Monster Skins

[Presto2112]

Last night I ran a game with my usual group, where they fought and killed a shadow mastiff. After the combat was over, one party member threw me a curveball and skinned the beast, after he asked me "what does its coat look like?"

Now as odd as I found it, it's an erratic type of behaviour I'd like to reward.

I'm thinking of making the pelt worth about 300 gp to a tanner or trophy collector. I'm also thinking that he can get it fashioned into a non-magical cloak that bestows a +2 enhancement bonus to Hide checks in conditions less that total daylight (or a daylight spell).

Would other DMs consider this too much?

 

[the Jester]

I'd make him pay for the craftwork, or for special tools to do the crafting with, but I think it would be fine.

 

[smootrk]

I like to add this kind of thing to my games, in fact, I make item crafters develope their items with articles such as this. I leave the exact formula up to the player, but there usually has to be some sort of connotation or correlation incorporating some sort of raw material into the magic item formula...

... and they can always sell the stuff. Hides make great sense as treasure types that Rangers or other outdoorsy types get better access to, much like rogues get whats inside chests (especially if they are shifty types to sleight of hand stuff before the party gets a looksy), or magical items for mages, or weapons for the other fighter types...etc.

 

[CleverNickName]

... and they can always sell the stuff. Hides make great sense as treasure types that Rangers or other outdoorsy types get better access to, much like rogues get whats inside chests (especially if they are shifty types to sleight of hand stuff before the party gets a looksy), or magical items for mages, or weapons for the other fighter types...etc.

Which is why practically every PC in my group has a few ranks in Craft (leatherwork). The first thought that enters their minds after a victory is "how much is the hide/teeth/spleen/whatever worth?" :\ They've collected and sold enough hides to furnish every house in Waterdeep.

It's become so commonplace, that I often list it as treasure in the monster description, along with its weight and the Craft DC to collect and preserve it. I imagine I've had to assign values to just about everything from spider silk and dragonhide, to elephant tusks and vampire teeth.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

... and they can always sell the stuff. Hides make great sense as treasure types that Rangers or other outdoorsy types get better access to, much like rogues get whats inside chests (especially if they are shifty types to sleight of hand stuff before the party gets a looksy), or magical items for mages, or weapons for the other fighter types...etc.

The AD&D 2nd Edition softback book Complete Barbarian had a list of hides and their worth

 

[phindar]

I'd make it a a +2 circumstance bonus like a masterwork item, and then I'd let them enchant it to a +5 enchancement at a reduced cost, say 75-50% of the usual price of a Cloak of Elvenkind (since that'd basically be what it functions like). Or allow a reduced cost for any shadow magic they wanted to link to it. That's how I prefer to do it. (Carving a Red Dragon's Horn into a Wand of Fireballs just works better than carving one out of a stick.)