building a house out of living wood

[dantiesilva]

I recall awhile back reading about elves in d&d being able to spend extra time and money to make the trees, grow their homes. I use grow as a very lose word just the easiest way I could find to explain it. I could have sworn it was called living wood and found in races of the wild, however I could not find it. Does anyone know where I can find it, and the numbers it would take to make a 5 bedroom house out of it please and thank you.

Edit: Ok thanks to some very helpful people in this thread I have found the item I was looking for now for the math part that confuses me.

Living wood costs 2,000gp/square

Due to the area we are in we have a -3% to the price
-15% to wood walls
and -20% to fancy things.

So my question is with 3 Fancy bedrooms (3 SS) how much would the total price be knowing that the exterior walls are 80% of the building and only 20% of the buildings inside has walls due to the rules in the Stronghold builders guide. Please and thank you to all you people good with math.

[Coidzor]

Eberron Campaign Setting gives us Livewood, a wood that continues to live after being processed as long as it gets enough water. Thereby making items made out of it immune to the Disintegrate spell. :smallamused:

It costs 1.5x normal wooden items.

If you're talking about actually *growing* trees into living spaces... That's all DM fiat/plot/backstory stuff, so it's a matter of a time and some form of magic or skill checks or just taking one that already exists.

[Jeff the Green]

If you're talking about actually *growing* trees into living spaces... That's all DM fiat/plot/backstory stuff, so it's a matter of a time and some form of magic or skill checks or just taking one that already exists.

Wood Shape could work, though its size limit is a bit small.

[Slipperychicken]

Have you checked out Stronghold Builder's Guide? There might be something about it in there.

Polymorph any Object might do what you want, although 8th level spells tend to be a bit much.

[Ruethgar]

Quintessential Cleric has Obedient Growth as a 9th level spell to grow buildings from massive tracks of forest. Wood shape could work, but I think you would have better luck with War True Creation. Then I believe Fey Cherry Trees had housing of some sort, or at the very least are large enough for it. They are in a Dragon Mag... can't find which one.

[VoxRationis]

I agree with the statement that this is really a thing for DM fiat. If the elves have magics and crafts that shape living wood into useful buildings, they do. Slap DCs and spell levels on it as you see fit. Keep in mind, however, that if it's easy to do, the elves will probably spread the technology, so that everyone can have a nice, forested city and those filthy humans won't have to suffer in squalor anymore!

[Slipperychicken]

the elves will probably spread the technology, so that everyone can have a nice, forested city and those filthy humans won't have to suffer in squalor anymore!

Perhaps the technique is a closely-held/expensive secret which is only known to work in the elves' enchanted forests.

It could also have other mitigating factors. Like you need to get expensive material components, cast the spell on the seed long before it's planted, make a check to see if you did it right, and the tree grows into a house-shape over the course of ~20-30 years (which is actually a reasonable amount of time for elves).

[MadGreenSon]

I read somewhere (I forget which book) that some branch of elves also used Wood Shape and living trees as part of the fermentation process for their more powerful liquors.
They make an appropriately sized chamber inside the living tree, pour in the stuff to be fermented, come back a few decades later to tap it.

Elves living in still living trees has always been a thing, hasn't it? Wookies do it too. Is it that big a deal really?

[Jeff the Green]

I read somewhere (I forget which book) that some branch of elves also used Wood Shape and living trees as part of the fermentation process for their more powerful liquors.
They make an appropriately sized chamber inside the living tree, pour in the stuff to be fermented, come back a few decades later to tap it.

....brewing does not work like that. :smallsigh: The only thing the elves would end up with is vinegar.

[MadGreenSon]

....brewing does not work like that. :smallsigh: The only thing the elves would end up with is vinegar.

Obviously they're cheating then and using magic? I usually hate elves anyway. My first ever DM soured me on them by having his DMPC be the smuggest elf ever.

But I still think a house made from a living tree is kinda cool. Worked for David the Gnome, right? :smallbiggrin:

[Erik Vale]

I wouldn't know, but it'd be cool...

Though I thought vinegar was what happened when you exposed wine to air?

[Slipperychicken]

....brewing does not work like that. :smallsigh: The only thing the elves would end up with is vinegar.

Well, ya dinnae see folks praisin' tha elves for thar fine 'brewin, do ya? :durkon:

[Jeff the Green]

I wouldn't know, but it'd be cool...

Though I thought vinegar was what happened when you exposed wine to air?

Yes and no. It's what happens when acetic acid bacteria ferment ethanol (i.e. grain alcohol, the kind you drink). Malt vinegar comes from a particular kind of ale, apple cider vinegar from Apple cider, distilled vinegar from distilled alcohol, honey vinegar from mead, rice vinegar from rice beer, etc. AAB are aerobic so they do need oxygen, but the inside of a tree is hardly an anaerobic environment.

My bigger objection was to the "stronger" part, because by the time you get to the stronger red wines the yeast have all died off from poisoning themselves and the only way you're getting stronger liquor is distillation.

[VoxRationis]

Perhaps the technique is a closely-held/expensive secret which is only known to work in the elves' enchanted forests.

It could also have other mitigating factors. Like you need to get expensive material components, cast the spell on the seed long before it's planted, make a check to see if you did it right, and the tree grows into a house-shape over the course of ~20-30 years (which is actually a reasonable amount of time for elves).
I did say it only might be easy to do. That's a setting thing. I was just pointing out the likely consequence for it being a trivial matter.

[dantiesilva]

I don't think Ebberon would have what I am looking for as the picture of what I am talking about is right on page 11 of Races of the wild, I just seem to be missing the name of it. I was hoping someone would know it.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Living Wood and the prices for construction are found in the Stronghold Builders Guidebook.

[dantiesilva]

Thank you very much