Defining POWER COMPONENTS [Archive] - Wizards Community

Defining POWER COMPONENTS [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
marcus_antonius
05-14-07, 11:35 AM Hi there,

In a few of my recent games our group decided to use the "power components" option. So far this seems to be quite an interesting option as it allows casters to create items without the XP expenditure normally involved...but unfortunately we don't have many great ideas as to what exactly should be components for which items.

Would any of you mind telling me what you have used as power components in your campaigns?

I'll begin with a few examples we already figured out:

Gauntlets of Ogre Power: has to be made of the Hands of an Ogre (or other Giants)

Belt of Giants Strength: has to be made out of the woven Hair of a Giant.

Cloak of diplacement: has to be made out of the skin of a displacer beast.

Darkskull: has to be made out of the skull of a Cleric of a good Deity of at least xth lvl (not really sure what level exactly would be apropriate)

so...any ideas for other items...even if not fully fleshed out... just to give us a hint ;)

thanks everyone in advance
Holy_Beholder
05-21-07, 09:27 PM Elemental weapons involve elementals trapped in gems. Anything that grants flight is made out of cockatrice feathers. Give me a small list of items and I will make something up for at least half of them.
Thomar_of_Uointer
05-21-07, 11:16 PM Hi there,

In a few of my recent games our group decided to use the "power components" option. So far this seems to be quite an interesting option as it allows casters to create items without the XP expenditure normally involved...but unfortunately we don't have many great ideas as to what exactly should be components for which items.

Would any of you mind telling me what you have used as power components in your campaigns?

I'll begin with a few examples we already figured out:

Gauntlets of Ogre Power: has to be made of the Hands of an Ogre (or other Giants)

Belt of Giants Strength: has to be made out of the woven Hair of a Giant.

Cloak of diplacement: has to be made out of the skin of a displacer beast.

Darkskull: has to be made out of the skull of a Cleric of a good Deity of at least xth lvl (not really sure what level exactly would be apropriate)

so...any ideas for other items...even if not fully fleshed out... just to give us a hint ;)

thanks everyone in advance

Power components are material components that boost a spell or waive XP components, I think you're referring to crafting materials.

Most of this type of thing is derivative. What I do is say that each creature's organs (I let the players get creative about just how messy they want to get, they already take trophies from everything that doesn't walk on two legs) cover a small selection of spells. Any item that uses one of those spells as a component can benefit from those materials. There also exist universal materials, such as magically charged gems and high-quality scroll inks.

A good way to balance this sort of thing is to only do this for creatures that don't normally have treasure. Roll on the coins table and just say that that's how much the materials are worth (but don't do this for Animals). If it doesn't make sense for a creature to have a certain item type (such as magic items on a monstrous humanoid that didn't use any magic items against the PCs in combat), you can also substitute this for that item type if you roll it.

As for experience... NPCs charge 5 gp to 1 xp, and I let PCs craft at 70% the market price to encourage item creation (do the math, this is exactly what it comes out to, and what the RPGA uses), so with enough components a wizard only has to spend time on items (with obvious exceptions, though it is pretty darn cool for a sword to be made entirely out of dragon bone). This is just a suggestion, it might not work in your game
ranewen
05-26-07, 05:59 PM on power components, and friend and I've done where the party defeats a magical beast or other creature at the DM's discretion. Certain parts of the remains can be harvested into a powder, and become the "power components". to limit this, you can roll a % die to see how much of the creature you were able to harvest into the power component, thereby gaining only a percentage of the maximum available XP

the formula a friend and I derived was: The formula is CR2x100=XP cost equivelent. this XP cannot be used to gain levels, however it can be sold (or bought if they can find a dealer at the DM's descretion), for XP cost x 5 = gp value.

An example of a Blink Dog, magical beast (MM28) has a CR of 2.

22x100=XP
4x100=400XP

400x5=2,000gp
Holy_Beholder
05-27-07, 06:58 PM I used this once, but some creatures are more receptive. It often corresponds to treasure, oozes, animals, and vermin don't have many power components, dragons do(and one of them is smart enough to sell the skins he sheds.)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
marcus_antonius 05-14-07, 11:35 AM	Hi there, In a few of my recent games our group decided to use the "power components" option. So far this seems to be quite an interesting option as it allows casters to create items without the XP expenditure normally involved...but unfortunately we don't have many great ideas as to what exactly should be components for which items. Would any of you mind telling me what you have used as power components in your campaigns? I'll begin with a few examples we already figured out: Gauntlets of Ogre Power: has to be made of the Hands of an Ogre (or other Giants) Belt of Giants Strength: has to be made out of the woven Hair of a Giant. Cloak of diplacement: has to be made out of the skin of a displacer beast. Darkskull: has to be made out of the skull of a Cleric of a good Deity of at least xth lvl (not really sure what level exactly would be apropriate) so...any ideas for other items...even if not fully fleshed out... just to give us a hint ;) thanks everyone in advance
Holy_Beholder 05-21-07, 09:27 PM	Elemental weapons involve elementals trapped in gems. Anything that grants flight is made out of cockatrice feathers. Give me a small list of items and I will make something up for at least half of them.
Thomar_of_Uointer 05-21-07, 11:16 PM	Hi there, In a few of my recent games our group decided to use the "power components" option. So far this seems to be quite an interesting option as it allows casters to create items without the XP expenditure normally involved...but unfortunately we don't have many great ideas as to what exactly should be components for which items. Would any of you mind telling me what you have used as power components in your campaigns? I'll begin with a few examples we already figured out: Gauntlets of Ogre Power: has to be made of the Hands of an Ogre (or other Giants) Belt of Giants Strength: has to be made out of the woven Hair of a Giant. Cloak of diplacement: has to be made out of the skin of a displacer beast. Darkskull: has to be made out of the skull of a Cleric of a good Deity of at least xth lvl (not really sure what level exactly would be apropriate) so...any ideas for other items...even if not fully fleshed out... just to give us a hint ;) thanks everyone in advance Power components are material components that boost a spell or waive XP components, I think you're referring to crafting materials. Most of this type of thing is derivative. What I do is say that each creature's organs (I let the players get creative about just how messy they want to get, they already take trophies from everything that doesn't walk on two legs) cover a small selection of spells. Any item that uses one of those spells as a component can benefit from those materials. There also exist universal materials, such as magically charged gems and high-quality scroll inks. A good way to balance this sort of thing is to only do this for creatures that don't normally have treasure. Roll on the coins table and just say that that's how much the materials are worth (but don't do this for Animals). If it doesn't make sense for a creature to have a certain item type (such as magic items on a monstrous humanoid that didn't use any magic items against the PCs in combat), you can also substitute this for that item type if you roll it. As for experience... NPCs charge 5 gp to 1 xp, and I let PCs craft at 70% the market price to encourage item creation (do the math, this is exactly what it comes out to, and what the RPGA uses), so with enough components a wizard only has to spend time on items (with obvious exceptions, though it is pretty darn cool for a sword to be made entirely out of dragon bone). This is just a suggestion, it might not work in your game
ranewen 05-26-07, 05:59 PM	on power components, and friend and I've done where the party defeats a magical beast or other creature at the DM's discretion. Certain parts of the remains can be harvested into a powder, and become the "power components". to limit this, you can roll a % die to see how much of the creature you were able to harvest into the power component, thereby gaining only a percentage of the maximum available XP the formula a friend and I derived was: The formula is CR2x100=XP cost equivelent. this XP cannot be used to gain levels, however it can be sold (or bought if they can find a dealer at the DM's descretion), for XP cost x 5 = gp value. An example of a Blink Dog, magical beast (MM28) has a CR of 2. 22x100=XP 4x100=400XP 400x5=2,000gp
Holy_Beholder 05-27-07, 06:58 PM	I used this once, but some creatures are more receptive. It often corresponds to treasure, oozes, animals, and vermin don't have many power components, dragons do(and one of them is smart enough to sell the skins he sheds.)