D&D: The Reanimator Artificer Out Of Ravenloft Will Bring You To Life
Ravenloft: The Horrors Within breaks new ground with the Reanimator Artificer subclass. Then it digs up whatever it can and jolts it to life.
There are seven new subclasses in the recently released Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, each one bound up in a theme of horror of one kind or another. Sometimes it’s a little subtle, other times, it’s really obvious the kinds of inspiration you can get. The Reanimator is one of the latter kind.
It’s a rarity, a new subclass for the Artificer. I love the implications that it has. Namely, the Artificer as a class isn’t in the PHB; you can only find the 5.5E version in Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, a rules expansion book that adds and updates a bunch of Eberron-specific stuff. However, now, with Ravenloft, we see the Artificer get a little more official love. Which is great; I love the class first of all, but it also means that if WotC ever introduces another new class, like a Psion, for instance, then the precedent for supporting said new class outside of its “originating book” is already set.
But what does the Reanimator actually do? As the name suggests, this is a subclass all about harnessing the power of life and death. And lightning. A surprising amount of lightning. It’s a flexible subclass that can heal/protect your allies as well as summon a combat companion that can fight, die, and explore on your enemies.
In short, it very much feels like playing a mad scientist. If you want a subclass that will let you play out your wildest Frankenstein dreams, this is the one for you. But what does it actually do? Let’s take a look!
The Reanimator Artificer – The Laws Of Nature Are More Like What You’d Call Guidelines
The Reanimator is an Artificer dedicated to studying the laws of nature so that they can understand the powers of life and death. Sure, they may occasionally “defy the laws of nature” with their experiments, yeah, they may dig up the occasional corpse, but it can often be for the greater good.
As long as that greater good is protecting you and fighting your enemies. Because the core feature of the Reanimator Artificer is Reanimated Companion, which you get at level 3. This feature is the crux of what you’ll be doing: using a Magic Action to create a Reanimated Companion complete with its own stat block, that will obey your commands and can sometimes explode in a burst of Necrotic energy.
Right off the bat, you can see the Reanimated Companion is surprisingly tough. If you are familiar with the Unearthed Arcana version of the Reanimator, you’ll note that it has more hit points overall, but has a slightly lower damage score with its main attack. Though I’d take the extra hit points any day.
The Reanimated Companion does two main things. It can make a Dreadful Swipe, letting it deal 1d4 + Intelligence Modifier (yours) whenever it succeeds at an attack roll using your spell attack modifier. And it explodes. Whenever it is reduced to 0 hit points, it triggers a Death Burst and deals 2d4 Necrotic Damage to anyone within 10 feet of it, though they can make a Dex save to only take half (though this is a boon from the previous version, which allowed targets to save to avoid it completely).
Most of your subclass features tie in to the Reanimated Companion. But there are still two more you get at level 3 that round out the Reanimator Artificer with some extra utility. There’s the Reanimator’s Skill Set feature, which gives you access to a modified Spare the Dying cantrip. Whenever you cast it, you can tweak it to become a jolt of electricity that heals the target for your Artificer level hit points, as well as causing any creatures of your choice within 10 feet of your target to save or be hit with 2d4 lightning damage. Best of all, this damage scales at levels 11 and 17, eventually hitting save or take 4d4 damage.
You also gain a list of bonus Reanimator Spells, which are both thematic and useful ones to have, like Spare the Dying and Witch Bolt, or Enhance Ability and Animate Dead and Lightning Bolt, or even Death Ward. All of this sets you on the road to being a mad scientist.
Higher Level Reanimations
At higher levels, your companion gets stronger. At levels 5 and 9, you’ll gain Strange Modifications and Macabre Modifications, respectively. These features give you five different options to pick from to make your Reanimated Companion more powerful.
You might choose to have your companion act as an extra conduit for you to cast spells from. Or perhaps it gains a swim speed and deals acid damage to creatures that hit it. Either way, your companion is leveling up along with you.
The whole subclass caps off at level 15 with Refined Reanimation, a feature that gives you mastery over revification. This feature is a serious upgrade from the playtest, in that it now gives you a free casting of Raise Dead without needing a spell slot or material component once per Long Rest. And then it also lets you use your Reaction to drain your Reanimated Companion of its vital essence, regaining hit points equal to whatever its current total is, and then it explodes in a death burst
I really like this take on the “combat companion” design that you see in a few different classes. Using a stitched together companion that you can summon with nothing more than a Magic Action and a spell slot (after one free casting) that is designed to be a living bomb is extremely fun. The companion can engage a target, but it has few enough hit points that you’ll get some damage out of it. It’s effectively a Bonus Action attack that leaves one last present whenever it’s slain. I dig it.
Try the Reanimator Artificer for yourself in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within!
