D&D 5E Uses for Minor Alchemy

[Falling Icicle]

The Transmuter has a special ability called Minor Alchemy that allows it to transform some common substances into others for up to 1 hour. One idea I had was to use this ability to transform cheap substances like wood or iron into silver, and then buying expensive goods with it (while disguised, of course!).

I'm curious to hear what other clever uses people have thought of for this feature.

 

[Paraxis]

I would use disguise self spell and turn copper pieces into silver pieces, spend them. The reason to use copper pieces is so when they turn back the merchant is more likely to assume some kind of error in bookkeeping occurred before assuming foul magics.

[video=youtube;_g_ml8tAnWE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g_ml8tAnWE[/video]

I can also see using it to cover pit traps or set up deadfalls, a thin wood plank turned to stone or iron then in an instant turned back.

The mass of an object could be increased or decreased easily with this ability, so for instance a crossbow bolt made of iron could be turned into wood, fired and right before impact turned back into iron.

 

[trentonjoe]

Can you use it to make a:

rope
ladder
sword
plate mail
caltrops
oil
skeleton key?

 

[Hand of Evil]

I need to look at the spell but a big use would be for shaping an object, you can turn metal into say hair or string, wrap it around something and you then have a spring when it turns back.

 

[Paraxis]

Can you use it to make a:

rope
ladder
sword
plate mail
caltrops
oil
skeleton key?

The way it is worded you can't.

It only works on 1 cubic foot of material, the material has to be entirely of one type off a short list, it doesn't mention reshaping the item, only changing it from one form of matter to another, like iron into wood. It also only lasts 1 hour and requires concentration, all in all very limiting.

 

[Unwise]

I saw a character turn the hinges on an unbreakable door into lead and simply have the fighter pull it apart. Turning a stone wall into wood then lighting it on fire could be useful too. You could use it to smuggle riches or weapons past guards. Make real swords turn into toy swords, turn diamonds into glass baubles etc.

I once had a character use a similar ability in another game (granted by an item) to turn the item I wanted to steal into looking like a cheap replica. I then called the guards in the museum over to alert them to the fact. The place goes nuts, the curator comes out and opens the cabinet, tosses the 'fake' to the ground and an alert is called to find the real item. I snatch the now much less secure real one.

<edit> In every game I have ever DM'd or played, using magic to affect commerce is a capital crime. Charming a merchant or doing counterfeit etc. It makes sense, otherwise it would be rampant. Given that, you could use this ability to frame another person. You receive some coins from a noble or merchant in public, tell the guards that you think something is not right with the coins, some of the coins are coppers you have transmuted to gold, low and behold, the counterfeit is revealed before the guards very eyes. Who would suspect you? you are the honest citizen that brought the matter before them.

 

[DonAdam]

Turn your wand into a trinket.

"I promise master, we checked him. He didn't have it on him!"

 

[MarkB]

This could be great for a sculptor who wants to craft his artworks more quickly. Turn a lump of gold or marble into wood, then quickly and easily whittle it into shape before it reverts.

 

[Paraxis]

This could be great for a sculptor who wants to craft his artworks more quickly. Turn a lump of gold or marble into wood, then quickly and easily whittle it into shape before it reverts.

Yeah that is about the most interesting thing I can think of too.

There are things you can do to wood you could never do to metal, and vice versa. Detailed wood carvings but when it returns to normal it is some of the nicest silver work you can imagine, or since this is fantasy and magic what about a wooden block turned to copper or iron and worked in a forge, folding and tempering a blade then the end result reverts to wood, maybe razor sharp hardened wooden weapons for elves or druids just for the look and feel but the function is that of a metal blade.

Ohh vandalism, I can see young transmuters going around making a stone block into wood and carving names and stuff.

 

[GameDoc]

Turn the business ends of the party's weapons to silver when you encounter a lycanthrope.

 

[Astrosicebear]

I dont have my book on me to check the verbage... but if you allow real world physics to exist in your games, remember that mass/density is important.

Ice is far less dense than metal... and we all know the power of expanding ice. Nothing like using a minor ability to destroy just about anything. Unopenable door? Slide a thin strip of lead under the door jam, transmute it into ice, and watch it expand to blow the door right off its hinges.

Of course you could rule that the ability constrains the proportions of the transmuted material... but then technically you are destroying matter and breaking the world, at which point the ability creates a black hole, ripping space time, teleporting in Cthulu.

 

[TwoSix]

Ice is far less dense than metal... and we all know the power of expanding ice. Nothing like using a minor ability to destroy just about anything. Unopenable door? Slide a thin strip of lead under the door jam, transmute it into ice, and watch it expand to blow the door right off its hinges.

So, pretty much, we've replaced the Batman Wizard with the MacGyver Wizard. (For you kids, that was a TV show from the 80s.)

 

[GX.Sigma]

You can turn metal into wood, can't you?

Wizards still have fireball, don't they?

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

The problem with creating gold coins out of silver is that the metal they are made of is only part of what identifies them as the coin in question - you wouldn't be turning quarters into silver dollars, you'd be turning quarters into silver quarters, and any competent merchant will see through that in a second, especially in a world where such magic is known to exist. Along the same lines, there's a reason silvered swords are silver(ed), not silver. You'd get one good shot in, and then you've got a 90 degree bend in your suddenly somewhat-sword-like club.

On the other hand, I like the sculpting idea. Turning a very strong metal like steel into a softer metal like lead to allow for fine detail work could be a very useful trick.

 

[MarkB]

I would use disguise self spell and turn copper pieces into silver pieces, spend them. The reason to use copper pieces is so when they turn back the merchant is more likely to assume some kind of error in bookkeeping occurred before assuming foul magics.

That may be one reason why the PHB image of coinage on page 143 gives each denomination such radically different shapes. You can pretty much tell each one by feel, and silver pieces are especially easy to retrieve - basically just stick your hand in your purse and rummage until you feel a few bursts of searing pain, then when you pull it back out, the silver coins will be the ones impaling your tender flesh.

 

[Astrosicebear]

The problem with creating gold coins out of silver

I believe the ability states "transmute one common material into another". Gold/silver would be the very definition of "rare" materials. I would say copper would be common, however.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I believe the ability states "transmute one common material into another". Gold/silver would be the very definition of "rare" materials. I would say copper would be common, however.

Very good point. I wasn't even thinking of that aspect of it.

 

[Astrosicebear]

Gold/silver could probably be done with "Major Transmute" if it ever exists, lol.

 

[MarkB]

As I recall (away from my PHB right now), there's a short list of materials that includes silver, stone, iron and wood, and you can transmute any one such substance into another on the list.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

As I recall (away from my PHB right now), there's a short list of materials that includes silver, stone, iron and wood, and you can transmute any one such substance into another on the list.

This. Here is the precise list of allowed materials:

Wood
Stone (not gemstones)
Iron
Copper
Silver

You can transform any one object made of one of those materials into another material on that list. So no rope, string, etc. Not even lead. You therefore cannot produce a bunch of silver coins. Depending on how you interpret duration, you may be able to have a 5 at once (briefly).

Duration is described in a way that makes it unclear as to whether it functions like a concentration spell with a duration of up to 1 hour, or whether it has a concentration duration, but with a minimum of 1 hour even if you cease concentrating. Given that the minor conjuration feature of the conjurer is superior in my estimation, I'm prone to go with the more liberal latter interpretation.

Since it requires (as I read it) a minimum of 10 minutes to transmute something, and since you can't concentrate on more than one thing at a time, you could spend 50 minutes to have 5 objects (of no more volume than 1 cubic foot each) transmuted at once, with one of the first 4 changing back every 10 minutes, and the final one lasting until you lose concentration. It is worth noting that it doesn't say that the effect ends if you use it again, so concentration is the only limitation on multiple effects.

The ways to use the effects of minor alchemy seem rather limited compared to minor conjuration (which essentially lets you conjure most items of equipment you might need with a single action, such as a crowbar, shortsword or mace, a grappling hook, a coil of rope (depending on how liberal your size interpretation is) and many more (though only one at a time). Therefore I feel it's appropriate to use the most liberal interpretations of minor alchemy to allow it to catch up. So, as someone posted in this thread over on the Wizards forums, stone could include pumice (turn the bars of your jail cell from iron to pumice and smash them), chalk (for writing), or soapstone for carving (wood would also work for carving).

It seems to me that it's must useful functions are turning a hard or tough material into something brittle or easily destroyed, or something you can shape more easily. Making a crowbar out of a stick is another good example.

Given that most of the 2nd level wizard features are very useful on a regular basis, it definitely needs either a bit of a boost or the most liberal interpretation possible of each element.

Anyone interested in trying out their RAW optimization cheesiness powers to come up with ways that it could be used beyond what I described? I'd appreciate the added efficacy of it.