Thopterists dream of flight and of life, endeavoring to replicate what nature has already created and perhaps even to improve upon it. The miracle of flight is a difficult magic to unravel, and thopterist workshops are often filled with failed whirligigs and scattered balsa wood models. But once they crack those equations, the world opens up to them with infinite horizons and soon their workshops are abuzz with whirling wings and chittering machines. Each new creation refines their designs, and their facsimiles of life get harder and harder to distinguish from flesh and blood.
At 3rd level you learn the mechanical secrets of flight and animation and gain the ability to create ornithopters.
You can create an ornithopter by spending 1 hour of uninterrupted work with 10 gp worth of cogwork and metal scraps. Each ornithopter is unique, and its exact appearance is up to you. It follows you and is loyal to you, but it acts independently. In combat, all ornithopters under your control roll their own initiative and act together on their turn. Your ornithopters won’t attack except as a reaction to being attacked, but they can take other actions as normal and make death saving throws. You can have up to a number of ornithopters constructed equal to your proficiency bonus, the oldest ornithopter you have constructed falls apart when you create an ornithopter past your limit.
On your turn you can use a bonus action to order a specific ornithopter to perform an action, or as an action you can order multiple ornithopters to perform the same action (such as “attack that bandit”, or “flee”, or “head that way”).
Your ornithopters use the statistics of gear spiders (page 53 in the Monstrous Menagerie) with the following improvements.
Whenever you finish a long rest, you can tinker modifications onto your ornithopters at the cost of infusion uses. When you do so, you can apply the modifications to any or all of your currently crafted ornithopters. These modifications only remain functional due to your infusions, and you can maintain these modifications as if they were infused items. Any modifications you fail to maintain are removed whenever you finish a long rest. You can install any of the following modifications at the cost of 1 infusion each.
You vastly improve the image recording devices of your ornithopters. Your ornithopters take colored images instead of black and white images, they can store up to 20 such images. Retrieving images requires only 1 action instead of 1 minute, and with improved image quality discerning details from a stored image requires only a DC 8 Investigation check.
Your ornithopters are optimized for easy lift and quick movements. The fly speed of your ornithopters improves to 60 feet.
You build your ornithopters to take a beating and keep on flapping. The Armor Class of your ornithopters increases by 2.
When you prepare your spell inventions and modifications to your ornithopters, you may choose to graft a spell invention into one of your ornithopters. You may order your ornithopter to cast a spell using its integrated spell invention, using your spell save DC and spell attack modifier. This uses the same type of action the spell invention would normally use. You must roll a fizzle die as normal. Any integrated spell inventions are destroyed if the ornithopter is destroyed. Spells you cast using an ornithopter are still considered spells you’ve cast for the purposes of casting multiple spells a turn.
You use stronger and lighter metals that allow your ornithopters to strike with greater speed and strength. Your ornithopter’s needle attack deals 1d4 additional piercing damage This damage increases by an additional 1d4 when you reach 11th level.
You’ve filled the limited artificial intelligence of your ornithopters with an instinctual helpfulness. On your ornithopter’s turn in initiative, any ornithopters that were not given a specific order will use the Help action to aid the closest ally or to hinder the nearest enemy.
Your ornithopters are ingeniously compact and their wings beat in near silence. Your ornithopters gain a bonus to their Stealth checks equal to your Intelligence modifier.
You integrate tiny sensors into your ornithopters that vastly improve their awareness of their surroundings. Your ornithopters gain a bonus to their Investigation and Perception checks equal to your Intelligence modifier.
Your ornithopters are rust-proof and sealed tight for aquatic travel. Your ornithopters gain a swim speed of 20 feet and can operate indefinitely underwater.
When you prepare your spell inventions and modifications to your ornithopters, you may choose to attach a ranged weapon along with an ammunition clip containing 10 pieces of ammunition appropriate to the weapon to any or all of your ornithopters. You must have the weapons and ammunition you wish to attach in this way. The ranged weapons cannot have the heavy property. Your ornithopters lose their needle attacks and gain an attack with the attached weapon, which they become proficient with. You may retrieve weapons attached in this way the next time you prepare modifications for your ornithopters by removing it, or from its remains if it is destroyed.
Starting at 3rd level, when you prepare your artificer spells you can prepare certain spells and create spell inventions for them in addition to your normal number of prepared spells. These spells count as artificer spells for you, even if they aren’t on the artificer spell list.
Table: Thopterist Spells
| Artificer Level |
Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | air wave, feather fall |
| 5th | gust of wind, levitate |
| 8th | fly, haste |
| 13th | age of the meek, resilient sphere |
| 17th | scrying, storm kick |
Starting at 5th level you’ve developed the habit of creating countless tiny little machines that scurry and hover about your person like little pets, sometimes they can even be helpful. As a bonus action, you can perform the Help action using a tiny tinkerbot that you found a use for. You can perform the Help action in this way a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus and you regain all spent uses whenever you finish a long rest.
In addition, you can create mechanical versions of creatures with the Beast creature type of CR 0 using Tactical Chemistry by spending 10 gp worth of mechanical components in addition to a use of your Tactical Chemistry feature. Creatures you create in this way instead have the Construct creature type instead of any other creature types, and will follow the first order you give them upon their creation to the best of their abilities. After which they will behave normally as if they were real creatures. Mechanical creatures you create in this way power down and fall apart after 1 hour but otherwise remain until destroyed.
At 9th level you’ve learned how to overcome some of flight’s greatest challenges, and can create even more intricate and specialized ornithopters. The following modifications are added to your list of modification options using your Ornithopters feature at the cost of two infusion uses instead of one.
Your ornithopters gain the ability to attach to creatures and lift them into the air, granting them the power of flight. As an action, your ornithopters can firmly grip the back of an adjacent willing creature of medium or small size or detach from it. While attached in this way, the ornithopter cannot perform any action other than to detach. While a creature has an ornithopter attached in this way, it gains a fly speed equal to half the ornithopter’s fly speed. If two or more ornithopters are attached to the same creature, that fly speed increases to equal to the ornithopter’s fly speed instead.
You outfit your ornithopters with energy emitters that cause strikes to rebound off seemingly nothing. Your ornithopters gain the following reaction which it takes when hit by an attack:
Energy Shield (Recharge 5–6). The ornithopter projects energy shielding to protect itself from an oncoming attack. Until the beginning of the ornithopter’s next turn it gains a +4 bonus to its AC, which also applies to the triggering attack potentially turning a hit into a miss.
You build teamwork and mass swarming strategies into the limited intelligence of your ornithopters. Your ornithopters gain the following trait:
Pack Tactics. The ornithopter has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the ornithopter’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and not incapacitated.
Your ornithopters are positively dripping with sensors and recording devices. Your ornithopters make Investigation and Perception checks at advantage, and they gain a bonus to both checks equal to your proficiency bonus.
With almost perfectly transparent wings and a color adapting chassis, your ornithopters easily slip past most watchful eyes. Your ornithopters make Stealth checks at advantage and gain a bonus to Stealth checks equal to your proficiency bonus.
At 15th level you’ve installed an unshakable instinct to protect their master into your ornithopters. Your ornithopter’s gain the following reaction which they take when you are hit by an attack while they are adjacent:
Savior Protocol. The ornithopter dives in to intercept an incoming attack. Any damage or effects that would have been suffered by the ornithopter’s creator is taken by the ornithopter instead as if they were the target of the attack.