Residuum: A Re-Fluffing

[MindWanderer]

I swear I remember something talking about disenchanting a while ago, and the developer said that you couldn't take the material you gained from a ring to enchant a sword. It would have to be another weapon.

I think that there are a couple of rituals that you can use here. One is the Disenchant ritual, which is the magic equivalent of turning a sword into scrap metal. The other is something like Transfer Enchantment, which lets take a +4 flaming burst war pick and a masterwork longsword and end up with a masterwork war pick and a +4 flaming burst longsword.

 

[wedgeski]

Useless opinion post: the name is fine (and as usual the proposed alternatives are worse, IMO), D&D didn't rip this off from WoW but the comparisons are inevitable, disenchanting was not in Diablo that I can remember, and I'm happy that players can now transmute magic items into something other than gold pieces, which has always been a very dull fate for them.

Perhaps my campaigns will now see the birth of actual, bona fide PC magic item crafting. That would be a first!

 

[Rechan]

Hmm. One solution occurs to me. At least, fluff wise.

Magic is assumed to be basically 'spellcaster does his thing, summons the magic, magic does what his technique tells it to do'. To use a (bad) contemporary example, MSDOS. You give a command, you get the computer to do what you want.

Magical items could basically be... well, for lack of a better term, pre-programmed spells.

In 4e, from what we've seen, magical items give you powers. Per encounter or Per Daily powers. Wizards have per day, per encounter powers.

So what it could be is that the weapon is keyed to channel magic in a similar fashion that a wizard does when he casts a spell. The weapon is an antenna that receives the magic from Where Magic Comes From (thus resulting in some residual magic, ergo the +x). And all you do is "Push button, magic flows down the conduit (in this case, the weapon) and the spell comes out."

Thus, the weapon itself doesn't have an enchantment in it; it is merely a really, really good weapon that also has been crafted to allow it to funnel magic in a pre-set manner. The gem runes, the orichalcum studs shaped to feng shui the magic, or the crossguard with the dragon's blood capsol, whatever.

All you have to do is just take whatever is causing the funneling OUT, and put it in something else. Just like you can take the metal out of a sword, melt it down, and make something else with it.

 

[Ydars]

I like my magic to be mystical and not science but this residiuum thing sounds alot like something Alchemical to me and so isn't too bad.

Alternatively, I was going to have all my magical items be made from binding spirits, fey or demons into physical objects, and this could be another way of re-casting residiuum into something a little more palatable; you can only make a permanent magical effect (magic item) by binding something sentient into an item. You can recover (release) this creature and re-bind it to create another item, although you will have to know a proper ritual to placate the creature and also reward it with something. This might also be how items can advance as players do; the creature becomes more powerful over time and so the items power increases as well.

 

[Pbartender]

To draw from D&D's deeper roots, recall Narsil, an ostensibly magical sword, which was broken (unintentionally, mind you, but still) and later reforged into a new sword with much the same powers. That's not an uncommon motif amongst magic swords and their heroes in Norse mythology.

In fact in Order of the Stick strips #297 and #298, Roy has his broken magical sword reforged into a new more powerful magical sword, as well.

Now, I don't have a problem with the idea that the material is magical, and the shape has nothing inherent to do withthe magic. Just as a sword can be melted down and reforged into a new sword -- or an axe-head, or a helmet, or gauntlets for that matter -- a magical enchantment could feasibly be "melted down" (disenchanted into residuum), and "reforged" (re-enchanted) into a new item.

The only stipulation I may add here, if the rulebook hasn't already, is that the old magic is tied to the old material, so whatever you create from the "residuum" must be an item made of the same base material. In other words, if you disenchant a magic ring, you can make another ring, or a magic necklace, or a magic brooch, or something else made of gold and silver and gems... But you couldn't use the residuum of a magic ring to make a magic cloak, or magic boots, or a magic shield.

 

[D.Shaffer]

Being able to disenchant an item into residium is very similiar to WoW disenchanting. This is true as far as I can tell.

It's similar in that you can disenchant it, yes. But the materials you get have a slightly different spin then what 'Residuum' seems to get you. Residuum can apparently be used to make completely new equipment, or upgrade preexisting ones in a more generic fashion. The shards and dust WoW disenchanting gives you can only be applied to adding a slight bonus to preexisting items and generally arent used to make new items wholesale (With a couple exceptions).

Almost certainly, core will be a flavorless system designed for quick sharding of purples. But a third party book could do a lot with this.

Amusingly enough, to me, is that WoW's system for crafting magic items seems to be closer to what you want then what 4th is giving us.

 

[LostSoul]

Here, then, is my proposal to re-flavor this system in a way that I at least find more palatable:

I like it. It looks like a good springboard for adventure. Looting tombs, protecting ones, chasing after graverobbers... nice. Could become the focus for a campaign.

 

[Tortoise]

In Defense Of Residuum ...

(approaches the bench)

Defender: Your Honor, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, Honored Guests,

Defender: I will now present to you a defense of the concept that magical essence, call it Residuum, call it Mana, etc, can be drained from a magical item for use in some other fashion, has existed within this hobby referred to as Dungeons and Dragons, for a good portion of the history of the hobby, and that the idea of this Residuum is nothing new, except perhaps the name.

Defender: I shall now call my first witness to the stand.

Defender: Mr. Mordenkainen please take the stand.

(murmur from the crowd as in a flash of light and puff of smoke the witness appears on the witness stand)

(Judge to witness) Will the witness please affirm he will tell the truth.

Mordenkainen: I will.

Judge: Please state your name, place of residence, and occupation for the record.

Mordenkainen: I am Mordenkainen, I live where my studies take me throughout the multiverse, and I am a wizard.

Judge: (to witness) Thank you. (to defender) You may proceed.

Defender: Thank you Your Honor.

Defender: Mr. Mordenkainen, as a wizard would it be fair of the court to assume that you are well versed enough in all aspects of magic and magical lore that you can be considered an expert in the field?

Mordenkainen: You may.

Defender: Please enlighten the court with a list of your accomplishments to back this assertion up.

Mordenkainen: Among my accomplishments I include creation of numerous spells that bear my name. My best known include Private Sanctum, Faithful Hound, Lucubration, Magnificent Mansion, Sword, and Disjunction.

Defender: For the benefit of the jury would you repeat that last one with full title please.

Mordenkainen: Mordenkainen's Disjunction.

Defender: Thank you. Many of you in the court may recognize the name of this powerful spell and even be aware of its effect. For those who are not, Mr. Mordenkainen would you please describe in layman's terms the effect.

Mordenkainen: It causes spells and spell like effects to be separated into their component parts rendering the items they were enhancing to become inert or normal.

(murmuring in the crowd)

Defender: Now I will bring forth a piece of evidence for you to identify and for your further expertise to help illuminate for the court. If there are no objections ... (none are raised)

(reaches for a blue covered book with artistic renderings on the cover and hands it to the witness)

Defender: Please identify that tome, and its date of copyright.

Mordenkainen: TSR Fiend Folio Tome of Creatures Malevolent And Benign. Copyright 1981.

Defender: Please turn to page 27 of the tome and tell the court what creature is on the upper left of the page.

Mordenkainen: It is a Disenchanter.

Defender: A Disenchanter. Please describe for the court what this creature does to magic items.

Mordenkainen: It feeds on the magical dweomer within an item by draining it with its snout.

Defender: And what other names can magical dweomer be called by?

Mordenkainen: Mana, energy, essence, and dozens of other names.

Defender: Could it also be called Residuum?

Mordenkainen: I suppose if it were the residual or trace amount remaining after something caused a removal of the dweomer from something, yes some might choose to call it that.

Defender: (looking at the jury) You've just heard from an expert that the name Residuum could apply to the matter of which we are discussing.

Defender: Thank you Mr. Mordenkainen. No further questions. (Looks to the prosecutor) Your witness.

 

[Rechan]

Tortoise, you get a cookie.

 

[jedrious]

ok, I cannot believe people haven't mentioned this before, neither WoW nor Eberron were the first to do this, Oriental Adventures started it with the Samurai Class and Book of Exalted Deeds used it again in the Ancestral Relic feat