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<blockquote data-quote="Starmaster" data-source="post: 9602368" data-attributes="member: 7042521">I don't see any connection with whitewash unless you're saying that a coating of white coloring infers magical power. Lime and carbon are used in the production of steel.&nbsp; The higher the carbon content, the harder the steel (although it's also more brittle).&nbsp; I know this because I'm a mechanical engineer, but Gary was a very intelligent man.&nbsp; Therefore, he probably understood basic metallurgy, especially regarding the manufacture of weapons due to his background as a wargamer.&nbsp; As I see it, the magic here is to temporarily infuse the carbon into the steel of the weapon, thus making it harder than it was before (effectively being a sympathetic magic re-forging of the weapon).&nbsp; This will allow it to be able to cause damage to enemies that a conventionally-forged steel weapon is unable to do. As for the the spell's effect on non-ferrous weapons, one can rationalize that the &quot;sympathetic magic effect&quot; allows the magic that would normally affect an iron or steel weapon to carry over to staves, clubs, bows, and other weapons. It is interesting that so many of these hidden meanings for material components were unknown even to TSR employees.&nbsp; I was at a TSR game designer seminar at Gen Con decades ago.&nbsp; It was one of those seminars where they were discussing changes they were planning on making to the next edition of the game when it was released.&nbsp; I can't recall if they were working on 2e or 3e at the time, but someone in the panel brought up how they were thinking of changing a lot of the spell components since so many of them made absolutely no sense to the designers.&nbsp; They brought up the copper piece for ESP as an example.&nbsp; As an audience member, I explained the &quot;A penny for your thoughts.&quot; adage to them, and they were all shocked none of them had figured that out before.&nbsp; I suppose they probably started wondering how many of the other spell components really did make since (if perhaps only in a silly or very obscure way).&nbsp; Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the cryptic meaning behind so many of those components!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Starmaster, post: 9602368, member: 7042521"] I don't see any connection with whitewash unless you're saying that a coating of white coloring infers magical power. Lime and carbon are used in the production of steel. The higher the carbon content, the harder the steel (although it's also more brittle). I know this because I'm a mechanical engineer, but Gary was a very intelligent man. Therefore, he probably understood basic metallurgy, especially regarding the manufacture of weapons due to his background as a wargamer. As I see it, the magic here is to temporarily infuse the carbon into the steel of the weapon, thus making it harder than it was before (effectively being a sympathetic magic re-forging of the weapon). This will allow it to be able to cause damage to enemies that a conventionally-forged steel weapon is unable to do. As for the the spell's effect on non-ferrous weapons, one can rationalize that the "sympathetic magic effect" allows the magic that would normally affect an iron or steel weapon to carry over to staves, clubs, bows, and other weapons. It is interesting that so many of these hidden meanings for material components were unknown even to TSR employees. I was at a TSR game designer seminar at Gen Con decades ago. It was one of those seminars where they were discussing changes they were planning on making to the next edition of the game when it was released. I can't recall if they were working on 2e or 3e at the time, but someone in the panel brought up how they were thinking of changing a lot of the spell components since so many of them made absolutely no sense to the designers. They brought up the copper piece for ESP as an example. As an audience member, I explained the "A penny for your thoughts." adage to them, and they were all shocked none of them had figured that out before. I suppose they probably started wondering how many of the other spell components really did make since (if perhaps only in a silly or very obscure way). Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the cryptic meaning behind so many of those components! [/QUOTE]

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