Artificer Speciality: Reanimator
Mad alchemists, failed clerics, necromancers who pursued STEM careers… Reanimators blend the magic and science of artifice to restore life and functionality to bodies deemed too far gone by those of more limited imaginations.
While they are almost universally shunned for their unethical experiments, a reanimator is not just a back-alley puppeteer of cadavers; their bolstering magics work just as well on bodies that have not yet succumbed to death’s embrace, making them unlikely medics and healers as well.
Tool Proficiency
3rd-level Reanimator feature
You gain proficiency with leatherworker’s tools, or one artificer’s tool of your choice if you already have that one.
Reanimator Spells
3rd-level Reanimator feature
You always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Reanimator 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 | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Healing Word, False Life |
| 5th | Aid, Gentle Repose |
| 9th | Animate Dead, Summon Undead |
| 13th | Aura of Life, Summon Construct |
| 17th | Mass Cure Wounds, Negative Energy Flood |
Forbidden Engine
3rd-level Reanimator feature
You perfect your sordid art in the form of the Forbidden Engine. This device takes the form of a Tiny object which can be worn by a Medium or smaller creature over or under its armour. It might look like a bony pendant covered with blood runes, or a metallic harness crackling with electricity. You construct a single engine, and you may rebuild it over the course of a long rest if it is lost or destroyed – this process destroys the original. Whenever you restore hit points to a creature wearing the engine using a spell of 1st-level or higher, you may choose to grant it one of the following benefits:
- If the creature was prone, it immediately stands up (if it is free to do so) without expending any movement.
- The creature may immediately use its reaction to move up to half its speed.
- The creature gains temporary hit points equal to half your artificer level.
Additionally, if the engine is currently being “worn” by a Medium or smaller corpse, you may use your action to reanimate it, granting it the statistics of a zombie. The corpse remains reanimated in this way until it is destroyed, or until you remove the engine. While animated, the zombie obeys your verbal commands, and acts on your initiative count immediately after your turn.
Careful Reconstruction
3rd-level Reanimator feature
Your magic could quite literally wake the dead. When you target an Undead or Construct with a spell that restores hit points, but which normally doesn’t affect those creature types, the creature instead regains half the hit points you would have restored.
Unstable Entities
5th-level Reanimator feature
You may use your action to cause a number of creatures of your choice (up to your Intelligence modifier, minimum of 1 creature) which you can see to flare with arcane energy. The creatures must be an Undead or Construct you have created or summoned, or the wearer of your Forbidden Engine, to target with this feature.
All chosen creatures release an explosion within a 5ft radius of themselves – a creature can only be affected by this explosion once per turn, no matter how many areas overlap on them. Undead and Constructs in the area regain 1d6 hit points, while all other creatures suffer lightning damage equal to your Intelligence modifier.
You may use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Mystic Link
9th-level Reanimator feature
The wearer of your Forbidden Engine gains resistance to necrotic damage. Once per turn when it takes necrotic damage, its movement speed increases by 10ft until the end of its next turn.
Additionally, when you cast a spell that does not have a range of Self, you may target the wearer of your Forbidden Engine with it regardless of distance, so long as you can see it.
Durable Minions
9th-level Reanimator feature
Undead and Constructs you create or summon gain temporary hit points equal to your artificer level + your Intelligence modifier when you first create or summon them.
The Great Work
15th-level Reanimator Feature
You construct a second Forbidden Engine, which may exist in tandem with the first. If you cast a spell that targets only the wearer of an engine through your Mystic Link, you may also target the wearer of the second engine with that spell effect for free, provided you can also see it.