Van Richten Would Hate Me For Writing This Post

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

So I saw the new Reanimator artificer subclass.
I'm glad to see we're getting more artificers, and I haven't looked into the mechanics yet, but I already notice one problem:
The subclass is dealing with themes of necromancy and fleshcrafting, but without any attention to the dangers and consequences of these occupations in the Land of Mists. There's nothing about the obsession, the madness, the ticking time-bomb until your construct turns against you in a twisted form of youth rebellion - in short, the built-in conflict that makes this sort of character interesting.
Personally, Van Richten's Guide to the Created is one of my favourite sourcebooks of all times, because of the emotional drama built into it and the sensitivity with which RvR treats it. I have just enough left of the 5e-ist in me (seriously, y'all are slowly but surely converting me into another old grog. Yesternight I watched a YouTube video about Horrors Within and I just couldn't stop nitpicking about how things were even cooler in 3e.) to enjoy the attitude of 'this heavily frowned upon, so called 'inherently evil' character option is actually okay', but I like it even better when a spooky character option toes the line between having a significant downside and giving you the freedom to minimise its moral cost. For example, a vampire species that needs a few blood drops per day to avoid exhaustion but doesn't have to kill people for it is a lot cooler to me than a dhampir that really only needs to drink blood if they want a buff. Specifically with dreadcrafting/fleshcrafting/whatever, I want a subclass that showcases all the reasons why it's a terrible idea, then leaves the player to deal with it. You should've thrown the book into the hearth, but you didn't. You chose to play this subclass, now deal with the consequences. Don't say we didn't warn you.

So I have this idea for a subclass inspired by the Reanimator, but also by the traditional lore:
The Dreadcrafter Artificer.


I still need to figure out the specifics, but my basic idea is:

- Crazy Enough to Work: Your key ability is your negative wisdom. For example, a Wis score of 16 (+3 to normal stuff) would give you -3 for checks activating your class spells and abilities, while a Wis score of 7 (-2 to normal stuff) would give you +2. This reflects that your abilities aren't coming from expertise but from your blind obsession given life by the Dark Powers. Midmaxing a Dreadcrafter would entail giving them a Wis score as low as possible - giving you spare points to invest in other abilities, but also leaving your character extremely volounrable to various mental effects.

- Dread Progeny: similar to the Reanimated Companion, but with a few major changes:
- mechanics and language tweaked a little to imply it's the same construct regenerating, not you creating and destroying different ones every day.
- You have a telepathic connection with them, so commanding takes a bonus action but doesn't require speech.
- The Dread Progeny grows not only more powerful but more intelligent. Its mental stats will rise by the level, and it will gradually be able to perform more complex actions.
- However, this has a crux: with every character level, there's a growing chance your Dread Progeny will turn into a free-willed NPC, still sharing a telepathic connection with you. The alignment of that NPC is random, but influenced by the way the Dread Progeny was treated before rebelling: On a roll where CE is 1 and LG is 9 (I'm not sure yet how to do a roll with 9 options), neglecting the Dread Progeny, being mean to them or sending them into unnecessary danger will result in a negative modifier, while treating them kindly, thanking them for their help, spending time with them during downtime, making them feel like part of the team etc would result in a positive modifier. An evil Dread Progeny would try its best to take revenge on its creator, while a good or neutral one might stick to the party as a sidekick (Maybe even a new PC) or say goodbye as you go on your seperate ways.
- If the Dread Progeny is killed or breaks free, you can start over with a new one - if you haven't learned from your mistake. I'm not sure how many constructs to allow a Dreadcrafter to control simultaneously - on the one hand, I don't want a huge gap between 'NPC magic' (The same dreadcrafter can create dozens of constructs) and actual subclass abilities (you can only have one construct at a time), but on the other hand, I don't want to ruin the action economy with one player having to roll for their 353484 thralls before the rest of the party gets to play (like the 'school of necromancy' wizard is infamous for doing), and I would really prefer to keep players focused on their one baby monster.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

On a roll where CE is 1 and LG is 9 (I'm not sure yet how to do a roll with 9 options), neglecting the Dread Progeny, being mean to them or sending them into unnecessary danger will result in a negative modifier, while treating them kindly, thanking them for their help, spending time with them during downtime, making them feel like part of the team etc would result in a positive modifier.

Perhaps two rolls? I'm not sure if there is a satisfying way to randomize a two-dimensional alignment system onto a one-dimensional number line, but if there were one roll for the Law-Chaos axis and another for the Good-Evil axis, both could get their own modifiers from the character's actions that shift the balance in one direction or the other.

Also, I might be inclined to have these rolls happen multiple times in response to significant interactions between the character and the progeny. That way, the DM can start adding up the personality traces imprinted by the character's actions and change how they roleplay the progeny as the process builds toward the eventual transition from servitor to free-willed NPC.

[TheArcaneWeirdo]

On a roll where CE is 1 and LG is 9 (I'm not sure yet how to do a roll with 9 options), neglecting the Dread Progeny, being mean to them or sending them into unnecessary danger will result in a negative modifier, while treating them kindly, thanking them for their help, spending time with them during downtime, making them feel like part of the team etc would result in a positive modifier.

Perhaps two rolls? I'm not sure if there is a satisfying way to randomize a two-dimensional alignment system onto a one-dimensional number line, but if there were one roll for the Law-Chaos axis and another for the Good-Evil axis, both could get their own modifiers from the character's actions that shift the balance in one direction or the other.

Also, I might be inclined to have these rolls happen multiple times in response to significant interactions between the character and the progeny. That way, the DM can start adding up the personality traces imprinted by the character's actions and change how they roleplay the progeny as the process builds toward the eventual transition from servitor to free-willed NPC.

Thanks for the suggestion!