Hello people, I took quite a bit, but there is a poll on my FanFiction profile for the next class featured in 'Tabletops with Tyrants'. I know I know, I did things backwards, but I wanted to get this chapter out.

Without further ado, let's begin.

"I AM IRONMAN."

- Ozzy Osbourne, 'Iron Man' (from the Black Sabbath album 'Paranoid')

"There was once a tale of a woman known as Trichani, who did everything in her power to help those who were in despair. Due to an unforeseen manipulation, she had been sent forward in time to a wasteland where several buildings were in ruins, these buildings being all too familiar to her. In her voyage among the ruins, she had undergone a transformation that left her with an appearance that upon returning to her time, was received with suspicion and persecution. As a response to being treated as an outcast, she went on to butcher those she once saved. Having been imprisoned by God, she had been baptized as Trihexa, unaware that she made way for the wasteland she had seen in her accidental time travel."

Tabletops with Tyrants Session 4

The scene is a well-furnished bar, the title on the outside stating the location's name being '12 Bruise Bar' (1). In it was a raven-haired woman, who made her way to a table in the back of the establishment, an array of beverages on a tray she held with both hands. Once she left the beverages at said table, she made her way out of the establishment, being careful with the camera that was propped in front of the table.

"Welcome to Tabletops and Tyrants, I am your host Issei Hyoudou, and we have a bit of a special episode today. We are not in our usual location but this time, recorded this in a bar given the guests. Speaking of, our first guest, who has found the equation and broke down the factors of reality itself with his own formula, father of the Rating Games and Evil Pieces, Ajuka Beelzebu-" the brunette host said, his voice cutting off as he seemed to have lost his voice, a quick array of ones and zeroes appearing next to him. In their place was a green-haired man with a stern look.

"Do be careful, Issei, I could split you like Oppenheimer did 2 and 3 from 5 (2)."

"Duly noted. Also, Sektor called, he wants his warp back. Our second guest,with a goatee as splendid as his knowledge in games, alcohol and Sacred Gears is none other than the head honcho of the Grigori, Azazel," he said, his second guest walking in, his blonde and black hair also visible as a goatee. Unlike the other guest, this one was more laid back, walking in with a bottle and setting it on the table.

"Hehehe, would that make Sirzech Cyrax?" Azazel added, hi-fiving Issei. "'Sup kid?"

"Nothing much, Azazel. Shall we begin?" the brunette asked, watching as the screen went from a man in red and gold armor to several beings with skin-tight armor that came in multiple colors.

"Begin we shall," Ajuka answered, conjuring a sapphire. "The artificer uses tools to unlock or infuse objects with an array of properties. While they do not master magic as seen with Wizards and Sorcerers, they are known for their tenacity and aspects of invention. We start with Magical Tinkering at Level 1, granting one of four properties to an item. These properties can be either a light, a recorded message, an odor or nonverbal sound, and finally, a static visual effect, these four options having their limitations. You can infuse a number of these items with these properties equal to your Intelligence modifier, the minimum being one and the maximum being five items."

"The fine-print is that these items must be tiny and non-magical, and you must have thieves' tools or artisan's tools in hand," Azazel said, chuckling. "But hey, they did learn a little something from a show who kills side characters faster than a reboot: its spellcasting style. For spellcasting, you can use thieves' tools or a type of artisan's tools to cast as the spellcasting focus. By that logic, you can use a tankard, a spatula, a teapot, so on and so forth as a focus. Much like the other focus cases, it will not cover cases that have a monetary request or items consumed by the spell, but it may vary, for all we know your spatula has a diamond incrusted in it worth 5000 gold coins, so consult your Dungeon Master," Azazel added, taking a sip from his beverage. "I'll have a gin and juice (3), grape please," Azazel said, as a waitress nodded and wandered off.

"To that category, imagine RWBY or one of those shows, but better-explained... I think. And less edgy weapons. I mean come on, how many OCs do you see with a sword and shotgun, or twin revolvers or something?"

"Fair enough..." Ajuka said, scrumpling a piece of paper and quickly disposing of it while no one was looking. While this occurred, the waitress returned with Azazel's drink. "Excuse me, for a person that does not drink alcohol as often, what beverage do you advise?"

"A long drink (4), sir. While the same amount of alcohol as a shot, the long drink in itself is a diluted concentration. May I suggest a Tequila Sunrise (5)? Those are quite popular with tourists."

"I will take your word for it," the Satan replied, as he awaited his drink, the waitress seeing this as a sign to leave the table.

"As a reminder, your Spell modifiers and Save DCs will be based on Intelligence, and you have the ability to cast spells as Rituals if they appear as a Ritual, consult your DM on the amount of time needed for said Ritual if cast as such," the brunette commented. "Spellcasting aside, let's get to what makes the Artificer unique and somewhat busted. At level 2, you gain the Infuse Item trait, which lets you infuse mundane items with special traits. These go a long way, starting with four known infusions that can be used on a maximum of two items. These will go up as time passes, but the amount of infusions known will always be twice the amount of items you can infuse, capping at 12 infusions known, and 6 items max that can be infused. Also, you can change an infusion whenever your Artificer level goes up."

"Level 3 is the level to pick your subclass, which we will talk about later. It is also the level for 'Right Tools for the Job', which lets you magically create a set of Artisan's Tools if you have a set of Thieves' Tools or Artisan's Tools on hand, and said magical set will appear five feet away from you in an unoccupied space. This takes an hour of uninterrupted work, but it can be during a short or long rest. Despite the nature of the tools being magical, they are in no way, shape or form magical... " Ajuka said. "And yes, I too would like to use a ring or belt buckle as a casting item."

"Planeteer and Super Sentai fantasies aside, Ability Score Improvements are the standard Level 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19. REMEMBER: consult the Spellcasting table, as all casters can be somewhat different, especially with multiclassing!" Azazel said, watching the Maou enjoy his beverage. "As another tidbit, Level 6 offers 'Tool of Expertise', which as it implies, doubles the proficiency the Artificer has when it comes to ability checks involving a tool."

"We will be right back after these messages," the young Hyoudou said.

"In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them...maybe you can hire The A-Team."

"Well, that was weird," Ajuka said, looking at the ad.

"Big time," Issei replied. "Azazel, take it to the bridge."

"Oh... anyways. Level 7 has a snazzy ability called 'Flash of Genius', which as a reaction lets you add your Intelligence modifier to an ability check or saving throw if it is on you or a creature you see within 30 feet of you. This can be used up to your Intelligence modifier, which given multiclass rules, is between 1 and 5 per long rest."

"Brutal," Ajuka commented. "At Level 10, you earn the 'Magical Item Adept' trait, which lets you attune up to four magic items at once. As a reminder, you gain a maximum amount of attuned items every four Artificer levels, and two known infusions on the same interval. Basically, 2 infused items at level 2, 3 at level 6, 4 at level 10, so on and so forth until level 18. The other trait of Magic Item Adept is that when crafting a common or uncommon magic item, you consume a quarter of the time needed, and just need half the gold used on average. If that isn't cool, I don't know what is, except the Ar-"

"No need to get ahead of ourselves, Bumble-Beelze," Azazel cackled.

"Thank you, Azazel. Level 11 artificers can store spells in objects thanks to 'Spell-Storing Item'. The condition is that it must be a simple/martial weapon or item that can be used as a casting focus. Aside from that, it must be a 1st-level or 2nd-level and require 1 action to cast. Flip side? Despite being subjected to concentration if the spell demands it, the spell doesn't have to be one you prepared as long as it's in the Artificer list. Also, the spell stays in the object until used a number of times equal to double your INT modifier, so imagine how many Cure Wounds you could do with that."

"Inivisibility is a decent choice, but up to each Artificer. Level 14 is where things go off the rails with 'Magic Item Savant'. Aside from your limit of maximum infused items now becoming five, you just say no to class, race, spell and level requirements when you attune and/or use a magical item. And if that's not enough, your 'Magic Item Master' aspect caps the maximum amount of infused items at six." The sneaky Fallen said.

"Thank you for that, Azazel. To wrap up the core Artificer features, Level 20 is the epitome of Artificer's mastery with 'Soul of Artifice'. First, you gain a +1 to all saving throws per magic item you are attuned to, so we are talking about a +6 max, a cut above the Monk's tricks. There is one more piece of fine-print, as if you are reduced to 0 HP but not killed on the spot, you can use your reaction to end an infusion, causing your HP to drop to 1 instead," Ajuka said, bringing out a toy model.

"Ajuka, what is that?" Issei asked, as the devil also brought out a character sheet.

"My Magna Defender experience, why do you ask? I made an Armorer and all. It's a front-liner that can go ahead and fight alongside the Fighters, Paladins and Barbarians. Sure, it's great since you can build Iron Man as well, but I'm sure you can build something else."

"I'll drink to that, Ajuka. Hell, I'll drink to anything. While the Alchemist is a mix of solid mechanics and decent flavor, I'm leaning towards the Artillerist, because I just want a shoulder cannon like the Predator, or recreate the Doom Eternal experience. Besides, mooching off my wizard friend's casting options to make my own? Amazing."

"My favorite has to be the Battle Smith due to flavoring and how you are a frontline mesh of healing and extra damage. Think of Megamind, maybe a more flexible TF2 Engineer, my mind's blank right now. But I know what you're thinking: what about the infusions? There are 16 excluding U.A., and let me put it like this..."

When it comes to Armor of Magical Strength

I'd keep this infusion at an arm's length,

Against Enhanced Arcane Focus what's Athletics gonna do

since at Level 10 it gives spell attack rolls a plus 2?

Don't worry man

I don't mean no offense,

especially since a +2 in armor's

great from Enhanced Defense.

A little boost to your martials

is great thanks to Enhanced Weapon,

And is just as great as the familiar

known as Homunculus Servant.

Involving the upcoming infusion some Artificers darken

but it's great for rainy days I speak of keeping your mind sharpened,

I was referring to Mind Sharpener, next one's comin' in hot

Magna Defender rocks to the beat known as Repeating Shot!

Ruby's at the forge 'cause Magna's arrows are gonna bite 'em

since the best Level 1 is Replicate Magic item,

Enhanced Weapon is for Captain Boomerang and rebels

and those are just the infusions available at the second level.

"Was that necessary, Issei?" Ajuka asked.

"Nah, just needed to vent, I suck at rapping," Issei said. "Besides, while several infusions are situational, most are solid and go for whatever build you need, just tied to certain items rather than subclasses, so it's fairly flexible. With this said, I want to thank you two once again for coming in today, and also 12 Bruise Bar for hosting us tonight. With this said..." he said, only for the table to be pushed forward by the Fallen as both Devil and Fallen each grabbed Issei by a wrist and raised him, the three saying the following:

"THANK YOU FOR PLAYING TABLETOPS WITH TYRANTS!"

...

"Hey Ajuka, I think your figurine fell."

"It's okay, I can cast... Mending."

A round of laughter began, and with it, the feed was cut off.

And that's all for tonight, I really wanted to get this done, I apologize for the Writer's Block, do expect the next chapter in the next few days. And now, Azrael's notes:

(1) A reference to '12 Bar Bruise', a studio album by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

(2) A reference to ERB's 'Thanos vs. J. Robert Oppenheimer', which in itself references Uranium-235 during a nuclear reaction.

(3) Gin and juice, an alcoholic beverage consisting on gin and a fruity juice: orange, mango, pineapple or apple are usually for those who prefer a sweeter variant, while cranberry or grapefruit are used for those who want a bitter variant.

(4) As stated earlier, short drinks (also known as shots or shooters) are served in shot glasses and are stronger (mainly alcohol with little to no other ingredients). As for the long drinks, they will be served in a tall glass, yet estimated to contain the same amount of alcohol a shot does, but can be enjoyed between sips, the concentration more diluted given the amount of liquid involved.

(5) A Tequila Sunrise is commonly prepared as a long drink, with an estimate 3/10 tequila, 6/10 orange juice (these two liquids poured first into glass over ice), and 1/10 of grenadine syrup (poured last, stirred in gently to recreate the sunrise effect). NOTE: While the common variant was made between 1970 and 1972, the original recipe was made in the 1930's or 1940's.

Once again, thanks for reading, feedback and suggestions are welcome, and have a safe day.