[4e] Residuum?

[MammonAzrael]

Is it just me, or is this stuff completely useless? You get it from using the Disenchant Magic Item ritual, but you don't need it for anything. The Enchant Magic Item ritual has a flat cost in GP, and doesn't mention Residuum at all. And a magic item is sold at 1/5th it's market price, the same amount of Residuum you get if you disenchant it.

Am I missing something, or is Residuum currently pointless?

[SamTheCleric]

IIRC, you can substitute residuum as the component in the Enchant ritual.

[MammonAzrael]

So...it's effectively the same as gold, you can just use it if you're in the middle of a dungeon and don't want to trek back and find a merchant?

[Oracle_Hunter]

Also, Rituals are not a "gold into effect" spell. You need to get the appropriate components in order to work the ritual, and those components cost money. Having 100 GP of Residuum on hand allows you to cast Rituals very easily on the go... not that we know how large 100 GP of Residuum is.

EDIT: this is important because the DM can say "there's not enough Arcane components around to make the Staff of the Magi" as opposed to you saying "here's my gold, where's my Staff?" Residuum can be a good way to power the really expensive spells then.

[SamTheCleric]

So...it's effectively the same as gold, you can just use it if you're in the middle of a dungeon and don't want to trek back and find a merchant?

That's what I thought when I first read it. Its a way for you to disenchant that +6 Resounding Toothpick that no one wants to use and then turn around and magic something up that someone DOES want.

[Captain Bananas]

It also greatly reduces the size/weight : value ratio, so it makes transportation much easier.

[KillianHawkeye]

Beyond the mechanical uses, I think it also mentioned that Residuum itself can be traded like currency in certain places (up to the DM).

[puppyavenger]

Beyond the mechanical uses, I think it also mentioned that Residuum itself can be traded like currency in certain places (up to the DM).

the magic standard?

[Antacid]

the magic standard?

That would actually make more sense than the lame "astral diamonds" uber-currency. Coins made out of solidified magic dust. Residuum Pieces. RP.

I may even wind up using that.

[erikun]

10,000 gp of Residuum weighs the same as a gold piece (PHB, p.225), which means 50 vials of Residuum weigh about 1 pound. It sells for full price, like Astral Diamonds and other precious jewels, so it's an easy was to carry around money.

It can also be used in rituals, but other than that, it's just another form of currency.

[Jothki]

It's also a way to replace buying and selling magical items in a setting where the DM has decided that no one can afford to buy them.

[Yakk]

That would actually make more sense than the lame "astral diamonds" uber-currency. Coins made out of solidified magic dust. Residuum Pieces. RP.

I may even wind up using that.

Hell: just say that Astral Diamonds are crystallized residuum found in rare spots in the Astral planes, and can be turned into residuum at a 1:1 ratio using the disenchant ritual.

It is also a means of dealing with the "there is nobody selling X here". You boil down crappy items to residuum, then put together the custom item that you want that you never found. (In essence, the magic-item economy can function without ye olde magic-item shoppe)

[Grug]

I remember reading somewhere that astral diamonds actually are residuum, crstyallized by the supreme magic pressure of the elemental chaos.

[Randel]

When I first saw the diesnchant item ritual I though "would that work on a magic trap?" so I guess you could have it so that after the players disable a magic trap, they could dig out the magical components and disenchant it into residuum. Effectively getting a little bit of your tresure through harvesting traps and also permanently removing it from the dungeon.

Also... would the corpses of some magical monsters result in a little residuum if disenchanted? Imagine killing a rust monster/warforged/golem/living spell and then sacrificing its corpse in a ritual circle to get residuum from it. Could give some treasure from monsters that don't normally carry monetary wealth on them. Could also provide a plot hook if evil wizards are poaching a certain type of monster (or magically inclined race like Eladrin or Dragonborn) to sacrifice in this manner. I would guess the money acquired from such means would be about the wealth gained normally for fighting the monsters CR plus the cost of the ritual components.

Actually, disenchanting a creature might need a similar but different ritual.

[Crow]

Away from books.

Is residium required to enchant magic items?

[Yakk]

No, but it can be used to enchant magic items.

[LoneGamer]

Residuum is not required for any Rituals, but can be used to substitute for the normal components at a 1:1 ratio. So, as said, if you're out of Arcane reagents you can finish off your ritual with Residuum.

[TheOOB]

Each ritual requires a special type of components to perform based on the skill used in the ritual. Arcana rituals require alchemical reagents, religion rituals require consecrated incense, nature rituals require rare herbs, and heal rituals require special healing salves. So, if you are using a nature ritual that costs 100gp, you need 100gp worth of rare herbs, alchemy reagents won't do, and if you are using arcana to create a 1000gp magic item, you need 1000gp worth of alchemical reagents.

Residuum is special in that it can be used for any ritual, reguardless of the skill involved. Residuum can be used for arcana, religion, nature, and heal rituals, and anything else that might pop up. This means it can, in fact, be used to create magic items because magic items are usually created using arcana or religion rituals.

Unlike the reagents for single skills, however, residuum doesn't take up a great deal of space, and it is easier to aquire large quantities of it(either through disenchanting or trading at a planer city) finding 100,000 gp of alchemical reagents would be difficult, not many places will carry that much stuff in stock(and it would take up a good bit of room to boot).

So there you have it, residuum is easily portable wealth, can be turned into a magic item, and is good for a ritualist who has a variety of ritual skills, ensuring that they always have the right kind of reagent for their rituals (carrying 100gp worth of residuum is cheeper then carrying 100 of each other type of reagent, even if residuum is sold as a huge mark up in your area).

[kirbsys]

I do like the fact that it gives a role playing reason as to how a Wizard can acquire 500000 gold worth of reagents.

[TheOOB]

I do like the fact that it gives a role playing reason as to how a Wizard can acquire 500000 gold worth of reagents.

It is nice. In most mortal cities, a pinch of residuum would be a momentous transaction, and I doubt vendors will be giving much change. In rich planer cities I'm assuming the efreets and such have super accurate magic scales for such things.

[MammonAzrael]

So from a purely mechanical standpoint, Residuum isn't terribly useful (assuming the Magic Item Wal-Mart or 3.5), but from a more flavorful look it really smooths things out.

I like it. Thank you Playgrounders for convincing me. And I really like the Astral Diamonds as compressed Residuum. I will certainly use that...if when my players get to that point.