which itself might be boosted by Enchantments) than a regular Thief.

[Anaraxes]

Cool enough to make an Artificer the central character in seven seasons of MacGyver.

[Peter Knutsen]

The relevant DF PDF doesn't say anything about re-configuring traps, but a realism-minded GM should allow it, albeit at a hefty skill roll penalty. Maybe -5 or so.

The Artificer can counter that partially with Equipment Bond (+1), and a Fine traps kit (+2) or even a Very Fine one if the GM can be talked into coming up with a monetary cost. It also makes sense to allow at least a few levels of a Re-Configure Trap Technique. Since messing around with a trap, even one already disarmed, is tricky, it should be Hard, so 3 levels of that would cost 4 CP and give a +3 bonus only to Re-Configure. Cumulative with the +3 bonus for gear.

The Sages PDF seems to suggest that if the Artificer buys up Wealth during character creation, he has a freer hand when it comes to uses of the Gizmo advantage, but the actual text for Gizmo in that PDF states flat and absolute monetary costs that do not depend on any of the character's traits. Is that an errata?

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Cool enough to make an Artificer the central character in seven seasons of MacGyver.

He did shift from dungeon delver to social worker in the last season, though, as his GM ran out of ideas. But yes, you're absolutely right, 6 seasons isn't bad.

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

The relevant DF PDF doesn't say anything about re-configuring traps, but a realism-minded GM should allow it, albeit at a hefty skill roll penalty. Maybe -5 or so.

Quick Gadgeteer, in DF: Sages, on pg 4 and pg 5, says that they can adapt existing items to serve as similar ones (in either form or function). Reconfiguring traps would fall under that ability. Such adaption is not penalized by anything other than the price of the final item (-1 per G$250) and only takes 1dx5 minutes (not per G$250; in total).

[SCAR]

Originally Posted by alimantando

I do not get a picture in my mind about the role of the Dungeon Artificer.
Could you give me some input?

What does he do? Whats his cool move?
How should the player let him act, to get most fun?
Maybe: What Thingies has the GM to provide so that the Dungen Artificers player doesn't get bored.

You might want to check out Kromm's Dawn of Magic campaign - see the archive reference here:
Kaeso Curius Severus (or here) is I believe the original inspiration for the Dungeon Artificer.
He first appears in Chapter 24!