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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AFGNCAAP" data-source="post: 3278866" data-attributes="member: 871">Nice to see all of the responses (and approaches to this concept).The more I think about it, and after reading some of the responses in this thread, the more I'm inclined to have many of the special material metals be alloys, rather than items purely made of the metal.  Alchemical silver items already are an alloy (specially made of silver and steel), while cold iron would be the only exception, made entirely of iron through the special forging method.  I'm seeing metals such as adamantine and mithral be so potent and so valuable that a little goes a long way.I'm also considering having "raw" adamantine, or adamant, possessing different properties than the alloyed version (or adamantine).  For example, I'm thinking that adamant will naturally be found as crystals (whether opaque or transparent is another question); I'm also considering it to be naturally magnetic (which is why adamant would be used in an alloy than used in a pure form--an item made entirely of adamant would have a strong magnetic pull, making it "difficult" for use as a weapon, to say the least).OTOH, I'm more inclined to have non-metallic special materials (like dragonbone and darkwood) be used entirely to make items, & avoid having composites or laminates of such materials.  I may have some exceptions of this rule (for example, I may have a mighty composite longbow that uses a mix of dragon parts, darkwood, and bronzewood), but otherwise, non-metallic items will be made entirely of the source material.Because of this, I'm considering having a few additional categories of special materials, as well as redefining some of the existing categories.  For example:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Adamantine: A special alloy typically consisting of a high-quality steel which had crushed adamant dust added during the smelting process.  Resistant to normal corrosion/oxidation (though not the advanced corrosion of acids, a rusting grasp spell or a rust monster), and edged weapons retain their edge much longer than normal, rarely needing sharpening.  Otherwise, same as the material described in the DMG.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mithral: Pure mithral is a unique and highly prized metal (worth ten times its weight in platinum).  However, items bearing even a small amount of mithral possess unique properties.  A typical mithral item is an alloy of mithral with another material (usually high-quality steel).  Also resistant to normal corrosion/oxidation (though not the advanced corrosion of acids, a rusting grasp spell or a rust monster).  Otherwise, same as the material described in the DMG.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alchemical Silver: An alchemically-made alloy of silver and high-quality steel.  Same as the material described in the DMG.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cold Iron: A specially-crafted iron weapon, as per the DMG.  Closer to pure iron or a low-grade steel rather than "normal" steel--slightly more susceptible to oxidation/corrosion.</li> </ul>With the way I have mithral & adamantine, I intend it to be possible to have metals other than iron/steel alloyed with them, but still produce the same/similar results. For example, a bronze sword could have adamant powder added to the mix, and create an adamantine weapon (though it looks like it's crafted from bronze).  However, it would be apparent that it's not normal bronze--it wouldn't tarnish, has the strength of a steel-adamantine weapon, & it's subject to magnetism (due to the magnetic properties of the adamant).I'm considering this, though I'm also considering other options: for example, I'm considering allowing mithral to bypass DRs that need a silver weapon, while allowing adamantine to bypass DRs that need a cold iron weapon.</blockquote>

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