Artisan Micro-Class, and Clarifying Tool Proficiencies

I've hit a bit of a conundrum with tool proficiency. It isn't expressly stated that tool and skill proficiency are different things, but it is implied by the Skilled Feat. So, I'm going to write down my rules for handling it (a personal errata, if you will), as well as introduce a "micro class", the Artisan.

First up is the Artisan. Unlike most classes, the Artisan is intended to be used by a character with levels in at least one other class; Artisans need to acquire levels in other classes in order to gain Artisan levels after the first. However, subsequent levels in Artisan are appropriately potent. Feel free to tweak the non-Artisan class levels required for each Artisan level.

Note: I use italicised text to indicate flavor or clarification to a feature or ability.

The Artisan

With a single whisper, an ancient sage imparts eternal insight on her disciples. A blacksmith commands dozens of apprentices in her busy workshop as she prepares her Lord's army for war. A knight's dying breath carries the words his squire needs to avenge his master. All these are Artisans in their respective fields, whether in a monastery, workshop, or field of battle. The Artisans live by their expertise and ability to lend that expertise to others.

Playing an Artisan
Have you ever had a favorite teacher in school? Are you excited by the fantasy of being a Guild Artisan responsible for running a bustling workshop? Then you should consider building a character with levels in Artisan. Unlike most classes, the Artisan is intended to be used in conjunction with levels in other classes. What that other class is comes down to taste. A blacksmith character naturally lends itself to levels in Fighter between Artisan levels. A composer could be a mix of Artisan and Bard. If you envision a preacher, your Artisan features allow you to back up a Cleric's divine magic with poignant lessons. The Artisan is wide open and very flexible, so that you, the player, can build the character you want to express.

Each level of Artisan addresses a degree of professionalism. A first level Artisan is expected to be an expert in their particular craft, and be capable of actively leading apprentices in their tasks until they become proficient or experts themselves. At second level, the Artisan is more academic in their pursuits. This Artisan is able to benefit themselves and others by applying their intuition in a variety of subjects on-the-spot. A playwright is a good example of this. The playwright himself may not be an expert performer, but he knows how to direct his actors' performances to prodigal levels. And, he can do the same for himself in a pinch. The third-level Artisan represents a true teacher and educator. She imparts lessons on her students each day as they grow in proficiency and knowledge. Finally, the fourth level Artisan has reached the heights knowledge. When this Artisan speaks, his lessons last for lifetimes.

Class Requirements

Except for the first level of Artisan, for each level in non-Artisan classes you possess, you may gain a level in Artisan. The Artisan requires 13 Intelligence for the purposes of multiclassing. I don't mean to imply that Artisan levels come free. when you gain a level in a different class, if that is not clear. You need to gain the requisite amount of experience before choosing to gain an Artisan level, and this, of course, comes at the expense of not gaining a level in a different class.

Class Features

As an Artisan, you have the following class features:

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per artisan level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier.

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Consitution modifier per artisan level after 1st.

Proficiencies

Armor: None

Weapons: None

Tools: One tool of your choice,

Saving Throws: One attribute of your choice..

Skills: Two skills of your choice.

The skills, tool, and saving throw useful to a particular profession vary. An Artisan picks proficiencies based on his or her needs.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• The tool you chose for your proficiency
• Traveler's clothes
• 200 gp

Expertise

At 1st level, choose one of your tool proficiencies and one of your skill proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies. You may not choose proficiences that already benefit from the Expertise feature.

Instruction

You are a skilled teacher, as adept at instructing apprentices in a workshop as you are guiding your companions in a dungeon. Starting at 1st level, you may Instruct a character you can communicate with and see as a free action, allowing them to use a skill or tool that you chose for your Expertise feature:

• If a character is not proficient with the skill or tool, he or she adds 1d4 to their skill check as their proficiency bonus. This increases with their level, not yours, to 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 9th level, 1d10 at 13th level, and 1d12 at 17th level.
• A character proficient with the skill or tool doubles their proficiency bonus for the check, as if passing on your own Expertise.
• A character may choose to benefit from Instruction after rolling the d20, but before the DM says whether the check succeeds or fails.
• A character may benefit from Instruction a number of times equal to 1 + their Intelligence Modifier between Long Rests.
• Instruction has no effect if the character you are instructing would double their proficiency bonus on the check without your help (most likely because they also have Expertise in that skill or tool). 
• If you are instructing a character in the use of a tool, that character will need to borrow tools or provide (or improvise) their own in order to perform the check.

Expanded Expertise

At 2nd level, you may apply Expertise to one additional skill or tool proficiency.

Portfolio

At 2nd level, choose three of your skill, tool, weapon, or armor proficiencies that do not benefit from Expertise. You may Instruct these proficiencies without Expertise, and you may even Instruct yourself. Whenever you gain a level, you may replace a proficiency in your Portfolio with a different proficiency. 

• When you Instruct a character using a weapon that is in your Portfolio, you benefit their attack roll instead of an ability check.
• When you Instruct a character wearing armor that is in your Portfolio, that character may use their reaction to add their Proficiency Bonus to their Armor Class until the start of their next turn.
• When choosing weapons or armor for your Portfolio, you may choose a general proficiency, such as 'simple weapons' or 'all armor' if it is a feature of a non-Artisan class (such as the Fighter). Otherwise, specific weapons and armors must be chosen. If you are proficient in Unarmed Strikes, like the Monk, you can even choose Unarmed Strikes for your portfolio.

Lessons

At 3rd level, you may spend 1 minute with a character to impart a Lesson. When you impart the lesson, choose a skill, tool, weapon, or armor you can Instruct. The character may later consume the Lesson to receive Instruction in that skill, tool, weapon, or armor without your presence. A character may retain a number of Lessons equal to 1 + their Intelligence Modifier, and may retain only one of each Lesson. Whenever a character takes a Long Rest, they forget the Lesson they have retained the longest. You can't impart someone, including yourself, with a Lesson they have Expertise in. Imparting yourself with a Lesson is redundant, as you either have Expertise, or you can Instruct yourself on-the-spot with your Portfolio. When a character receives a new Lesson, they may replace an existing one if they are at their limit.

Saving Throw Lessons

At 3rd level, you can impart Saving Throw Lessons. These function similar to Lessons, except you choose one of your Saving Throw proficiencies. No character may retain more than one Saving Throw Lesson at a time. Saving Throw Lessons abide by all other conditions for Lessons. You may impart yourself with a Saving Throw Lesson. 

Lasting Lesson

Your wisdom spans lifetimes. At 4th level, your Lessons become Lasting Lessons. When a character forgets their longest retained Lesson during a Long Rest, Lasting Lessons are ignored. Additionally, a Lasting Lesson provides a +1 bonus to whichever skill, tool, weapon, armor, or Saving Throw was chosen until the Lasting Lesson is consumed. You don't get the +1 bonus on the roll that consumes the Lasting Lesson, you just get the die or double proficiency bonus. You still can't impart someone, including yourself, with a Lesson they have Expertise in.

Artisans for Dungeons Masters

Artisans make for interesting PCs, but they are an especially useful tool for Dungeon Masters! If you have a mentor-type NPC, why not give him a couple Artisan levels? When the PCs are ready to storm off to the next Dungeon, the Artisan NPC can teach them a few lessons that shore up their skills for the perils ahead. Maybe the PCs seek out an ancient mountain-top sage who can teach them Lasting Lessons. Or better yet, one of the PCs is on a quest to avenge his master, who with her dying breath imparted a Lasting Lesson... to be used against the Dragon that slew her.

An Artisan does not have to be a craftsman. This class is just as suitable for a Sensei as it is a Blacksmith. It all comes down to what is done with the Portfolio. The head of a monastery might be an expert calligrapher, but their Portfolio and remaining Expertise is used for training young monks. A famous playwright makes excellent use of the Artisan class, as their Portfolio allows them to better direct actors in a play in their roles, especially where a character is using Deception to slyly allude to a plot twist that will surprise the audience later! Maybe the Player Characters hire a guide for their journey through the dangerous forest. The guide agrees to lead them, and their good fellowship on the journey inspires him to instruct the party in Survival as they complete the last leg by themselves.

The point is, this class is a great tool. Maybe you have mundane books which impart their readers with Lessons, although the books may take longer to impart the Lesson than a teacher. Consider allowing a Player Character to receive a Lesson from a book they read during a Long Rest. Or, the adventurers could encounter a note left by a previous adventurer that details how to overcome a trap. The PCs could read the note to gain Instruction for the specific trap.

Tool vs. Skill Proficiency

This section is just to clarify things for myself as reference.

Tool Proficiency is only granted to characters by features that expressly grant it. 

Skill Proficiency is only granted to characters by features that expressly grant it.

Tool Proficiency implies that a character has pursued and mastered use of the tool to a professional degree.

The Dungeon Master can highlight the importance of various tools by having the Player Characters participate in Skill Challenges in order to overcome obstacles. Require a Skill Challenge to overcome a devious trap. The Player Characters must succeed at three checks to overcome the trap before three failures. The initial Perception Check to notice the trap is not considered part of the Challenge, as simply noticing it is not a part of disabling it. 

1. Intelligence Check to identify how the trap works and expose it without triggering. 
• A character may add their Proficiency Bonus to the check if they are Proficient in Investigation or any Tools that would utilize a magnifying glass or jeweler's lens to better pick out delicate mechanisms (provided they have the Tools with them).
2. Strength Check to expose the trap's inner workings before it can be disabled.
• A character must have Proficiency with tools that are suited to prying and bending. Although a crowbar is a classic example, an alternative can be found in the kit of a Mason, Thief, Smith, or Tinker's Tools.
3. Dexterity Check to ultimately disable the trap without triggering it.
• A character must have Profiency with tools that allow for fine manipulation, such as a Jeweler, Thief, or Tinker's Tools.

Each individual failure likely causes the trap to trigger its swinging blades, gouts of fire, or poisonous darts. Complete failure of the Skill Challenge engages the trap's failsafe, which may set off an alarm or bar the door to the next room.

If a tool is used to create a challenge, then a similar tool is likely necessary to overcome the challenge.