I think we all know that's not true.
But on the off-chance it's not, you should totally put that in your sig. It'll help everybody put all your criticisms in context.
Valindra Shadowmantle
- Thread starter CapnZapp
- Start date
I think we all know that's not true.
But on the off-chance it's not, you should totally put that in your sig. It'll help everybody put all your criticisms in context.
MonsterEnvy
Legend
WOW I had no idea Perkins was involved in D&D for 32 years. Rather then the 20 he has actually been involved in.
And apparently you have hated him while he was in his teens. Did you go to school with him or something and hold a grudge?
(Seriously this is even more irrational then ever. Along with a ton of complaining about Books you don't read Corpsetaker.)
And apparently you have hated him while he was in his teens. Did you go to school with him or something and hold a grudge?
(Seriously this is even more irrational then ever. Along with a ton of complaining about Books you don't read Corpsetaker.)
Parmandur
Book-Friend
I presume he means 2015, since OotA is the book that really set him off on this topic.
MonsterEnvy
Legend
Green Rhonin were the primary writers for OotA. Perkins was just one member of a team for that thing. Also how do you turn 1985 into 2015.
Parmandur
Book-Friend
Misspelling happens. Perkins was heavily involved, though, and was promoting particularly the humor in the book: [MENTION=6776548]Corpsetaker[/MENTION] was displeased vocally at that time.
CapnZapp
Legend
This thread has derailed most spectacularly. I am impressed.
Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app
Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app
Heh... well that's what happens when Corpsetaker joins a thread! 
Sent from my SM-J320V using EN World mobile app
Sent from my SM-J320V using EN World mobile app
CapnZapp
Legend
Another WTF moment from Tomb of Annihilation:
Now, in the adventure's defense, adamantine trade bars has no official 5e value. And gold is essentially worthless anyway - in an adventure where there's an official countdown of only 70 days or so, I don't expect anyone to take any downtime activities at all.
But of course those are two exceedingly weak arguments.
Most sources I can find put the value of a one-pound bar of adamantine at somewhere between 300 gp and 400 gp, so that's 6000 gp per character minimum. Not game-wrecking by any means, right?
But that assumes 1) Sithi Vinecutter is around to stop them from looting and 2) they don't just kill or incapacitate or simply ignore her. The adventure does after all only put four weak CR 1/4 creatures between the party and all the loot.
But it gets worse.
(Now remember, one of my players is of the kind that breaks copper doors free and calculates the iron weight of weapons, all in order to make a few extra gold pieces)
Okay, what would a quick estimate by your regular friendly non-physicist Dungeon Master that haven't really thought about what appears to be a minor detail be?
Let's go with "it looks like the pool is 10 ft by 5 ft. Since the game grid is in 5 ft increments let's say the pool is 5 ft deep too".
That's a serious error right there. Can you immediately see why?
The why is because 10x5x5 means 250 cubic feet of molten adamantium. Doesn't sound so bad? If this makes 250 ingots it's about ten times the wealth, and so we'll say the molten metal is "low grade" and at 10% purity.
Still sounds reasonable?
Wrong.
The density of iron or silver (comparable metals in the real world) is 491 and 655 lbs/cu ft, respectively. That's just a number, right.
Well, if we eyeball adamantium at 500 lbs per cubic feet, a nice round number, that works out to be over a hundred thousand ingots (250x500=125000).
Even at 10% purity that would still be worth almost four million gp!!
If you have taken even the slightest step towards allowing characters to do something useful with their wealth (perhaps using the "Buying a Magic Item" rule of XGE), this location alone means they get to buy "all of it", regardless of power or rarity.
Yes, all of it.
The author would be well advised to read up on the value and density of precious metals before he writes an adventure again.
Luckily I was forewarned (remember the bit about carrying copper doors, I was not kidding), so I understood the danger before I handed out millions of gold for free.
I ended up having to change the molten metal from adamantine to electrum (another D&D metal, roughly ten times less valuable), and also lower the purity to only a fraction of one percent, and also choosing a much shallower pool. In the end, the players could spend a few days hammering out electrum ingots to a value of 7500 gp in total.
Moral of the story: don't trust game writers to have any inkling of scientific matters
Hrakhamar section, page 60
Now, in the adventure's defense, adamantine trade bars has no official 5e value. And gold is essentially worthless anyway - in an adventure where there's an official countdown of only 70 days or so, I don't expect anyone to take any downtime activities at all.
But of course those are two exceedingly weak arguments.
Most sources I can find put the value of a one-pound bar of adamantine at somewhere between 300 gp and 400 gp, so that's 6000 gp per character minimum. Not game-wrecking by any means, right?
But that assumes 1) Sithi Vinecutter is around to stop them from looting and 2) they don't just kill or incapacitate or simply ignore her. The adventure does after all only put four weak CR 1/4 creatures between the party and all the loot.
But it gets worse.
(Now remember, one of my players is of the kind that breaks copper doors free and calculates the iron weight of weapons, all in order to make a few extra gold pieces)
Hrakhamar section, page 61
Okay, what would a quick estimate by your regular friendly non-physicist Dungeon Master that haven't really thought about what appears to be a minor detail be?
Let's go with "it looks like the pool is 10 ft by 5 ft. Since the game grid is in 5 ft increments let's say the pool is 5 ft deep too".
That's a serious error right there. Can you immediately see why?
The why is because 10x5x5 means 250 cubic feet of molten adamantium. Doesn't sound so bad? If this makes 250 ingots it's about ten times the wealth, and so we'll say the molten metal is "low grade" and at 10% purity.
Still sounds reasonable?
Wrong.
The density of iron or silver (comparable metals in the real world) is 491 and 655 lbs/cu ft, respectively. That's just a number, right.
Well, if we eyeball adamantium at 500 lbs per cubic feet, a nice round number, that works out to be over a hundred thousand ingots (250x500=125000).
Even at 10% purity that would still be worth almost four million gp!!
If you have taken even the slightest step towards allowing characters to do something useful with their wealth (perhaps using the "Buying a Magic Item" rule of XGE), this location alone means they get to buy "all of it", regardless of power or rarity.
Yes, all of it.
The author would be well advised to read up on the value and density of precious metals before he writes an adventure again.
Luckily I was forewarned (remember the bit about carrying copper doors, I was not kidding), so I understood the danger before I handed out millions of gold for free.
I ended up having to change the molten metal from adamantine to electrum (another D&D metal, roughly ten times less valuable), and also lower the purity to only a fraction of one percent, and also choosing a much shallower pool. In the end, the players could spend a few days hammering out electrum ingots to a value of 7500 gp in total.
Moral of the story: don't trust game writers to have any inkling of scientific matters
Similar Threads
AD6_gamerati_skyscraper
Upcoming Releases
-
April 16 2024 -
May 31 2024 -
June 3 2024 -
June 4 2024 -
June 18 2024 -
July 16 2024 -
September 17 2024 -
October 1 2024 -
November 12 2024 -
February 18 2025
