Artificer Archetype – Lockout

It was the Dwarves of Nidavellir that first mastered the art of imbuing mundane objects with magic, and in doing so birthed the first magic items. Not long after, the Artificer became a popular profession within Dwarven culture. Many focused on their talent for creating constructs or magical weapons yet as time went on, and their skills progressed, a new variation of the Artificer emerged, the Lockout.

While before, a magic item needed to be enchanted via a lengthy ritual, the Lockouts learned to forge magical floating spheres that can be gifted with enchantments on the fly. With these impressive creations, they changed Dwarven warfare. Able to control the battlefield through sustained crowd control spells, they can create dangerous area denial for their foes or safe spaces for their allies.

Lockout Features

Level	Features
3rd	Arcane Conductors, Arcane Absorption, Lockout Spells
5th	Area Lockout
9th	Enhanced Conductors
15th	Arcane Satellite

Arcane Conductors
(3rd-level Lockout feature)

At level 3 you learn to craft 3 floating arcane spheres that you can imbue with magic. As a bonus action, you can float one or more Arcane Conductors into the air and direct it to hover within 30ft of you.

Once positioned, you can cast a spell with a duration on an Arcane Conductor, upon which it will sustain the spell or trigger when you end your turn. Each Arcane Conductor functions separately and holds its own concentration.

As a bonus action, you can transfer the magic held in an Arcane Conductor into another Arcane Conductor within 30ft.

Arcane Conductors have an AC of 10 + proficiency bonus and HP equal to half your own. Once destroyed you have to craft new ones during a long rest.

Arcane Absorption
(3rd-level Lockout feature)

Upon an Arcane Conductor being destroyed, you can use your reaction to regain the spell slot you placed in it.

Lockout Spells
(3rd-level Lockout feature)

You always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Lockout Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.

Artificer Level	Spell
3rd	Entangle, Fog Cloud
5th	Spike Growth, Moonbeam
9th	Aura of Vitality, Call Lightning
13th	Aura of Purity, Guardian of Faith
17th	Circle of Power, Wall of Light

Area Lockout
(5th-level Lockout feature)

At level 5 you work to improve your Arcane Conductors. Upon activating your Arcane Conductors you can choose two to be connected by an elemental tether. When creatures pass between the tethered Arcane Conductors they must succeed a dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 force damage.

In addition at the start of your turn, the Arcane conductors can move 5ft.

Enhanced Conductors
(9th-level Lockout feature)

At level 9 you get access to a fourth Arcane Conductor. The range at which your Arcane Conductors can be placed and the range in which spells can be transferred both increases to 50ft.

Arcane Satellite
(15th-level Lockout feature)

At level 15 you can craft a final, larger Arcane Conductor that acts as a mount. This Arcane Satellite has a movement speed of 45ft and can act as a central tether, allowing you to transfer spells between Arcane Conductor regardless of range. When mounted, your Arcane Conductors may be dragged to within 30ft of you at the end of your turn.

In addition, you can use your action to call all active Arcane Conductors back to you. When doing so, creatures within 10ft of an Arcane Conductor that currently holds a spell take 4d6 force damage as the spell it holds is ejected. The Arcane Satellite has an AC of 10 + Intelligence modifier + proficiency and HP equal to your own.

Designing the Lockout Archetype

The Lockout was designed to be a master of crowd control. The Artificer class is the one I’m least familiar with so achieving this goal required a lot of input from my players. An important discovery was the low number of spell slots that Artificers have so I had to account for that in the archetype designs. I originally considered giving them specific effects they could conjure but this felt like it could get messy so I worked in a system for expending and regaining spell slots.

The main feature of the class is the Arcane Conductors. It allows the character to sustain multiple duration-based concentration spells, ones typically used for area denial or charms, etc. They can be destroyed and still require the Artificer to cast the spells on them so they aren’t capable of instantly turning the tide of battle, but they can be a huge help to the party if used well.

When talking to one of my players that was playing an Artificer, he raised the issue of them not getting many spell slots which would be a problem if they’re having to spend all their slots on enchanting the Arcane Conductors. It’s due to this reason I added the Arcane Absorption feature. I’m hoping it’ll offset this issue and make a magic-based Artificer more viable.

The bonus spells are all chosen the be usable with the Arcane Conductors. They should add some much-needed CC and damage to the archetype. Not much more to say here!

At level 5 the Area Lockout feature becomes available. This allows you to link two of the Arcane Conductors to create even more area denial on the battlefield. It also allows you to slowly move them around the battlefield which will begin to amend one of the weaknesses of the archetype.

At level 9 you get a flat buff to the range at which the Arcane Conductors function. Since higher-level battles often begin to take place on a larger scale, this improvement to range was needed to prevent them from being easily avoided in a larger space.

The final feature is the level 15 Arcane Satellite. This unique mount allows the Artificer to move around the battlefield with their Arcane Conductors in tow. Like the Conductors, it can be destroyed but it is considerably hardier. Honestly, in hindsight, this archetype reminds me of Dr Eggman…

Final Thoughts

This archetype is a little wild and could be overwhelming for some so feel free to leave a comment if you need anything clarifying. It could be used to devastating efficiency by min-maxers, so I’ll need to do extensive testing. But I’m happy with it in concept!

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and have been inspired by the features included! I appreciate all the support! If you want to see the creative process live you can join me and the community on Twitch or Discord.

Thank you for reading and may your next session be filled with glory!