D&D 5E Magical Metals and Alloys: We Need More

for s/g I wen thru and homebrewed up most of the materials from WoW. If you want more flexibility (or simply more choice) you could try the MW (3x/PF) rules from The Black Company CS.

People might like this. Just some stuff I've compiled over time.

Quick Reference for Smithing Nuts like me.

Item Make Crafting DC Effect​

Normal Item 10

Masterwork Item 20 As per PHB

Dire/Elfcraft/Devanian +5 +2 Weapon Damage/Weight Reduction

Perfect 35 Custom +1/+1 for Wielder (innate)

Truly Perfect 40 +1/+1 Innate, all wielders.

Modifiers Bonus Tools DC Ranks Needed​

Mastercraft Item +1 - +5 12

+2 +4 +10 15

+3 +6 +15 18

+4 +8 +20 20

Metals and Materials DC Hard HP Armor and Weapons​

Cold Iron +5 8 20 As PHB

Alchemical Silver +5 10 30 As PHB

High Carbon/Meteoric Steel +5 15 30

Mithral +10 15 30 1/2 wt., as silver

Truesteel +8 15 30 As Cold Iron

Silversteel +8 15 30 As silver

Glassteel (Glass) +20 20 40 1/2 wt, as Adamantine

Adamantine +10, 10 ranks 20 40 As PHB

Duskwood/Soarwood +5 10 30 Wood, ½ wt.



Arandur +5 12 30 Sonic Res2, Keen

Alchemical Copper +5 10 30 Acid Res2

Alchemical Gold (Heavy) +5 10 30 Acid/Fire2

Alchemical Platinum (Heavy) +5 10 30 Cold/Sonic2

Darksteel +5 10 30 Cold/2

Fever Iron +7 12 30 Fire/2, Fire+1

Dlarun (blue 'ice' steel) +5 10 30 Fire/2, Frst+1

Living Metal +5 12 30 Dex +1, Repairs self

Hizagkuur +15, 15 ranks 10 30 Cold/2, Fire/Light +1

Hizagluur As Hizagkuur… Fire/2, Cold/Light+1

Zardazil +5 10 30 Body Phase

Telstang +5 8 20 Immune/Shapechange



Aurorum (Olympus) +5 10 30 Rebonds if broken

Frystalline +5 10 15 Good aligned

Serren Wood +5 As Wood Ghost Touch

Solarion Truesteel +5 11 25 +1 Crit Confirm

Ysgardian Heartwire +5 +2 vs. Crit Confirm

Baatorian Greensteel (Tantulhor) +5 12 30 +1 Dmg Enhance

Baatorian Greysteel (Djavva, arjale?) Unknown, ignores Hardness of stone

Moonblood (facepaint) +2 AC

Pandemic Silver As silver, screams in high winds for fear

Rimefire Ice As Iron, radiates cold flames

Runebronze As bronze, counts as magic/dr, -1 dmg

Stygian Ice Ice, radiates cold dmg, drain wis/con

Susalian Chainweave As iron, DR 3/Piercing

Thinaun As iron, sucks up souls (no raise/resurrect), stores 1 at a time





Eberron

Deep Crystal As Iron, 2 pp = +2d6 dmg

Byeshk as iron; +1 dmg bludgeon, +dr vs aberrations

Calomel As Iron, counts as magic vs Fire creatures.

Densewood As wood, Hardness 8, Hp 20/inch Break DC+5, x2 wt.

Eldritch Whorlwood As wood, straightens as it loses charges.

Flametouched Iron As Iron: Wpn = good, Armor = +1 Res vs fiends, +1 turn fiends

Livewood As wood, does not die after being cut, treated as living plant.

Purple Mournlode As Iron: = silver/cold iron vs Undead; +1 Res vs Undead, +level to turn/channel dmg vs undead

Riedran Crystal As Iron: +1 enhance to dmg if character is psionic

Sentira As mithral; can only be made by psionic creatures.

Targath As Iron; -1 th/dmg/hardness; overcomes DR/deathless; +2 Fort saves vs disease.

Shiftsilver: As silver, +2 dmg vs creatures vulnerable to silver. +1 TH if forged using a shifter wielder's blood. +1500 gp, DC 25 to make. Shifter blood required to make.

Alchemical Treatments (FR all)​

Blueshine: Damage from Acid is normal (1/2), does not rust under normal circumstances, Alchemy DC 20 to apply.



Everbright: Gleaming silver; does not rust at all, Immune to acid, Alchemy Check DC 25



Stealthslake: Nonmagnetic, Silent, Nonreflective black, Alchemy DC 25.





Notes:

All materials other then common steel are automatically assumed to be masterwork, before applying the cost of the material.



High Carbon Steel (wootz) is the old material used to make +3 weapons in 1E. It is simply highest-grade normal steel. It is half the price of Mithral.

Silversteel is as hard as mithral, with the properties of Silver. Priced as 1/2 Mithral.

Truesteel is as hard as mithral, with the properties of Cold Iron. Priced as Mithral.

Mithral: Properties of Silver. Elfcraft metal weapons are made with Mithral and/or Darkwood.

Darkwood: 1/2 normal weight of wood, -2 to ACP if wooden shield.



Element/2 is resistance to that Element (fire/2 removes 2 pts of fire dmg/rd) and applies to armor made with the material. Element +1 does additional dmg of that element when swung (Fire/Light +1 does an additional point of Fire and Lightning dmg when it hits).

None of these properties are considered magical; they are simply innate powers of the metals.



Arandur (FR): Silver-blue in color. +2000 GP.

Darksteel (FR): Weapons +1500 GP, Armor +2000 GP, Purple with Silver Highlights.

Dlarun (FR): As Darksteel, bone-white.

Fever Iron (FR): Made from Magma, cost as Darksteel, ‘fiery’ core.

Alchemical Gold: Requires Alchemy Check 20

Alchemical Platinum: Req Alchemy Check 20

Hizagkuur (FR): Minimum 15 ranks, Alchemy DC 30. Pale silver-gray. Cost as adamantine.

Hizagluur: A variant of the above, armor grants fire/2, does dmg cold/light +1

Living Metal (FR): Gray-green in color. Repairs itself 1 hp/min. Price as adamantine.

Telstang (FR): Armor made of this renders the wearer incapable of/immune to shapechanging (such as polymorphing, or to imprison a shapechanger). Price as mithral.

Zardazil (FR): Weapons made of this are blood-bonded to a single person, and have ‘body phase’, they are ‘intangible’ to that wielder… a nice way to have a blade that cannot be turned against you. Price as Silver.



Kuni Crystal: As Iron. +2d6 dmg vs Shadowlands, opposed level check for Shadowlands to get within 5xEnhancement bonus of wielder. Glows at same distance from Shadowlands to detect them. Requires Craft Crystal Weapon to make. +3 Bonus for extra powers. Oni cannot regenerate damage from these weapons.



(BoED)

Aurorum: +4000 GP, if sundered, pieces reseal if held together.

Frystalline: From Elysium, +2000 gp. Good alignment.

Serren Wood: from the Beast Lands. +4000 GP. Ghost Touch.

Solarion Truesteel: +1 to hit rolls to confirm crits. +1000 GP. Golden in appearance.

Ysgardian Heartwire: +1500 GP. Added to other suits. Gives them +2 AC against crit rolls.

Baatorian Green/Graysteel: Sinister mossy green/rotting gray. +2000 GP for a weapon. An eager export from the Hells. A Greensteel weapon is non-magical +1/+1 enhanced (i.e. master work +1, natural +1 dmg). As a default, you could make all weapons used by Devils to be Greensteel Dire weapons, for +1/+3, without them being magical.



Paizo

Abysium: Skymetal. Radioactive metal, equal to steel. Used to make poison. DC 18 d4 Con 2 saves.

Bulette Plate Armor: Wt: 65 Dex +2, Hardness 12

Bulette Leather Armor: AC+3, as leather.

Blood Crystal: +1 dmg vs any creature suffering from Bleed.

Darkleaf: 1/2 weight and +2 dex limit for armor made from leather.

Djezet: Skymetal. Used to fuel magical spells. +1 Heighten effect, spend doses = old spell level.

Dragonhide: As metal, armor is immune to attacks of that Element. Can be used by Druids.

Eelhide: As leather, +1 Dex, -1 ACP, Lightning Res/2.

Elysian Bronze: +1 dmg vs Magical Beasts & Monstrous Humanoids, +1 to hit any such which has been crit by the wielder for 24 hours (one at a time only.) As adamantine armor vs attacks of same.

Fire-forged Steel: Fire Res/2. Absorbs 10+ fire dmg to do d4/d6 dmg for 2/4 rds if weapon (the greater dmg if also wearing FFS armor).

Frost-forged Steel: As fire-forged, but for cold.

Greenwood: takes 1/4 dmg from fire. If planted, heals dmg at 1 hp/hour.

Horacalcum: Skymetal. Wpns: +1 Circumstance bonus on attack rolls. Armor +1/2/3 on init checks. Subtly warps time for wielder/wearer. Very pricy/rare.

Inubrix: Skymetal. Ignores iron/steel. Hard 5/Hp 10. Wpn dmg as one size smaller. Cost +5k. Ignores iron/steel armor/shield bonus.

Living Steel: Repairs dmg at 2 hp/day, 1 hp if Broken. Will break a metal weapon that strikes it with a 1 if wpn fails a DC 20 Fort check.

Noqual: Skymetal. Weight as mithral. Resists magic, +4 for item. +1 dmg vs constructs and undead. Spell failure +20% if worn. Hrd/Hp 10/30. Armor grants +2 resistance saves vs magic. Enchant like Cold Iron.

Sharkskin: As leather, possible +2 bonus vs certain checks oriented on grips (being dismounted, disarmed, etc).

Siccatite: Skymetal. 50/50 hot or cold type (does not change). 1 hp dmg/hit or rd, but also to wielder/rd. Armor does the dmg, but also grants fire or cold res (opposite type) /5.

Silkweave: 1/2 weight of normal cloth/light leather items.

Silversheen: Count as silver, immune to rust. Cost +750 gp.

Glaucite: Skymetal alloy, admantine/iron. Hard 15, hp 30, +50% heavier than iron. Starship hull material.

Umbrite: 1 lb or more: +3 Circumstance bonus to Hide. Attracts shadows.

Viridium: Skymetal. Inflicts leprosy (DC 12 Fort). 1/2 normal hardness, fragile.

Voidglass: Crystalline, but as iron. +1/2/3 vs mind affecting resistance bonus/armor, +1 dmg on slashing/piercing weapons if have psychic powers.

Whipwood: +2 vs Sundering, +5 Hit points. Loses power if Ironwooded.

Wyroot: Wood. On crit, gain 1 pt, swap for a ki point or arcane pool pt. 1, 2 or 3 pts, +1, 2 or 4k cost.





Copper Plating: Acid Res +1/3/5 for armor. -1 saves vs electricity. +1/die for weapons channeling electricity.

Lead-lined: Heavier, +1/2 dmg for one/two Handed weapons. Armor = Negative energy Res 1/3/5. +50% to weight. -1 to dex/str skill checks.

Chrome-plated/Stainless Steel: immune to rust, shiny



'Blessed' for Good Aligned (+1000 Gp), and Pure for Good +1d6 dmg vs Evil (+1). The other alignments are: Strict/Disciplined; Foul/Unclean; and Impulsive/Liberated.

Heavy doubles or triples the weapon's weight, takes an EWP, and makes it do dmg as if a size larger.
Light reduces weight and increases flexibility, takes an EWP, and makes it finessable.
Dire is based on the designs of lower planar weapons, festoons them with spikes and things, and takes an EWP.
Inspired is based on Upper Planar profound weaponry, and grants a +1 Perfection bonus to hit. A Perfect Weapon, DC 45 to make, is +1/+1 for the wielder it is made for. A Truly Perfect Weapon, DC 50, is +1/+1 for anyone who uses it.
Template is based on idealized lawful templates of 'perfect' Weapons, and is considered a 19-20 x3 weapon if trained properly (EWP req.)
Wild is based on Chaotic multifunctional weapons, and the weapon gains an additional damage type that makes sense, if used correctly (EWP).



Arjale and its alloy djavva are Hellmetals. Arjale is like black mithral. Djavva is Grayish Green and pliable. Moloch's whip is djavva.

Tantulhor: Hellmetal from Ed Greenwood/Dragon 91; Cuts all things except Stone; Treat as adamantine except vs Stone. Dispater's rod is tantulhor.

Both metals are very popular for diabolic soul talismans.

All barbed devil talismans use tantulhor.

All bone devils use bone.

All malebranche use obsidian.

Several devils use polished brass.

Oerthblooded Weapons and Armor (Dragon 351) (Weapon Treatment)​

Items made from Oerthblooded metals are more easily enchanted than other substances, requiring 25% less time and XP expenditure to enchant. Oerthblooded items can also be “re-enchanted”, making their XP value fungible in the creation of a new item (minus a 10% penalty). Oerthblooded metals can also hold more magical power than other metals; effectively giving Oerthblooded weapons, armor, and shields a total allowed item bonus of +12, with an allowable enhancement bonus of up to +6.

Oerthblooded metals are extremely difficult to craft, thus all Oerthblooded items are considered to be masterwork. They have twice the Hardness of the base metal the Oerthblood is alloyed with (e.g. Oerthblooded iron and steel have a Hardness of 20). Oerthblooded metal items have damage points equal to 1.5 times the damage points for a normal item of the base metal's type.

Shields made with Oerthblooded metal parts gain no additional properties other than those listed above. Weapons and armor made primarily of Oerthblooded metal have additional properties as listed below.

Oerthblooded Weapons*:
1. A +1 luck bonus on to hit and damage rolls.
2. A target that takes damage from an Oerthblooded weapon incurs a -1 penalty to all saves vs. magical effects for one round; penalties from multiple hits stack.

Oerthblooded Armor*:
Light Armor: DR 1/-, +1 luck bonus on saves vs. magic effects.
Medium Armor: DR 2/-, +2 luck bonus on saves vs. magic effects.
Heavy Armor: DR 3/-, +3 luck bonus on saves vs. magical effects.

*Weapons and armor must be a specific alloy of Oerthblood, known mostly to the artificers and smiths of Irongate to gain the above benefits. Only primarily metallic objects would gain these bonuses.

Type of Oerthblooded Item Cost Modifier:
Ammunition +150 gp
Light Armor +10,000 gp
Medium Armor +20,000 gp
Heavy Armor +30,000 gp
Weapon +6,000 gp





Steel Ice: various types/colors. As Steel, but melts above freezing temperatures. carved rather then forged.



Many normal metals are available from other planes. If forged on the Prime in circumstances similar to the planes they were removed from, they can retain Alignment traits. Use Frystalline as a guideline.



Other Metals from Fantasy:



Orichalcum - Originally of Atlantean origin, it absorbs the properties of other metals, and transmutes metals that are in long term contact with it into it. Flowing liquid metal with a coppery-red hue to it.



Hihi'irokane (crimson ore, scarletite, et al) - Japanese equivalent of orichalcum. Rustproof, ultra hard, and conducts heat and spiritual energy.

===Aelryinth

Double post, apologies.

This is where I usually go back to 3.0/3.5 as it seemed like they had a ton of Special Materials such as Cold Iron, Byeshk, Crysteel(Galvanized or regular: if you're a Psionic, you love for your weapons to made from it), Starmetal, Ferroplasm Darkwood/Ironwood, Purple Mournlode, Platinum, Frystine, Glassteel, Crystal, Flametouched Iron, Leafweave/Darkleaf(Hey Leaves/Wood that are as strong as metal AND can be used to make actual armor for Metal Hating druids? win!!) Aurorum, and many many many more........................in fact.

The first link on this post seems to collect/categorize all the special materials from 3.0/3.5 as well as what effect they have. You can probably "judge it" when coming up with how they would work in 5E.

MarkB said:

They make powerful forms of armour, but useable exclusively by rangers.

Click to expand...

Or the Henshin from Laser and Liche's Retroverse.

Levistus's_Leviathan said:

D&D 5e currently only has two magical/quasi-magical metals in the core game; Mithral and Adamantine. Rules for armors that are composed of Adamantine and Mithral are contained in the DMG's Magic Items chapter (which IMO is a mistake), the DMs Tools chapter of XGtE contained rules for weapons made of Adamantine, and so far, we have no official rules for weapons made of Mithral (I have Mithral weapons count as being silvered, and heavy weapons no longer be heavy, and non-heavy, non-light weapons become light when they are made from mithral as a homebrew rule for my campaigns. I still allow GWM and similar features to be used on weapons that would be heavy if not made of mithral, though).

The next magical metal/alloy that was officially added and detailed in 5e was Mizzium from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. Mizzium Armor is basically Adamantine Armor, but it has the additional benefit of letting you take no damage on successful Strength and Constitution saving throws where you would normally take half damage on the success. The book also has a fluff-text side-bar explaining some of this alloy's other properties, and also has a Mizzium Apparatus (a.k.a. the most artificer-y magic item in the game that artificers cannot attune to until level 14) and the Mizzium Mortar (a.k.a. the most underwhelming cannon in the game).

Descent into Avernus introduced another such metal; Infernal Iron, but it failed to describe what the substance does when weapons and armors are made out of this extraplanar metal. However, it did give a few hints as to its properties throughout the books, like the Hellfire Weapons and Soul Coins alluding to it having an affinity for trapping/controlling souls, and Infernal War Machines being granted immunity to fire damage, likely due to being made of Infernal Iron. The book also mentions that gold that is stolen or bartered from Mammon has powerful magical powers, such as granting a vehicle that is coated in "Golden Death Armor-Plating" resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

---

And that's it. That's all the official exotic/magical metals, and the only other metal in the game that has any sort of magical properties is Silver, and it being able to overcome the damage resistances/immunities of many magical creatures, such as Lycanthropes and Devils. In my games, I also let Golden/Gilded weapons have a similar property to Silver weapons, but instead of ignoring Lycanthrope and Devil damage resistances/immunities, a Golden/Gilded weapon ignores the damage resistances/immunities of Celestials of all damage types that the weapon's attacks deal (so a gilded-sword that a Paladin divine smites a Solar with would ignore its immunity to Radiant damage), but it costs 1,000 gold pieces for one weapon or 20 pieces of ammunition. I'm assuming that something like this isn't already in D&D because gold is a soft metal and a really bad material to make weapons out of, but impracticality never stopped D&D before (just look at Double-Bladed Scimitars!).

Other than 4 official magical metals (one of which is setting specific, and the other is planar-specific) and one semi-magical property for a real life metal, there's no other way to customize weapons based on what weapons they're made out of. It has no mechanical difference whether your sword is made of Steel, Bronze, Copper, or Platinum in D&D 5e. And to an extent, I agree that minor differences in what a weapon is made out of compared to another weapon shouldn't matter mechanically in the game. Too much options ends up bloating the rules too much for no good reason. However, I believe that the inverse is also true; not enough cool customization options for weapons and armors ends up making weapons very same-y in the game. A greatsword's a greatsword's a greatsword. If they're not Magic Items, they're identical in statistics in 5e.

I want customization to be a part of weapon choice. I want a character to think more about what weapons and armors they choose beyond "which weapon/armor that has the highest damage dice/AC rating can I use?", and I think that allowing for more metal/alloy customization could encourage creative decision making in many campaigns. A silver/silvered weapon would likely be better in a Descent Into Avernus or Ravenloft campaign than it would be in a campaign that involves having to fight Celestials, in which case a golden/gilded weapon that's using my homebrew rule for those weapons would likely be more appropriate. Mithral Armor would likely be better in a campaign that frequently used Stealth than Adamantine Armor, which would likely be better in campaigns with enemies that frequently knock PCs unconscious or paralyze them. IMHO, there should be more to wearing/wielding a suit of armor/weapon than just its damage/AC and its visual theme. A Death Knight that wears armor made of Infernal Iron should gain some sort of benefit from wearing that armor other than it just being plain awesome (which is a great benefit, but it isn't a good enough incentive, IMO).

Thus, this thread. Down below I will provide some examples of "magical" metals and alloys that I include/am considering including in my campaigns, and hopefully feedback and more ideas will be provided later in the thread.

First, let's start with the Alloys.

The simplest example from my campaigns is Electrum. Weapons made of/coated in Electrum count as both Silvered and Gilded, which makes them effective against Celestials, Devils, and Lycanthropes.

Next, Infernal Iron. This is an official magical alloy/metal, but it doesn't have any mechanical effects in 5e. In my campaigns, Infernal Iron is made from mixing either Demon Ichor or Soul Silt into molten iron, and then cooling the metal in the River Styx. Quite simply, armor and shields made of Infernal Iron grant the wielder/wearer advantage on saving throws that would Charm or Frighten them and Weapon made of Infernal Iron prevent creatures that have been dead for more than 1 minute from being raised from the dead while within 5 feet of the weapon.

Also in my worlds/campaigns, Orichalcum is an alloy composed of roughly 50% Adamantine, 33.33% Mithral, 10% Gold, 5% Platinum, and the last ~2% of the alloy is a mixture of Tin, Zinc, and Copper, and it is a pale yellowish-electrum color (looking a bit like the color of this example). It has a mixture of Adamantine's and Mithral's properties, allowing you to ignore critical hits and the disadvantage on stealth that the armor normally gives (it doesn't ignore the strength requirement, though, and can't be worn underneath normal clothes). Orichalcum is extremely expensive and rare, as the process of creating the alloy is incredibly difficult to execute successfully, and the metals required to make it are very expensive on their own. In my campaigns, I have both Mithral and Adamantine cost 1,000 gold pieces per pound, and as Adamantine is more dense than Mithral, it is more expensive volumetrically. So, for 10 pounds of Orichalcum, you would need 5,000 gold worth of Adamantine, 3,333 gold worth of Mithral, 50 gold worth of Gold, 250 gold worth of Platinum, and 10 gold worth of the mixture of Tin, Zinc, and Copper. Then, the process of making the alloy roughly triples the cost per pound to make the Orichalcum, ending up with the extremely rare alloy costing 2,700 gold pieces per pound, and each cubic foot of orichalcum weighing ~225 pounds (slightly more than 3.6 grams/cubic-centimeter for those that care about such things, ending up a bit more dense than barium, but much stronger and much more stable). Orichalcum Plate Armor would cost 87,500 gold pieces, and weigh about 30 pounds and an Orichalcum Greatsword would cost 8,100 gold pieces and weigh 3 pounds (assuming these are normally made of steel or iron), costing several dozens of times as much as a normal greatswords/plate-armor and weighing roughly half as much (on top of its more important mechanical benefits, such as ignoring critical hits and disadvantage on Stealth for the Armor and the Greatsword dealing critical hits on objects, not being heavy, and counting as silvered).

Second, the completely new metals.

Starsteel is a type of steel made from meteoric ore, where the meteorites that bring this metal are actually fragmented pieces of the ancient and decaying body of a dead god whose body floated in the Astral Sea for eons, before being sundered into millions of smaller pieces that travelled in all directions at incredible speeds, with many of which managed to wander through portals to other planes of existence (including the many worlds of the Material Plane). For some reason, Fey creatures have an inherent weakness to Starsteel, which burns them with its extreme cold that only they can feel. Weapons made of Starsteel give advantage on attack rolls made against fey creatures and ignores any damage resistances they may have, while armors/shields made of the metal give fey disadvantage on attack rolls made against them.

Crimsonite is a magical metal that was originally created by Deep Gnomes due to their love of Rubies and mining. Deep Gnomes grew tired of the dreary grayness of the Underdark, so they began to experiment on combining their skills in alchemy, jeweling, metallurgy, and control over elemental magic to create a more visually appealing metal to build their underground cities out of. After many years of hard work, they were able to use a magical process to merge many of the physical attributes of rubies with a specially created alloy for this project (they never told anyone what the alloy was made of). The result was a scarlet-red metal that was nearly as tough to break as diamond and capable of being worked in way similar to steel, which the Deep Gnomes dubbed "Crimsonite". The metal has another strange property; its melting point and its freezing point are vastly different temperatures. Crimsonite starts out in solid form, and melts at roughly the same temperature as Steel. However, Molten Crimsonite (which looks disturbingly similar to blood) can cool back down to room-temperature without solidifying again, it only freezes if it is reduced to -40 degrees (Fahrenheit or Celsius, it's the same temperature). Deep Gnome cities are hidden by terrain that blends into the natural Underdark and illusion magic, but once a character enters one that has mastered the practice of creating Crimsonite, there is a drastic change in visual appearance of the environment, with nearly everything in the city that would typically be made of Steel being made of Crimsonite (with white-marble roads, emerald-green glass for windows, checkerboard floors of topaz and amethyst tiles, and walls made of red-marble), and Molten Crimsonite being used to keep the city warm, as it's a great conductor of heat, so just putting a small, artificial "river" of Molten Crimsonite near a volcanic/ignan hotspot will allow for the heat to be transported throughout the settlement without the problem of it boiling like water would, which makes it ideal for a variety of purposes, such as heating water for cooking and bathing, creating superheated moats to keep out trespassers, and allowing for Rock Gnomes to play the strange sport called "Sapphire-Scuttle", which has gnomes wearing strange shoes that let them stand on a pool of Molten Crimsonite (similar to snow-shoes) who use miniature, one-handed lacrosse sticks to pick up a golf-ball sized Sapphire and then try to throw it into a net (first team to make it to 7 goals wins). Crimsonite weapons ignore damage resistances and immunities that Elementals have, and armors/shields made from Crimsonite grants the wearer the ability to take no damage on Dexterity and Constition saving throws if they would normally take half-damage on a success.

So, what examples do you have from your worlds/campaigns? What metals do you wish there were rules for in D&D 5e?

Click to expand...

Levistus's_Leviathan said:

D&D 5e currently only has two magical/quasi-magical metals in the core game; Mithral and Adamantine. Rules for armors that are composed of Adamantine and Mithral are contained in the DMG's Magic Items chapter (which IMO is a mistake), the DMs Tools chapter of XGtE contained rules for weapons made of Adamantine, and so far, we have no official rules for weapons made of Mithral (I have Mithral weapons count as being silvered, and heavy weapons no longer be heavy, and non-heavy, non-light weapons become light when they are made from mithral as a homebrew rule for my campaigns. I still allow GWM and similar features to be used on weapons that would be heavy if not made of mithral, though).

The next magical metal/alloy that was officially added and detailed in 5e was Mizzium from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. Mizzium Armor is basically Adamantine Armor, but it has the additional benefit of letting you take no damage on successful Strength and Constitution saving throws where you would normally take half damage on the success. The book also has a fluff-text side-bar explaining some of this alloy's other properties, and also has a Mizzium Apparatus (a.k.a. the most artificer-y magic item in the game that artificers cannot attune to until level 14) and the Mizzium Mortar (a.k.a. the most underwhelming cannon in the game).

Descent into Avernus introduced another such metal; Infernal Iron, but it failed to describe what the substance does when weapons and armors are made out of this extraplanar metal. However, it did give a few hints as to its properties throughout the books, like the Hellfire Weapons and Soul Coins alluding to it having an affinity for trapping/controlling souls, and Infernal War Machines being granted immunity to fire damage, likely due to being made of Infernal Iron. The book also mentions that gold that is stolen or bartered from Mammon has powerful magical powers, such as granting a vehicle that is coated in "Golden Death Armor-Plating" resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

---

And that's it. That's all the official exotic/magical metals, and the only other metal in the game that has any sort of magical properties is Silver, and it being able to overcome the damage resistances/immunities of many magical creatures, such as Lycanthropes and Devils. In my games, I also let Golden/Gilded weapons have a similar property to Silver weapons, but instead of ignoring Lycanthrope and Devil damage resistances/immunities, a Golden/Gilded weapon ignores the damage resistances/immunities of Celestials of all damage types that the weapon's attacks deal (so a gilded-sword that a Paladin divine smites a Solar with would ignore its immunity to Radiant damage), but it costs 1,000 gold pieces for one weapon or 20 pieces of ammunition. I'm assuming that something like this isn't already in D&D because gold is a soft metal and a really bad material to make weapons out of, but impracticality never stopped D&D before (just look at Double-Bladed Scimitars!).

Other than 4 official magical metals (one of which is setting specific, and the other is planar-specific) and one semi-magical property for a real life metal, there's no other way to customize weapons based on what weapons they're made out of. It has no mechanical difference whether your sword is made of Steel, Bronze, Copper, or Platinum in D&D 5e. And to an extent, I agree that minor differences in what a weapon is made out of compared to another weapon shouldn't matter mechanically in the game. Too much options ends up bloating the rules too much for no good reason. However, I believe that the inverse is also true; not enough cool customization options for weapons and armors ends up making weapons very same-y in the game. A greatsword's a greatsword's a greatsword. If they're not Magic Items, they're identical in statistics in 5e.

I want customization to be a part of weapon choice. I want a character to think more about what weapons and armors they choose beyond "which weapon/armor that has the highest damage dice/AC rating can I use?", and I think that allowing for more metal/alloy customization could encourage creative decision making in many campaigns. A silver/silvered weapon would likely be better in a Descent Into Avernus or Ravenloft campaign than it would be in a campaign that involves having to fight Celestials, in which case a golden/gilded weapon that's using my homebrew rule for those weapons would likely be more appropriate. Mithral Armor would likely be better in a campaign that frequently used Stealth than Adamantine Armor, which would likely be better in campaigns with enemies that frequently knock PCs unconscious or paralyze them. IMHO, there should be more to wearing/wielding a suit of armor/weapon than just its damage/AC and its visual theme. A Death Knight that wears armor made of Infernal Iron should gain some sort of benefit from wearing that armor other than it just being plain awesome (which is a great benefit, but it isn't a good enough incentive, IMO).

Thus, this thread. Down below I will provide some examples of "magical" metals and alloys that I include/am considering including in my campaigns, and hopefully feedback and more ideas will be provided later in the thread.

First, let's start with the Alloys.

The simplest example from my campaigns is Electrum. Weapons made of/coated in Electrum count as both Silvered and Gilded, which makes them effective against Celestials, Devils, and Lycanthropes.

Next, Infernal Iron. This is an official magical alloy/metal, but it doesn't have any mechanical effects in 5e. In my campaigns, Infernal Iron is made from mixing either Demon Ichor or Soul Silt into molten iron, and then cooling the metal in the River Styx. Quite simply, armor and shields made of Infernal Iron grant the wielder/wearer advantage on saving throws that would Charm or Frighten them and Weapon made of Infernal Iron prevent creatures that have been dead for more than 1 minute from being raised from the dead while within 5 feet of the weapon.

Also in my worlds/campaigns, Orichalcum is an alloy composed of roughly 50% Adamantine, 33.33% Mithral, 10% Gold, 5% Platinum, and the last ~2% of the alloy is a mixture of Tin, Zinc, and Copper, and it is a pale yellowish-electrum color (looking a bit like the color of this example). It has a mixture of Adamantine's and Mithral's properties, allowing you to ignore critical hits and the disadvantage on stealth that the armor normally gives (it doesn't ignore the strength requirement, though, and can't be worn underneath normal clothes). Orichalcum is extremely expensive and rare, as the process of creating the alloy is incredibly difficult to execute successfully, and the metals required to make it are very expensive on their own. In my campaigns, I have both Mithral and Adamantine cost 1,000 gold pieces per pound, and as Adamantine is more dense than Mithral, it is more expensive volumetrically. So, for 10 pounds of Orichalcum, you would need 5,000 gold worth of Adamantine, 3,333 gold worth of Mithral, 50 gold worth of Gold, 250 gold worth of Platinum, and 10 gold worth of the mixture of Tin, Zinc, and Copper. Then, the process of making the alloy roughly triples the cost per pound to make the Orichalcum, ending up with the extremely rare alloy costing 2,700 gold pieces per pound, and each cubic foot of orichalcum weighing ~225 pounds (slightly more than 3.6 grams/cubic-centimeter for those that care about such things, ending up a bit more dense than barium, but much stronger and much more stable). Orichalcum Plate Armor would cost 87,500 gold pieces, and weigh about 30 pounds and an Orichalcum Greatsword would cost 8,100 gold pieces and weigh 3 pounds (assuming these are normally made of steel or iron), costing several dozens of times as much as a normal greatswords/plate-armor and weighing roughly half as much (on top of its more important mechanical benefits, such as ignoring critical hits and disadvantage on Stealth for the Armor and the Greatsword dealing critical hits on objects, not being heavy, and counting as silvered).

Second, the completely new metals.

Starsteel is a type of steel made from meteoric ore, where the meteorites that bring this metal are actually fragmented pieces of the ancient and decaying body of a dead god whose body floated in the Astral Sea for eons, before being sundered into millions of smaller pieces that travelled in all directions at incredible speeds, with many of which managed to wander through portals to other planes of existence (including the many worlds of the Material Plane). For some reason, Fey creatures have an inherent weakness to Starsteel, which burns them with its extreme cold that only they can feel. Weapons made of Starsteel give advantage on attack rolls made against fey creatures and ignores any damage resistances they may have, while armors/shields made of the metal give fey disadvantage on attack rolls made against them.

Crimsonite is a magical metal that was originally created by Deep Gnomes due to their love of Rubies and mining. Deep Gnomes grew tired of the dreary grayness of the Underdark, so they began to experiment on combining their skills in alchemy, jeweling, metallurgy, and control over elemental magic to create a more visually appealing metal to build their underground cities out of. After many years of hard work, they were able to use a magical process to merge many of the physical attributes of rubies with a specially created alloy for this project (they never told anyone what the alloy was made of). The result was a scarlet-red metal that was nearly as tough to break as diamond and capable of being worked in way similar to steel, which the Deep Gnomes dubbed "Crimsonite". The metal has another strange property; its melting point and its freezing point are vastly different temperatures. Crimsonite starts out in solid form, and melts at roughly the same temperature as Steel. However, Molten Crimsonite (which looks disturbingly similar to blood) can cool back down to room-temperature without solidifying again, it only freezes if it is reduced to -40 degrees (Fahrenheit or Celsius, it's the same temperature). Deep Gnome cities are hidden by terrain that blends into the natural Underdark and illusion magic, but once a character enters one that has mastered the practice of creating Crimsonite, there is a drastic change in visual appearance of the environment, with nearly everything in the city that would typically be made of Steel being made of Crimsonite (with white-marble roads, emerald-green glass for windows, checkerboard floors of topaz and amethyst tiles, and walls made of red-marble), and Molten Crimsonite being used to keep the city warm, as it's a great conductor of heat, so just putting a small, artificial "river" of Molten Crimsonite near a volcanic/ignan hotspot will allow for the heat to be transported throughout the settlement without the problem of it boiling like water would, which makes it ideal for a variety of purposes, such as heating water for cooking and bathing, creating superheated moats to keep out trespassers, and allowing for Rock Gnomes to play the strange sport called "Sapphire-Scuttle", which has gnomes wearing strange shoes that let them stand on a pool of Molten Crimsonite (similar to snow-shoes) who use miniature, one-handed lacrosse sticks to pick up a golf-ball sized Sapphire and then try to throw it into a net (first team to make it to 7 goals wins). Crimsonite weapons ignore damage resistances and immunities that Elementals have, and armors/shields made from Crimsonite grants the wearer the ability to take no damage on Dexterity and Constition saving throws if they would normally take half-damage on a success.

So, what examples do you have from your worlds/campaigns? What metals do you wish there were rules for in D&D 5e?

Click to expand...

I know I'm super late to reply but this is all the compiled stuff I could find from 3rd edition and 2nd edtion
Abyssal Bloodiron
Tainted metal harvested from the earth of the Abyss, where cataclysmic battles have been waged for eons and the earth has been saturated with iron, blood, and spent magic. It is mined from thin deposits of mixed blood and ferrous mineral, compacted over the years, then forged at a low temperature to preserve its innate powers. Weapons forges of the metal usually appear dark except for their cutting edges, which are as red as freshly spilled blood.
A weapon forged of Abyssal bloodiron is treated as a cold iron weapon, except that its wielder also gains a +4 bonus when rolling to confirm a critical hit. Abyssal bloodiron has the same weight as iron or steel. A weapon made of it costs an additional 10,000 gp, and any magical enhancements cost an additional 2,000 gp, just as with cold iron. Abyssal bloodiron has a hardness of 10 and 30 hit points per inch of thickness. (source: Planar Handbook)

Adamantine
Found in meteorites and in rare metal veins in magical places. This weapon is prized for its hardness and its ability to cut through softer materials. Adamantine is flat gray in color and has a dull polish. Adamantine weapons have the natural ability to bypass the hardness of other objects, ignoring hardness of less than 20. Armor made from adamantine grants its wearer damage reduction. Objects built from adamantine have one-third more hit points than normal, thus an adamantine great sword has 13 hit points instead of the normal 10 for steel. Adamantine has 40 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 20. (source: Dungeon Master's Guide)

Alchemical Silver A complex process involving metallurgy and alchemy can bond silver to a weapon made of steel so that it bypasses the damage reduction of creatures such as lycanthropes. On a successful attack with a silvered weapon, the wielder takes -1 penalty on damage (with the usual minimum of 1 point of damage). The alchemical silvering process can’t be applied to nonmetal items, and it doesn’t work on rare metals such as adamantine, cold iron, and mithral.


Astral Driftmetal
An extraordinarily rare mineral that is mined only on Tu'narath and other islands of matter floating in the Astral Plane. It is very similar to iron but has the remarkable feature of being fully effective against incorporeal attacks, as though it were made of force. Armor crafted from astral driftmetal retains its full armor bonus to Armor Class against incorporeal attacks. Astral driftmetal is not malleable enough to be worked into chain mail or scale mail; only a breastplate, shield, or any form of heavy armor can be made from it. A suit of driftmetal armor weighs the same as a suit of armor made of steel. Other statistics such as maximum Dexterity bonus, armor check penalty, and arcane spell failure chance are unchanged. Astral driftmetal has a hardness of 12 and 30 hit points per inch of thickness. Its market price modifier is +12,000gp or +500gp per pound. (source: Planar Handbook)

Aurorum
Luminous steel that gleams with varying hues of pink and indigo. An aurorum weapon, shield, or suit of armor that has been sundered can be reformed by bringing together its fragments (a full-round action). The broken pieces bond quickly and seamlessly, restoring the item to its previous state. The market price modifier for an aurorum weapon, shield, or suit of armor is +4,000gp. (source: Book of Exalted Deeds)

Baatorian Green Steel
Mined from the evil tainted mines of the Nine Hells of Baator, this rare metal is veined with green flecks. When alloyed into steal it creates weapons of amazing sharpness. Slashing and piercing weapons created with baatorian green steel have a natural enhancement bonus of +1 to damage. This bonus does not stack with any other enhancement bonus. The market modifier for such a weapon is +2,000gp. Baatorian green steel has a hardness of 12 and 30 hit points per inch of thickness. (source: Arms and Equipment Guide)

Bone
Bone weapons are often employed by primitive cultures which are still restricted to stone age technologies. Bone becomes brittle over time and makes a poor slashing weapon, but its vertical strength is greater than its lateral, thus it retains its piercing qualities for much longer. Bone armor, fashioned from a hodge-podge collection of rib bones, a skull for a helmet, and other bones, fastened together or sewn into a leather coat and pants, can make for crude, though effective, armor. Weapons made of bone have a -2 attack and damage penalty (with a minimum damage of 1). Bone has a hardness of 6 and 10 hit points per inch of thickness.

Blue Ice Found only in the depths of the most ancient glaciers, this dark blue, opaque ice sparkles in light as if it were coated with a thin film of gemstones. It is cold and feels identical to regular ice upon casual inspection, but only melts under intense heat, similar to iron. It can be forged, shaped, and utilized as if it were steel, though it is much lighter than iron and when forged into a slashing weapon it keeps its edge much longer and is much sharper. Slashing weapons made of blue ice have a +1 enhancement bonus on damage. Bludgeoning and piercing weapons do not benefit from blue ice construction. Blue ice isn't just useful to make slashing weapons though, it can be used to build anything that is normally built out of iron; items made out of blue ice weigh half as much as normal.
Blue ice armor, while much lighter than normal armor, is uncomfortable to wear for creatures not immune or resistant to cold. Only armor normally fashioned from metal can be made of blue ice. Most blue ice armors (excluding Light armors) count as armor of one lighter weight class. Spell failure chances are unchanged, except for spells with the cold descriptor which suffer no chance of spell failure. The maximum dexterity bonus is increased by 1 and armor check penalties are lessened by 2. Creatures that are not immune or resistant to cold suffer a -1 penalty on Reflex saving throws and initiative checks from general numbness caused by the armor. Blue ice has 20 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 10. (source: Frostburn)

Bronze
Weapons of bronze are inferior to steel items. They are commonly crafted by creating an alloy of copper, zinc and tin. The addition of arsenic makes the bronze even harder and more durable. Bronze resists corrosion and metal fatigue better than steel, but because it is softer than steel it requires more frequent repairs when employed as a weapon or in armor. Bronze weapons have an attack and damage penalty of -1, a hardness of 9, and 20 hit points per inch of thickness.

Bronzewood: Acts as metal in all respects but weights 10% less and hide checks made in natural environments have no armor check penalty added. Bronzewood can replace almost any metal but items such as chains cannot be duplicated. Bronzewood has a harness of 10 and 20 hp per inch of thickness.

Byeshk: Mined in the Byeshk and Graywall mountains bordering Droaam, this rare metal is prized by smiths for use in jewelry and weapons. It has a lustrous purple sheen and is hard and sense. A bludgeoning weapon whose head is made of byeshk has a +1 enhancement bonus on damage rolls. In addition, byeshk weapons of any type are able to overcome damage reduction of daelkyr, which are resistant to all other weapons. The market price modifier of a byeshk weapon is +1,500 gp. Byeshk is difficult to work into armor and it offers no significant advantage over iron armor. Byeshk has a hardness of 17 and 35 hit points per inch of thickness. An item made of byeshk weighs 50% more than the same item made of iron. Byeshk is difficult to work increasing the DC of the craft check create or repair an item made from it.

Calomel: Raw calomel ore is distinctive in its whiteness. It can be almost translucent, and it lustrous in bright light. It is found adjacent to subterranean springs. When forged in the appropriate secret fashion, the resilient metal cools to a consistency and ductility like that of a standard steel alloy. Though any item can be crafted from it, calomel’s particular qualities make it most suitable for weapons. A weapon forged from calomel is pale gray, almost translucent, and water droplets constantly condense on the naked item. A calomel weapon overcomes damage reduction of creatures with the fire subtype as if it were a magical weapon, even if it does not have an enhancement bonus. Weapons cost twice as much as their normal counterparts. Items without metal parts cannot be made out of calomel. Calomel has a hardness of 10 and 30 hit points.

Cold Iron
Mined from deep underground, this iron ore is forged at lower temperatures and is known for its effectiveness against fey creatures. Weapons made of cold iron cost twice as much to make as their normal counterparts and must be of mastercraft quality. Also, any magical enhancements cost an additional 2,000gp. Items without metal parts cannot be made from cold iron. An arrow could be made from cold iron, but a quarterstaff could not. Cold iron has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 10. (source: Dungeon Master's Guide)

Colored Metal:

Kobolds and spellscales working together have perfected the process of smelting certain minerals into metal ore to create colored or tinted ingots. Any shade of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black, or white can be created to suit any preference with marginal effort. Though the effect is only superficial, colored metal items still typically cost 10% to 25% more due to the extra care required in creating the items. Spellscales are the primary purchasers of armor and weapons made from colored metal.

Colored metal has no effect on a weapon or armor’s game statistics.



Coral
Common among seafaring races such as merfolk and tritons. Armor and items built from this material are not so much created as they are grown over time and shaped for their particular task. Coral armor covers only the top half of a person, breastplate and bracers. It reduces their swim speed by 10 feet, but because of its design it effectively weighs 10 pounds less when in water. Wearing coral armor that was not specifically grown for an individual causes an additional +1 armor check penalty. Deep coral is sometimes used by underwater builders to erect deep sea palaces. When used for this type of construction, coral automatically repairs 1 point of damage every minute. Treat coral as stone for purposes of blocking detection spells and the like. Coral has 15 hit points her inch of thickness, a hardness of 8, and a break DC of 20 +2 per inch of thickness. (sources: Arms and Equipment Guide, Stronghold Builder's Guidebook)

Crystal, Deep
These crystals of above-average quality are found at the hearts of large veins or deposits of mundane crystal. It is renowned for its strength and its psionically resonant nature. While a weapon made of deep crystal is no different from a mundane crystal weapon for a nonpsionic character, a Psionic wielder of a deep crystal weapon can focus Psionic power through it, increasing the damage that weapon deals. As a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, the wielder can channel Psionic power into a melee weapon or ranged weapon made of deep crystal. For 2 power points, the deep crystal weapon deals an extra 2d6 points of damage. The weapon will stay charged for 1 minute or until it scores its next hit. Bows, crossbows, and slings bestow this power on their ammunition. All missile weapons lose this effect if they miss. However, they may be recovered and charged again.
Any weapon made of deep crystal costs 1,000 gp more than its noncrystal counterpart. Any item could potentially be made out of deep crystal. Because deep crystal armor is considered to be made out of metal, druids cannot wear it. Deep crystal has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 10. (sources: Expanded Psionics Handbook)

Crystal, Mundane
Mundane crystal can be used in place of metal in weapons or armor, using a special forging process. The fortified crystal possesses the properties of a similar masterwork steel weapon or armor, except for visual appearance. Weapons and armor made of mundane crystal cost the same amount to make as their masterwork counterparts. Any item could potentially be made with mundane crystal. Because mundane crystal armor is considered to be made out of metal, druids cannot wear it. Mundane crystal properly forged has 25 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 8. (sources: Expanded Psionics Handbook)

Cyrite: When the day of Mourning came the metals that were in the process of being refined absorbed the catastrophe’s arcane power. Now ingots and chunks of this magically imbued substance lie scattered throughout the Mournland. Scholars have termed this material cyrite. Cyrite resembles steel but is slightly darker. Multicolored lines run over its surface and pulse with a strange light. It is as heavy as steel, holds an edge just as well and retains some magic essence from its odd genesis. Smiths and adventurers value cyrite for its use in weapons and armor. Weapons fashioned from cyrite count as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Armor made from cyrite absorbs magical energy and grants its wearer +1 resistance bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities. Cyrite shields provide no special benefit. Items without metal parts, such as clubs cannot be made of cyrite. Cyrite looses all its special properties in an antimagic field or similar area. Weapons and armor made from cyrite have the same hit points and hardness as they do when made from metal of a normal sort (typically steel) Cost modifiers: Ammunitions +5 gp, Armors +500 gp, Weapons +250 gp, Raw cyrite 10 gp per pound. The above features apply to most examples of cyrite that explorers have discovered. Rumors speak of other forms of cyrite with different properties.



Darkleaf: Similar to leafweave armor darkleaf is made of carefully cured and beautifully carved pieces of darkwood, supplemented by alchemically treated leaves from the darkwood tree. Making armor out of darkleaf reduces its arcane spell failure chance by 5% because it is so flexible. The maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 1 and the armor check penalty are reduced by 2. Darkleaf is treated as medium armor for the purposes of movement and all other limitations. Darkleaf medium armor is treated as light armor. Only medium and heavy armors normally made of metal can be constructed from darkleaf and the most common forms are breastplates ad banded mail. Darkleaf requires a DC craft (alchemy) check in addition the normal craft (armor smithing) checks required to make armor.

Darkwood
A magical wood that is as hard as normal wood, but very light. Any wooden or mostly wooden item made fron darkwood is considered a masterwork item and it weighs only half as much as a normal wooden item of that type. Items not normally made of wood or only partially of wood (such as a battleaxe) either cannot be made of darkwood or do not gain any special benefit from being made of darkwood. The armor check penalty of a darkwood shield is lessened by 2 compared to an ordinary shield of its type. A darkwood item costs 10gp per pound in addition to the price of a masterwork version of the item in question. Darkwood has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 5. (source: Dungeon Master's Guide)

Densewood: One of the most important products of the forests of Aerenal, densewood is strong, hard, heavy wood similar to iron in its properties. It has a hardness of 7 and 20 hit points per inch of thickness. The DC for breaking a densewood item with a Strength check increases by 5 compared to normal wooden items. Densewood item weighs twice as much as the same item made form normal wood and cost twice as much (before adding any masterwork component or an enhancement bonus). Items without wooden parts cannot be made from densewood.

Dragonbone Bow: A bow carved from a single bone of a dragon displays superior tensile strength and power. Such a bow is considered a composite bow (short or long) with a strength rating set by the crafter. In addition the bow’s range increment is 20 feet longer than a normal for the bow’s type (90 feet for a composite short bow, or 130 for a composite longbow). Price as a composite bow +100gp.

Dragoncraft Armor or Shield: Dragoncraft armor and shields are masterwork versions of their counterparts made from dragon’s hide that also grant energy resistance. A suit of dragoncraft armor or dragoncraft shield grants the wearer resistance 5 against a specific type of energy as appropriate to the dragon it was made from. This resistance is treated as extraordinary and thus nonmagical feature of the armor. It doesn’t stack with any other resistance (of the same type) possessed by the character. In addition dragoncraft armor is treated as one category lighter for purposes if movement and other determinations. Heavy dragoncraft armors are treated as medium, and medium and light armors are treated as light. Armor check penalties are reduced by 2 (including the 1 point reduction for masterwork armor and shield). Dragoncraft armor has the normal maximum Dexterity bonus. It can be made into hide armor, scale mail, half-plate, or full plate armor. Shields may be light or heavy. Price 3,000 gp(light armor); 6,000 gp (medium armor), 11,000 gp (heavy Armor)

Dragonfang Weapon: Dragonfang weapons are masterwork weapons crafted from the claws and teeth of a dragon. In addition to the +1 nonmagical enhancement bonus on attack rolls granted by it’s masterwork quality, a dragonfang weapon deals 1 point of energy damage on each successful hit. The type of energy is the same as that of the dragons type. This extra damage is treated as an extraordinary nonmagical feature of the weapon and does not stack with energy damages of the same type dealt by the weapon. Only slashing and piercing weapons may be created as dragonfang weapons. Price 300gp.

Dragonhide
Recovered from the corpses of slain dragons, dragon scales can be fashioned into armor and shields of masterwork quality. One dragon produces enough hide for a single suit of masterwork hide armor for a creature one size category smaller than the dragon, a masterworked suit of banded mail for a creature two sizes smaller, a suit of masterwork half-plate for a creature three sizes smaller, or one masterwork breastplate or masterwork suite of full plate for a creature four times smaller. In addition, there is enough left over scale to produce a small or large masterwork shield in addition to the armor, provided the dragon was Large or larger. Because dragonhide is not made of metal, druids can wear it. Dragonhide armor costs double what masterwork armor of that type ordinarily costs, but it takes no longer to make than ordinary armor of that type. Dragonhide armor itself remains immune to energy of the same type as the dragon it’s made from but offers none of that protection to it’s wearer. Dragonhide armor has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 10. (source: Dungeon Master's Guide)

Dragonhide Mantle: A dragon’s hide can be rendered flexible enough to wear as a cloak. Crafting a dragonhide mantle requires as much hide as a suit of hide armor, and the mantle must be crafted to fit the wearer’s size. A dragonhide mantle grants the wearer resistance 5 against a specific type of energy as appropriate to the dragon it came from. This is an extraordinary ability and thus nonmagical but does not stack with any other energy resistance of the same type possessed by the character. In addition the wearer of a dragohide mantle gains a +2 circumstance bonus on Intimidate checks against dragons. Price modifier 3,800 gp.

Elvencraft Bow: One of the biggest problems facing any archer is deciding what to do when a foe gets within melee reach. Does one stand fast and take the consequences (which can prove painful if not deadly), fall back (not always practical), or drop the bow and draw a melee weapon (inconvenient at best). Elf bowyers have made the choice somewhat less difficult by crafting bows that can stand up to melee combat. Thanks to elven ingenuity, these weapons work just as well as melee weapons as they do as ranged weapons. An elvencraft bow is thicker and heavier than a normal bow. An elvencraft short bow functions as a club when wielded as a melee weapon. An elvencraft longbow functions as a quarterstaff when wielded as a melee weapon. The wielder incurs no penalty on attack rolls when using an elvencraft bow as a melee weapon. A character wielding an elvencraft bow can freely interchange melee and ranged attacks during the same round. When wielding an elvencraft bow, the user threatens the squares around him no matter how he last used the weapon. Magical enhancements to an elvencraft bow only affect its use as a bow. Enhancements to the melee capabilities of the weapon must be added separately. An elvencraft bow costs 300 gp more than a normal bow.



Feather Cloak: The waste is home to many birds and their plumage helps protect them from the heat. When collected and sewn together a feather cloak covers your torso and upper legs, having a broad brimmed cap to protect the head. This type of armor does not impose the usual -4 penalty on Fortitude saves against damage dealt by hot environments and on Constitution checks to avoid heatstroke. Price modifier 1,000 gp.

Fins: When added to a suit of armor these this metal protections allow your body to radiate heat more effectively while wearing a suit of armor fitted with fins you take only a -2 penalty on Fortitude saves against damage dealt by hot environments and on Constitution checks to void heatstroke, instead of the usual -4. Price modifier 50 gp.

Flametouched Iron: Mined only in Thrane, flametouched iron is rare and considered sacred by the church of the silver flame. When mined, this iron variety has a speckled dark red color, resembling rust, but when it is refined it takes on a shimmering silvery hue. Adherents of the church of the Silver Flame believe that flametouched iron carries the particular blessing of their deity, and they use it to make holy symbols, weapons, and armor. Flametouched iron has the same weight and other physical characteristics as iron (hardness 10, 30 hit points per inch of thickness). It possesses magical qualities however, that manifest in different ways depending on the item it is crafted into. A flametouched iron armor grants the wearer a +1 resistance bonus on saving throws against the spells spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities of evil outsiders. A flamtouched weapon is treated as a good-aligned weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. And flametouched holy symbols allows a character who can turn undead or censure fiends to do so as if his class level were one higher than it actually is. Flametouched weapons and armor have a price modifier of +1,000gp. A flamtouched holy symbol costs 750 gp. Items without metal parts cannot be made from flametouched iron.

Forestwarden Shroud:

Elves invented this lightweight set of tunic and leggings, though it was quickly adopted by rangers and similar characters of all races. A forestwarden shroud is worn over a suit of armor. It can be incorporated into any suit of armor during creation, or it can be added later. Its slick surface allows branches and leaves to slide easily across it, negating the effect that undergrowth and heavy undergrowth has on the wearer’s Tumble and Move Silently checks (see Forest Terrain, page 87 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). A forestwarden shroud costs 100 gp and adds 2 pounds to the weight of a suit of armor.



Frystalline
A mineral that grows in the icy mountain caves of Eronia, the second layer of the Blessed Fields of Elysium. Its resilient, pale-gold crystals contain divine energy that emanates from a god that sleeps beneath the mountains. Any weapon made of frystalline is treated as good-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. The market price modifier for such a weapon is +2,000 gp. Frystalline has 15 hp per inch of thickness and a hardness of 10. (source: Book of Exalted Deeds)

Gehennan Morghuth-Iron
A volcanic mineral unique to the mountains of the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, where it is occasionally mined. it forges poorly, making items which appear pocked and pitted. Weapons crafted from it have a -1 attack and damage penalty, but they are extremely toxic. Slashing and piercing weapons made from gehennan morghuth-iron is naturally poisonous. The weapon delivers its poison (Fort DC 12) with each successful attack. Initial damage is 1 point of temporary Dexterity; the secondary damage is 1d4 points of temporary Dexterity damage. The market price modifier for a weapon made of morghuth-iron is +4,000gp. Gehennan morghuth-iron has a hardness of 9 and 20 hit points per inch of thickness. (source: Arms and Equipment Guide)

Glasssteel: Made in an alchemical process requiring extensive knowledge of both metallurgy and glassblowing, glassteel combines the strength beyond iron with the transparency of glass. Mostly used in building material in fantastic castles, glassteel can also be fashioned into weapons and armor. Glassteel is stronger and lighter than iron but it’s fantastically expensive. Just as adamantine, glassteel grants a nonmagical enhancement bonus to weapons and armor made with it. And like mithral glassteel armor counts as on category lighter. Spell failure chance is decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 2 and the armor check penalties are decreased by 3. Non weapon and nonarmor items made of glassteel weigh half of what they otherwise would. Glassteel weapons and armor are hard to spot at a distance (-4 penalty on spot checks), but just because the armor is transparent doesn’t mean that the person underneath the armor is likewise concealed. In combat, glassteel transparency is mostly a decorative curiosity rather than a tactical advantage. Glassteel has a hardness of 20 and 40 hit points per inch of thickness. Weapons and armor fashioned from glassteel are treated as masterwork items with regard to creation times, but the masterwork quality does not affect the enhancement bonus of weapons nor the armor check penalty of the armor. Enhancement bonuses +1 (light armor) +9,000 gp, +2 bonus for medium armor and a price of +16,000 gp, Heavy armor receives a +3 bonus and costs +25,000 gp and shields gain a +1 bonus and cost +4,000 gp. Weapons with damages 1d4 and 1d6 gain a +1 bonus and cost +1,500 gp/lb, Weapons of 1d8,1d10,1d12 receive a +2 bonus and cost +2,500 gp/lb. All other items are sold at +1,000 gp/lb.

Leafweave:

As the name suggests, leafweave armor is made from forest leaves, which are then treated with a special alchemical process that makes them as tough and flexible as leather, with considerably less weight and encumbrance. The arcane spell failure chance for leafweave armor is reduced by 5% compared to ordinary armor of the same sort, due to its increased flexibility. The armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by +1, and its armor check penalty (if any) is lessened by 2. Leafweave versions of padded, leather, studded leather, and hide armor exist; leafweave studded leather typically incorporates darkwood studs to make it druid-friendly. Creating leafweave armor requires a single successful DC

25 Craft (alchemy) check in addition to the normal Craft (armorsmithing) checks. Leafweave armor costs 740 gp more than ordinary armor of the same sort. It has hardness 2 and 5 hit points per inch of thickness.



Livewood: Another of the unusual woods of aerenal, livewood is a green colored hardwood with a highly magical nature. When livewood trees are felled they do not die, though they stop all growth. Livewood can be worked like normal hardwood, while it remains completely alive. In most respects, livewood is just like normal wood. A few spells affect livewood in a different ways from normal wood, however. Plant growth causes worked livewood to sprout small branches and leaves, though diminish plants has no effect. Speak with plants allows a character to communicate with a livewood object, though such an object has no more awareness of its surroundings than most normal plants. Blight deals damage to a livewood object as if the object were a plant creature (1d6 points of damage per level; the woods hardness does not apply), A character can use tree stride to move from one livewood object to another, or from a livewood tee to a livewood object (and visa versa), as long as the livewood object is large enough. Animate plants can animate a livewood object. Dryads occasionally make their homes in livewood trees instead of oak trees. Such a dryad looks no more kindly upon the felling of her tree than the other dryads do. But the felling of her tree does not kill her-nor does it end her dependence on the tree. As a result, dryads can be found within livewood objects, including buildings, furniture, and ships. Livewood has a harness of 6 and 10 hit points per inch of thickness. The cost of a livewood item is half again as much (+50%) as a normal wooden item. Items without wooden parts, including armor and bladed weapons cannot be made from livewood.



Mithral A rare, silvery, glistening metal that is lighter than iron, but just as hard. Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal, to a minimum rating of Light. Additionally, the chance of spell failure while wearing mithral armor is reduced by 10%, the maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 2, and armor check penalties are lessened by 3 to a minimum of 0. Items made of mithral weigh half as much as their iron equivalent. The size category of weapons crafted from mithral does not change, nor does the weapon become easier to use. However, mithral armors and weapons are harder to damage than their iron counterparts. Mithral has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 15. (source: Dungeon Master's Guide)

Mournload, Purple: Mined only in the mournland in and under the field of ruins, mournload is something of a rarity, and considered by many churches an ideal tool for combating undead manifestations. When mined this iron ore has a mottled purple color, resembling some awful blight. When it is refined, it takes on a more vibrant silvery hue, streaked with veins of purple color. In fact, various grades of mournload exists, each with a slightly different appearance. To date , purple mournload is by far the most well know (to the point where it is often referred to simply as “mournload”). Mornload has the same characteristics as iron hardness of 10, 30 hit points per inch. But displays special qualities depending on the type of item it is forged into. A mournload weapon overcomes damage reduction of undead creatures as if it were crafted of cold iron or alchemical silver, whichever is more appropriate. Mournload armor grants the wearer a +1 resistance to saving throws against any spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities used by undead. A character who uses a mornload holy symbol to turn undead deals damage equal to her turning level to undead for example a 9th level paladin effective turning level 6th would deal 6 points of damage to any undead creature she successfully turns. A mournload weapon or suit of armor costs an extra 700 gp. A mournload holy symbol costs 400 gp. Items without metal parts cannot be made from mornload.

Pearlsteel A metal crafted by secretive aventi metallurgists who work near volcanic vents deep in the ocean. It is a gleaming, shining metal covered with a blue-white sheen, like mother of pearl. Created from fine steel and rare silvery pearls found only in the ocean depths, this steel is prized by all undersea races. It is very light, especially in water. Pearlsteel items weigh 25% less than their normal counterparts. It also sliced more smoothly through the resistance that water presents. When a slashing weapon made of pearlsteel is used in water, its damage is reduced by -1 rather than the normal -2 for fighting in water with a slashing weapon. Likewise, damage dealt underwater by a bludgeoning weapon made of pearlsteel is reduced by -2 rather than by half. (source: Stormwrack)

Riedran Crysteel: The inspired lords of Riedra supervise the mining of a crystalline substance that can be alloyed with iron to form Riedran crysteel. Crysteel makes excellent weapons, and the crystalline component makes them resonate with psionic power. When wielded by a character who has at least 1 power point, a crysteel weapons gains a +1 enhancement bonus on damage rolls. Riedran crysteel has a hardness of 10 and 20 hit points per inch of thickness. Items made of crysteel are susceptible to the shatter spell, but gain a +4 bonus on their saving throws to resist it because the crystal is alloyed with iron. The market price modifier for a crysteel weapon is +1,500 gp. Items without metal parts cannot be made from Riedran crysteel.

Rimefire Ice This form of ice is found only in icebergs inhabited by rimefire eidolons. It is pale blue ice which glows softly, providing illumination equal to that of a torch. Rimefire ice is especially cold and any creature that comes into contact with it takes 1 point of cold damage per round of contact. Most unusual is that rimefire ice is approximately as flammable as wood; it does not melt when heat is applied to it. Burning rimefire ice does not deal fire damage, though, even if it is ignited by an open flame. Rather, burning rimefire ice deals cold damage to anything unfortunate enough to get too close.
Rimefire ice cannot be used to make any appreciable armor, but it can be used to create any weapon that is normally made out of wood; such weapons deal +1 point of cold damage on each successful hit. Since rimefire is workable as wood, it can also be used to build any object that can normally be made of wood.
Rimefire ice brought into warmer climates does not melt into water; it melts into thick white clouds of water vapor with great rapidity. Each minute it is exposed to temperatures above 40ºF it takes 1d6 points of damage (this damage overcomes the ice's hardness and is not halved, as is most energy damage applied to objects). For each additional 10 degrees hotter than this the ice takes an additional 1d6 points of damage per round. Rimefire ice has 5 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 3. (source: Frostburn)

Riverine An unusual material made from water under extremely high pressure, usually obtained from the Elemental Plane of Water, but sometimes from black water trenches far below the ocean's surface. The water of riverine flows continuously, sandwiched between fields of magical force. Half of the Armor Class bonus from armor and shields made from riverine is a deflection bonus (round down). For example, a suit of riverine chain mail would provide a +2 armor bonus and a +3 deflection bonus to AC. Riverine is sometimes used to create walls and even containers. Being enclosed in magical force, it is immune to all damage and is unaffected by most spells. However, a disintegrate immediately destroys an item made of riverine, as does a rod of cancellation, a sphere of annihilation or a Mordenkainen's disjunction spell, causing the water to spill out in a sudden rush. Walls of riverine block ethereal travel, breath weapons, and spell effects, just as a wall of force does. However, armor and shields made of riverine do not form a complete enclosure, so breath weapons still affect the wearer. (source: Stormwrack)

Serren Wood
Serren trees grow on Arvandor, the uppermost of Arborea's three layers. The trees serve as vessels for nature spirits and any branch that falls from a serren tree can be fashioned into a wooden item imbued with a portion of the tree's spirit. Serren bows, arrows, and other items have the ghost touch special quality, although his property is not magical. The market price modifier for a serren weapon is +4,000gp. Other serren wood items are +800gp per pound. Serren wood has the 10 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 5. (source: Book of Exalted Deeds)

Shadow Silk: Shadow silk is a very faint material translucent and flimsy. It has the look and feel of deep black silk. Shadow silk armor continually grants its wearer its benefits. In brighter light, it feels heavier and in areas of shadowy illumination or darkness, it feels lightweight and fluid. The wearer of shadow silk armor moves more quietly and blends into shadow more effectively it grants its wearer +2 bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Only armor that is made from cloth or leather can be crafter using shadow silk. Padded, Leather, or hide armor can be made from the material. These shadow silk armors are treated as light armor. The maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 2, and the armor check penalties are lessened by 2 (to a minimum of 0). The arcane spell failure chance in areas of shadowy illumination or darkness is reduced by 15% (minimum 0%). An item made from shadow silk weighs approximately one-quarter as much as the same item made from other materials. Armor fashioned from shadow silk is always masterwork; the master work cost is included in the price. Shadow silk armor has 10 hit points and a harness of 1. The material knits itself back together in areas of shadowy illumination or darkness, restoring 1 hit point per round unless it is destroyed (hit points 0 or lower). Price 1,500gp (Padded), 1,750gp (leather), 2,500gp (Hide)

Soarwood: Rare even in the abundant forests of Aerenal, saorwood possesses a magical buoyancy. Ships made from soarwood skim effortlessly over the surface of the water. Soarwood is a necessary component of the airships and elemental galleons manufactured by House Orien and House Cannith. The speed of a boat of ship made from soarwood is double that of an equivalent boat made from ordinary wood, and the cost is four times normal. Soarwood has the same physical characteristics as normal wood (hardness 5, 10 hit points per inch of thickness), but weighs only 75% as much.

Solanian Truesteel
Mined from the fourth layer of the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, this iron needs no alloy treatment and it shines with a silvery gleam. When forged into a weapon it gives the wielder a +1 bonus on the confirmation roll for a critical hit. The market price modifier for such a weapon is +1,000 gp. Solanian truesteel has a hardness of 11 and 25 hit points per inch of thickness. (source: Arms and Equipment Guide)

Starmetal: This superior alloy is made from meteoric iron-specifically, ore refined from the meteors that fall during the rare appearances of the comet. It is equal to adamantine for all purposes including overcoming damage reduction or granting damage reduction when used in armor construction. Starmetal also possesses the inherent magical connection to the material plane. Meaning that weapons made of starmetal deal an extra 1d6 points of damage to any extraplanar creatures while they are on the material plane. Creating a weapon from starmetal costs 5,000 gp more than creating a similar weapon of steel. Creating armor from starmetal has the same costs as armor created from adamantine.

Stone
Used primarily as a building material, yet also manufactured into weapons by primitive cultures or even into unwieldy, armoring slabs which can be secured by rope. Stone weapons have a -2 attack and damage penalty (with a minimum damage of 1), a hardness of 8, and 15 hit points per inch of thickness.

Stygian Ice This extra planar ice comes from Stygia, the fifth layer of Hell. Infused with soulless evil and the magical waters of the river Styx, stygian ice is black and constantly crawls with a thin layer of pale blue mist. Stygian ice is much colder than normal ice, and it melts slowly in nonfreezing environs. The coldness it exudes is magical in nature, and freezes the mind much more rapidly than flesh.
Stygian ice deals 1d6 points of cold damage per round of contact. Worse, if a creature takes damage from this supernatural cold, it must make a DC 12 Will saving throw or take 2 points of Wisdom damage as its memories are slowly frozen. If a creature's Wisdom is reduced to 0, further contact causes Constitution damage. A creature whose Constitution is reduced to 0 by stygian ice rises as a wraith in 2d4 rounds.
Stygian ice has 5 hit points per inch of thickness and a hardness of 3. Magical fire damage is not halved when applied to stygian ice. An object made of stygian ice takes 1 point of damage per hour it exists in an environment above 40ºF; this damage overcomes the ice's hardness. As it melts, the ice gives off foul vapors that nauseate anyone within 5 feet who fails a DC 12 Fortitude saving throw. (source: Frostburn)

Targath: Targath is a soft metal mined on the northern coast of Argonnessen. Often fashioned into periapts of health, targath naturally possesses some of the qualities of those magic items. Even a small amount of targath worn or carried on the body rants a character a +2 resistance bonus on Fortitude saves against disease. Targath is for reasons that are not clear anathema to the deathless of Aerenal. They shrink from its touch and a weapon fashioned from targath can overcome their damage reduction. Perhaps fortunately for the Undying court, weapons made of targath are inferior to steel weapons imposing a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls. Targath has a hardness of 9 and 20 hit points per inch of thickness.

Thistledown:

This lightweight fabric gets its name from its soft feel and dove-gray color. Elves have made padded armor from this material for centuries, and it is well liked by arcane spell casters. Thistledown padded armor weighs only half as much as normal padded armor. It grants its wearer a +2 circumstance bonus on Hide checks in areas of darkness or shadowy illumination, as it blends in with the dim background. It is treated as masterwork armor (the masterwork cost is included in the armor’s given cost).



Thistledown Suit:

Long used in the creation of lightweight padded armor by elven crafters, the silken fabric known as thistledown (see Special Armor Materials, below) has recently been used in other armors as well by inventive halfling armor smiths. Any armor that normally incorporates an underlying layer of quilted fabric (including chain shirts, as well as any medium or heavy armor normally made of metal) can substitute a thistledown suit for the normal layer of fabric. This alteration increases the armor’s armor check penalty by 1 (because of the added bulk) but reduces its arcane spell failure chance by 5% (because the quilted thistledown makes the armor less restrictive for somatic gestures). A thistledown suit requires a DC 15 Craft (tailoring) check to create and costs 250 gp. It adds no weight to a suit of armor.



Ysgardian Heartwire This incredibly fine, flexible metal found on Ysgard. It is not suitable for making and entire suit of armor, but small sections of heartwire mail can be incorporated into chain shirts, chain mail, or heavy armor to reinforce vital areas. This reinforcement has the effect of increasing the wearer’s AC by +2 solely for the purpose of the roll to confirm a critical hit. The heartwire is so fine and light that it does not increase the armor’s weight. The market price modifier for such a suit of armor is +1,500 gp.

Wildwood:

The rare saelas tree (saelas is an Elven word that translates as “wildwood” in Common) produces wood with a peculiar set of qualities. Not only is it extraordinarily flexible for days after harvesting, but items crafted of wildwood regrow after being damaged. At the hands of an armorsmith also skilled in woodworking, wildwood can be crafted into lightweight armor nearly as strong as steel. It is prized by druids, who can wear it without sacrificing their class abilities. Wildwood armor provides 1 less point of armor bonus than ordinary armor of the same sort. However, the armor’s maximum Dex bonus increases by 1, its armor check penalty is reduced by 1 (minimum 0), and its arcane spell failure chance is reduced by 5%. In addition, the wearer of a suit of wildwood armor can ignore its armor check penalty on Hide checks made in areas of undergrowth or heavy undergrowth. Armor made from wildwood weighs three-quarters as much as the same item made from metal. Armor not primarily made of metal is not meaningfully affected by being partially made from wildwood. As long as it is exposed to sunlight for at least 1 hour per day, a suit of wildwood armor naturally “heals” 1 point of damage every 24 hours. If it is left to soak in at least one gallon of water while exposed to sunlight for 8 hours, it heals 5 points of damage. Armor made from wildwood is always of quality (the masterwork cost is included in the armor’s given cost). Wildwood armor costs double what ordinary masterwork armor of the same sort costs, but it takes no longer to make than masterwork armor of that sort. For each Craft (armorsmithing) check required to create a suit of wildwood armor, a Craft (woodworking) check against the same DC is also required (though the same character need not make both checks). Wildwood has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 6.

A 2E Dragon Magazine article included a silver metal called mindex which was used for crafting ships capable of being propelled in the Astral Plane by psionics. I've decided to say that the silver swords of the githyanki are composed of this metal.