D&D 5E Where do you get silver powder?

[Fralex]

I was noticing that the PHB states a divine spellcaster can make holy water by expending a spell slot and 25 gp-worth of powdered silver. I'm trying to understand why that would be useful. I mean, powdered silver sounds like it would be almost as hard to procure as holy water, and it costs just as much. Is the goal to give players a way to craft the item in just an hour if they can't find a place that sells it?

How do you make silver powder, anyway? I looked online a bit, and it seems like a pretty complicated process involving dissolving the silver into a variety of different acids to get first silver nitrate, then silver chloride, until eventually you're left with just pure silver powder.

[one hour of "looking up where all the different chemicals come from and how each of them are made" later]

...Oh. Or you can just grind up some silver, apparently. I wish I'd looked at that search result first.

But this raises an interesting question: can players make holy water by sacrificing silver coins or other possessions? It seems fitting, in a "give up your worldly possessions for the greater good" sense.

 

[Staffan]

I guess it's a callback to the 3e spell bless water which used 25 gp worth of silver dust as the material component. 3e also said that holy water was sold at cost by most churches, because they had an interest in making it easy to fight undead.

Also, 25 gp worth of silver dust is 250 sp. Generally, PCs don't carry that much change around if they can help it.

 

[aramis erak]

I guess it's a callback to the 3e spell bless water which used 25 gp worth of silver dust as the material component. 3e also said that holy water was sold at cost by most churches, because they had an interest in making it easy to fight undead.

Also, 25 gp worth of silver dust is 250 sp. Generally, PCs don't carry that much change around if they can help it.

5 bloody pounds of silver dust.

Silver dust is one of the normal end products of refining silver from silver ore via either acid or mercury amalgam. It's not a hard process, but it's dangerous and time consuming. It also can be made by filing silver stock.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

But this raises an interesting question: can players make holy water by sacrificing silver coins or other possessions? It seems fitting, in a "give up your worldly possessions for the greater good" sense.

I'd allow it because it is practical, thinking outside the box, story & game world appropriate and not unbalancing in the least.

 

[JasonZZ]

Where do you get silver dust? From silver pieces and a modified mill.

You know some church has tried it that way....

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

[13][/13]Anybody ever seen the classic western movie, Paint Your Wagon?

The main characters plotted to dig under all the main commercial buildings in the town in order to collect all the gold dust that fell between the floorboards. No reason why there wouldn't be some silver, too.

 

[delericho]

I was noticing that the PHB states a divine spellcaster can make holy water by expending a spell slot and 25 gp-worth of powdered silver. I'm trying to understand why that would be useful. I mean, powdered silver sounds like it would be almost as hard to procure as holy water, and it costs just as much. Is the goal to give players a way to craft the item in just an hour if they can't find a place that sells it?

Pretty much.

How do you make silver powder, anyway?

...Oh. Or you can just grind up some silver, apparently. I wish I'd looked at that search result first.

This. D&D, as a rule, isn't terribly intested in exact chemical compositions or scientific accuracy. So you get 25gp worth of silver dust by grinding up 250 silver pieces. Or an equivalent hunk of silver. Or similar.

Heck, you could even try pointing out to your DM that a big hunk of silver is effectively a like amount of silver dust, just all stuck together, and see if she goes for it...

 

[PnPgamer]

Go to bank, chsnge your 25 gold to 250 silver, grind the silver into powder.

 

[CM]

Usually in the magic baking aisle.

 

[delericho]

The temple of Asmodeus probably sells it at a discount. Though that may not be quite the thing for holy water use...