Ball bearings (bag of 1000) – 1gp, 2lbs
Ball bearings (bag of 1000) – 1gp, 2lbs
This is maybe the most amusing entry in the 5e equipment list. Anyone have a player ask how many bags of bearings they can buy? When does a city run out of ball bearings? What is the non-adventurer demand like? Does the presence of adventurers cause a ball bearing shortage for the industry that uses them? What are the effects of that?
I had to go look up if ball bearing actually existed before industrial times. Apparently they did. If Davinci drew them, it’s ok for D&D in my book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearing_(mechanical)#History
Matthew Nelson I was just thinking about this again.
ReplyDeleteBall bearings and Caltrops are always on the buy list for my PCs
ReplyDeleteIt's a no-brainer. They're great. Next time your character is flush with gold, tell your DM you want to buy all the ball bearings. Then set up a booth at the adventurer's guild selling them for 10gp per bag of 1000.
ReplyDeleteIn my head, the conversations at Wizards must have gone like this:
ReplyDelete"Let's put some old school 'think outside the box' items in the list, show the OSR some love. How about a bag of marbles?"
"No way man, marbles don't say epic adventure! They say Dennis the Menace!"
"Hmmm, what if they were made of metal? Would Ball Bearings be heroic enough?"
"Yeah, okay, sure."
"Someone go on wikipedia and make sure ball bearings existed pre -1700."
ReplyDeleteNothing like a Bag of holding and Ball bearings to stop a monster from chasing you in a dungeon.
ReplyDeleteWooden ball bearings existed preindustrial revolution. They were used at least as far back as the Romans...and since the Romans never met a good idea they didn't steal...probably farther.
ReplyDeleteBut little metal slippy slidey ball bearings like some cartoon cat might use...no. Those totally didn't exist. Maybe if your campaign goes the Dwarf-Super-Metalworker or Gnomish-Steampunky route you could justify steel ball bearings in places that traded with such partners.
But otherwise they are just a goofy anachronism.
5e bag of holding can carry 500lbs. That's 250,000 ball bearings. That's enough to cover 250 10x10 squares. At a price of only 250gp.
ReplyDeleteRalph Mazza now we have to figure out the ball-bearing trade route to the dwarven kingdoms and a way to control it. Campaign is off and running based on supplying ball-bearings to adventurers.
ReplyDeleteI suggest you call it "Big Brass Balls Trading Company."
ReplyDeleteBritish cannonballs stacked in a pyramid were called "brass monkeys." When it would get cold, then the metal would constrict a bit, sometimes causing the cannonballs near the top to roll off. So, when someone says "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" they are not being quite so colorful as you think, but instead referring to a rich tradition of artillery terminology. Or so I have been led to believe.
This comment is not intended to be particularly helpful in any way.
DnD is postapocalyptic, that's all.
ReplyDeletecf. bag of 50 breast implants: silicone
Warhammer has had marbles on the equipment list for a long time, maybe they just didn't wanna look like they were copying.
ReplyDeleteCasey Garske
ReplyDeleteWhile you are busy being a merchant, I'll be busy being an adventurer.
Not to worry, Keith Hoovestol. There'll be adventure when the guilds see someone making a move on their ball bearing racket.
ReplyDeleteGangs of Cauldron.
ReplyDeleteball bearing racquet: casts bbs over a wide area, can also be used to catch and return them. 1d3 and possible confusion when used to cast bbs in someone's face.
ReplyDeleteBall bearings: put together with smokepowder, a decanter of endless water, a bag of holding and a sharp point, Greek fire, and/or any sort of gnomish thingamajig, and you have one of the world's first improvised explosive devices.
ReplyDelete