#0017

Skitter

"The Accidental Savior"

Goblin Artificer (Artillerist) CG Lvl 5 Guild Artisan (Tinkerer)

Male, he/him · Young Adult, 14 years

Ability Scores

STR

-1

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Combat

Armor Class: 15; Studded Leather Armor (12) + DEX mod (+3)
Hit Points: 33; Hit Dice: 5d8
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft.
Proficiency: +3
Passive Perception: 13

Attacks

Repeating Shot Handaxe (+1)+71d6+4 slashing

The Spitter (Force Ballista)+72d8+4 force

Personality

Skitter speaks in rapid-fire bursts, frequently interrupting himself to add technical details no one asked for, his voice pitched high with excitement. He has a habit of adjusting his perpetually soot-stained goggles whenever he's nervous, which is often, and he pats his creations the way others might pet a beloved dog, murmuring encouragement to inanimate objects. When someone expresses doubt, he doesn't get defensive — he gets MORE enthusiastic, launching into breathless demonstrations that usually end with something smoking.

Ideal

Innovation — "Progress isn't about being safe, it's about being BETTER! Sure, the prototype might explode, but version seven? Version seven is gonna change EVERYTHING!"

Bond

The rusted gear from his first 'successful' invention, which he wears on a leather cord around his neck; he touches it when he needs courage, believing it holds the spark of his greatest triumph.

Flaw

Skitter cannot accept that his inventions might be fundamentally flawed; he interprets every malfunction as 'user error' or 'environmental interference,' and this willful blindness means he rarely learns from his mistakes, repeating the same catastrophic errors with renewed confidence.

Backstory

Skitter was born in the ruins of an old human foundry, a place his goblin clan had turned into a ramshackle warren of scavenged shelters and desperate lives. While other goblins honed their knack for ambushes and petty theft, Skitter became obsessed with the rusted gears and broken machines littering their home. He spent nights dismantling ancient contraptions by flickering torchlight, reassembling them into… well, no one was quite sure what. His clanmates tolerated his 'hobby' until the Day of the Beast — when a monstrous creature, drawn by the scent of easy prey, descended upon the settlement. As goblins scattered like roaches, Skitter, in a moment of pure panic, activated a cluster of his cobbled-together alarm bells. The resulting cacophony wasn't melodic; it was industrial, deafening, and accompanied by a spectacular cascade of sparks when the whole contraption overloaded and exploded. The beast, startled by the sensory assault, fled. Three huts didn't. Skitter stood in the smoking crater, goggles askew, and saw not destruction but destiny. His clan's grudging gratitude became his validation; he was a protector now, just… an explosive one.

Since that day, Skitter has dedicated himself to 'improving' the lives of the downtrodden through invention. He's left a trail of singed eyebrows, collapsed structures, and baffled magistrates across several towns. He genuinely cannot understand why people flee when he offers to 'optimize' their plumbing or 'enhance' their security systems. His latest venture is a market stall in a bustling trade city, where he hawks his creations to anyone brave (or foolish) enough to listen. The city guard has a file on him thicker than most wanted posters, but his intentions are so pure, his enthusiasm so infectious, that they mostly just… sigh heavily and prepare the fire brigade. Skitter dreams of the day someone recognizes his genius without immediately checking their insurance. He keeps a small, scorched piece of metal from that first explosion in his toolkit — a reminder that sometimes, the best solutions are the ones nobody sees coming.

What haunts Skitter isn't guilt over the collateral damage; it's the gnawing fear that maybe, just maybe, his inventions don't actually work the way he thinks they do. He buries this doubt under manic tinkering and increasingly elaborate explanations of his 'design philosophy,' but it surfaces in quiet moments when he's alone with his tools, wondering if the next explosion will finally be the one that hurts someone he's trying to help.

Abilities & Actions

The Spitter (Arcane Firearm) — Eldritch Cannon

As an action, Skitter deploys or activates his custom-built Arcane Cannon, 'The Spitter,' a chaotic assemblage of scrap metal, enchanted gears, and questionable plumbing. The cannon is a Tiny object with AC 18, HP 15, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. On Skitter's turn (bonus action), the cannon unleashes a Force Ballista: ranged spell attack, +7 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 2d8+4 force damage, and if the target is a creature, it is pushed 5 feet away. The cannon makes this attack even if Skitter is incapacitated. The cannon lasts for 1 hour, after which it falls apart in a shower of sparks and requires Skitter to spend a spell slot to recreate it (1/day without expending a slot). The Spitter emits a constant high-pitched whine and occasionally releases a puff of colored smoke, making stealth impossible within 30 feet of it.

Catastrophic Ingenuity (3/day)

When Skitter or an ally within 30 feet that he can see fails a saving throw or misses an attack roll, Skitter can use his reaction to overcharge a nearby gadget, creating a localized 'controlled' explosion. The triggering creature can reroll the d20, but all creatures within 10 feet of Skitter (including Skitter) take 1d6 fire damage as gears, springs, and alchemical reagents detonate. Skitter views this as a perfectly acceptable trade-off. This ability references his pivotal 'success' — turning chaos into opportunity, no matter the collateral cost.

Emergency Repairs

As a bonus action, Skitter can touch one construct (including his Eldritch Cannon) or object and restore 2d8+4 hit points to it, using a combination of spare parts, wire, and aggressive percussive maintenance. This ability uses one of his spell slots (1st level or higher; healing increases by 1d8 per slot level above 1st). Alternatively, he can use it on a willing creature wearing metal armor, though they must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 fire damage from hot rivets and sparking welding as a 'minor side effect.'

Infused Item: Repeating Shot Handaxe

Skitter has infused a handaxe with the Repeating Shot infusion. The weapon gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls, ignores the loading property (if applicable), and magically generates its own ammunition (or returns when thrown), never running out. Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6+2 slashing damage. The axe hums faintly and occasionally spits a small cog or gear fragment when thrown.

Arcane Jolt (2/day)

When Skitter hits a creature with a magic weapon attack (like his Repeating Shot Handaxe) or his Eldritch Cannon hits with its Force Ballista, he can channel magical energy through the strike. He chooses one: the target takes an extra 2d6 force damage, OR Skitter or an ally within 30 feet regains 2d6 hit points as arcane energy arcs out to knit wounds (with minor burns). The energy crackles with barely contained power, and Skitter always whispers 'Calculated!' when using this, despite the randomness.

DM Notes

Skitter's voice is high, nasal, and peppered with goblin curses repurposed as technical jargon ('Mag-damned flux capacitor!'). When nervous, he giggles — not a sinister cackle, but an almost childlike titter that makes him seem harmless right before something explodes. His signature gesture is the 'trust me' double-thumbs-up, goggles slightly askew, usually delivered seconds before a device malfunctions spectacularly.

Reactions: INTIMIDATION — Skitter doesn't process threats well; he assumes you're impressed and starts explaining his latest project faster. He might offer to 'upgrade' the intimidator's weapon, genuinely missing the hostility. PERSUASION — He's surprisingly susceptible if you frame requests as 'collaboration' or 'testing opportunities.' Flattery about his genius makes him almost pliable. DECEPTION — Skitter is gullible about anything technical ('You need a device that turns invisible? I can TOTALLY do that!') but surprisingly shrewd about people trying to steal his work; he's been burned before.

Deal-breaker: Harm someone under his protection, especially the weak or outcast. Skitter will throw every explosive, half-finished, dangerously unstable invention he has at you, consequences be damned. Beneath the manic energy is a fierce, protective heart.

Sample dialogue: "Oh, you want something SAFE? Safe is BORING! Safe is what cowards make! This — *taps The Spitter, which immediately sparks* — this is INNOVATION! Sure, prototype three took out a wall, but did you SEE how far that wall went? Structural limitations, my friend, not design flaws! Now, you want the deluxe package or the 'I value my extremities' discount model?"