A gobber stands behind a warjack, whacking it with a wrench and yelling "I don't have time to take you apart, so you're just going to have to start working now." He gives it a particularly solid blow with the wrench, and its eyes light up.
A grime-covered human, barely large enough to be an adult, sits in her workshop, surrounded by parts which practically leap into her hands as she puts them together.
A dwarf carefully chisels additional runes into a warjack, muttering about the stability of a magical field.
Where there are mechanika or simpler machines to be maintained, there are probably engineers maintaining them. They spend their days elbow-deep in machinery, and are united in a passionate love for getting machines to do things, regardless of their preferred approach.
Engineers are specialists in the creation and maintenance of machines, including mechanika.
To create a an Engineer, put your best stat in Intelligence, your second-best in Dexterity, and take the Steamwright background.
Level |
Proficiency Bonus |
Repair Pool |
Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | 1d8 | Repair Specialist, Tool Use |
| 2nd | +2 | 2d8 | Technical Jargon, Aid and Comfort |
| 3rd | +2 | 3d8 | Engineering School |
| 4th | +2 | 4d8 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 5th | +3 | 5d8 | Extra Attack, Engineering School Feature, Sabotage |
| 6th | +3 | 6d8 | Focused Expertise |
| 7th | +3 | 7d8 | Engineering School Feature |
| 8th | +3 | 8d8 | Magical Mending, Ability Score Improvement |
| 9th | +4 | 9d8 | Mechanikal Expertise |
| 10th | +4 | 10d8 | Use Magic Device |
| 11th | +4 | 11d8 | Engineering School Feature |
| 12th | +4 | 12d8 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 13th | +5 | 13d8 | Engineering School Feature |
| 14th | +5 | 14d8 | Improved Repair |
| 15th | +5 | 15d8 | Engineering School Feature |
| 16th | +5 | 16d8 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 17th | +6 | 17d8 | Engineering School Feature |
| 18th | +6 | 18d8 | Ongoing Repair |
| 19th | +6 | 19d8 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 20th | +6 | 20d8 | Engineering School Feature |
As an engineer, you gain the following class features.
Hit Dice: 1d8 per engineer level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per engineer level after 1st
Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Simple weapons, steamwright's tools
Tools: Steamwright's tools
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence
Skills: Choose three from Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, Investigation, Sleight of Hand
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
mechanik's tools
leather armor
Starting at 1st level, you can repair mechanika, machines, and warjacks. You get a pool of repair dice, equal to 1d8 per engineer level. These dice can be used to repair machines, mechanika, and warjacks during a short rest. After a long rest, you regain your full repair pool.
Starting at 1st level, you are proficient in the use of mechanik's tools as weapons. You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls with tools.
By 2nd level, you have learned the dense technical jargon used by engineers to communicate. When talking with any engineer with whom you share a language, you can exchange information about constructs and mechanikal devices in half the time it would take to communicate such things normally. This is impenetrable jargon to anyone who has not learned it, either from training as an engineer or by adding it as a known language.
When you reach 2nd level, you can take the Help action as a bonus action on each of your turns. When using this to grant advantage on ability checks, the check must use a tool or skill that would let you add your proficiency bonus.
When you reach 3rd level, you select an engineering school reflecting your focus and specialization within the field. This grants you additional class features at 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 20th levels.
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score by 2, or two ability scores by 1, to a maximum of 20.
At 5th level, you can make two attacks when you take the Attack action on your turn.
Starting at 5th level, you can sabotage constructs, mechanical and mechanikal devices, or warjacks. When repairing something using your repair pool, you can choose to sabotage it. When you sabotage a device, you roll your repair dice (adding your proficiency modifier), and do that much damage to the device, but grant it twice that many temporary hit points. You decide whether the temporary hit points last one hour, until the end of your next short rest, or until the end of your next long rest. Only an engineer of your level or higher can tell that the repairs are not what they seem.
By 6th level, your mastery of skills and tools produces exceptional results. If your proficiency modifier would apply to a check both because of the tools used and because of the skill used, your proficiency bonus is doubled for that check.
At 8th level you learn the mending cantrip if you do not already know it. This does not count against your spells known for any class.
Starting at 9th level, when making any skill or ability check to identify, understand, repair, or disable a construct, trap, or mechanikal device, you treat any roll of 9 or lower as a 10.
Engineers are skilled in the use and maintenance of magical and mechanikal devices, and can use them regardless of restrictions on class or race beginning at 10th level.
Beginning at 14th level, when you use dice from your repair pool during a short rest, you add your proficiency bonus to each die to determine total healing.
After any short rest, if you have fewer than four dice in your repair pool, you regain repair dice to bring your pool back up to four.
While engineers generally start out as casual tinkers, with time they develop a more philosophical approach to their work, adhering to one of the engineering schools of thought about machine maintenance. The school is selected at 3rd level.
The school of hard knocks focuses on immediate maintenance, with a specialty of whacking things until they start working. Mechanika not working yet? You probably need a bigger hammer, or a bigger bodger. The bodger's specialty is getting it to work, now. It might not work again tomorrow, it might not work as well as it used to, but when you need it working within five minutes, the bodger is your best bet.
Starting at 3rd level, a bodger can whack things until they start working. As an action, you can make a melee attack on a construct, mechanika, or warjack with any tool. If the attack hits, you subtract (instead of adding) your Dexterity modifier from the damage total, and also subtract your proficiency bonus from the damage total. If the damage total becomes negative, it turns into temporary hit points, which last until the next time the device (or the device's owner) takes a short rest. If your weapon is magical, its bonus is subtracted from damage when using this power.
When you have access to raw metal or scrap parts, you can craft improvised tools for working with mechanika or devices. This takes one minute.
You may add your proficiency bonus to all damage rolls against constructs, warjacks, and mechanikal devices.
Starting at 11th level, you can use the Percussive Maintenance ability at a range of up to 30 feet by throwing a wrench or hammer at a target as an action. You must finish a short rest before you can use this feature again.
At 13th level, you can use one die from your repair pool when using the Percussive Maintenance ability. This healing applies even if the attack misses.
At 15th level, you have learned to whack creatures upside the head to clear or muddy their senses. As an action, you can make a melee attack against a creature with any tool. If the attack hits, it deals no damage, but you can choose to give the creature advantage, or disadvantage, on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws and ability checks for one minute. If you give the creature advantage on these saving throws, and it is affected by any ongoing effect which could be ended by such a saving throw, it can use its reaction make a saving throw to end the effect. If it is affected by more than one such effect, it can choose which one to try to end.
Beginning at 17th level, you can use the Percussive Maintenance ability as a bonus action on your turn.
At 20th level, your Percussive Maintenance ability can do healing rather than granting temporary hit points.
The school of arcana focuses more specifically on the hybrid of magic and mechanical function, and students of this school are called arcane mechaniks.
Starting at 3rd level, you can maintain attunements for mechanika, allowing yourself or other people to use them. When you take a long rest, you pick a number of mechanika up to your proficiency bonus. These mechanika are considered "charged" for 24 hours, and function as attuned for any wielder during that time. These attunements do not count towards your personal limit of three attuned magic items.
Once per short rest, without needing an action, you can give yourself advantage on any skill check you are proficient with.
Beginning at 7th level, you can charge one mechanikal device during a short rest, making it effectively "attuned" for any user until your next long rest. You must complete a long rest before you can use this feature again. This usage is still subject to your normal limit on providing charges for mechanikal devices.
Beginning at 11th level, you can attune items temporarily. As an action, you can charge one mechanikal device, allowing yourself or anyone else to use it as though it were attuned. This attunement lasts for one minute. You must complete a short rest before using this power again.
As an action, you can use one die from your repair pool to repair a mechanikal device, construct, or warjack. You can add your proficiency bonus to the roll.
At 15th level, your ability to charge mechanikal items has improved and no longer requires constant reapplication. While you live, items you have charged remain charged without the need for daily reattunement. During a long rest, you can pick new items to attune, and items you do not wish to continue maintaining lose their attunement.
As a bonus action on your turn, discharge a mechanikal device you have charged during a short or long rest, ending its attunement. You or a creature you can see gain one of the following benefits until the start of your next turn:
Advantage on all attack rolls.
3d6 of healing. Add your proficiency bonus to the roll.
Advantage on all saving throws.
At 20th level, any item you personally wield in your hands is considered attuned to you while you wield it. This does not count against any limits on attuned items. You cannot use this attunement with the Discharge ability.
Students of the school of design are focused on the development of new devices, but have significant ability to maintain and alter devices already built by others. To pursue this research, they develop the ability to run "prototypes", which function like mechanika, but do not need normal attunement. However, they will not function for anyone but their creator.
When you select this school at 3rd level, you gain the ability to maintain mechanika of your own design. Your first project is a functional prototype which is effectively a mechanikal familiar. You learn the find familiar spell and can cast it as a ritual. The spell doesn't count against any limits on spells known. Your familiar, which is called your "functional prototype", may take one of the normal forms allowed by the spell.
Your functional prototype differs from the standard familiars in that whatever form it takes, it is actually a construct (rather than a beast, celestial, fey, or fiend). If your functional protoytype is reduced to zero hit points, it is destroyed, and you must remake it (by casting the spell again.)
Your functional prototype's hit point maximum equals its normal maximum or three times your engineer level, whichever is higher.
During each short rest, or when you summon your functional prototype, pick a skill with which you have proficiency. Your functional prototype has proficiency in that skill, and is treated as having suitable tools for it.
Your functional prototype may take one of the following additional forms: imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite.
At 7th level, you have learned to add functionality to your prototype. During a long rest, you can attune a mechanikal device to your functional prototype. The device then functions normally as an attuned item for either you or your functional prototype, but does not count against your normal limit of attuned items. However, if your functional prototype is destroyed, the item also ceases to be attuned.
Starting at 11th level, your functional prototype gains your proficiency bonus to armor class and all saving throws. Also, your functional prototype can take the Attack action. When your functional prototype is not attuned to any mechanikal devices, it also gains your proficiency bonus to attack and damage rolls.
Starting at 13th level, your functional prototype has advantage on all saving throws.
Beginning at 15th level, when your functional prototype is damaged but has any hit points remaining, it regains five hit points on each of its turns. If it is reduced to zero hit points, your functional prototype is not immediately destroyed. Instead, it is incapacitated. As an action, if you are within five feet of it, you can restore it to one hit point. If it remains incapacitated for a minute, it is destroyed. Also, you can now keep two mechanikal devices attuned to your functional prototype.
Beginning at 17th level, your functional prototype is proficient in every skill you are proficient in.
When you reach 20th level, you can maintain additional prototypes in reserve, ready to be activated as needed. As an action, you can cast find familiar to replace your existing prototype. The replacement can start out attuned to up to two mechanikal devices. You must finish a short rest before using this feature again.