Need hundreds of feathers to make arrows

[Blackbrrd]

I'm playing a 15th-level druid as part of a party in a 3.5 campaign. I have been tasked with obtaining hundreds – if not thousands – of bird feathers so that a small town can mass produce arrows to defend against a small army. Assuming that it would be difficult to purchase the necessary quantities, and that I have a little over two weeks to obtain as many feathers as I can, what possible methods could I use? I was born a gnome, but was recently reincarnated as a pixie. Also in the party are a wizard, bard, paladin, rogue, and cleric.

Now, why would you need arrows against that small army? Can't the party just fly over to it and bombard it with Ewards Black tentacles, fireball, lightning bolt, flame strike, blade barrier and so on? Should wipe out any small army untrained townies can defend against.

 

[Greenfield]

If goose feathers are available, they work very well. The traditional hunting arrow has often been referred to in literature as "A gray goose shaft" or a "cloth-yard shaft" (referring to the length).

And honestly, straight grained cedar of appropriate quality is much harder to get than the feathers.

As for Boz question about the Cantrip: The full provenance goes back to 1st Edition, when Cantrips were first introduced. There was one that changed the color of things, another that changed the flavor, one that cleaned things, one that dried or moistened things, and one that could grow hair on things. (It was in a later book that some refer to as Edition 1.2)

In 2nd Edition they did away with all of that and introduced a general spell called Cantrip. It could do any sort of minor magical effect that didn't copy the effect of a normal spell. (Never mind that spells like Limited Wish (which used to be called Alter Reality in 1st ed.) could do anything, thus rendering Cantrip technically useless.

In 3rd Ed they kind of mixed the two concepts. There are specific cantrips and orisons (the Clerical version) to do minor things, and one general one that sort of fills in where Cantrip used to be. Prestodigitation is described as being able to perform minor magics of just about any flavor. You can flavor or warm food or drink, change the color of things, clean or dry things, produce sparkly glass balls or stars, streams of colored sparks, etc. And while there are specific examples in the description, it says it can do a lot more.

Growing or grooming hair would be on the list, if the target is a mammal. Feathers would be appropriate for avian targets, and I imagine that polishing or replacing lost scales would be in line for reptillian recipients.

Now, while none of the "grow hair" stuff is specifically spelled out, it's part of the history and development of the spell.

Be aware that the spell says that any actual change to anything beyond clean, soil, dry etc. goes away in an hour. Whether growing hair or feathers can last more than an hour is strictly up to the DM.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip)As for Boz question about the Cantrip: The full provenance goes back to 1st Edition, when Cantrips were first introduced. There was one that changed the color of things, another that changed the flavor, one that cleaned things, one that dried or moistened things, and one that could grow hair on things. (It was in a later book that some refer to as Edition 1.2) (snip)

Cantrips were introduced in Dragon 59 and Dragon 60 and then more formally published in Unearthed Arcana (aka 1.5E).

(snip) In 2nd Edition they did away with all of that and introduced a general spell called Cantrip. It could do any sort of minor magical effect that didn't copy the effect of a normal spell. (Never mind that spells like Limited Wish (which used to be called Alter Reality in 1st ed.) could do anything, thus rendering Cantrip technically useless. (snip)

That was one of the changes I didn't like about 2E at the time. BTW, limited wish was called limited wish in 1E. Alter reality was an illusionist spell.

 

[Greenfield]

You know what bird they probably have in abundance? Crows. They are a farm community, after all.

A Sympathy spell targeting crows will draw then to whatever shiny bauble you use as the focus for the spell. Then a Symbol of Sleep gets triggered in the same area and an unlimited number of hit dice of crows fall asleep and can't be easily awakened. And more will continue to press in and fall, so long as the two spells last.

End result: A hungry town gets some some meat for the pot and you get a lot of feathers. Bonus: The crop yield is better, since the crows aren't eating it.

And crow feathers are large and stiff enough to make reasonable fletchings.

 

[MarkB]

And also, black-fletched arrows look cool.

 

[BOZ]

The cantrip idea was use it to make feathers grow, as they are similar to hair. Perhaps our GM will allow it.

The point of this part of the campaign is supposed to be like Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven. Stupid, astronomical, unbeatable odds. That's why we need creative solutions.

Indeed! And oh yeah, the cantrip thing was the prestidigitation thing, that's what I was getting lost on.

If goose feathers are available, they work very well. The traditional hunting arrow has often been referred to in literature as "A gray goose shaft" or a "cloth-yard shaft" (referring to the length).

And honestly, straight grained cedar of appropriate quality is much harder to get than the feathers.

As for Boz question about the Cantrip: The full provenance goes back to 1st Edition, when Cantrips were first introduced. There was one that changed the color of things, another that changed the flavor, one that cleaned things, one that dried or moistened things, and one that could grow hair on things. (It was in a later book that some refer to as Edition 1.2)

In 2nd Edition they did away with all of that and introduced a general spell called Cantrip. It could do any sort of minor magical effect that didn't copy the effect of a normal spell. (Never mind that spells like Limited Wish (which used to be called Alter Reality in 1st ed.) could do anything, thus rendering Cantrip technically useless.

In 3rd Ed they kind of mixed the two concepts. There are specific cantrips and orisons (the Clerical version) to do minor things, and one general one that sort of fills in where Cantrip used to be. Prestodigitation is described as being able to perform minor magics of just about any flavor. You can flavor or warm food or drink, change the color of things, clean or dry things, produce sparkly glass balls or stars, streams of colored sparks, etc. And while there are specific examples in the description, it says it can do a lot more.

Growing or grooming hair would be on the list, if the target is a mammal. Feathers would be appropriate for avian targets, and I imagine that polishing or replacing lost scales would be in line for reptillian recipients.

Now, while none of the "grow hair" stuff is specifically spelled out, it's part of the history and development of the spell.

Be aware that the spell says that any actual change to anything beyond clean, soil, dry etc. goes away in an hour. Whether growing hair or feathers can last more than an hour is strictly up to the DM.

Awesome, will keep that in mind.

You know what bird they probably have in abundance? Crows. They are a farm community, after all.

A Sympathy spell targeting crows will draw then to whatever shiny bauble you use as the focus for the spell. Then a Symbol of Sleep gets triggered in the same area and an unlimited number of hit dice of crows fall asleep and can't be easily awakened. And more will continue to press in and fall, so long as the two spells last.

End result: A hungry town gets some some meat for the pot and you get a lot of feathers. Bonus: The crop yield is better, since the crows aren't eating it.

And crow feathers are large and stiff enough to make reasonable fletchings.

Good points! I will ask about crows first of all, and then geese and other types of fowl if those are not available.

And also, black-fletched arrows look cool.

Even better point.

Well all, tomorrow night is game night - may not be back on before then, but more likely than not I will not be back on before Friday. I'm sure one or more of the ideas you all have given me will be enough to get over this extremely minor bump in the road.

 

[Nellisir]

Good points! I will ask about crows first of all, and then geese and other types of fowl if those are not available.

Lots of war should equal lots of vultures. Big feathers on those suckers.

 

[jasper]

Sparrow 1d2 feathers.
Crows, pidegon etc 1d4 feathers
Turkey 1d6 +6 feathers.
goose 1d8 +6 feathers.
You get the idea. I assume this is just a miniquest for rp purposes.

 

[BOZ]

Pretty much - finally, someone gets it!

OK, so as part of last night's session, I got the chance to talk to both the fletcher as well as the baron's chief administrator and sage (who is knowledgeable about maps and local flora/fauna).



Ideas that did not work:

Sympathy – I looked it up and that is a 9th level druid spell, so I don't have it. Pretty sure the wizard doesn't have it either although it would only be 8th level for her. Regardless, the spell description says it only works on intelligent creatures, so no dice all around.

Sending the women and children out to find feathers – we have already encountered orcs from the bandit party accosting a farmer and his family in an outlying area, so it would not be safe for them to go out unattended.

Prestidigitation – it was a DM call to see if it could regrow feathers, and he said no.


Did not discuss these (yet):

Wild shape – ouch.

Teleporting to other towns to buy materials – don't think I will need to, but that may still be an option.

Control winds – will probably save this for combat.


What should work:

He said that crows would be fine, as would geese and other fowl. The sage has maps which indicate where specific types of birds can be found in the local area, and spamming charm animal and dominate animal for a day or two will probably get me all the feathers I need. I forgot to ask the fletcher for some cages or something, but all I would have to do would be to capture the animals and surrender them and then beg the gods of nature to forgive me.

Speak with animals may also be necessary, and baleful polymorph may still have promise.

Probably next session, after I finish running my other remaining errand, I can focus on gathering the arrow parts so that the townsfolk can construct them.

Also learned some other important info. Apparently I badly misremembered the size of the raider camp – they are actually a much smaller army than I original presented on the first page of this thread. Their numbers are actually less than 2000 total! The first wave, the tribute gatherers, should consist of about 200 orcs and several giants, and will likely be led by a few humans. So, nowhere near the overwhelming odds I originally thought they were.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

(snip) Control winds – will probably save this for combat. (snip)

I'm eagerly awaiting that particular update. I'm vicariously living lost 3.5E opportunities through you now....

(snip) Also learned some other important info. Apparently I badly misremembered the size of the raider camp – they are actually a much smaller army than I original presented on the first page of this thread. Their numbers are actually less than 2000 total! The first wave, the tribute gatherers, should consist of about 200 orcs and several giants, and will likely be led by a few humans. So, nowhere near the overwhelming odds I originally thought they were.

It still sounds like it's going to be an epic session. Anyway, I'm subscribed to this thread so I'm just waiting for the next update....