In the countless updates the Dungeons and Dragons team has implemented on their proprietary tool DnDBeyond, one class has been entirely neglected, much to the chagrin of players and their Dungeon Masters (DMs). This would be the lowly Artificer, which continues to have access to all 2014 spells and features, but cannot prepare or learn spells from the 2024 material. Perhaps the most frustrating part of this is that most subclasses and even the 3rd-party class Bloodhunter have already been given access to this basic and necessary feature. Thankfully, a fix has been identified!
Why Does it Matter?
The 2024 versions of most Artificer spells have been reworked, often completely changing how those spells function. In a recent game, I realized my party’s Artificer was using the 2014 version of Mirror Image which is considerably more cumbersome in comparison to its 2024 version. After a short discussion, it became clear that his healing spells were the 2014 version, meaning they were offering half of the healing I accounted for in the game. For the rest of the night, we looked up the 2024 versions of the spells as needed, but this was extra work for everyone, because it meant he couldn’t use the character sheet’s damage rolls, healing rolls, or track other features the way I expected. In short, it slowed our game down considerably.
What’s the Fix?
I tried a couple of fixes at first, including adding the 2024 versions of the spells to a homebrew copy of his subclass, but this effectively prepared every possible spell on his list, which was not ideal. We continue to be unable to homebrew an entire class on DnDBeyond, but the new species and backgrounds work differently, and I found the fix in the backgrounds. By creating a homebrew copy of his background (Sage), I was able to add the full legacy Artificer spell list to the spells he can prepare. This took me less than 10 minutes. Thankfully, Artificers can only prepare spells up to level 5, so the spell list is not egregiously long.
Does it Work?
In short, yes. The player is now able to prepare non-legacy versions of his spells, and still has access to spells from more recent releases such as Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything which aren’t yet considered Legacy.
Can I Share the Background?
No, unfortunately. The background is too similar to the default Sage background, so it is not able to be published for public consumption. Also, your artificer may use a different background. The process is not terribly difficult though, so I’ll walk you through it.
Step-by-Step
The first thing you will want to do is identify the background your Artificer is using. Then you will want to navigate via the dropdown menu Game Rules to select Spells. In the first space, add artificer as a filter. There is no need for other filters! This will display every spell available to Artificers, including whether they are Legacy spells.
Next, you will want to open a new tab in your browser, and navigate to the Collections tab and select “Create Background”. Use the new dropdown menu to select the background you want to duplicate. Before you go any further, rename the background to something identifiable, and save the background. Once the page refreshes, scroll down to the modifications section. You will leave most options alone, but you will need to add the Feat that belongs with that Background under Granted Feats. Once that’s in place, go down to the last option to find Additional Spell List.
In this page, you will want to add each of the spells from the Artificer spell list what has a Legacy tag. If you add a spell without the Legacy tag, it will appear multiple times in the spell list, which may be confusing or just cluttered. The spells which lack the Legacy tag include spells from resources such as Xanathar’s Guide to Everything or the Spelljammer set. These spells have no updated version, and should only appear once in any given spell list.
After you have created this custom Background, your Artificer should change their background, and will need to re-select the Wizard spells for their feat. And that’s everything needed to bring your Artificer up to date.
Good to Go
While many players find it concerning that this basic step hasn’t been taken by with folks at WotC, especially since the Blood Hunter does not face such discrimination, I hope this fix helps your players play more smoothly. If you don’t have a copy of the Players Handbook 2024, you can order it now through Amazon. Now get out there and build an airship!
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