BoVD spell component price list & dragon hearts (merged)

[Felon]

One of the things that fascinated me about reading Monte Cooks campaign at his site was that idea of making the fantasy elements of the world out of the rules, instead of making the rules fit some idea of fantasy. Not necessarily my thing (although I did try it), but it's something I keep in mind when I read through most things these days.

Right, I've read that creed of his as well. While I do find some of his approaches to breaking new ground to be very refreshing--nothing like the like the look on the PC's faces when they realize that minotaur they're fighting can drink a haste potion just as well they can--I think in other ways it's extremely unhealthy. It's inbreeding, and that seldom leads to anything good. I use that word--others use terms like "self-referencing"--to describe this attempt by WotC to sever any ties to the external conventions of fantasy, past and present, in favor of its own take-the-lid-off "extreme sports" version of fantasy.

I'll admit my first reaction upon reading those prices was pretty negative. Then I went away and thought about it for a bit.

Trying to be the voice of reason, eh? Troublemaker!

 

[Felon]

Ah, so there is another thread on this topic already. Whoops.

Jester, if you find out anything, share the wealth, OK?

 

[arwink]

Right, I've read that creed of his as well. While I do find some of his approaches to breaking new ground to be very refreshing--nothing like the like the look on the PC's faces when they realize that minotaur they're fighting can drink a haste potion just as well they can--I think in other ways it's extremely unhealthy. It's inbreeding, and that seldom leads to anything good. I use that word--others use terms like "self-referencing"--to describe this attempt by WotC to sever any ties to the external conventions of fantasy, past and present, in favor of its own take-the-lid-off "extreme sports" version of fantasy.

There is a middle ground to be met here, I'm sure. And without getting sidetracked into a d20 glut/etc arguement, I don't think one designer, or even one companies, preferences in design are going to have a huge impact on the industry as a whole. While it can be argued that its unhealthy (I wont), inbreeding is probably the one thing I don't think we need to worry about. There's always something fresh and interesting in the d20 world. The recent idea of dungeon crawling as x-treme sport (can't remember the product name) is probably the thing that's captured my attention at the moment. It would have taken me years to come up with that on my own.

Another thought on the underpricing of components - maybe it is done for a very specific reason. We think of all these things, such as souls and dragon parts, as exceptionally rare and precious things. It's an affront to see them as tools and commodities, especially cheap tools and commodities.

But we aren't evil. We aren't sacrificing souls in order to boost our spells to new powers. Maybe the entire underpricing thing is there to shock you into a new way of thinking about such things - to look at them from the point of view of the practitioners of the dark powers BoVD illustrates.

So they're treating a soul like a DVD player? You know, if I was going to rule the world and owning a bunch of DVD players was going to help, I'd start buying the cheapest and most plentiful DVD players I could find.

Trying to be the voice of reason, eh?

That's the first time anyones accused me of that this week

 

[Gizzard]

Note that a Demon Heart is 18gp and a feather from an intelligent creature is 20gp. And then a Vrock feather is 1gp!? (Definitely the BoVD feather market is messed up!) That table is full of strange things, maybe someone should go ask Monte about it on his site. I am beginning to suspect some giant editing gaffe.

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

Note that a Demon Heart is 18gp and a feather from an intelligent creature is 20gp. And a Vrock feather is 1gp!? (Definitely the BoVD feather market is messed up!) That table is full of strange things, maybe someone should go ask Monte about it on his site. I am beginning to suspect some giant editing gaffe.

How about:

"Hey Monte! The guys and I were wondering how you decided on the vile material component prices in BoVD. They look a little odd (e.g. demon heart 18gp, feather from intelligent creature 20gp, etc.) Is there something going on that we're not seeing?

Thanks in advance!
[your name here]"

It's a reasonable question. He's not going to bite your head off. Well, unless he can sell it for 15gp.

 

[arwink]

It's a reasonable question. He's not going to bite your head off. Well, unless he can sell it for 15gp.

A bit pointless really. The souls worth way moe than that, and it's really not that much more hassle to aquire

 

[Darkness]

Ah, so there is another thread on this topic already. Whoops.

There can be only one!

Behold the awesome power of Darkness' abominable thread-merging!!!

 

[Ashardalon]

Re: Anyone notice the cost of dragon hearts in BoVD?

Has anyone else noticed (and perhaps reacted with disbelief) over the cost of dragon hearts mentioned in The Book of Vile Darkness's section on optional components for evil spells? 15gp?

What?

And I did go through all this trouble with demons and such...

 

[Krug]

A bit pointless really. The souls worth way moe than that, and it's really not that much more hassle to aquire

Is that an extraordinary, spell-like or supernatural ability?

 

[Gizzard]

He's not going to bite your head off. Well, unless he can sell it for 15gp.

Well, lets see:

Humanoid bone: 1cp
Humanoid brain: 4cp
Humanoid eye: 2cp
Tongue of creature: 3cp
Vial of blood: 3cp

So, a head worth at least a couple of silver. ;-)