Artificer/Barbarian
Artificers are the intelligence based half caster. This tinkerer is mainly defined by their ability to create new magical items. INT of 13 is the MC requirement for this one
Barbarians are the strong man martial class. Generally considered the most basic martial class their D&D style is generally summed up with “Raging, and hitting stuff until it stops moving” Lacking much of any out of combat utility. MC requirement is 13 STR
First Thoughts: Kevin and Will don’t really love it flavor wise. Don’t find it too exciting. But if we can make the wizard/barb work. We can make artificer work.
Jarred does like it. The artificer has a lot more in its class to offer than the wizard does. Where the wizard only gets spells, the artificer gets some neat stuff like Flash of Genius. Flavor wise it’s quite similar to wizard. Nerd rage, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde type thing. In an eberron setting, a cyborg who works on themselves is quite fitting. Things like the armblade can feel really flavorful.
To some extent the Warforged is already that cyborg character. So a barbarian warforged already fits. The artificer aspect is more about changing your own body around. Vs someone else making you and leaving it there.
A chaos marine is a good example of this. Brining it into a D&D setting means taking that “concept” and tweaking it to fit the setting.
Terminator is obviously not possible to make in D&D. But taking the concept and fitting it to the setting works really well for the artificer/barb. You can also mount an artificer cannon on your shoulder which is awesome.
Will has issues with the fact that the Terminator is actually a horrible character. As he sits in the corner and has 6 lines.
But a character who barely talks and comes in as a huge bad ass is entirely viable. People like playing characters like this all the time. For one shots it works even better. You can make extremely one dimensional characters and have a blast.
Mechanically speaking. This is a fairly mad class. Barbarians normally want some dex and con for their AC. In this instance I’d just grab medium armor so you can get dex to 14 and leave it.
Usually with artificer and martial muticlasses we talk about the battlesmith. You get cornered with this one though. If you want to get the rage benefits, you have to be using strength on your attacks. We do have some discussion on the idea of switching between Int and Str and whether or not there’s any “flavor” there.
When is Reckless Attack good to use?
Steel Defender talk!
-Use it to give disadvantage on an attack
-Useful Bonus Action use
-Most things go up on Proficiency. Except HP. That you need Artificer level for.
-Highlights the negatives of a Artificer dip
Barbarian dip is generally really great. 3 Levels get you a ton to show for.
We cover some of the other subclasses
What is a Warforged Ancestor!
Steel Defender + Wolf Barbarian would be an awesome cyber wolf combo.
Spells as a whole are a lot less important. You get nowhere near as many choices as Wizard. Especially for non concentration spells
Flash of Genius can be used in combat.
Do you need high Int and Str? How to Med-Max instead of Min-Max
Level 11 Artificer gives you the Spell Storing Item. You SHOULD be able to use this while raging.
What would be good to put in there? Basically cure wounds, grease, catapult...maybe. Maybe scorching ray if you’re artillerist. Shield doesn't work sadly. As it needs to be an action.
If you aren’t doing Battle Smith it may take to 16th to get this as you need 5 in Barbarian.
There’s a lot you can do first turn as you rage and pull out the eldritch cannon round one which is nice.
All of these cannons would be quite useful. We go into this for awhile.
-More damage
-Good use of your spell slots if you’re mostly barb
-Protector cannon is helpful
-5 Barb 15 Artillerist would be a fantastic place to end but a difficult climb
More terminator talk. For some reason. Idk why we did this.
-Booming blade and Green Flame Blade hate. It would make this somewhat possible though you couldnt use it while raging. Could work if you dont get your 5th level 2nd attack.
-Alchemist probably does not work at all. Maybe a 3 level dip for the flavor of having potions. But it doesn’t help barbarians at all.
-Barbarian who uses a mortar and pestle for their weapon.
-A neat idea for a class that combines these is an artificer who uses potions to change their rage. Rage enhancers. Look for that in the big book of multiclasses.
-Infusions are great and will help out the barbarian a good amount.
