Value of bulette hide as a shield cover?

[Jay R]

My players faced and defeated three bulettes.

When I'm running a fight, I try to describe what happens in more immersive terms than "You miss" or "You hit". After one person "missed" by about three, I said, "You hit it, but it does no damage. You think the blow would have hurt many of the monsters you have faced, but its hide is extremely tough." I based that on the fact that they have +12 natural armor.

So after the party killed them, one player decided that his PC would harvest some of their hide to make shield covers. He based this on my statement that their hides were extremely tough. And yes, that PC has Craft (tanning), and knew enough to use some of the bulette's brains to tan the hide. They spent an afternoon and evening on the project, and then let the hides sit for several days, so I assume that the hide is prepared correctly.

So what value would shield covers made of a +12 natural armor hide have? It's a cool idea, and I want to reward them for it. But I don't want the reward to be either too much or too little.

My first thought was that this shield cover over a light wooden shield would make it a heavy wooden shield. Simple, easy to deal with —
and the hide would only be worth 4 gold pieces each (the difference in cost between a light wooden and heavy wooden shield. That seems too little.

If it makes a difference, there have been no magical beasts in this world for hundred years — they are just now returning. So at least at first, this hide will be uniquely valuable.

Any ideas for how to make this cool idea valuable enough?

In case it makes a difference, they reached ninth level on this adventure.

Note -- I am not asking for opinions on describing fights that way. I'm not going to change that. I am also not asking what the rules say. They don't cover it. I am asking for DM judgments for what the hides could be worth.

[Crake]

From a dnd point of view, the hardness of a shield doesnt largely affect a shield’s defensive capabilities, otherwise adamantine shields would be much stronger than they are.

You could, however, allow the hide to be used as a material for upgrading the shield to say, a +1 shield. Let the caster do some magical mumbo jumbo and poof, its upgraded after a days work

To make the tanning check have value, allow their check to determine how much usable materials they get.

They could also maybe use the hide to make “hide” armor with better stats, instead of just shield covers. Useful for having non-metal armor if that ever comes up.

[Dalmosh]

I'd probably just rule it as being the same as Dragonhide if it were me. IE can make non-metallic "metal" armor that counts as masterwork by default but with double the normal sale price.
Each hide would be worth around 600 GP to an armorer, I think, as the raw material to make such armor.

[Inevitability]

Dragonhide makes sense but would be a little underwhelming, so I'd go all-in on the enchanting solution. Bulettes being magical beasts sounds like it's very relevant in-universe, so make use of that!

Just go with "You realize that this beast doesn't just have thick hide: it's actively employing some primitive kind of magic to harden its skin further. Though the magic has been fading since its death, even an unskilled abjurer should be able to infuse magic of his own and return the supernatural hardness."

That is, treat the hide as masterwork dragonhide that also pays for (part of) the gold cost to upgrade this shield with a nice enchantment.

[loky1109]

AD&D2 Monstrous Manual.

There is only one known benefit to the existence of the bulette: The large plates behind its head make superb shields, and dwarven smiths can fashion them into shields of +1 to +3 in value. Some also claim that the soil through which a bulette has passed becomes imbued with magical, rock-dissolving properties. Many would argue, however, that these benefits are scarcely worth the price.

[remetagross]

This is extremely nice.

My advice:

1. The above suggestions of it adding a +1-+3 enhancement bonus to the shield are good. For bonus points, set a baseline of, say, +2 enhancement bonus, but if the player is ready to gulp down a +5 to the Craft check DC and still succeeds all the Craft checks, then this bumps to +3.

2. Have it have another little bonus apart from a boring, bland, pure AC bonus. Like, bulettes are leaping creatures, right? So maybe the hide contains innate magic that makes it lighter than it should be, so that the shield is so light the player can still use that arm to attack and get the shield's AC bonus.

[Telonius]

2. Have it have another little bonus apart from a boring, bland, pure AC bonus. Like, bulettes are leaping creatures, right? So maybe the hide contains innate magic that makes it lighter than it should be, so that the shield is so light the player can still use that arm to attack and get the shield's AC bonus.

They have tremorsense. So maybe 1/day, bang on it and get Tremorsense for 5 rounds. Nothing too overpowering, just a nifty little extra that might be useful on occasion.

[Darg]

Tough hide can also just mean that the skin is thicker, meaning a blade would need to penetrate deeper to do any lasting damage or cushion a bludgeon.

If the skin is thick and heavy it would actually make a shield heavier and less wieldy if just applied to the outside. However, there is historical evidence of hides being used to protect wooden shields from damage as the extra layer helps distribute the force of an attack or deflect blades from hacking with the edge. Mechanically this would more have to do with sunder attacks though.

What I would personally do instead of giving it an enhancement bonus is give it the special effect of increasing your fighting defensively bonus to +4 AC, total defense to +6 AC, and a +4 enhancement bonus when receiving sunder attempts against the shield. The player gets a valuable defensive option they won't feel like they need to keep because it's so good and they don't get an advantage that you really need to compensate for, wbl or otherwise. The fact that it's a unique effect rather than a normal +1 bonus means they can benefit even if they use magic vestments or enhance the shield later on.

[remetagross]

They have tremorsense. So maybe 1/day, bang on it and get Tremorsense for 5 rounds. Nothing too overpowering, just a nifty little extra that might be useful on occasion.

Yeah, that sort of stuff exactly.

[Dawgmoah]

The fact magical beasts are just returning and have not been seen in centuries could also add to their value as curiosities on top of their use as shield enhancers.
Magicians/Sages may want parts of the monster to study while armorers and others may strive to get a sample at the best price.
It's a good plot hook for different scenarios for sure.

[Jay R]

The fact magical beasts are just returning and have not been seen in centuries could also add to their value as curiosities on top of their use as shield enhancers.

Very good point. [One of the PCs is currently wearing a velociraptor claw on a string around his neck, just for swank.]


Magicians/Sages may want parts of the monster to study while armorers and others may strive to get a sample at the best price.
It's a good plot hook for different scenarios for sure.

Actually, there has been almost *no* magic for centuries. There are almost no high-level casters, and nobody with experience making magical items.

The magic that is coming back is broken -- not fully understood, and not quite in control. It is growing more uncontrollable over time. This lets me do things the rules normally wouldn't allow, as one-time plot devices. The players are really enjoying seeing what happens.

They are talking to an armorsmith in a medium sized town. He will tell them that he can make hide armor that will act like a breastplate, or shield covers that will be masterwork. He won't tell than that they will essentially be +2 armor, because he doesn't know. The breastplate may give tremorsense -- occasionally, i.e., when I need it for story reasons.

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone.

[animewatcha]

Since you are saying shield cover. What about basis for providing 'reinforcement' (+1 base AC for armor and arguably shields from Dragon Mag at time of item creation ) after said item has already been has been created.

[rel]

If you want an option that is largely meaningless but feels really cool at the table, go with wielding the shield grants hardness 1.
Make it masterwork so it can get enchanted later on.

And maybe make it look a lot like dragon hide, so NPC's (fearful of draconic retribution, the cowards) refuse to use or buy the fancy PC only kit.