Artificer
Artificer — The Encounter
Goggled tinkerer who arms the battlefield with gadgets · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Artificer
They call him the Tinker, though no single name has stuck, for he answers to whatever workshop will keep his forge lit. Where soldiers see a battlefield, he sees a problem in want of a device, and he meets it with bombs cobbled from scrap, a gauntlet that drinks the storm, and a satchel of contraptions no two of which work quite the same. He is rarely the strongest figure in any fight, but he is forever the most prepared: caltrops underfoot, a flash charge for the eyes, a line to haul himself clear when the brave press too close. His true craft is the bound spark at his side, a coil of living flame coaxed into a servant by patient hands and stubborn arithmetic. Folk whisper that he treats the construct as a son and the battlefield as a workshop, and that he would sooner lose a limb than a good idea half-tested.
Run Artificer in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the bomb until two or more PCs are within 10 ft. of each other, then Field Tinkering to prime and bonus-action Throw Bomb for the big DC 14 Dex burst.
- Open with a flash charge on the deadliest melee PC so it spends a turn blinded while you and Cinderwork set up.
- Kill priority is the party's healer or controller; arc-gauntlet a caster to lock its reactions, then crossbow it down.
- When bloodied, grapnel-line to distance, spend Quick Patch on yourself, and lean on caltrops to keep melee away.
- Three ways to run it: a hired siege-engineer ambushing from a barricade; a mad inventor defending a workshop full of constructs; or a rival adventurer's gadgeteer paired with a heavier flagship boss.
Artificer
Medium humanoid (human), any alignment
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEField Tinkering (signature). Once per turn as part of any other action, the artificer arms a gadget. Choose one: it draws and primes a bomb (see Reactions); it deploys a caltrop scatter into a 5-ft. square (that square is difficult terrain and a creature ending its turn there takes 5 piercing damage); or it slots a fresh power cell, regaining the use of one expended bonus action or reaction.
Gadget Loadout. The artificer carries a bandolier of single-use devices. It may use each of the following once before a short rest: a flash charge (one creature within 30 ft. must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution save or be blinded until the end of its next turn) and a grapnel line (it pulls itself up to 30 ft. toward a surface or creature without provoking opportunity attacks).
Actions
Multiattack. The artificer makes two attacks: one with its arc gauntlet and one with its repeating crossbow.
Arc Gauntlet. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (3d6+3) lightning damage, and the target can't take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Repeating Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8+3) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Throw Bomb (Bonus Action). If it has a primed bomb (see Field Tinkering), the artificer hurls it at a point within 40 ft. Each creature in a 10-ft. radius must make a DC 14 Dexterity save, taking 18 (4d8) fire damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.
Quick Patch (Reaction). When the artificer or an ally it can see within 30 ft. takes damage, it discharges a repair pulse, granting that creature 10 temporary hit points. It can use this twice before a short rest.
A goggled inventor stands amid a swirl of soot and sparks, one hand sheathed in a heavy lightning gauntlet, the other raising a bubbling vial, his cog-shaped platform littered with the tools of a hundred half-finished schemes.
Artificer, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBound Servant (signature). Artificer is a small construct animated by the artificer's craft. It acts on the artificer's turn and obeys its commands; if the artificer is incapacitated, it defends them and takes no other actions.
Actions
Ember Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) fire damage, and a flammable object the target is wearing or carrying that isn't being worn or carried ignites.
Reactions
Heat Bloom. When a creature ends its turn within 5 ft. of Artificer, it takes 5 fire damage as the construct flares.
A knee-high lattice of glowing metal wreathed in tame flame, hovering at its maker's heel like a loyal hound made of furnace-light.
Guideline numbers — formula-tuned and read from the miniature's design, not yet table-proven. Tell us how it ran in the comments.
How It Fights — by Tier
Same creature, scaled threat. The traits never change; only the numbers move.
Open by throwing a bomb into the tightest cluster, then back off and pepper with the crossbow. Drop caltrops between you and the front line so melee threats arrive bloodied. Pair with a brute or a flagship to hold the line while you whittle from range.
Lead with Field Tinkering to prime a bomb, then bonus-action Throw Bomb at the densest knot of foes while Cinderwork pins the closest one. Flash-charge the party's heaviest hitter to blind it, kite with caltrops and grapnel, and save Quick Patch for whoever gets focused. Best fielded with minions or a bigger threat so the party can't simply rush you down.
Run it as the brains behind a workshop or lair full of construct minions, never alone. Open with a blinding flash charge on the party's controller, bomb the cluster, then grapnel to high ground and rain crossbow bolts. Pair it with a bigger flagship adversary; the artificer's job is denial and support, not soaking damage.
Put Artificer on the table
Download the presupported STL and run the fight tonight — the model, and the encounter that comes with it.
Get the STL on MyMiniFactory →Clay Cyanide Companion Rules v1
How a bound creature acts
- A companion acts on its owner's initiative, immediately after the owner.
- It uses the Companion block above — roughly ×0.6 HP and damage, no recharge abilities, and at most one reaction trait.
- It moves freely; it takes its Action only while its owner is conscious.
- At 0 HP a companion is broken, not dead — restored on a long rest unless your table rules otherwise.
Original Clay Cyanide material © Clay Cyanide LLC — explicitly not the non-SRD official sidekick rules.
Questions, Asked at the Table
What CR is Artificer?
Natively CR 6 (Tier 2, a roughly level 5-10 threat): AC 16, 120 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. Stat lines for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) are provided so you can drop the same gadgeteer into any table.
Can Artificer be a companion or ally?
Yes. The artificer makes an excellent ally or hireling, providing ranged support, bombs, and the Quick Patch repair pulse to keep the party standing. Cinderwork, Bound, the flame construct at its side, can join the party as a loyal sidekick.
Is the Artificer a solo boss?
No. It has no legendary actions and only modest melee, so a four-PC party will out-act it if it fights alone. Field it with construct minions, a barricaded lair, or a heavier flagship adversary and let it play to its strength: denial, blinding, and gadget support from range.
Tell Us How It Ran
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Clay Cyanide Miniatures is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This content is compatible with the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Companion rules, lore, names, and original mechanics © Clay Cyanide LLC.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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