This is another request that came my way that I've been putting off for a while. I've never taken more than a cursory glance at Warhammer stuff because I've always found it too grimdark to bother caring about. Nevertheless, I've managed to do two builds for characters from it by now even if I messed up the first one because I missed a rule. This one should be completely by the rules though and it even let me make use of an archetype that I never thought I would. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly. Additionally, for classes that can potentially learn spells however they wish, I'm only going to start including spells that specifically fit what the character does. I'll leave the rest of the selection up to others.
Let's get into the build for Ikit Claw from Warhammer!
IKIT CLAW
CHARACTER Ikit Claw
SOURCE Warhammer
GOALS
o Ikit is a skaven, a rat-like humanoid, and a warlock-engineer, melding mastery of machinery and magic to devastating effects
o He wields a halberd from which he casts magic and is referred to as Storm Daemon while he wears protective armor called the Iron Frame that enhances his physical ability
o He has traveled the world in search of knowledge, studying and stealing secrets from all manner of people
o One of the primary weapons wielded by Ikit Claw is the doomrocket, an immensely powerful explosive with effects akin to a nuke
o The source of much of Ikit’s power is his Forbidden Workshop, where he modifies his allies and builds horrific devices
o His spells can conjure fiery blasts and hails of dark blades. Other notable skaven spells of ruin are Warp Lightning (streaking bolts of lightning), Howling Warpgale (to summon whirlwinds), Death Frenzy (send allies into a feral rage), and other spells to manipulate the elements and break the earth
o Ikit rides the Doomflayer or Doomwheel as his personal mounts, the latter of which he invented
o Ikit also possesses the Hide (forest) attribute in the Total War game to hide in forests until enemies draw too close
o One of Ikit’s hands has been replaced with an eponymous metal claw
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Deep Ratfolk
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Strength, -Strength
o Ancestry Feat: Tinkering Fingers
o Skill Increase: Crafting (trained)
Background: Cultist
o Ability Boosts: +Intelligence, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Occultism (trained), Warp Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Schooled in Secrets
Class & Subclass: Metamagical Experimentation Wizard
o Class Ability Boost: +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Arcana (trained), Athletics (trained), Medicine (trained), Society (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Archetype: Runelord Specialization – Evocation
o Class Feat: Reach Spell
o Spellbook: Cantrips – acid splash, detect magic, electric arc, gouging claw, mage hand, produce flame, puff of poison, ray of frost, read aura, telekinetic projectile; 1st – burning hands, fear, grim tendrils, magic weapon, shocking grasp, true strike
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str 14, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 10)
While skaven may be a bit taller than most Small creatures, ratfolk seems to be the best option to represent them and Tinkering Fingers fits perfectly, giving him a talent for Crafting even with limited resources. Deciding on a background was a little difficult and to avoid doubling down on the Crafting skill, cultist seemed to work for his zealous devotion to Clan Skyre. The Lore skill it offers is a little hard to figure out, but for this iteration, Warp Lore feels like it works well enough. Ikit’s considerable magic fits best with the arcane spell list and given the description of him learning this magic through study and stealing away knowledge, wizard made the most sense. After some debat, Metamagical Experimentation seemed an arcane thesis that allowed him to explore, tinker, and manipulate magic like a craftman. Furthermore, he uses the Runelord Dedication to specialize in evocation magic while also being able to wield a halberd to represent his Storm Daemon. While it might not be the best type of build, it makes the most sense to build a character such as Ikit into a blaster caster and that along with the skaven spells of ruin that he wields will decide his basic spell list. However, given that Ikit is a wizard who can learn any spell given time and money, the spells listed are those meant to fit him and in instances where other options weren’t apparent, they were skipped. Starting off the bat, burning hands works well for the idea of warpfire throwers while fear, specifically higher level versions of it, fits for Musk of Fear.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Runelord Dedication
o Skill Feat: Terrain Stalker – Underbrush
o Spellbook: 2nd – acid arrow, blur
o Gear: dull grey aeon stone
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Gear: +1 halberd, dull grey aeon stone, cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Bespell Weapon
o Skill Feat: Alchemical Crafting
o Spellbook: 2nd – boneshaker, vomit swarm
o Gear: flaming star, +1 halberd, hand of the mage, dull grey aeon stone
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 19, Wis 12, Cha 10)
o Ancestry Feat: Lab Rat
o Skill Increase: Arcana (expert)
o Spellbook: 3rd – fireball, lightning bolt
o Gear: +1 striking halberd, backfire mantle, flaming star, hand of the mage, dull grey aeon stone, cloak of feline rest
With his level two class feat, Ikit has to pick up the Runelord Dedication. Since this build has a sub-theme of Ikit being able to use his Storm Daemon in combat, Bespell Weapon helps to empower it to increase his capability in combat. To represent his ability to hide in forests in Total War, he picks up Terrain Stalker for underbrush. Crafting is going to be a focus of Ikit’s build and aside from skill increases, he picks up Alchemical Crafting to learn how to make bombs, which seems like something he’d do even if he can’t use them properly. Given his love of area effects, Incredible Initiative to help him act before his allies are in danger’s range. Lab Rat continues to play into the idea of Ikit running dangerous experiments that the skaven seem to be all about with little concern for safety. This block yields three important spells, two more so than the first. Most obviously, there is fireball, which will serve as Ikit’s doomrocket and nuke. Secondly, there’s lightning bolt for Warp Lightning. Finally, there is boneshaker, which is a bit of a stretch but seems the best fit for Flensing Ruin.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Polearm Tricks
o Skill Feat: Magical Crafting
o Spellbook: 3rd – haste, slow
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking halberd, azure briolette aeon stone, flaming star, hand of the mage, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Improvised Repair
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Spellbook: 4th – draw the lightning, weapon storm
o Gear: endless grimoire, +1 explorer’s clothing, necklace of fireballs (type I), +1 striking halberd, backfire mantle, flaming star
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Sentinel Dedication
o Skill Feat: Inventor
o Spellbook: 4th – necrotic radiation, umbral graft
o Gear: conducting weapon rune, endless grimoire, wand of noisome acid (2nd-level), +1 breastplate, +1 striking halberd, azure briolette aeon stone
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Overcrowd
o Skill Increase: Thievery (expert)
o Spellbook: 5th – blazing fissure, blister
o Gear: +1 resilient breastplate, conducting weapon rune, necklace of fireballs (type II), endless grimoire, necklace of fireballs (type I), +1 striking halberd
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 12)
o Class Feat: Fused Polearm
o Skill Feat: Crafter’s Appraisal
o Skill Increase: Survival (trained)
o Spellbook: 5th – acid storm, cloudkill
o Gear: smogger, +1 resilient breastplate, wand of smoldering fireballs (3rd-level), conducting weapon rune, staff of evocation, +1 striking halberd
Polearm Tricks is something that Ikit may not get a lot of use out of, but its main purpose is to round out his necessary feats for his Runelord Dedication so that he can pick up a new dedication. Which he does so with his next level by picking up Sentinel Dedication so that he can wear metal armor as per his Iron Frame. Sentinel gives him scaling armor proficiency with light and medium armor though it would be possible to get up to heavy armor proficiency for players that swap out the 3rd and 7th-level general feats for Armor Proficiency. Finally, with his 10th-level class feat, Ikit can pick up Fused Polearm to combine his halberd with a staff, bringing it more in line with Storm Daemon by giving it the ability to unleash bolts of lightning. With the Magical Crafting and Inventor skill feats, Ikit delves deeper into his role as a warlock-engineer. As the skaven seem to rely on swarming tactics, Overcrowd felt like an appropriate ancestry feat for the character. For spells, nothing fits Death Frenzy that well in the arcane spell list, but haste is at least a buffing spell that can be cast upon a group, leading to its inclusion. Furthermore, descriptions of Ikit listed him as being able to summon dark blades with his spells, leading to the addition of weapon storm while umbral graft is based on a single line that said Ikit stole some of the knowledge he’s gained – this allows him to do so even in the midst of combat.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Thievery (master)
o Spellbook: 6th – necrotize, flame vortex
o Gear: +2 striking halberd, wand of thundering echoes (3rd-level), smogger, +1 resilient breastplate, conducting weapon rune, necklace of fireballs (type II)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Advanced School Spell
o Skill Feat: Magical Shorthand
o Spellbook: 6th – disintegrate
o Gear: +2 resilient breastplate, +2 striking halberd, greater staff of evocation, smogger, greater flaming star, wand of smoldering fireballs (3rd-level)
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Skittering Sneak
o Skill Increase: Arcana (master)
o Spellbook: 7th – blightburn blast, mask of terror
o Gear: +2 greater striking halberd, +2 resilient breastplate, greater crafter’s eyepiece, staff of evocation, wand of thundering echoes (3rd-level), smogger
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Sin Reservoir
o Skill Feat: Steel Skin
o Gear: spell-storing weapon rune, +2 greater striking halberd, major staff of fire, +2 resilient breastplate, book of lingering blaze, wand of crackling lightning (4th-level)
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str 19, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 21, Wis 14, Cha 12)
o General Feat: Skitter
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary)
o Spellbook: 8th – earthquake, undermine reality
o Gear: +2 greater resilient breastplate, necklace of fireballs (type V), spell-storing weapon rune, +2 greater striking halberd, greater crafter’s eyepiece, ring of maniacal devices
By taking his Advanced School Spell, Ikit gains access to the elemental tempest focus spell, which mostly just plays into his love of AoE damage. It is a spell that might not find as much use on other wizards, but as Ikit isn’t scared to be on the front lines to wreak havoc with Storm Daemon while encased in his Iron Frame, it is a nice bonus of damage that doesn’t allow a save to try to mitigate. Sin Reservoir is another choice that doesn’t relate to anything specific but extra spell slots are always nice and allow Ikit to play into being a blaster while still having slots for utility spells. While normally Magical Shorthand is a spell you want earlier to get maximum benefit from it, it unfortunately fell somewhat to the wayside with the focus on acquiring Crafting feats as well as feats that match his abilities. Skittering Sneak and Skitter mainly just fit the concept of a rat. More importantly, earthquake matches Crack’s Call, flame vortex serves the purpose of Howling Warpgale (alternatively, tempest of shades creates a tornado of undead which might be a better fit), and blightburn blast fits the radioactive sort of properties of the warp.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Detonating Spell
o Skill Feat: Craft Anything
o Gear: greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient breastplate, major staff of evocation, spell-storing weapon rune, +2 greater striking halberd, wand of smoldering fireballs (5th-level)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Cornered Fury
o Skill Increase: Thievery (legendary)
o Spellbook: 9th – implosion, meteor swarm
o Gear: +3 greater striking halberd, greater corrosive weapon rune, wand of thundering echoes (6th-level), +2 greater resilient breastplate, necklace of fireballs (type V), spell-storing weapon rune
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Forcible Energy
o Skill Feat: Specialty Crafting – Blacksmithing
o Gear: diadem of intellect, +3 greater striking halberd, wand of smoldering fireballs (7th-level), greater corrosive weapon rune, +2 greater resilient breastplate, major staff of evocation
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Arcana (legendary)
o Spellbook: 10th – cataclysm, time stop
o Gear: +3 greater resilient breastplate, diadem of intellect, necklace of fireballs (type VII), +3 greater striking halberd, greater corrosive weapon rune, wand of thundering echoes (6th-level)
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 22, Wis 16, Cha 14)
o Class Feat: Metamagic Mastery
o Skill Feat: Armor Assist
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking halberd, +3 greater resilient breastplate, archivist’s gaze, necklace of fireballs (type VII), speed weapon rune, wand of smoldering fireballs (7th-level)
While Ikit’s arcane thesis lets him pick up some metamagic feats here and there, it seemed reasonable to pick up a few more for him, especially something like Detonating Spell to further spread the love/pain. Forcible Energy is another metamagic feat that will allow him to press the advantage with spells of the same energy damage type and finally, he can start making use of them with greater efficiency with the Metamagic Mastery class feat. This will allow him to unleash spells enhanced by metamagic effects, Bespell Weapon, and then make a Strike with his halberd. If he used Forcible Energy for this metamagic effect, his Bespelled Weapon will then trigger the weakness he just imposed on the foe. Craft Anything and Specialty Crafting rounds out his mastery of machinery. Toughness allows him to hang a little bit better in melee combat though hopefully his investments in Constitution and the Sentinel Dedication also help him do so. This block has very few spells that leap out aside from meteor swarm and cataclysm as top shelf spells that unleash devastation in a wide area as fits Ikit.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: This is another one of those builds that would vastly benefit from the free archetype rule, letting him pick up Sentinel Dedication along with Steel Skin and Armor Specialist so that he can qualify for the Inventor Dedication. With this third archetype, Ikit can gain an armor innovation that he can take Basic Modification for. With this feat, he can take Muscular Exoskeleton to fit the fact that the Iron Frame enhances his physical capabilities even if he likely wouldn’t get a lot of use out of this effect. If that isn’t enough archetypes for you, also consider the Sterling Dynamo Dedication with Modular Dynamo (Rotating Sickle) to get his eponymous claw. With all those archetypes, Ikit still might not have many room for class feats, but consider options such as Widen Spell, Steady Spellcasting, Overwhelming Energy, Quickened Casting, and Superior Bond. Most of these are additional metamagic feats while Steady Spellcasting will help him if he wades into battle.
CONCLUSION
Using ratfolk as a stand-in for skaven, Ikit Claw achieves his role as a warlock-engineer by being a wizard that invests heavily in the Crafting skill and its related feats. His Runelord Dedication grants him his Storm Daemon, particularly once he can merge his staff with it, while he can somewhat achieve the Iron Frame thanks to his Sentinel Dedication. Wizard further plays into the idea he gained his knowledge by studying and stealing the secrets of people the world over as it involves him studying to learn his spells and prepare them. As with many characters that end up being casters, many of his effects are accomplished through his spells and Ikit in particular is a blaster. The best option for his doomrocket seems to be fireball but for players who want a more nuke-like feel with a spell that inflicts radiation sickness, there’s blightburn blast turned into an AoE with the Detonating Spell feat. In the Total War game, Ikit wields the Skaven Spells of Ruin, most of which can be tangentially achieved with his spell list. Musk of Fear is fear or mask of terror, Warp Lightning is lightning bolt or draw the lightning (which also empowers his halberd), Howling Warpgale is probably best achieved with flame vortex or tempest of shades, Scorch is fireball, and Crack’s Call is earthquake. The two spells I didn’t feel I quite captured with the build are Death Frenzy and Flensing Ruin, but haste and boneshaker at least felt thematically appropriate. Ikit has some leadership abilities that weren’t quite touched upon, but I was able to achieve his Hide (forest) attribute with Terrain Stalker (Underbrush).
Be sure to lemme know what you think of the build and who else you might like to see!
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Until then, have a fantastic Friday!
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