Is there a way to take ability damage in place of spell components?
For example taking -1 CON damage to cast Animate dead without having an onyx gem of appropriate value.
I've read discussions about it elsewhere online but I haven't found any sources for this third-party or otherwise.
The spell blood money will let you do this with strength damage. And is widely banned &/or abused. YMMV.
Java Man wrote: The spell blood money will let you do this with strength damage. And is widely banned &/or abused. YMMV. Now that I've read it I don't see why it would be banned. That ability damage isn't temporary. Restoration isn't cheap and healing that damage would takes days.
The normal approach involves a possession target soaking up the STR damage.
The Sideromancer wrote: The normal approach involves a possession target soaking up the STR damage. That's pretty clever albeit definitely an evil act.
ptlans wrote: Java Man wrote: The spell blood money will let you do this with strength damage. And is widely banned &/or abused. YMMV. Now that I've read it I don't see why it would be banned. That ability damage isn't temporary. Restoration isn't cheap and healing that damage would takes days. One wand of lesser restoration will amply pay for itself here, or the possession trick, and polymorphing to get more STR to get bigger free components.
ptlans wrote: Java Man wrote: The spell blood money will let you do this with strength damage. And is widely banned &/or abused. YMMV. Now that I've read it I don't see why it would be banned. That ability damage isn't temporary. Restoration isn't cheap and healing that damage would takes days. One reason is that it comes from one specific adventure (Rise of the Runelords) and is (as far as I know, I don't own it myself) in the spellbook of one individual, the Runelord of Greed. It is meant to be a reward for those players who survive that adventure.
Just because it's been printed on a website for reference and completeness sake does not mean it is balanced, tested, or meant to be thrown into a game world where it wasn't specifically placed (again, in the spellbook of a unique, powerful entity.) Even then, (meaning even if you were in that specific world and even playing that specific adventure) it would be pretty silly to allow the PCs to just start with that unique spell which they are expected to be rewarded with for surviving the challenge. Even if he did dispense the spell out to a few others then it would have to be gathered from them.
Blood Money IMO was banned in PFS as it violated the Wealth by Level charts(WBL) especially over 9th level. In a game where balance is defined as everyone has to pay for everything, free stuff is an issue.
I don't know about home games.
I'm not sure that it is [evil] to trade a PC's ability score damage for material component costs. It would be evil to trade somebody else's ability scores (against their desires) for component costs.
You could modify Death Knell to provide X GP value per Hit Die, for Whom the Gold Tolls?
My Life Is In Ruins wrote: Blood Money IMO was banned in PFS as it violated the Wealth by Level charts(WBL) especially over 9th level. In a game where balance is defined as everyone has to pay for everything, free stuff is an issue.
I don't know about home games.
I'm not sure that it is [evil] to trade a PC's ability score damage for material component costs. It would be evil to trade somebody else's ability scores (against their desires) for component costs.
You could modify Death Knell to provide X GP value per Hit Die, for Whom the Gold Tolls?
With regards to it being evil, I was referring to a pc forcing an npc to sacrifice ability damage via possession in place of the pc.
Modifying death knell seems appropriate, provided the gp value per HD is low enough to not be overpowered.
Hit yourself with Ray of Enfeeblemnt(which has one sentence in it that says the target's strength score can't go below 1 for the duration of the spell) and then use Blood Money. No need to possess someone at all.
Of course, how you're going to get that spell from a Runelord(the created and only person possessing the spell in Golorion unless you've gone through a certain AP) is more difficult.
Dragonborn3 wrote: Hit yourself with Ray of Enfeeblemnt(which has one sentence in it that says the target's strength score can't go below 1 for the duration of the spell) and then use Blood Money. No need to possess someone at all.
Of course, how you're going to get that spell from a Runelord(the created and only person possessing the spell in Golorion unless you've gone through a certain AP) is more difficult.
If you don’t take ability damage then you don’t get the material components.
Dragonborn3 wrote: Hit yourself with Ray of Enfeeblemnt(which has one sentence in it that says the target's strength score can't go below 1 for the duration of the spell) and then use Blood Money. No need to possess someone at all.
Of course, how you're going to get that spell from a Runelord(the created and only person possessing the spell in Golorion unless you've gone through a certain AP) is more difficult.
You would still have the Strength damage when the ray ends, even if it can't lower your score below 1 during. Not that that matters, as ability damage does not lower your score in any way in Pathfinder (it only gives penalties to things modified by that ability). Only ability drain does.
Quote: Diseases, poisons, spells, and other abilities can all deal damage directly to your ability scores. This damage does not actually reduce an ability, but it does apply a penalty to the skills and statistics that are based on that ability. And if you do find a way to be immune to the Strength damage, you can no longer benefit from blood money.
Quote: Material components created by blood money transform back into blood at the end of the round if they have not been used as a material component. Spellcasters who do not have blood cannot cast blood money, and those who are immune to Strength damage (such as undead spellcasters) cannot use blood money to create valuable material components.
People who say Blood Money is only available to the RotRl PCs are (probably) wrong. RotRl takes place early on in the timeline. The PCs in that adventure are canonicly heroes (read: NOT d***s). There is almost no reason they wouldn’t gift the world with this knowledge. Sorry, but Blood Money is readily available on Golarion past RotRl, unless it is before RotRl, or not long enough after to have properly spread knowledge of the spell (no internet after all, so knowledge has to be passed in person).
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The Adventure Paths are not in a timeline order of events except for a few, itty bitty things. Paizo employees have said this quite a bit.
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