Books are at the printer. We’re here at the Warrens putting together the rest of the first act after the Tales of the Valiant Player’s Guide and Monster Vault.
Over on the Kobold Press Discord server, the fans have spoken! They want to see more of the mechanist class! The two pages here give you the beginnings of the class and the progression table for all 20 levels. And now, a word from Celeste Conowitch, lead designer of the Player’s Guide!
The first public look at the brand new Tales of the Valiant class—the mechanist!
Before we begin, I want to thank the hundreds of public and internal playtesters who helped make this class an absolute powerhouse. We hope you are as proud of it as we are.
A few things make the mechanist stand out, but here’s one that might not be obvious.
Mechanist is a Martial Class
The mechanist can do a lot of mystical things through its augmentations, but it is not a spellcasting class. It’s not even a half-spellcasting class like the ranger and paladin.
With flexible equipment proficiencies and features like Efficient Action, Multiattack, and Rapid Augment, the mechanist is a damage dealer, suited for melee or ranged combat with weapons.
Fun Fact!
While the mechanist class has phenomenal abilities around the design and construction of objects, the class’s name is primarily due to the first Oxford dictionary definition: a person who believes in the doctrine of mechanism. “Mechanism” is a philosophical belief that the universe functions as a complex machine.
You ALWAYS Have an Item for That
The mechanist’s Shard of Creation feature allows them to make any nonmagical item instantly. Some folks may read that on a page and go. “So?” I assure you anyone who has ever loved MacGyver, Inspector Gadget, Batman, or Full Metal Alchemist will consider this feature the “it” thing for this class.
Even the most basic version of the feature that unlocks at 1st level allows a mechanist to expend a charge to transform their shard into any weapon, shield, or object of Medium size. That means:
- Wake up in a cell without your equipment? No worries. Your shard can become the sword, the crowbar, or whatever you need to enact your clever escape plan.
- Need to lasso a runaway bandit, but your companions forgot to buy more rope? Who cares? You can always make rope instantly.
- Companions being picked off one by one by a squadron of archers? All good. Make a barrier and provide the gang with some cover.
The creative uses are truly endless. And the possibilities only get more delightful as the shard gets more powerful at higher mechanist levels!
I love this! I’ve been wanting a Fullmetal Alchemist-inspired class for years, and the D$D Artificer was a bit of a disappointment. But the ToV Mechanist looks great! Can’t wait to get my hands on my limited edition Player’s Guide.
😍🦾👏⚗️