3rd-level Soul-Smith feature
Soul-Smiths are artificers who have embraced one of the darkest arts of the post-Unveiling world: crafting with crystallized souls. In Domains like Dathmor, where souls are currency, Soul-Smiths are highly valued—and deeply feared. They create items of terrible power, each one fueled by the essence of a sapient being.
Tool Proficiency
When you adopt this specialization at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with jeweler's tools. If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan's tools of your choice.
Soul-Smith Spells
Starting at 3rd level, you always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Soul-Smith Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don't count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.
| Artificer Level | Spell |
|---|---|
| 3rd | detect evil and good, inflict wounds |
| 5th | gentle repose, spiritual weapon |
| 9th | animate dead, speak with dead |
| 13th | death ward, fabricate |
| 17th | raise dead, reincarnate |
Soul Gem Crafting
At 3rd level, you learn to create crude soul gems. During a long rest, you can create a number of minor soul gems equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). These gems are empty and must be filled to be useful.
As an action, you can fill a minor soul gem by drawing power from a creature that died within the last minute within 30 feet of you. The gem absorbs a fragment of the creature's departing soul. The soul is not destroyed or trapped—only a small portion of its essence is captured.
A filled minor soul gem can be used in the following ways:
- Power Source: When you cast an artificer spell of 1st level, you can use a filled minor soul gem instead of a spell slot.
- Infusion Fuel: When you apply an artificer infusion to an item, you can consume a filled minor soul gem to extend the infusion's duration until your next long rest (instead of it ending when you finish your next long rest).
- Emergency Power: As a bonus action, you can crush a filled minor soul gem to regain hit points equal to 1d8 + your Intelligence modifier.
Soulbound Servant
At 5th level, you can create a construct powered by soul energy. Over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short or long rest, you can create a soulbound homunculus if you have tinker's tools with you and at least one filled soul gem (minor or greater).
The homunculus uses the statistics of a homunculus servant (as per the Artificer's Infused Items feature), but it has a glimmer of personality from the soul fragment that powers it. The DM chooses or randomly determines minor personality traits from the soul used.
If your soulbound homunculus is destroyed, you can create a new one using this feature. The soul fragment is released harmlessly when the homunculus is destroyed.
Greater Soul Gems
At 9th level, you've mastered the creation of more powerful soul gems. You can now create greater soul gems during a long rest (up to your Intelligence modifier). Greater soul gems work like minor soul gems, but:
- They can store a spell of up to 3rd level.
- When used for Emergency Power, they restore 3d8 + your Intelligence modifier hit points.
- They can be used as the material component for more powerful crafting.
Soul Weaving
At 15th level, you can weave soul energy into permanent creations. You can cast create undead once without expending a spell slot, but the undead created are constructs rather than undead (they retain construct immunities and don't have undead vulnerabilities). They have metallic or crystalline elements fused with their flesh, and they are loyal to you. You regain the ability to cast create undead in this way when you finish a long rest.
Additionally, you can spend 8 hours and consume three filled greater soul gems to create a permanent magic item of uncommon rarity. The item must be one you could normally create with your Infuse Item feature. Work with your DM to determine what items are appropriate.