Off the grid: Magic Weapon

The Artificer

I had been looking forward to seeing a 4e artificer in play since the first level was included as a teaser in the Character Builder. I’ve never been a big Eberron player, but getting the low-down on the Artificer was enough incentive for me to pick up the Eberron player’s guide.

There’s a lot to play with off-the-grid with the Artificer. Each at-will is a wonderful balance of offense and tactical manipulation that can give a party the edge in just about any situation, granted that your GM is into the creative application of powers.

Magic Weapon

“You can only stew a dwarf. Meat’s too tough if you grill her.” The first ogre bellowed.

“There ain’t enough pots to get fancy. Human tastes awful boiled. Cover them in sauce and sear the two of them.” Another ogre replied.

“Searing and grilling take too long. I’m famished. Let’s just eat them raw.” A third ogre spoke up and then the group of them laughed. The argument was for the dread and discomfort of their two prisoners, an unfortunate pair of travelers locked in an iron cage.

“Smash the lock,” Nihial whispered to the man beside her.

“With what?” The man hissed back. “You expect me to kick through cold black metal with my boots?”

“Dunna argue. We’ll have but one chance ’til the ogres notice.” Nihial struggled to her feet. The ogres had tied her hands behind her back. She moved beside her cell mate and stamped on his foot. “Moradin bless yea,” she murmured.

The man pulled his leg back with a start and got up. He hopped on one foot with his hand bound behind his back. His foot hurt, but there was another strange feeling in his leg. His boot felt different, heavier and sturdier.

“Now,” Nihial urged. “Aye, cannae kick that high and me hands are tied. The blessings of Moradin be upon yea. He extends his might to all things sewn, hammered, and bolted. Kick.”

The man made a deft hop to the side of the cage. His body twisted in a graceful way and his leg struck out from his hip like a bolt from a crossbow. The entire cage rattled and the lock strained against its moorings. Nihial quietly thanked the Gods for sending her a man with strong legs.

“It’s working.” The man said in surprise and kicked at the lock again. He pulled his leg back quickly after it struck the iron. It ached. Whatever blessing was on him before seemed to have left. Suddenly a sharp pain erupted from his other foot. The dwarven woman had stamped on him again.

“Hurry! The ogres are lookin’ at us!” Nihial shouted. The man spun around and kicked out with his other leg. There was a loud ping and a clang as the door pulled free of the lock and swung open.

“Praise be crafty dwarves!” He shouted and he and the dwarf made for the trees with the ogres on their heels. “Hurry up little one.” The man encouraged. “Don’t you have another trick to make my boots move faster?”

“Yea want Moradin ta do everything for ya? Shut up and keep runnin’!”

If you’re a bit confused by all the talk of blessings, you obviously didn’t read last week’s post by Jeff. Nihial is an artificer who believes her proficiency with arcane items stems from her devotion to Moradin, the dwarven god of crafting. In this situation, she used the Magic Weapon at-will against her cell mate to give him an attack and damage bonus until the end of her next turn. Luckily for her, her cell mate happened to be an incredibly strong monk with a sturdy pair of boots and the ogres happened to have a very cheap cage.

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