Demolitionist, Variant (5e Subclass)
Demolitionist[edit]
Artificer Subclass
A gnome fiddles with a spherical object in her hands, while the rest of her party looks at her impatiently. She holds up one finger, then adjusts one last thing. She grins and leaps up, rushing over to a street corner where their enemy will pass soon. She sets it down and hides behind a corner, looking at where the bomb is planted. Her friends look at her expectantly. She nods and holds up three fingers, then peeks around the corner. Their rival is approaching it. She puts down one finger. They don't notice the bomb sitting there. She puts down one more. They walk right past the bomb. A maniacal grin comes across her face and puts down the last finger. She presses a button on her remote control and the bomb explodes. Their target didn't stand a chance.
Demolitionists are artificers who use their talents to make explosives. They were often used in the Last War as distractions or crowd control, lobbing bombs into large groups of people to take them out all at once. Not all demolitionists are mad bombers, though- some use stealth to take down targets from afar, or even just use them as a distraction to get the upper hand. They always know the best way to use their explosives, as they can be very versatile and useful in many scenarios.
- Tool Proficiency
When you adopt this specialization at 3rd level, 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.
- Demolitionist Spells
Starting at 3rd level, you always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown on the Demolitionist Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don't count against the number of spells you prepare.
Demolitionist Spells
| Artificer Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | burning hands, shield |
| 5th | flaming sphere, shatter |
| 9th | fireball, melf's minute meteors |
| 13th | fire shield, wall of fire |
| 17th | flame strike, passwall |
- Agile Escape
At 3rd level, your work with bombs has made you extra nimble and able to dodge blasts more easily. You gain proficiency in Dexterity saving throws. Starting at 9th level, when you fail a Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction to take only half damage.
- Arcane Explosives
Starting at 3rd level, you learn how to make a variety of different kinds of explosives. During a long rest, you can make a number of bombs equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1), provided you have smith's tools or tinker's tools on hand. You can also create a bomb as an action by expending a spell slot and have smith's tools or tinker's tools in hand. You cannot use this bomb on the same turn as you create it. You can choose the type of each bomb, as shown on the Bomb Type table. Each bomb type has a different effect, which may require your action or bonus action. If a bomb requires a saving throw or ability check, it uses your Artificer spell save DC. The maximum number of bombs you can have at a time is equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). All the bombs last until you use them, or until you finish a long rest.
| Bomb Type | Effect |
|---|---|
| Standard Bomb | As an action, you can throw this bomb at a location within 60 feet of you. Every creature within a 10-foot radius of the bomb must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much as a successful one. The fire ignites any flammable objects in the area that aren't worn or carried. |
| Remote Bomb | As an action, you can place and arm this bomb in a location within 5 feet of you. This bomb does not ignite immediately. Instead, it ignites after one minute, or when you ignite it as a bonus action. When it ignites, every creature within 10 feet of the bomb must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much as a successful one. The fire ignites any flammable objects in the area that aren't worn or carried. A creature can try to disarm the bomb by using an action to make a check with thieves' tools. If they succeed, the bomb is disarmed, and it cannot ignite. If they fail, nothing happens. If they fail by five or more, the bomb immediately ignites, and they have disadvantage on the Dexterity saving throw to avoid it. You can only have one remote bomb active at a time. |
| Smoke Bomb | As an action, you can throw this bomb at a location within 60 feet of you. It explodes in a bright flash of light. Any creatures that are in a 10-foot radius of the bomb when you throw it must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, they are blinded for 1 minute. The bomb also emits smoke in a 10-foot radius, making it heavily obscured. A strong wind can blow the smoke away in 1 round. The smoke lasts for 1 minute. |
- Blast Sculptor
At 5th level, you learn how to protect some people from the full effect of your bombs. Whenever you use one of your bombs, you can choose a number of people in the blast radius equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1) to automatically succeed on the saving throw.
- Enhanced Bombs
At 9th level, every bomb you make is much more powerful.
- Your Standard Bomb and Remote Bomb damage increases to 5d6 fire damage.
- The radius on all of your bombs increases to 15 feet.
- You can have up to two Remote Bombs active at a time, and you can detonate them both as a single bonus action or separately.
- Destructive Potential
At 15th level, you find out a way to make small mini-bombs incredibly quickly. You can spend 1 minute with smith's tools or tinker's tools to make a mini-bomb. This mini-bomb can function as any of the normal kinds of bombs and does not count against the number of total bombs you can have, but it has the following modifications:
- A Standard Mini-Bomb does 2d6 fire damage and the radius is 5 feet, but the thrown range is 120 feet.
- A Remote Mini-Bomb does 2d6 fire damage and the radius is 5 feet, but you have no cap to the number of Remote Mini-Bombs you can have active at a time, and they all detonate on one bonus action.
- A Smoke Mini-Bomb has a radius of 5 feet, but the smoke lasts for 10 minutes and creatures have disadvantage on the Constitution saving throw against being blinded.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.
Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Character Options → Subclasses