Artificer Archetype – Mechanimancer

Among the scholars of Mount Olympus, it is a common occurrence to build a small, helpful construct to act as a simple assistant during research. Some artificers, have taken this practice further and have designed powerful, multipurpose construct beasts that are used in combat and exploration.

These artificers are known as Mechanimancers, due to the beast-like appearance of their constructs and the magical control they hold over them. Whether for scouting or fighting, the Mechanimancer has a tool for every situation.

Mechanimancer Features

Level	Features
3rd	Tool Proficiency, Mechanical Beast, Mechanimancer Spells
5th	Deploy & Recall, Additional Beast
9th	Enchantment Clone
15th	Mechanimancer’s Duality

Tool Proficiency
(3rd-level Mechanimancer feature)

You gain proficiency with smith’s tools. If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan’s tools of your choice.

Mechanical Beast
(3rd-level Mechanimancer feature)

At 3rd level, you learn to craft a number of useful construct creatures. The Mechanical Beast remains dormant in a capsule form until you use an action to activate it. The Mechanical Beast appears in an unoccupied space within 5ft and remains active for up to 1 hour or until you deactivate it as a free action or it is reduced to 0 HP.

Upon activating the Mechanical Beast, you may choose which form it takes:

Name	Statblock	Changes	Additional Feature
Optics:	The Optics Mechanical Beast uses the Owl statblock with the following changes:	Its HP is equal to 2 times your level. Its AC is 11 + your PB. When making a Perception Check, it can add your intelligence modifier to the roll.	It gains the Aerial Scan feature – As an action, the Mechanical Owl releases a 120ft pulse of energy that marks every creature until the end of your next turn. Allied creatures are surrounded by green light, enemy creatures are surrounded by red light and neutral creatures are surrounded by blue light. You can see marked creatures through solid surfaces, but any magic that prevents scying also prevents this effect.
Warfare:	The Warfare Mechanical Beast uses the Giant Badger statblock with the following changes:	Its HP is equal to 4 times your level. Its AC is 11 + your PB. When making an attack, it adds your PB to the attack and damage rolls.	It gains the Enchantment Shutdown feature – The Mechanical Badger makes a claw attack against the target. On a success, one magical item the creature is wielding is dispelled for one minute.

The Mechanical Beast rolls its own intiative and is controlled by the player.

You can use this feature until a total time of 1 hour has been used or the Mechanical Beast is reduced to 0 HP. After which, you cannot use this feature again until you complete a long rest.

Mechanimancer Spells
(3rd-level Mechanimancer 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	Floating Disk, Mage Armor
5th	Find Traps, Warding Bond
9th	Nondetection, Sending
13th	Conjure Woodland Beings, Faithful Hound
17th	Legend Lore, Telepathic Bond

Deploy & Recall
(5th-level Mechanimancer feature)

At level 5, you improve your Mechanical Beast to be capable of deploying them and recalling them at range. When you activate your Mechanical Beast, you can choose an unoccupied location up to 45ft away and have the creature summon there.

Additional Beast
(5th-level Mechanimancer feature)

At 5th level, you learn to craft an additional Mechanical Beast form. You may choose one of the following options:

Name	Statblock	Changes	Additional Feature
Volatile:	The Volaitile Mechanical Beast uses the Weasel statblock with the following changes:	When making a stealth check, it can add your intelligence modifier to the roll. As an action, it can reduce its health to 0.	It gains the Detonate feature – When the Mechanical Weasel is reduced to 0 HP, it explodes in a 20ft radius area. All creatures must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + PB + Intelligence modifier) or take 6d6 fire damage, or half as much on a success. Buildings and objects take double damage from this effect.
Depth:	The Depth Mechanical Beast uses the Seal statblock with the following changes:	Its HP is equal to 2 times your level. Its AC is 11 + your PB.	It gains the Breathing Tank feature – The Mechanical Seal can release up to 6 tubes of air. If a creature ends its turn within 5ft of the Mechanical Seal, it may reset its held breath.
Hauling:	The Hauling Mechanical Beast uses the Mule statblock with the following changes:	Its HP is equal to 2 times your level. Its AC is 11 + your PB. Its size is large.	It gains the Burdened Brace feature – As a bonus action, the Mechanical Mule can increase its carrying capacity by up to 4 times its usual limit for 10 minutes.

You may choose again from this list at level 9 and again at level 15.

Enchantment Clone
(9th-level Mechanimancer feature)

At 9th level, you develop a method of cloning magical effects onto your Mechanical Beast. You may choose one magic item you are currently utilising and have the effects also apply to your Mechanical Beast. You may swap which magic item affects your Mechanical Beast during a long rest.

Mechanimancer’s Duality
(15th-level Mechanimancer feature)

At 15th level, you are able to concentrate on two Mechanical Beasts at the same time. You may now deploy two Mechanical Beasts. Each Mechanical Beast tracks its used time and HP separately.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading! I find artificers particularly difficult to design for but I think this subclass will give them a unique spin on the currently available options. I might revise the Mechanical Beast options in the future though after some further testing.