Janos Antero
First Post
I believe Pilum actually used soft bronze to foul shields though, I don't think it was ever iron. IIRC that is.
D&D 3E/3.5 [semi-OT] [semi-3.5] What is "Cold Iron?"
- Thread starter MerakSpielman
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Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
Count me in the "Cold iron means not forged with fire" group. Mind you, such a weapon is impractical in real world terms for all the reasons mentioned.
The reason that meteor iron is associated with cold iron is that many meteors are not much more than big chunks of raw iron; therefore they are the prime source for a large enough piece of near-pure iron to make into a weapon.
Here's a useful link on iron forging: Iron Forging and Steel Production in the Middle Ages
I think assigning an automatic break on a 1 for a cold iron weapon would reflect the brittleness adequately. Alternatively, you could halve the hardness and HP of an item, and treat a 1 as a self-inflicted Sunder attempt, using the damage rolled for that attack.
The reason that meteor iron is associated with cold iron is that many meteors are not much more than big chunks of raw iron; therefore they are the prime source for a large enough piece of near-pure iron to make into a weapon.
Here's a useful link on iron forging: Iron Forging and Steel Production in the Middle Ages
I think assigning an automatic break on a 1 for a cold iron weapon would reflect the brittleness adequately. Alternatively, you could halve the hardness and HP of an item, and treat a 1 as a self-inflicted Sunder attempt, using the damage rolled for that attack.
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Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
Zhure said:.. but meteorites are heated up by traveling through the atmosphere.
I was going to point out the inherent problem with the heat of re-entry as opposed to the heat of the forge, but decided against it...
Although, from a gaming perspective, you could use that as part of the requirement - "Forged by the heat of the stars" sounds pretty cool, from a fantasy point of view. And after all, we are talking about something that doesn't truly exist.
Well, as you can see, from real world perspective, it is dependent on which lore you want to draw from.
My best guess in game terms is that it will be a higher craft Dc to manufacture (maybe even as high as masterwork) and cost between 100 and 200 gp extra in unspecified "special materials" so that its creation will take a whole lot longer, on the order of slightly easier than a MW weapon.
This will be used as justification for making these weapons in practice rarer and harder to come by than magical ones, ignoring the fact that every magic weapon had to be made as a masterwork weapon.
My best guess in game terms is that it will be a higher craft Dc to manufacture (maybe even as high as masterwork) and cost between 100 and 200 gp extra in unspecified "special materials" so that its creation will take a whole lot longer, on the order of slightly easier than a MW weapon.
This will be used as justification for making these weapons in practice rarer and harder to come by than magical ones, ignoring the fact that every magic weapon had to be made as a masterwork weapon.
MerakSpielman
First Post
Part of why I was asking was in the Warlock series by Christopher Stasheff "cold iron" of the sort that is poisonous to the fey folk is ANY iron or iron-product. Steel counts for him.
There is one scene in this particular fantasy universe where the villian, suspecting the elves (tiny elves, not D&D elves) were spying on him, scattered nails into the brush on the side of the road. The nails killed several elves just by touching them.
There is one scene in this particular fantasy universe where the villian, suspecting the elves (tiny elves, not D&D elves) were spying on him, scattered nails into the brush on the side of the road. The nails killed several elves just by touching them.
CmdrSam said:I was somehow under the impression (possibly from the RPG Castle Falkenstein) that Cold Iron was iron extracted from fallen meteors.
It seems more epic fantasy that way to me, but I might be totally wrong
--Sam L-L
I can't think of what fantasy novel I got it from, but I have this impression to. Vaguely I remember someone wielding a "cold-iron" sword that had been made from the very material of the heavens (ie, a meteor)
A meteorite of any size will not be completely heated by its reentry. The outermost parts will heat up extremely quickly, melt or burn, and then slough off before they conduct much heat to the interior. Assuming the thing starts off a couple hundred degrees below zero, and that it's large enough for a piece to be retrievable after impact, the core won't get anywhere near forge temperatures.Zhure said:.. but meteorites are heated up by traveling through the atmosphere.
Fresh meteorites have been found covered with ice. They were so cold, water from the air condensed on the surface and froze.
