Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rosella 02-13-04, 06:23 AM	The material component of Protection from spells: A diamond of at least 500 gp value, which must be crushed and sprinkled over the targets. Can anyone explain how i'm supposed to do this?
Heron_Marked_Blade 02-13-04, 06:31 AM	Take a 500gp diamond. Crush it. Sprinkle it over the members of your party as you cast the spell. ;) Realistically, there's no way you're going to crush a diamond into dust. I consider it to be part of the spell, however: 1) You hold a diamond in your hand as you begin casting the spell 2) The first part of the spell has a built-in diamond-crushing element, so as the power begins to build arcane forces crush the diamond in your hand 3) You sprinkle the diamond dust on the targets and the rest of the spell takes effect on them
Luminous Crayon 02-13-04, 09:10 AM	Originally posted by Heron_Marked_Blade Realistically, there's no way you're going to crush a diamond into dust. Why not? A diamond's legendary hardness protects it from being scratched, not from being crushed; it's not indestructable. You can crush a diamond quite easily, with a hammer. If I need to sprinkle that sort of diamond dust around, I'd keep it pre-crushed, in a small pouch, so it'd be ready when I needed to use the spell.
raistlin_devreault 02-13-04, 09:15 AM	I Think anyone can crush a diamond, only need a warhammer and a belt pouch.. but seriously, unless your making a REALISTIC campaign, don't bother with how you do the crushing...
Cloud Strife 02-13-04, 09:16 AM	Yeah, it's hard exterior makes it actually easier to crush than some other materials as it won't bend, and thus it will break easier.
Heron_Marked_Blade 02-13-04, 09:26 AM	Originally posted by Luminous Crayon Why not? A diamond's legendary hardness protects it from being scratched, not from being crushed; it's not indestructable. You can crush a diamond quite easily, with a hammer. I don't believe a hammer is part of a mage's spell component pouch. The original poster asked how he was supposed to crush a 500gp diamond in order to sprinkle it over the recipients of the spell. In my campaigns I make that part of the spellcasting process. Wizards have enough to keep track of, IMO, to worry about that. That way, they can sacrifice a diamond worth 500gp instead of having to worry about using the exact amount of dust from their pouch of diamond dust. Originally posted by Luminous Crayon If I need to sprinkle that sort of diamond dust around, I'd keep it pre-crushed, in a small pouch, so it'd be ready when I needed to use the spell. Hehe, I do the same thing with my wizard. But I'm slightly obsessive-compulsive that way. Drives my DM crazy. ;)
Salla 02-13-04, 01:14 PM	"Hey, Krusk? Could you come here for a second?" "Sure, what do you --" *smashes diamond on Krusk's head*shatter* "Thank you!"
Josh Wilhoyte 02-13-04, 03:47 PM	For the spells that require X gold worth of a crushed gemstone, I've always bought small pouches and filled them with the appropriate amount of gem dust in advance. That way when I need to cast Continual Flame, Protection, Stoneskin, whatever, I just pull out the correct pouch and use what's in it. Granted, crushing the gems in the middle of combat seems a little silly.
Ithilorien 02-13-04, 03:54 PM	As everyone else has mentioned, the wisest approach is to simply carry around a pouch of diamond dust. You can, however, probably use the Prestidigitation cantrip to crush a diamond into powder, ifn you aren't in the mood for the hammer method.
Willie the Duck 02-14-04, 03:45 PM	now here's a harder (hahaha) argument: Diamonds are non-comodities (they are not valued by amount). Two .5 carat diamonds are not worth as much as a single 1-carat diamond. While in modern times, diamond dust has use in making grinding blades, in medieval times, a speck of diamond too small to put in jewelry has virtually no value. My question is, how many hundreds of thousands of gp worth of valuable diamonds do you have to grind up until you have enough diamond dust to be worth 500 gp?
Grand_Commander13 02-14-04, 03:49 PM	Willie...? Wtf? It says you need to crush a diamond worth 500 gp, not get 500 gp worth of diamond dust. Not to mention that I'd forsee diamond dust being sold as a spell component, if the initial value of the diamond didn't matter.
FineasBoggs 02-14-04, 04:06 PM	However many DeBeers says you have to. http://webpages.charter.net/acamphuysen/manshoon_mage_sigil.gif
Xychotic 02-15-04, 03:05 AM	What if diamond is common, like it actually is one Earth. What would happen if someone figured out how to manufacture diamonds that were indistinguishable from the real thing except that they are too perfect to be natural? Must the diamond be a single gem worth 500 gp, or could it have been several smaller gems of lesser value? What if the diamond was a particularly well cut diamond that thus had its value increased, such that there is less diamond per gp? What if the diamond were a poorly cut specimen and you required a significant amount of it, such that there is more diamond per gp? What if the diamond came out of a rich vein that inundated the market with gem quality diamonds, thus reducing the value of diamonds by half? What if there is a huge shortage of diamonds and the cost of diamonds increases significantly, such that the value of diamonds has doubled? What if its an cultured diamond, one that is made in a laboratory and can only be detected as false because it has trace minerals present that are not present in natural diamonds?
Luminosity 02-15-04, 04:44 AM	What if it's a family heirloom and therefore worth millions to you? What if you can trick the party barbarian into thinking your 100gp diamond is worth 10,000? If he's willing to pay, hasn't it actually increased in "worth"?
Luminous Crayon 02-15-04, 09:58 AM	What if you're in a campaign world where diamonds are so common, they're used for pocket change, like copper pieces are in "standard" DnD currency?
Capn Charlie 02-15-04, 10:34 AM	But diamond dust is a commodity. It is a valuable substance coveted by wizards. Sure price is relative, but the 500gp(or more often 100) pricetag is meant more as a baseline. The dust of what is the equivelant of a 500 gp diamond. However in a world chock full of wizards(or where they are rare) diamond dust is a substance, sure you can get it by crushing diamonds, but mostly it is dust measured out by the proprieter of mage shops. Jewelers sell it to the wizard shops, or sell it directly to those interested.
edgelett 02-15-04, 06:09 PM	My DM isn't too worried about the crushing bit, more in the purchasing & keeping track of the diamonds as they're expensive items. He's happy as long as i can say "yes I have one" or "oops, no better get one next town!"
rogue_lettuce 02-15-04, 06:16 PM	What if you aren't wearing any clothes and the wind is cold. I couldnt care less about all the what if's above!
Rosella 02-16-04, 10:55 AM	the argument that diamond dust isn't worth much compared to the entire thing is a valid argument. I think one would indeed need to crush it while casting, and no, i don't think it's part of the spell. (otherwise it would've said that the diamond would've been consumed or burned like it says in so many other descriptions.)