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View Full Version : 4E Enchantments spawn from...what?



Fenrazer
2010-07-08, 02:03 AM
I'm having problems finding what one might need to use for components to enchant an object. I've pretty much been using a cheap method of saying that our enchanter "gives a tithe of the Gold required to the enchantment God" since they still have the essential cost of the enchantments.

Am I missing something that will prevent me from looking like such a tool, or is there really nothing that states components?

1of3
2010-07-08, 02:37 AM
Components come in certain categories: Arcane, religious, healing and nature.

What kind of component is required can be seen from the noted skill. That's why there is a skill noted, even if no roll is required. It doesn't get any more specific then that. The game assumes ritualists bring a chest with all kinds of stuff in it.

You might want to use more details, of course. For example you could hand out amounts of components that count as more then normal for certain rituals.


There is also residuum, which is magic in solid form. Usable with all types of rituals.

Kurald Galain
2010-07-08, 02:45 AM
Am I missing something that will prevent me from looking like such a tool, or is there really nothing that states components?

It's an arcane ritual, so it should be any number of alchemical vials and concoctions, in a convenient small form so they fit into your backpack.

Thajocoth
2010-07-08, 03:52 AM
Arcane enchantments are made from their gold value of residuum. Residuum is the "Arcane ritual usage stuff". There are similar stuffs for the other types of rituals. In my games, I just let it be interchangeable with gold in the sense that "Oh, you want to cast that ritual, well, in the last town you happened to spend that much of your gold on residuum retroactively, so go right ahead."

oxybe
2010-07-08, 06:35 AM
the old "collect yon X number of Ys and A number of Bs" has been out of use since 2000.

best thing to do is be thematic about it. for normal magic, just a simple pray at altar/magic circle/funny dances in dresses at candle light/lit incense/incoherent chanting or mumbling will do the trick. for more exotic stuff like flaming, frost, ect... require things like a fire mephit's tear or the bile of a frost dragon or whatever.

for something like a holy avenger+5, you may need to have the metal sanctified by the pope, do the ritual on the site of a martyr's death, use up a holy relic in the forging process while a chorus of good angels sing hymns.

worst thing you can do is give a specific list of ingredients. let the players think it up themselves, if it's thematic enough, it works.

KillianHawkeye
2010-07-08, 06:54 AM
Arcane enchantments are made from their gold value of residuum. Residuum is the "Arcane ritual usage stuff". There are similar stuffs for the other types of rituals. In my games, I just let it be interchangeable with gold in the sense that "Oh, you want to cast that ritual, well, in the last town you happened to spend that much of your gold on residuum retroactively, so go right ahead."

No, residuum is the generic "magical energy substance." It can be used for any rituals you want (in place of the normal reagents). It's not specific to arcane rituals.

Thajocoth
2010-07-08, 03:28 PM
No, residuum is the generic "magical energy substance." It can be used for any rituals you want (in place of the normal reagents). It's not specific to arcane rituals.

Divine and Nature rituals have their own version of residuum that are the same exact thing but called something else. I don't bother remembering what they are, as we don't bother recording them separate from gold. It's in the PHB though.

Douglas
2010-07-08, 03:46 PM
Divine and Nature rituals have their own version of residuum that are the same exact thing but called something else. I don't bother remembering what they are, as we don't bother recording them separate from gold. It's in the PHB though.
No, Residuum is the generic one. Allow me to quote the PHB:


Component Cost
This is the value of the components that must be
expended to perform a ritual. A ritual’s key skill determines
the kind of components required.
• Alchemical Reagents (Arcana): Typically these
are small vials full of powdered metals, rare earths,
acids, salts, or extracts from creatures such as
dragons or basilisks.
• Mystic Salves (Heal): Restoration rituals use
mystic salves, dabbed or painted on the creatures
to be healed. These salves come in small jars and
include blessed oils and unguents made from rare
spices.
• Rare Herbs (Nature): Rare herbs are usually collected
and preserved during certain times of year,
such as when the moon is full.
• Sanctified Incense (Religion): Sanctified incense
is prepared during certain religious rites and is
burned as a powder or a stick.
• Residuum (Any): The concentrated magical
substance that results from performing the Disenchant
Magic Item ritual, residuum can be used as a
component for any ritual. You can’t usually buy it on
the open market; you acquire it by draining it out of
magic items.

Kylarra
2010-07-08, 04:41 PM
Our DM got bored of my bookkeeping, I would keep tabs of how many iterations of components I had for each ritual, and now allows me to just buy residuum in town for our rituals.

Doug Lampert
2010-07-08, 05:15 PM
Our DM got bored of my bookkeeping, I would keep tabs of how many iterations of components I had for each ritual, and now allows me to just buy residuum in town for our rituals.

Eh? What book-keeping? There's all of FIVE types of components. You can't track five things on your equipment list but you can track all your equipment and money?

Half the fun as a DM is stuff like when they teleport from the big city (where the level 28 teleport anywhere ritual is available for a "modest" fee), to the middle of nowhere, and THEN decide that they want to cast a ritual using a few thousand GP in nature or arcane components and discover that they HAVE a few hundred GP in nature or arcane components.

"Sure, you can buy the villager's entire supply, all 200 GP worth."

In any case I wouldn't dream of selling Residuum for face value, if Residuum is available for face value then every bit of it that exists represents someone WASTING a substantial some of money (you can sell the item for the same amount as the Residuum you get from it, but disenchant costs 175 GP, so you've spent that 175 for nothing if you could have just sold the item and bought the Residuum).

Endarire
2010-07-08, 06:03 PM
Since 3.0, I always assumed magical items were made directly out of precious metals and gems, and that magic transformed them into what they are. Even magic swords and popsicles. This way, the conversion rate is 1:1 and less troublesome.

Kurald Galain
2010-07-08, 06:27 PM
"Sure, you can buy the villager's entire supply, all 200 GP worth."

Oh. Well, in that case we'll just solve the problem without using the ritual, and save our cash.

Kylarra
2010-07-08, 07:38 PM
Eh? What book-keeping? There's all of FIVE types of components. You can't track five things on your equipment list but you can track all your equipment and money?

Half the fun as a DM is stuff like when they teleport from the big city (where the level 28 teleport anywhere ritual is available for a "modest" fee), to the middle of nowhere, and THEN decide that they want to cast a ritual using a few thousand GP in nature or arcane components and discover that they HAVE a few hundred GP in nature or arcane components.

"Sure, you can buy the villager's entire supply, all 200 GP worth."

In any case I wouldn't dream of selling Residuum for face value, if Residuum is available for face value then every bit of it that exists represents someone WASTING a substantial some of money (you can sell the item for the same amount as the Residuum you get from it, but disenchant costs 175 GP, so you've spent that 175 for nothing if you could have just sold the item and bought the Residuum).Please read my post. :smallwink: My character, and I, had no trouble keeping track of ritual components, to the point where we had it organized by specific ritual iterations as if each ritual required its own separate components without subdividing into broad categories of the skill it keys off of.