Weaponising the Cask of Liquid Gold

[shimu42]

I recently obtained a Cask of Liquid Gold (from Adventurer's Vault two, I believe) for very little money because my DM doesn't believe I can do anything with it. Let's prove him wrong, shall we?:smallamused:

[NecroRebel]

Hmm... Tricky, because the cask doesn't say how much it actually holds. It may be a barrel as big around as a man is tall, or it might be one of those that you can carry under your arm. Still, it's probably reasonably large; let's assume that it holds 1 hogshead/63 gallons/238 liters.

I think the biggest advantage this thing has is that the ale doesn't "vanish" when the cask refills, it "evaporates." Meaning that when the cask refills, there's suddenly a lot of alcohol vapor in the air. You could probably use it as a low-yield bomb; empty the whole cask into a semi-enclosed area an hour before dawn, set up a slow-burning wick (a candle would probably do) just above the surface, and when the cask refills itself the ale evaporates, mixing with the air, and hopefully causing a small explosion.

Another question is whether you could condense the evaporated ale. That would let you get larger volumes, which would eventually let you flood dungeons to flush out any enemies. And since it's not even reasonably-pure water, most aquatic enemies would probably die, too!

[Kurald Galain]

I recently obtained a Cask of Liquid Gold (from Adventurer's Vault two, I believe) for very little money because my DM doesn't believe I can do anything with it. Let's prove him wrong, shall we?:smallamused:

You can use it as an improvised thrown weapon and toss it at people? By RAW there isn't much else you can do with it, I'm afraid.

[shimu42]

Hmm... Tricky, because the cask doesn't say how much it actually holds. It may be a barrel as big around as a man is tall, or it might be one of those that you can carry under your arm. Still, it's probably reasonably large; let's assume that it holds 1 hogshead/63 gallons/238 liters.

I think the biggest advantage this thing has is that the ale doesn't "vanish" when the cask refills, it "evaporates." Meaning that when the cask refills, there's suddenly a lot of alcohol vapor in the air. You could probably use it as a low-yield bomb; empty the whole cask into a semi-enclosed area an hour before dawn, set up a slow-burning wick (a candle would probably do) just above the surface, and when the cask refills itself the ale evaporates, mixing with the air, and hopefully causing a small explosion.

Another question is whether you could condense the evaporated ale. That would let you get larger volumes, which would eventually let you flood dungeons to flush out any enemies. And since it's not even reasonably-pure water, most aquatic enemies would probably die, too!

See, this is thinking!

Actually, I'm a warforged, so I wonder if I could somehow find a way to compress the fumes, store them, and release it past a torch. Firebreath! And immediately the party's dragonborn will want to murderer me, but firebreathing giant robot with a keg.

[Tegu8788]

If you can store enough inside the warforged, you also have a jetpack. Perhaps not true flight, but a bonus to jumping or a way to reduce fall damage. If you can douse an enemy with it, instant fire vulnerability. It could be used medically, to help a heal check, and I have no actually RAW support but I could see being particularly drunk granting a few THPs, and getting everyone buzzed from fumes could would. You could use it as a sort of Trojan Horse, convince a group of bad guys to spare you if you give it to them, and as they fume up the play, a simple prestidigitation and the entire camp is on fire. Useful in a diplomacy check, you can afford to get everyone drunk for free!

[OracleofWuffing]

I suppose if it evaporates, you could dump it out underwater just before it's refill time, and you'll have an air pocket. Um, I'm guessing most folks wouldn't actually let you breathe from that air pocket, but, hey, air pocket. If your DM is the kind that won't let you breathe vaporized alcohol, that might be enough to set water on fire.

[Raimun]

Dude... you have a beer barrel that refills automatically every day and you are seriously debating whether it would be useful at all? :smallcool:

[shimu42]

Dude... you have a beer barrel that refills automatically every day and you are seriously debating whether it would be useful at all? :smallcool:

Well, duh of course it's useful! I'm wondering if that means useful in everywhere, or useful in everywhere except combat. The answer is yes.

[caden_varn]

Well, if it is ale it is unlikely to have a high enough alcohol content to create sufficiently concentrated alcohol fumes to burn. Remember that all the water will evaporate too, making the alcohol quite diffuse.
You'd need some way to separate the alcohol vapour from the water first which would be tricky.

If I understand the item from the posts above, you get a barrel of beer that magically refills each day, with any remaining beer from yesterday evaporating? I suppose you could try to distill the beer to get a higher percentage of alcohol so it would burn and get some grenades or something but you'd need equipment etc.
Or dump all the beer out, and persuade someone you didn't like to climb into the barrel around the time it is due to refill. If you can get the lid on they would drown. I would advise against drinking that batch though.

[The Glyphstone]

Dude... you have a beer barrel that refills automatically every day and you are seriously debating whether it would be useful at all? :smallcool:

He's a Warforged. Beer is less useful to him than anyone else for its intended purpose.

[OracleofWuffing]

He's a Warforged. Beer is less useful to him than anyone else for its intended purpose.
He's trying to watch his input. He needs plenty of wholesome, nutritious alcohol. The chemical energy keeps his fuel cells charged. (http://images.wikia.com/en.futurama/images/9/91/Bender_Bending_Rodr%C3%ADguez.png) :smalltongue:

[Raimun]

He's a Warforged. Beer is less useful to him than anyone else for its intended purpose.

Ouch. That's harsh, dude.

[DaPaladin]

Could you attach a chain to the end of it and turn it into an improvised weapon? Depends on how tough the cask is though, I guess.

Tossing around a cask of beer at the end of a chain sounds pretty epic to me - especially with a Scottish accent and suitably drunk!

[Raimun]

Could you attach a chain to the end of it and turn it into an improvised weapon? Depends on how tough the cask is though, I guess.

Tossing around a cask of beer at the end of a chain sounds pretty epic to me - especially with a Scottish accent and suitably drunk!

:smalleek:

... Rule number one: Don't spill the beer.

[Chambers]

I suppose if it evaporates, you could dump it out underwater just before it's refill time, and you'll have an air pocket. Um, I'm guessing most folks wouldn't actually let you breathe from that air pocket, but, hey, air pocket. If your DM is the kind that won't let you breathe vaporized alcohol, that might be enough to set water on fire.

Drowning (outside of skill challenges) is probably on the bottom rung of concerns for most adventurers. My group went over the math for it one night and figured that it would take, at minimum, 5 minutes for a 1st level wizard to die from drowning. A stark contrast to 3.5 rules for drowning, i.e. once you start you're dead in a few rounds.

[Reluctance]

Tossing around a cask of beer at the end of a chain sounds pretty epic to me - especially with a Scottish accent and suitably drunk!


He's a Warforged. Beer is less useful to him than anyone else for its intended purpose.

If it'll fit inside you turning you into an alcohol-dispensing construct, you're the party's pass to any party they might want to enter. You don't just bring the beer, you bring the most awesome keg around.

Offering a drink should be a handy option in any social skill challenge, as well as taking some bite out of any survival-based one. Dying of thirst is nigh-onto impossible in 4e, but turning it into a literal impossibility can be handy.

Really, though, the best use for booze is offering it to people you expect to fight soon. Getting somebody tipsy is a time-honored, if not RAW-supported, trick for taking advantage of them.

[Shatteredtower]

He's a Warforged. Beer is less useful to him than anyone else for its intended purpose.

You mean as a way to waste perfectly good barley?

If the item is big enough, or your character is small enough, you could possibly use it as a rolling means of propulsion. A move action could let you move 1 square per 5 points scored on your Acrobatics check, and a hard check against a monster's level (+2 per additional adjacent monster) could give you a +2 bonus to AC and Reflex defenses against opportunity attacks drawn by your movement.

Otherwise, you've got a doorstop and bait.