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

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Not from the jerky fellow who sidles up to you sans septum in the tavern, that's for sure.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don't hate- thass my home-Brahe, dood!

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I might rule that 25gp worth of gold dust isn't actually 250 sp ground into dust, but some lesser amount of silver dust that costs 25gp to obtain. By D&D logic, about 2.5 pounds of silver plus labor.

You can probably buy it from an alchemist, who might have a small keg full of the stuff.

 

[77IM]

1. This rule demonstrates that churches selling holy water are selling it at cost, not trying to rip off adventurers.

2. I often allow players can "buy" consumables from their component pouch while out in the field -- sort of a ret-con, "oh, sure, you probably purchased some silver powder last time you were refilling the pouch, subtract 25 gp and we'll say you did that." It gives a subtle advantage to the component pouch, which is otherwise inferior to a focus in most respects.

 

[Spots Knight]

I wanted to make it moderately difficult to make their own instead of buying holy water from the temples (mainly because if they make it themselves and it is too easy, they complain to me about the cost to buy potions and holy water.)

The actual process on a high level just requires Acid, copper, heat, distilled water and time. rather than spell it all out, they found a dwarf that would show them the process. To do it, he required them give him the 250 SP and an additional 125 CP. The dwarf had the acid (he was a miner) and access to a stream. then it took a process of 3 days.

After that they had the silver power they needed to make a single dose of holy water.

 

[steeldragons]

You must venture into the Onyx Hills and find the gnome city of Vunderlinkenton. In addition to wonderful granite, crystals and precious stones of all kinds, the gnomes there have an extensive silver mining operation.

The silversmiths of Vunderlinkenton are renowned throughout the duchy and southern kingdom for the unmatched skill and intricate beauty of their wares.

Silver powder can be purchased there for, from the right seller, for a song...or from the wrong seller for your soul. Shop wisely.

 

[MarkB]

Just bear in mind that those 250 silver pieces you're grinding up are silver pieces that you can't then nail to your mace or sharpen into shurikens to fight lycanthropes.

 

[Satyrn]

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.

You make it sound like producing powdered silver is exactly what alchemist's supplies are for.

Or just grind it up - but even then you could say that silver powder isn't as pure as you get from the alchemy. So maybe give a bonus to silver powder produced through alchemy.

 

[Coroc]

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.

Take a grinder and a coin. I do not think it has to be powdered to the grain of talcum
I would rule that shavings made with a rasp or so are sufficient.
It would not dissolve in water anyway would it?

 

[Kobold Stew]

The purest silver powder is found in rust monster scat, since the creatures are unable to digest precious metals.

There are reasons that holy water comes with a label that suggests it is not suitable for human consumption.