Magitech in DnD 3.5e (PEACH)

[Welknair]

Arcane Engineer

"Nerd, am I?"

The long awaited Base Class for the system! This class may emulate some of the features of the Artificer, though I still haven't actually read the Eberron book, so any similarity is due to the overlap in field of expertise. Anyways, the Arcane Scholar is a modified version of the Wizard. They forgo advanced combat training and can't specialize in a school. They get a bunch of free crafting feats, and most notably the ability to make temporary Magitech Devices. And to use nearly any spell in said making.

D4 hit die.
Int+4 skills per level. Class skills: Appraise, Concentration, Decipher Script, Craft (all taken individually), Disable Device, Knowledge (all taken individually), Magitech, Profession, Pilot, Profession, Spellcraft.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Temporary Craft Points
1	+0	+0	+0	+2	Rote spells, Temporary Craft, Item Crafting	5
2	+1	+0	+0	+3		6
3	+1	+1	+1	+3	Rote Use	8
4	+2	+1	+1	+4		11
5	+2	+1	+1	+4	Craft Tapestry	15
6	+3	+2	+2	+5		20
7	+3	+2	+2	+5	Craft Magitech	26
8	+4	+2	+2	+6		33
9	+4	+3	+3	+6		41
10	+5	+3	+3	+7	Bonus Feat	50
11	+5	+3	+3	+7		60
12	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	Craft Ephemeral Tapestry	71
13	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8		83
14	+7/+2	+4	+4	+9		96
15	+7/+2	+5	+5	+9	Bonus Feat	110
16	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10		125
17	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10		142
18	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	Rote Use 2	160
19	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11		179
20	+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Bonus Feat	199

Spells: The Arcane Engineer casts a number of spells per day drawn from an intentionally narrow list, mainly derived from the Wizard/Sorcerer list. The key Ability score is Int. The Arcane Scholar need not prepare spells, nor do they need to choose spells known when they level - their spell list is the same as their list of spells known. The number and level of spells they cast is the same as that of a normal Wizard, and I feel no need to repost the chart here. I'll post a spell list at the end of this.

Rote Spells: One of the defining features of the Arcane Engineer is their ability to learn absolutely any spell. For the purpose of making magic items, anyways. Arcane Engineers learn a number of "Rotes" each level - These are spells which they have memorized to the point that they innately know their workings - but not as to be able to cast them. When they make a magic item, they are treated as being able to cast any of their Rotes for the purpose of making such an item. Each level they learn 3 Rotes, but these must be from a class to which the Engineer has been exposed, they cannot learn a rote if it exceeds the level which they would be able to cast, or if they do not know at least one rote of each spell level below the level they wish to learn for the given class (If they wanted to get a Divine Favor Rote, they would first need a 0-level Cleric Rote). As this example would indicate, they are not limited to Arcane Rotes. Arcane Engineers can also write Spell Manuals, a lesser cousin of a spell book. Here they detail various Rotes such that others can read and learn them. Each Rote takes a single page, regardless of level and takes no magic ink to write. If an Engineer encounters a Rote which they wish to internalize, they make checks as if they were trying to copy a spell from someone else's spellbook. If they succeed, they learn the Rote. They still cannot learn Rotes of a higher level than they can cast. Also note that they can make the same check when confronted by other magical text detailing the spell (Spellbooks and Scrolls, usually) and learning from these do not suck said magic out of them. Note: These are Higher Rotes, as they allow the person who knows them to create Magic Items with them. I have stats for a few classes that learn Lesser Rotes, which only allow modification of items... If an Arcane Engineer has levels in another class which grants spells, those spells count towards the spell level requirement for learning Rotes of that class. As in, a Cleric 3, AE 7 could just start getting 3rd level Cleric Rotes without needing lower level ones first. In such a circumstance, the AE would use his AE CL for making magic items involving any Rote he knows, which may mean getting Rotes of spells he already knows from other classes may be beneficial. If an AE may learn Cleric Domain spells, but treat each domain as a separate branch off of 0-level Cleric Spells. So once you have a 0-level Cleric rote, you can learn any of the 1st level Cleric Domain Rotes, but you need the 1st spell in a Domain line before you can learn the second.

Temporary Craft: The Arcane Engineer has the unique ability to pull a MacGyver with Magitech. They can take any random bunch of materials and jury-rig it into something usable - however it doesn't last long. You can empower normal cloth, string, or the like as a Tapestry with up to your CL, turn a stone into a runestone of a spell (or rote) you know, or a similar stone into a battery with a cap up to to your CLX3. Different effects require different numbers of Temporary Craft Points. If you have Craft Staff, you can fashion Temporary Runestaves, if you have Craft Ephemeral Tapestry, you can make the cloth Ephemeral. Your TCP replenish each day along with your spells.

Runestones and Staves that you make with this ability can contain any spell that you know, have a rote of, or have prepared. The actual slot is not lost if you know or have the spell prepared.

You make all included parts at once, taking 1 minute/ 2 TCP

The cloth/string takes on the weight of a corresponding Tapestry and can be stretched or compressed one size category in either direction, though cannot pass Large. Similarly a Temporary Battery must already be of an appropriate size and gains the appropriate weight.

Item	TCP Cost
Tapestry	1/CL
Ephemeral Tap	As a Chassi of the same size
One Easy-Swap End	1
Metamagic Feat	1/Slot Adjustment
Runestone	1/spell level
Runestaff	1/spell level (add them up)
Battery	1/Cap
Cognition Core	3
5 ft of Mechanics	1
Hand	1 per
Wheels	As Chassi
Legs or Treads	As Chassi +2
Duration of the lot	1/10 Minutes

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	Fine	Diminutive	Tiny	Small	Medium	Large	Huge
Chassi	1	1	2	4	7	12	20

If you use this to make Chassi and Mechanics, it is through temporary transmutation effects. Which wear out after the Duration expires, causing the chassi and mechanics to revert back to their original form. Speaking of which, you need raw material for these elements still, and the material which you use will determine the Hardness and other stats of the object.

You must always spend at least one point in Duration.

The batteries that you make start with no charge, and the charges contained in them dissipate harmlessly when the Duration ends. This means you'll need some other source of Divine energy if you want to make Divine devices.

When/if you learn Cleric rotes, choose a patron and two of that patron's domains. You can learn rotes from those domains, but do not gain the domain powers.

You may go off of a Schematic when making a Temporary Craft. If you do so, halve the cost in TCP. This reduction correspondingly reduces the creation time.

You may use a Spell Manual to access any rotes contained therein without having to memorize the desired rote. You just need to study said rote for 10 minutes right before you start making whatever magic item requires the spell.

Item Crafting: An Arcane Engineer makes magic items as if they had a CL two higher than they actually do. This however does not allow them to learn spells that are still too high of a level. This mostly helps out with Tapestries and Batteries...

Rote Use: You gain the ability to add one of your Rotes to your Spell List for the day. If it is Divine, you cannot actually cast it, but you may enjoy magic items treating you as having it known (You can use that fancy Cure Moderate Wounds wand!). You may change your choice when you first awake after a standard 8-hours rest. Treat the spell as if it were two slots higher. You may not choose a spell whose adjusted slot is beyond what you could normally cast. At level 18 you can choose 2 rotes a day to add to your list.

Note: Multiclassing to a Divine class for one level to get Alternate Source Spell is a common practice, as it allows Arcane Engineers to charge Divine devices without having to have a Divine caster on hand. Archivist is usually favored due to Key ability and Theme matching those of the Arcane Engineer.

Spell List: (Note: All of these can be found here, in the PHB, or in the Spell Compendium.)
0: Repair Minor Damage, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Stick, Light, Mage Hand, Amanuensis, Mending, Launch Bolt, Launch Item, Open/Close
1: Repair Light Damage, Diagnostics, Relay 1, Transit, Alarm, Tenser's Floating Disk, Magic Weapon, Shield, Erase, Appraising Touch, Grease, Identify, Slide, Unseen Servent, Comprehend Languages, Magic Missile
2: Repair Moderate Damage, Relay 2, Access, Restrict, Arcane Lock, Whispering Wind, Store Magitech Device, Locate Object, Resist Energy, Flame Dagger, Mechanus Mind, Shatter, Knock, Create Thrust, Make Whole
3: Repair Serious Damage, Relay 3, Tongues, Dispel Magic, Protection from Energy, Nondetection, Arcane Sight, Keen Edge, Greater Magic Weapon, Secret Page, Shrink Item, Flame Blade, Weapon of Energy, Weapon of Impact, Hold Person, Greater Amanuensis, Magic Vestment, Increase
4: Repair Critical Damage, Relay 4, Animate Mechanics (AM) 1, Scrying, Dimensional Anchor, Detect Scrying, Spell Enhancer, Remove Curse, Dimension Door, Minor Creation, Stone Shape
5: AM 2, Overload, Overload Protector, Interface, Break Enchantment, Sending, Permanency, Dismissal, Major Creation, Symbol of Spell Loss, Leomund's Secret Chest, Fabricate
6: AM 3, Repulsion, Legend Lore, Analyze Dweomer, Disintegrate, Transcribe Symbol, Hardening, True Seeing, Antimagic Field, Greater Dispel Magic, Wall of Gears, Contingency
7: AM 4, Energy Absorption Field, Energy Transformation Field, Greater Arcane Sight, Body of War, Spell Turning
8: AM 5, Dimensional Lock, Mind Blank, Temporal Stasis
9: AM 6, Disjunction, Timestop, Absorption, Magic Miasma, Reality Maelstrom, Reaving Dispel, Awaken Construct, Replicate Casting, Pass On

As you can see, the Arcane Engineer spell list is intentionally narrow and focuses on what makes magic (and the universe) tick, giving it an abjuration/divination/transmutation tilt. Be wary adding spells to this list.

Heh, why not? I love magitech

That said, mods will knew better, but if this include things that are not RAW perhaps it will suit better in the Homebrew

Woops, completely forgot that we had a section just for Homebrew... Yeah, it should go there. So should I repost, or just wait for a Moderator to move it?


This is more Homebrew than RAW, but it does build off of existing principles, just not existing systems. I'll post the full version when I have time. (I have something like eight pages of notes and stats...)