D&D: The Artificer’s New Reanimator Subclass Offers Hope (And A Frankenstein’s Monster)
Exciting news for Artificers (sort of)—the Reanimator Artificer subclass could very well mean more love and official support in the future.
It is a good time to be playing an Artificer in D&D. For one, a new book coming in the next few months promises to give the class a fresh coat of 5.5E paint. In Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, an upcoming splatbook, the Artificer class gets an update and four subclasses to play with.
But more to the point of today’s deep dive, in the Horror Subclasses Unearthed Arcana, the Artificer of all classes gets a whole other subclass. And if you’re not sure why this is exciting news that offers the slimmest hope, it’s because Artificers have always existed outside the Player’s Handbook without much support in 5th Edition. But now, with the Reanimator Artificer, that looks to maybe, maybe change.
The Artificer Reanimator: It’s Not JUST a New Subclass, It’s Hope For the Future
What’s up with the Artificer in general? It was first introduced in 5th Edition in the Eberron: Rising from the Last War campaign sourcebook. And that was fitting, because the original Artificer was an Eberron class, introduced in the Eberron sourcebook back in 3.5. So it all sort of came full circle in 2019.
And then a year later, it was kind of nice to see that the Artificer got a little more love in next year’s Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, when it was reprinted (and made Adventurer’s League legal) alongwith the new Armorer subclass.
But after that, there was very little in the way of official support for the Artificer. Which is why it’s exciting to see that in the new Horror themed Unearthed Arcana, the Artificer is front and center with a brand new subclass.
The Reanimator Artificer doesn’t just make sense thematically, it makes sense mechanically as well. You get to have your own little Frankenstein’s monster following you around, and D&D being D&D you can occasionally blow them up for fun and profit.
But seeing a new Artificer subclass so soon on the heels of the announcement of an official Artificer splatbook seems to allay worries that the Artificer of 5th Edition was going to languish in “backwards compatible” obscurity. Though, you don’t want to count your electrodes before they’ve jolted. Unearthed Arcana appearances are no guarantee of seeing a finished version of it. I still weep for the Stone Sorcerer.
But here’s hoping that this is just the first wave of a bright new future for the magical tinkerers. And hey, if it goes well, maybe we’ll see the current edition of D&D start to slowly introduce new classes besides! One can hope.
In the meantime, here’s what the new Reanimator actually does.
Reanimator Artificer – Now You Can Show Them, Show Them All!
Alright, let’s get to the new Reanimator Artificer. Of all the Horror Subclasses, this is one of my favorites, right alongside the new Hexblade. And the Reanimator is incredible. It’s got flavor, it’s got flare. It does all the things you might expect it to do and then some, starting with your basic level 3 subclass features.
First of all there’s a list of Bonus Spells that feels absolutely dialed in. You’l get things like Spare the Dying and Witch Bolt (you know, for lightning) as well as Enhance Ability, Animate Dead, Lightning Bolt (again, fr lightning) and even stuff like Death Ward and Raise Dead.
It all fits the theme of “power over life and death through the direct application of electricity.” Speaking of which, the other minor level 3 feature, Jolt to Life is both hilarious and mechanically potent. Whenever you cast Spare the Dying, you can modify the spell with electricity so that instead of merely stabilizing your fallen comrade, it jolts them to life with 1 hp.
And on top of that, creatures in a 10 foot emanation around the target makea Dex save or take 1d4 + half your artificer level lightning damage. It’s an improvement on a Cantrip that you can use a limited number (your Intelligence modifier) times per day, but it’s always going to be a great choice.
But the big level 3 feature, and indeed, the core of the Reanimator Artificer subclass, is the Reanimated Companion. You can make a friend/monster/monument to hubris as a Magic Action (although arguably it took your whole career as an Artificer to be able to make it in the span of a Magic Action). When it anifests you get a small undead companion that takes whatever form you want and it lasts until you take another long rest or it runs out of hit points or you dismiss it as a Magic Action. You might do this because your companion explodes when they die.
The Death Burst starts by dealing 2d6 points of Necrotic damage to whoever is within 10 feet of it. But it gets better as you level up, which you’ll see here shortly. Also the companion is healed whenever it would take lightning damage, and it can deal a pretty okay attack, which it will do whenever you take a Bonus Action to command it to do so. Not ideal, but not bad.
Higher Level Reanimation
At higher levels, the Reanimator gets even more focused on their Reanimated Companion. At level 5, Strange Modifications allows you to modify your companion, enabling to serve as an Arcane Conduit which lets you cast spells as though you were in their space (dealing your Intelligence Modifier in bonus damage once per turn whenever casting spells from Evocation or Necromancy), or give it extra Ferocity which allows your companion to attack twice with its dreadful swipe. Two attacks per Bonus Action isn’t too shabby!
At level 9, Improved Reanimation lets you choose from one of three subtypes for your companion:
- Bloated—Your creature becomes Large or Medium and can push Large or Smaller creatures up to 10 feet away with a Dread Swipe. Plus its Death Burst now does extra damage equal to your Int modifier
- Gaunt—Your creature’s speed raises to 45 and it gains a climb speed. Any time a creature of your choice starts its turn within a 10 foot Emanation of the creature, the target has to make a Wisdom save or be frightened untilt he start of its next turn
- Moist—Your creature gains a swim speed and deals Acid damage equal to your Int modifier whenever it is hit by a a creature within 10 feet of it
Finally at level 15, Promethean Reanimation gives you mastery over revivification. This means that whenever you cast Revivify or Raise the Dead, your material component cost is halved. It also enhances your companin’s Death Burst, raising the damage to 4d6 and any Necrotic damage your companion deals ignores resistances.
Finally, whenever you take damage, you can use a Reaction to make your Reanimated Companion drop to 0 hit points, immediately triggering its Death Burst and healing you for your Artificer Level in hit points.
All in all, this subclass feels pretty solid. But my opinion doesn’t matter, WotC wants to know what YOU think. Check out the link below for both the PDF of the subclass and a link to a feedback survey, opening next week!
Take the Reanimator Artificer for a spin!
