IC Exclusive: Homunculus Servants (Patreon)

The latest dragonmark takes a look at familiars, homunculi, and animal companions, and in it I promised to share a table with some ideas for homunculus servants. 

The basic idea of a homunculus servant is that it is personally constructed by the artificer and that as a result, each one is unique. A few things to consider when dealing with homunculus servants: 

• They can understand speech but cannot speak. 
• The default homunculus servant can fly. This may be tied to wings, or it could levitate.
• A homunculus servant can attack by producing a force blast, or use Channel Magic to channel a spell effect cast by its creator. The Channel Magic/Force Blast column of the table suggests what this might look like. This is purely cosmetic; a tiny warforged homunculus may "perform artifice"—meaning it replicates your actions with its own tiny tools—but it can't actually create spell effects on its own (except for force blast). 
• The servants described here are intentionally generic, but consider the tools and specialty of the artificer when creating their homunculus. An alchemist who uses magical thinking and cooking utensils might create their tiny dragon out of gingerbread instead of copper! 

These are just a few ideas, and the DM and player can also work together to develop alternate mechanics for different forms of homunculus servants. The default servant can fly, but if an artificer came to be wanting to design a steel spider that had a climb speed instead of a flight speed, I'd probably allow it.

The two columns are intended to go together, but if you wish you can roll separately; perhaps the alchemist's clockwork owl drops potion "ink" on its enemies instead of spitting a spell effect! I should also note that "clockwork" is still generally magical in function, but reflects a more delicate and elegant design than the copper dragon or steel maniticore. 

Threshold Patrons: Three-Widow Jane's story has begun on the new "Story" channel in the Threshold Discord. Drop by to help choose the path of the story! There will be a Threshold post tomorrow announcing the casting challenge.

Thanks for your support!