Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Riplox 04-07-07, 03:52 PM	Our group encountered and defeated 3 Displacer Beasts on out last session. We're thinking of turning their hides into cloaks to get their displacement benefit. Will this work? If so, how many cloaks can we get out of these things? One each? We have 4 people in our group, so there's going to be one that's short a cloak (probably me) as our cleric and rogue need them the most and I have the greatest armor of anyone in our group as I'm the fighter. Also,will the displacement benefit decrease to something like 25% rather than 50%? We're going to be getting these crafted soon and I would like to know other people's thoughts on this. Thanks.
Aryxbez 04-07-07, 05:18 PM	I doubt it would apply since it is dead. since by that logic one could think that you would get a dragons DR for wearing it's skin. Although that is a cool idea, if your DM allows it, then I would say 25% just because it became weaker, probably as a balancing factor.
katarl 04-08-07, 11:40 AM	For an equivalent cost, permanent displacement (50%) costs 3x5x8000gp (120 000gp), permanent blur (20%) costs 2x3x4000gp (24 000gp). Using optional component rules (the only rules that cover this), you still need someone with craft wondrous item, and you need to spend half the base market cost in arcane reagents, per cloak. That would be 12 000gp x4 = 48 000 gold, plus 48 (or 72, i forget) days to make four 20% displacement cloaks. good news, though, no xp needed. If you're using core rules, this is the only way i can think of that makes this feasible. You can't just slap on their hides and call it treasure, because that would make displacers worth 120 grand each! Now thats game breaking!
T_K 04-08-07, 12:17 PM	You can't just slap on their hides and call it treasure, because that would make displacers worth 120 grand each! The DM would at least need to explain why they're not already extinct, if that were the case.
Airos 04-09-07, 12:38 AM	I have, as DM, allowed the use of properly skinned Displacer Beast hides to be used as the necessary components for the creation of Cloak of Displacement, Minor. This requires a halfway decent Survival check to skin, (DC 15-20 depending on how the Displacer Beast was killed, although my players have taken to using bludgeoning damage to preserve the hide), some way to tan the hide, (DC 5-10 survival), and then someone that can actually do something with them, (Craft Wondrous Item). Since all the "materials" are being provided by the hide, all that needs to be "spent" are XP. If the players don't have any need for a Cloak of Displacement, Minor, they can attempt to sell the hide, (typically for around 6,000 gp, half the value of the hide, which itself is half the value of the Cloak) Displacer Beast Pack Lord hide can be used for either Cloak of Displacement, Minor or Cloak of Displacement, Major. The DCs for skinning the hide are slightly higher, (20-25), although the tanning process remains the same. If the skinning attempt is messed up, (<20 but = or >15), then it can only be used for a minor cloak. Sale price of the component is around 12,500 gp. These are, of course, my house rules. Your actual millage may vary. Product sold by weight, not by volume. No warranty, expressed or implied. All sales final. Offer not valid where prohibited by law. Please obtain your parents, guardians or DMs permission.
Riplox 04-09-07, 12:48 AM	That is a very nice way of going about it Airos. I'll have to show that to my DM. Heck, we just got 15k out of catching (not killing) a mother arrowhawk and it's young and selling them to a collector. So I don't think this is too off that. We are lacking in the treasure department right now and I need a new weapon, so it looks like that'sa viable option. Thanks.
T_K 04-09-07, 03:44 AM	That is a very nice way of going about it Airos. I'll have to show that to my DM. Heck, we just got 15k out of catching (not killing) a mother arrowhawk and it's young and selling them to a collector. So I don't think this is too off that. We are lacking in the treasure department right now and I need a new weapon, so it looks like that'sa viable option. Thanks. It's nice that you handle the economy side of D&D as well. If collecting wealth is a theme in your campaign, it's cool that there are ways other than treasure-looting to go about it.
Airos 04-09-07, 04:14 AM	That is a very nice way of going about it Airos. I'll have to show that to my DM. Heck, we just got 15k out of catching (not killing) a mother arrowhawk and it's young and selling them to a collector. So I don't think this is too off that. We are lacking in the treasure department right now and I need a new weapon, so it looks like that'sa viable option. Thanks. It's nice that you handle the economy side of D&D as well. If collecting wealth is a theme in your campaign, it's cool that there are ways other than treasure-looting to go about it. Thanks, both of you. I've learned that my players are very adaptive when it comes to "looting" the enemies they defeat. Last night I sent a pair of nightmares against them, which have a treasure entry of "none". As they're going over the bodies, and they notice the nightmares aren't quite dead yet, one of the players gets the idea to hold a vial up to it's nostrils to bottle some of the smoke it was still exhaling. She wrote down "Nightmare's dying breath" at the suggestion of the other player. It was such a great idea I couldn't not reward them in some way. The local wizards guild purchased that, as well as some rare plants, fungi and a pair of needletooth bodies (dinosaur swarm from MM3), for 5k GP. It was a little side quest I allowed them to take up, at the idea of one player, to look for rare and exotic components while they were on another major quest. Since I knew there was little chance they would find "loot" during this quest, I was in need of finding alternate methods of "rewarding" them with gold. It all worked out great, and since I've done this for many years, my players are always on the lookout for something strange and exotic to take back to town with them to try and sell. My last campaign ended with a war against, oddly enough, Warforged. Now I just have to figure out why the wizard guild was so eager to purchase all those green crystal eyes for 5k a pop...:plotting:
T_K 04-09-07, 04:47 AM	I ran a game that featured a Mercane who bought "oddities". The kind of stuff you see in Wunderkammers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wunderkammer). My philosophy was that even non-magical, useless stuff can be valuable if it's strange enough. This Mercane in question offered good money for mutated bones and other remains. He had a stockpile of oddities (like a preserved white black lotus), and one of the players even ended up buying stuff from him, even though I noted that it would probably be useless in an optimization/munchkin sense. :D
SolenVlos 04-09-07, 09:37 AM	There is a cloak made of displacer beast hide in crystal keep. it's called Najjar's Cloak of Weaponry, and allows you to treat the cloak as a extradimensional space, suited for weapons,up to 25lb.
tarkin 04-09-07, 02:35 PM	1. What you are talking about is called a "Power Component". 2. The majority of Power components do NOT totally remove the XP cost. 3. A Survival Check of at least 20 has been used in the past for this kind of thing. 4. If the creature is 'killed too badly', that might mean it is impossible. Standard things that would be 'killed too badly', would include fire, acid, and Disintegration type spells. ------ Strict Game: Not allowed. Loose Game: Survival check of DC 20, provides 1/2 the XP, not all of the XP. Don't use fire,acid, Disintegration or similar type things to kill it. Power Game: Survival Check of 15 unless fire/acid used, then 20. Full XP allowed. Anything goes Game: No check needed, don't care how you fought it, full XP paid for.