Lightning Railgunner

Speed is the name of the game, and the Lightning Railgunner excels at moving across the battlefield to line up the perfect shot, unleashing devastating blasts of lightning from their guns. While they may be heavy-hitting, powerful bolts are expensive, so spend your ammo sparingly. Or don’t and unleash hell.

This subclass is designed for the early Sapirian settings.

Lightning Railgunner Magic

Starting at 3rd level, you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Lightning Railgunner Spells table. The spells count as Artificer spells for you, but don’t count against the number of Artificer spells you know.

Proficiencies

When you take this subclass at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Lightning Firearms and ignore the loading property for them. Additionally, you may use the railgun as a spellcasting focus for lightning-related spells. Shocking Grasp has a range of 10 feet for you when you cast it through your gun.

Run and Gun

Your railgun gains extra static charge when you move. As a bonus action, you may move up to half your move speed and make an attack with your railgun. Any opportunity attacks made against you with this bonus speed are made at disadvantage. If a creature hits you, it takes 1d6 lightning damage as the gun discharges partly. This damage increases to 2d6 at 5th level, 3d6 at 9th level, 4d6 at 15th level, and 5d6 at 20th level.

If you successfully avoid opportunity attacks, you gain an additional bonus to damage equal to the amount you moved total on your turn, divided by 10 (rounded down). You may use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses after a short or long rest.

Magnetic Accelerator

You have found a way to improve the acceleration of the lightning in your gun. Starting at 5th level, you score critical hits with lightning railgun shots and lightning spells cast from your gun on a 19-20. At 18th level, these critical hits do triple damage.

Extra Attack

Starting at 5th level, you can attack twice, rather than once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Forked Bolt

Your mastery of lightning has allowed you to split bolts to nearby targets. Starting at 9th level, when you hit a creature with anything that does lightning damage, additional side bolts arc out at 2 creatures of your choice within 15 ft. They must make a dexterity saving against your spell save DC or take half of the damage of the original lightning damage. At 13th level, you may choose 3 targets within 20 ft, and at 17th level, you may choose 4 targets within 30 ft.

Storm of Lightning

Your proximity to lightning and static electricity has caused some unusual effects. At 15th level, you are resistant to lightning damage, and any lightning damage you deal ignores resistance.

Additionally, you may use an action on your turn to either absorb the lightning in a number of bolts equal to your Constitution Modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus or a lightning cartridge of any size. You act as if you are concentrating on a spell for up to 1 minute, which you can freely end at any time. When your concentration ends, all creatures within a 15 ft radius sphere centered on you (not including you) must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC, taking a number of d6s equal to the bolts absorbed or the damage dice of the cartridge, or half as much on a success. Any lightning damage you take while concentrating before accounting for resistances is added to the damage.

You may do this up to two times per long rest. Attempting to do this a third time or more subjects you to the full damage of the blast, ignoring your resistance.

Lightning Railgun (1702 DR)

This device can harness the power in lightning containers, which are obtained by airship captains during thunderstorms by capturing lightning. The Lightning Railgun makes it easier to aim and shoot these otherwise unwieldy containers. Just open it up, stick a container of any size in, close it, aim, and pull the trigger.

Properties: Ammunition (Range 60/180; Lightning Cannister) Loading, Two-Handed

Containers come in different sizes and prices. The bigger the size, the rarer they are.