Critter Bits and Magic Recipes!

Hi there! This thread is a continuation of the previous thread of the same name. (You can find it at http://65.127.163.19/showthread.php?t=35574 or, for everyone but me http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=35574 ) That thread was getting kind of old and clunky, and I’m sure it was hard to make any use of. So, the kind moderators archived it and I decided to repost that information and start a new thread.

Let me explain what this thread is all about. It has been explored to an extent in 3rd Edition so far, but particularly in older editions of the game, there were many uses for the remains and parts of monsters – you could use them for spell components, or to make magical items out of them, or even use parts of them for mundane things, including alchemical uses of creatures as well other protective measures (but not purely monetary value of parts). It is my intention to collect all these old references, for those of us who’d still like to use them. In time I would like to update them and make them 3E playable, and maybe even use them in some future publishing venture. I’m thinking of eventually organizing this list into the categories of Spell Components, Alchemy, Potions, Poisons, Item Creation (for non-potions), and Useful Items (such as making armor or weapons from creatures, or using non-magical parts as tools or whatnot).

I was concerned about not having enough time to look all of this stuff up by myself, but several kind posters helped out by using their time to find these things for me (us). If you feel inclined to contribute to this ongoing project, what I would need you to do is find specific verifiable sources that list such instances. If you only have a vague idea, tell us what you think you know and where you think we can find it so that someone can look it up. If you know of an online source that contains info like this, then please post a link to that site or page.

Monster books are ideal choices to research, of course, but many other sources are likely to contain such monster lore. I would like to see info from any official book, boxed set, or magazine from any edition older than 3E, from any campaign world. As for more recent stuff, it would also be good to build an index of 3E sources that contain such info – but for copyright concerns, don’t post anything directly from the books.

Voadam said:

Are you not interested in the Hackmaster recipes?

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Well, I would prefer stuff from official sources for the most part, but if you can give me a when and where of how something appeared, it might turn out useful and OK. Hackmaster, since it emulates D&D anyway, might be a good alternative source that I didn’t originally consider.

What follows is a document containing all of the useful information posted in the original thread. Since it was too big to effectively sort through any other way, I have simply sorted the information chronologically by poster name. Feel free to quote or use any of this information as you desire – but keep in mind that WotC owns the copyright.

Thanks in particular to cildarith, Feathercircle, and (Jonathan) Richards!

Here is some input and comments I got regarding 3E and 3.5 resources. We can make an index for this stuff too when we have a more complete picture. I decided to let “slips” of Dragon and Dungeon Magazine sources for 3E go into the regular stuff, since those go out of print quickly.

Olive said:

Theres some stuff in the BoVD about power components: devil's heart and the like.

Also, one of the magic weapons mentions angel's wings.

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If I’m not mistaken, the BoED also has some useful such info.

Olgar Shiverstone said:

Other folks have covered the pre-3E references that I remember, but here's a newer one: pick up Philip Reed's 101 Arcane Spell Components PDF. It has a ton of what you're looking for, 100% OGC.

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BOZ said:

Sean K Reynolds himself pointed out this one to me. in the DMG, page 96, is an alternate rule variant ("Power Components") for using "critter bits" as a substitute for XP-burning in spell casting. that is one way we can make use of some of this stuff, but it doesn't cover everything.

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that, of course refers to the 3.0 DMG. This came from a thread I posted on Sean’s boards, which may have likely gone the way of the dinosaur…

Red Baron said:

the magic item creation system in the upcoming Al'Kabor's Arcana (for the EverQuest rpg) will have rules about this, which will be pretty much portable to D&D.

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fourthmensch said:

Why is it you're not looking for 3e info? Because there's not a lot, but there's some; for instance in the Draconomicon, etc.

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The Gryphon said:

You might want to have a look at Dragon #317 pages 44-49, as there is an article on just this subject

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Aaargh, BOZ, I went and started a Part Two as well!
Everyone seems to be ignoring mine, so I'll just post here instead. Since I can't PM, can you catch PKitty for me and ask him to delete it?

So, here's my former post, give or take a bit...

I suppose the modron heartspears in Dragon 272 could be considered to have been made with monstrous parts as well, judging by the method of their creation, but it's not exactly something most characters will be able to easily replicate:

The chant on their creation is that sometimes, when a powerful baatezu wants to punish an upstart inferior, it will throw the unfortunate into the energy pool of Primus. After a time, Primus becomes tired of holding these flawed souls in its person and crafts them into heartspears

Dragon 220
"..A unicorn cloak is cut from a yellowish-white material woven from a unicorn's mane. When worn by a woman of the appropriate races [elves, humans, half-elves], the cloak produces an aura of sympathy, which applies only to unicorns. In addition, the wearer can transform herself into a unicorn by act of will. The cloak-wearer may change into a unicorn as often as desired an may remain in the new form as long as is necessary....The wearer can return to her own form with a mental command. Transformation from one form to another takes an entire round, but no System Shock roll is required."

Dragon 280
"THis noxious substance is a mixture of chemicals and a concentrated distillation of fire beetle glands, yielding a thick, reddish paste. It can be spread on surfaces and burns fiercely for 1d4 rounds when touched by open flame, doing 3d6 points of damage per round and halving the hardness of the object before damage is applied. It can burn through wood, stone and even metal. One container of the paste is enough to draw a half-inch thick line one yard long. A container can be ignited and thrownl, but the paste does not stick or splatter when used in such a manner and has the same effect as a thrown torch.

For some reason, the stupid forum software won't let me delete the earlier post...

And I just realized I missed this in Dragon 167, from the spell Bone Knit
The material component of this spell is a drop of the spellcaster's blood and a drop of troll's blood.

thanks for keeping this going while life gets real busy for me...

BOZ said:

thanks for keeping this going while life gets real busy for me...

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Sure thing. Thanks for continuing to take an interest despite your business, knowing that you're still following this is what keeps me working on it.

Dragon 302 had some interesting constructs...

"The minogon's body is crafted from 4000 pounds of iron. It costs 62000 gp to create, which includes 1200 gp for the cost of the body. Assembling the body requires a successful Craft (armorsmithing) check (DC 20). In addition, five minotaur hearts must be encased in the breast of the mechanical beast."

"A web golem's body is made from layer upon layer of webbing harvested from giant spiders. Although it is possible to get enough webbing from a single sufficiently large giant spider, most assembly is done with the webbing of numerous monstrous spiders."


And an exerpt of the amorphous blob spell from Dragon 162, just because I feel like it.

The casting of ths spell requires that the wizard first construct a crystal orb filled with a swirling, gelatinous fluid. The orb and its contents take 1-4 weeks to manufacture. In order for the spell component to be made properly, the wizard must enlist the aid of an experienced alchemist and must build a special laboratory equipped with its own strange, custom-made apparatus, the total cost of which can be no less than 5,000 gp. The wizard also needs to prucure the following ingredients used to formulate the weird fluid: one pint of the spell-caster's blood, three pints of ochre jelly, and one dram of acid from a black pudding. With these ingredients, the alchemist prepares a viscous solution and encapsulates it in a finely blown glass ball, 1' in diameter. The wizard then holds the sphere in a shocking grasp so that he can magicallly activate the liquid contents. Once these procedures are completed, the wizard may use the orb at any time thereafter to cast an amorphous blob .

i printed out the document i posted on this page for the player in our group who originally inspired it in the first place... he was very pleased.

BOZ said:

i printed out the document i posted on this page for the player in our group who originally inspired it in the first place... he was very pleased.

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I've got a few new ones thanks to the local Half Price Books having a cache of ancient issues of Dragon... and in the meantime, I'm also turning that big list you attatched, BOZ, into an Excel spreadsheet. Manipulatable data, here we come!

Dragon 197 has some Athasian stuff, with an inexplicably high amount of uses for the common erdlu. Here's a slightly abbreviated version:

Kank Shell (Wiz 5, Alteration) V,S,M Time: 1 round Area: one creature
This is a defensive spell developed by mages of the elven kank-hearding tribes, enabling the recipient to go without armor in the terrific heat of Athas until he actually needs it. When the spell is cast, the beneficiary's body or torso is transformed into the chitinous carapace of a kank, giving him the protection of plate mail. This armor lasts until successfully dispelled or the wearer takes cumulative damage totalling over 8 hp+ 1 hp/caster level. It has no effective weight or encumbrance, and does not affect spellcasting. The material component for this spell is a fist-sized shard of kank shell.

Erdlu Egg (Wiz 5, Enchantment) V,S,M Time: 2 turns Areane egg
This spell causes an old erdlu egg filled with sand (the material components) to become a fresh erdlu egg, with contents fit to eat.... Elven nomads developed this spell as a means of creating an emergency food supply. Once the created food is eaten, the shell dissapears, so a new shell is required for each casting. Thus, possesion of this spell effectively doubles the number of erdlu eggs any tribe has.

Erdlu Hide (Wiz 3, Alteration) V,S,M Time:1 turn Area:1 creature
The mages of elven nomad tribes developed this spell to provide an unarmored mage with effective armor when he needs it the most. This spell causes the recipient's skin to become as tough as the scale-feathered hide of an erdlu, giving him the equivalent of scale mail. This armor adds no weight or encumbrance to the wearer, lasting until successfully dispelled or until the wearer sustains cumulative damage greater than 8 hp+ 1 hp/caster level. A protected mage may still cast spells. The material components for this spell are a pair of the scaly feathers of an erdlu.

Giant Fur (Wiz 1, Alteration) V,S,M Time:1 round Area:1 creature
This spell causes the recipient's body hair to grow thickly in a matter of seconds, covering him with a layer of matted hair that provides armor protection equivalent to that of padded armor. Any member of a mammalian race, intelligent or not, may benefit from this spell, even if he keeps his hair shaved off like a dwarf or a mul (thri-kreen and other nonmammalian beings are not effected by this spell). This armor does not hinder movement or prohibit spellcasting- it's the recipient's own body hair, after all- and the hair shrinks back into his body at the spells end. The spell lasts until successfully dispelled or until the wearer takes cumulative damage totalling greater than 8 hp + 1 hp/caster level. The material component for this spell is a strand of giant hair.

Erdlu Claw (Wiz 1, Alteration) V,S,M Time:1 round Area: 1 creature
When this spell is cast on a humanoid being, its fingernails grow into talons, precisely like the claws of an erdlu bird. Once in this state, they do damage as hand razors. The spell was developed by elven mages (preservers, of course) who belonged to nomad tribes, and it has since been adopted by all magic-using races who are both humanoid and do not already have clawed hands. The claws do no damage to creatures that can only be struck by magic weapons. In general, this spell is memorized by a mage as a weapon of last resort, if an enemy actually closes for melee.... The material component is a single erdu claw.

Feathercircle said:

I'm also turning that big list you attatched, BOZ, into an Excel spreadsheet. Manipulatable data, here we come!

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right awn!

The promised spreadsheet is within inches of being finished, but first I'd like to gift you with a few more (mostly so I can get these Dragon magazines put away before I have to ship out to college again).

Dragon 190 has a bunch of variant unicorns, with a bunch of variant users resulting as well:
The horn of a zebracorn can be used to brew potions of polymorph self.
A unisi's horn can be used to brew potions of flying.
A narwhal [sea unicorn]'s horn can be used to brew potions of water breathing.
A pinto [unicorn]'s horn can be used to create potions of rainbow hues.
A palomino unicorn's horn can be used to create the ink necessariy to produce scrolls of protection from cold.
Gray unicorns horns can be carved and enchanted to produce rings of spell turning or can be used in the creation of potions of invulnerability.
The discarded horns [of the faerie unicorn] are prized by elves, because the horns can be crushed to produce the dye used in the manufacture of cloaks of elvenkind.
A black unicorn's horn can be used to brew extremely virulent poisons that kill their imbibers within one round if a saving throw vs. poison is failed or cause paralysis for 1-3 hours if the save is successful.
The horn of a bay unicorn can be used to create potions of fire breath.
A brown unicorn's horn can be used to manufacture a special sleeping potion. Any character who drinks this potion is placed into suspended animation that is permanent until dispellled. A successful saving throw vs. poison nengates this effect.
The same issue also has a magical instrument called a rababah of the dao which requires the skull of a roc for its creation.

The fabled Terrible Iron Golem which returns in Dungeon 112's Castle Maure adventure has a whip made of cockatrice feathers.

From Dragon 125's section on the positive quasielementals-
Despite their glowing appearance, the bodies of mineral quasielementals have few gems or other valuable stones. However, their forms contain a rich variety of minerals that would be useful to sages and mages, so that a defeated mineral quasielemental could fetch a price of up to 200 gp per HD.