Plasma Gauntlet Artificer Specialist

While many artificers mix chemicals or build armor, companions, and cannons, some like to get in and do the dirty work themselves. Sometimes just building the tool isn't enough. You still have to feel the bones break with your own hands. Unfortunately, the cost of this power goes beyond time spent engineering: it requires your own life force. Using gauntlets powered by your blood plasma, crush foes with your own two hands.

Augmentation

Your gauntlets are intended for hands-on combat. To pack more punch than just what you bring to the table with your huge muscles, you've stretched your biggest muscle and harnessed the elements to augment your strikes. Each element you choose for each gauntlet has its own associated spell list. You can choose to put any gauntlet on either hand, but the spell list goes with it. The Universal Spell List is available to all Plasma Gauntlet Specialists at any point.

Function

The gauntlets require your own blood to operate. If you or anyone at your table is uncomfortable with self harm or blood, respect the boundaries of your friends or self and speak with your DM about using spell slots, hit dice, or another resource in place of this specialist's Plasma Die.

Features

The Plasma Gauntlet Specialist frequently has a greater number of features at each level than most D&D 5e subclasses. This is balanced by the self harm contained within the blood magic features presented. The product is a slight "glass cannon" style combatant.

Plasma Gauntlet

Starting at 3rd level, you can begin crafting gauntlets by spending 1 hour with an armor gauntlet over a short or long rest. When you do this, choose its element type and associated spell list. You develop your first set of gauntlets at 3rd level, and they must be the same element. If you create more than two, you must first choose a gauntlet to disable. If you do not, the oldest disables of its own accord and is rendered nonfunctional.

After having created a gauntlet, you can convert your choice of element whenever you finish a long rest. Changing its element changes the associated spell list as well. You can choose individual elements for each gauntlet beginnning at level 9.

The gauntlets deal 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier bludgeoning damage on a hit, and use your spell save DC for any saves required by abilities or the DM.

Tinker's tools are used to craft and maintain your plasma gauntlets. If you do not have tinker's tools you cannot produce, fix, or convert your gauntlets.

Credit:
SkyForge

Plasma Die

Starting at 3rd level, your blood plasma is used to power the gauntlets through a rune that converts your blood plasma into gaseous plasma. You may use a bonus action to activate your doom fists by rolling your Plasma Die as indicated in the Plasma Die column in the Plasma Gauntlet Table. The result of the roll determines three things:

• First, you take necrotic damage equal to the amount rolled. This damage can't be reduced in any way.
• Second, your gauntlets activate for a number of rounds equal to the number rolled.
• Lastly, your gauntlets gain a damage buff equal to the number rolled, of their respective element type.

Stacking. Whenever you take this bonus action on subsuquent turns, you may reroll your Plasma Die once to obtain a greater number. The damage you take stacks with the first roll, the number of rounds activated is averaged (round down), and you can replace the damage buff if the second roll is higher.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Augmented Smite

Starting at 5th level, you've learned how to channel an increased amount of plasma when your attacks hit. When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 1d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 4d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is a construct or a plant, to a maximum of 5d8. The extra damage type is concurrent with the gauntlet that you hit the target with. Your gauntlets count as siege weapons and deal double damage to objects.

Revangelic's Homebrew Smiting

Smiting is know to be an incredibly powerful and fun ability available almost exclusively to Paladins. In order to make smiting spells more useful, I've ruled that smiting spells can be used with a casting time of one reaction that triggers on a hit.

In addition to increasing these spells usage, this tweak has also increased the "wow factor" when a hit connects and smites are called.

Speak with your DM about possibly implementing this rule at your table for this and possibly any other character!

Credit:
Wizards of
the Coast

Glyph of Discharging

Starting at 9th level, you have learned how to place a Glyph of Discharging on the knuckles of your gauntlets. The glyphs can hold a spell from the associated spell list for the gauntlet's type.

To imbue a gauntlet with a glyph and spell, you may spend 10 minutes casting the spell as a ritual. The spells can only be imbued at their base level once per long rest, but do not cost a spell slot.

If the spell's duration is longer than instantaneous, it lasts only one round upon discharge. If the spell requires concentration, that requirement is waived and the glyphs expenditure does not interrupt you if you are already concentrating.

Expending a Glyph of Discharging requires one of your two attacks, a bonus action, or a reaction after a hit at which point the spell takes immediate effect.

The center of the spell is located on your knuckles. If you would normally be included in the radius, the spell only takes effect in half of the normal area of effect, facing out and away from you. Such as with the shatter spell, the disharged glyph would only take effect in a 20 ft radius hemisphere.

Each gauntlet can only hold one glyph at a time. If a spell has already been imbued into the gauntle since your last long rest, the first spell dissipates and you lose a spell slot of the level appropriate to the new spell.

Overclock

Finally, at 15th level, you can overcharge your Plasma Gauntlets with a continuous stream of blood. You can trigger this mode whenever you roll your Plasma Die.

For 1 minute, you can roll your Plasma Die at the start of each of your turns and take necrotic damage equal to the amount rolled. You gain advantage on attacks for that turn, and each time your attacks hit, the target takes double the amount rolled in addition to all of your current damage buffs and bonuses. The damage type is concurrent with your gauntlet type.

This mode does not end when you fall unconscious, and you fail one death saving throw for each round you are unconscious and Overclock is active. You can deactivate this mode at any time as a bonus action on your turn or as a reaction when you take damage.