Some artifacts are like complex puzzles, intricate devices of eldritch design that hold untold power if only their perplexing mysteries were answered. Some such artifacts are discarded as useless, or are obsessed over for generations. Some come from other times or far-off places whose way of thinking is utterly alien. And some may remain locked forever, their power just outside of tantalizing and perplexing reach. But for those with determination and ingenuity, and perhaps a little luck, true power will be unlocked.
Your artifact is an eldritch riddle, and your power correlates to your ability to decipher its secrets. Your spellcasting ability is Intelligence and you use Intelligence and your Intelligence modifier for the purposes of your spellcasting and your bonded artifact feature.
You’re a long way from really understanding what you’re doing, but with a little work you can temporarily access more magical abilities from your artifact. You may learn a new spell from the wielder spell list you don’t currently know of a level you can cast by spending 1 exertion point or artifact charge and 1 minute’s work tinkering. You lose any spells you learn in this way whenever you finish a short or long rest.
Starting at 6th level, even if you don’t know how to work your artifact you can still press a few buttons and see what happens. As a bonus action you can perform a wild experiment using your artifact, if you do, expend 2 charges and roll 1d8 on the following table to determine the results:
Table: Wild Experiment
| 1d8 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Cascade. Expend 2 more charges and immediately roll twice more on this table (ignore this result if there are fewer than 2 charges remaining). You may resolve each result in any order. |
| 2 | Overload. You and all creatures within 10 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw, and take a number of d6 in force damage equal to your proficiency bonus on a failed save and half as much on a successful one. |
| 3 | Backfire. You are launched 30 feet in a random direction and you and any creature or object you impact take 3d6 bludgeoning damage. |
| 4 | Dud. The combination you entered or the technique you tried yielded nothing other than wasting charges. |
| 5 | Invigorating Power. You feel invigorated. For the next minute, the exertion point cost of any combat maneuvers you perform are reduced by 1 (minimum 1). |
| 6 | Arcane Power. The artifact hums with power. For the next minute, the charge cost of any wielder spells you cast are reduced by 1 (minimum 1). |
| 7 | Unexpected Result. Randomly choose a 1st level wielder spell from the wielder spell list and immediately cast it. You know this randomly chosen 1st level spell until you finish a short or long rest. |
| 8 | Success! You may immediately cast a wielder spell you know of your choice at the highest spell level you have access to without expending any charges. |
Starting at 10th level, you can unlock a plethora of capabilities of your artifact, at least for a while. You may learn a relic art from the relic art list you don’t currently know and meet the prerequisites for by spending 3 exertion points or artifact charges and 1 minute’s work tinkering. You lose any relic arts you learn in this way whenever you finish a short or long rest.
At 14th level you’ve fully grasped the capacity of your bonded artifact and can unleash its power with much greater accuracy. Whenever you roll on the wild experiment table you may increase or reduce the result by up to 2 (minimum 1 and maximum 8).
Starting at 18th level your understanding of your bonded artifact allows you to surpass even its already formidable intended capabilities. When you learn a spell using your enigma tinkering feature, you may select spells from any class spell list, instead of only selecting from the wielderspell list. Spells you learn in this way are treated as wielder spells for you.