Alright, so i have a player in my current ROTRL campaign who want's to create a "Detect Ore" spell.
I can imagine how that would work, but im not sure if it should be (lesser, regular, greater or just one) though im leaning to it.
Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions, and i have informed them of problems that COULD be related to the spell.
Basically he wants open up a mine and use it as a source of income (yeah this could be abused, but, im pretty sure i can limit it... ok i know i can :P)
Anyway suggestions would be appreciated.
Happy Gaming!
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Alright, so i have a player in my current ROTRL campaign who want's to create a "Detect Ore" spell.
I can imagine how that would work, but im not sure if it should be (lesser, regular, greater or just one) though im leaning to it.
Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions, and i have informed them of problems that COULD be related to the spell.
Basically he wants open up a mine and use it as a source of income (yeah this could be abused, but, im pretty sure i can limit it... ok i know i can :P)
Anyway suggestions would be appreciated.
Happy Gaming!
Allow the spell to be a cheap low level divination spell. Say it detects what sorts of ore deposits are within a selected area of land, with a rough estimation of the amount (such as negligible, some, moderate, above average, and teeming). At that point you need miners.
Each miner working on the task digs out 1/2 their check results worth of of GP in raw ore, which we will consider a very low cost trade good. Then that ore must be smelted into something usable, and thus someone with Craft (Metalworking) or (Smelting) can convert it into usable metal using the craft skills (effectively converting X gp into usable ore worth X*3 gp) as a trade good as ingots ready to be used.
For example, if you have a team of 30 untrained miners (with +0 mining each) and one forman (+4 mining), your team could excavate 157 gp worth of ore per week. Then that ore could be smelted down, creating a usable amount of metal worth about three times the ore value or 471 gp by a team of smelters (see Craft skill, core rulebook). The final result is 471 gp worth of usable material that can either be traded as a trade good, or may be used for the creation of items as a material.
For your convenience, I reverse engineered the value of different finished metals ready for smithing for your convenience, and the value of coins made of unusual materials.
Precious Metals
Iron (1 lb.) = 1 sp.
Copper (1 lb.) = 50 cp.
Silver (1 lb.) = 50 sp.
Gold (1 lb.) = 50 gp.
Mithril (1 lb.) = 60 gp
Adamantine (1 lb.) = 100 gp
Platinum (1 lb.) = 50 pp.
Unusual Coins
Iron Coin = 5 coins equal 1 cp.
Mithral Coin = 1.2 gp.
Adamantine Coin = 2 gp.
EDIT: The formula effectively does not change. You can mine any ore using this formula. The only difference is how much usable ore is available to find. The cheaper the ore is the more plentiful it is. Effectively, the productivity does not change much, but the amount of raw material you draw out varies. Thus 471 gp worth of iron would be 4,170 lbs. of iron (and likely several tons of ore before it is refined). Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, you would only get about 0.942 lbs. of platinum with the same amount of labor. Hence the variance in price. It's simple supply and demand.
locate object spell or spend the 10,500 gp for a ROD OF METAL AND MINERAL DETECTION from ultimate equipment.
Thanks Ashiel and Tifton i appreciate the info, ill definitely have to check it out. The reverse engineering is awesome (saves me some leg work) You guys rock! :)
Happy Gaming
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For some story ideas on ancient mining, here's a wikipedia article.
Historically, mining with pre-industrial revolution technology was incredibly difficult, and commonly done by slaves in certain cultures, like Rome. Coal mining was and still is one of the most dangerous types of mining because the coal ore is so soft and flammable.
Thanks Ashiel and Tifton i appreciate the info, ill definitely have to check it out. The reverse engineering is awesome (saves me some leg work) You guys rock! :)
Happy Gaming
You are very welcome, JadedDemiGod. ^-^
The Dungeoneer's Survival Guide from AD&D 2nd edition is probably the best book on "terrain" I ever read. It contains rules for determining "veins" of ore, gems, direction of veins, and so on. It doesn't directly help with your question, but will definitely help with the placement of said veins and whatnot.