D&D 5E Pedantic Equipment Complaints

[Mouseferatu]

* Or is that a paraelemental plane? I confuse those two.

Quasiparapseudosemielementalish.

 

[Henrix]

Quasiparapseudosemielementalish.

That's it! Thank you, Ari.

We need a good mnemonic for that sort of thing.

 

[KarinsDad]

Ball bearings?
Ball bearings?

1000 (sic!) ball bearings for 1gp?

How do you even make ball bearings en masse without industrial manufacturing technology?
And what do you use them for?

The question is not how do you manufacture them (although that is a good question), the question is, how long does it take to pick up 1000 ball bearings so that you can use them for the next encounter?


And there is the side question of, what happens if you throw these into the grass or mud? Do they still trip people up?


This is what happens when one mixes genres.

 

[SpiritOfFire]

I have a usability question regarding ball bearings. In my head I wanted to drop these while making it difficult for pursuers to catch me. But since it takes an entire action to empty a bag, can't the enemy catch up using 1/2 speed, then dash for 1/2 speed, matching my movement speed?

 

[Andor]

They're pretty hard to make. (And important part of the industrial revolution, for that reason.) (In particular if they are to do much use, which requires them to of very hard steel, which...

Clearly you fail to recall the Dragonmagazine spell "summon minor metal sphere" the verbal component of which was the second letter of the alphabet, recited twice.

Or maybe they harvest then from the Rabbits of the plane of elemental fire, famed as the hottest bunnies in all the planes.

 

[Henrix]

The question is not how do you manufacture them (although that is a good question), the question is, how long does it take to pick up 1000 ball bearings so that you can use them for the next encounter?

I recommend using a rare earth magnet on a telescoping pole*. 25gp in select stores.


* a.k.a. Rod of Modron control.

 

[Roger]

How do you even make ball bearings en masse without industrial manufacturing technology?

One method is the shot tower. Good set for a combat.



Cheers,
Roger

 

[Tormyr]

One method is the shot tower. Good set for a combat.



Cheers,
Roger

Congratulations! You win today's internets.

 

[Henrix]

Clearly you fail to recall the Dragonmagazine spell "summon minor metal sphere" the verbal component of which was the second letter of the alphabet, recited twice.

I had not realised it was so powerful!

Paying someone to cast a first level spell costs 10-50 gp, according to the Basic rules.
That means that it summons at least 10 000 ball bearings to be economically viable. (Provided there's a market for the other 9 000 balls.)

Wasn't there a story about that drunk magician who managed to cast it in the tavern, thinking to turning it into a ball pit?

 

[Henrix]

One method is the shot tower. Good set for a combat.

And that isn't a modernish industrial manufacturing method?

And lead balls have other problems, such as softness.
And they're not ball bearings (nor can they be used as).

In 3e and 4e (I think) the same function was filled by throwing marbles. Still a bit tricky to manage, technologically, but not quite as silly and fiction breaking.