Kargin Notes - Metals and Special Materials
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Bone Armor: Functions exactly the same way as Scale Mail armor but is made with a mixture of thick leather and thick bone from a variety of resilient creatures. It isn’t made of metal so druids can wear it.
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Cold Iron: Weighs and costs 1.5 times a regular steel weapon’s weight and cost. However, it counts as a magical weapon for the purposes of overcoming the damage resistances of Demons, Slaadi, and creatures with the Fey type. If such a demon, slaad, or fey does not have such resistances, it deals a bonus 1d4 damage to those creatures.
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Coral Armor: Certain tribes of merfolk grow coral armor. They accelerate the growth of the coral around a specific model over 1 week for 8 hours each day. The model must be completely submerged during this process, making it necessary to breath underwater. A creature wearing Coral armor not grown for them has their Swim speed reduced by 5 ft. Coral armor has base armor 13+DEX, costs 60 gp, and weighs 25 pounds when on land but only 10 pounds when submerged.
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Cord Armor: Functions exactly the same way as Hide Armor, but is made of rope, cord, and hemp.
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Crystal: Any metal part of a weapon or armor can be replaced with crystal. Crystal armor and weapons have the same statistics and cost as steel weapons but also has a damage threshold of 3, meaning it must take at least 3 damage from a single attack to be dealt any damage at all from that attack. A Crystal weapon or set of armor costs 500 more gp than normal.
Deep Crystal: Any metal part of a weapon or armor can be replaced with deep crystal. It has the same statistics as a crystal weapon but it is more resonant to psionic powers (as detailed in this Unearthed Arcana). A wielder of a Deep Crystal weapon can spend 2 psi points as a bonus action to charge the weapon. The next hit with the weapon deals +2d6 force damage and discharges the psionic energy. A Deep Crystal weapon can stay charged in this way for up to 1 minute. Psionic wearers of Deep Crystal armor can spend 2 psi points as a bonus action to charge their armor. The next time the wearer is hit with an attack, it negates 2d4 of that attack’s damage and discharges the armor. The armor can be charged in this way for up to 1 minute. Deep Crystal arms and armor are considered Rare items. They are treated as Very Rare if they also have a +1 enhancement bonus.
Deep Crystal psi point abilities, because they can be charged ahead of time, don’t interfere with the Mystic’s other abilities, but instead allow the Mystic to “cheat” and spend more psi point than they normally could by investing them, but for a lesser effect.
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Darkwood: Weighs half as much as regular wood. A hafted weapon weighs about ¾ its normal weight. A Darkwood item costs an additional 4 gp per pound of the base item, except hafted items which only cost 2 additional gp per pound.
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DWARVEN BLACKROCK (Godsteel)
Another planar alloy, this rarest of all metals is considered – rightly so – the ultimate metal, surpassing even
adamantine for strength and power. Dwarven blackrock is found only within the mountains of the dwarven gods
(yet another reason for its alternate name of godsteel). This masterwork material is a mixture of metal and stone,
allowing it to retain the best properties of both materials, with few of their associated penalties. Weapons gain large
bonuses to hit, to damage, as well as increased threat ranges, critical multipliers, and a bonus to critical confirmation
rolls. Like adamantine, dwarven blackrock easily penetrates the hardness of any other material. Additionally,
weapons forged of godsteel are considered to be adamantine, magic, and blunt, regardless of their actual shape or
level of enchantment. Although dwarven blackrock armors are bulkier than their steel counterparts – suffering a
lower maximum dexterity bonus and an increased skill check penalty – most adventurers would gladly put up with
these minor inconveniences for the benefits gained. Armors and shields forged of godsteel have much greater
protection value and hit points, as well offering suburb resistance to critical hits. Finally, all dwarven blackrock
armors and shields impart damage reduction to their wearers.
Due to its unusual nature as an alloy of metal and stone, godsteel items tend to be more sculpted and carved rather
than hammered and forged. As a result, when purchasing an item made of dwarven blackrock, the customer must
pay for at least three pounds of the material in order ensure enough working stock to make the desired object
properly. (Skilled smiths don’t mind this process as the “waste” can be saved for use in making ammunition or
studded leather armor.) -
Mithral: (DMG pg 182): The base armor no longer imposes a STR requirement or disadvantage on Stealth checks.
CELESTIAL MITHRIL (Glowsteel)
This very rare metal is similar to shadow adamantine in that is actually an alloy – in this case being mithril that has
been infused with energy from the Upper Planes. Celestial mithril appears very similar to its mundane counterpart,
but it glows with a faint light, about equal to that of a candle. Although it is not quite as physically lightweight as
standard mithril, it outperforms its mortal counterpart in every way. It provides an improved masterwork bonus to
hit, increased damage, increased range increment, a keener striking surface, and a better chance of confirming a
critical hit. Celestial mithril armor has masterwork properties identical to that of mithril armor, with an even lower
arcane spell failure chance, an improved protection bonus, and the ability to resist the critical hits of enemies.
Finally, in addition to being the same as alchemical silver for purposes of damage reduction, glowsteel items are
also considered to have a good alignment, allowing them to harm the forces of evil more easily. -
Wicker Armor: Wicker and hemp woven into simple armor when no other material is available. Disadvantage on Stealth, costs only 1 gp. Base armor 11+DEX, weighs 6 pounds.
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Abyssal Bloodiron: Very Rare. Made of blood-soaked iron from the depths of the Abyss. A weapon of Abyssal Bloodiron counts a roll of a 19 or 20 as a critical hit.
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Astral Driftmetal: Rare. Metal mined from floating matter in the Astral Plane. Weapons made of this material count as magical weapons for the purposes of overcoming the damage resistances of incorporeal creatures.
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Aurorum: Rare. This material is luminous and gleams with pink and indigo. Weapons or armor made of Aurorum fully heal themselves within 1 minute after taking damage or being destroyed. Taking Lightning damage disables this property for 5 minutes. If destroyed while its properties are disabled, the object will not reform.
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Blue Ice: Uncommon. Slashing weapons made with eternally-cold Blue Ice deal 1 bonus cold damage on-hit. Blue Ice can be forged and shaped like iron and has the property of being eternally just below freezing temperatures, even in warmer climates. It will never melt.
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Bluewood: Magically treated wood that is as hard as steel. It doesn’t change the properties of a steel weapon or armor, but it can be used by a druid without penalty. Bluewood items cost 600 gp more than a regular steel counterpart.
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Dragonhide: Same as Dragon Scale Mail (DMG pg 165) but druids can wear Dragonhide as it’s a Hide armor rather than Scale Mail armor base. It has the same benefits of Dragon Scale Mail but uses Hide armor as the base AC.
DRAGONHIDE ARMOR
This masterwork material is another nonmetallic solution for druids seeking increased armor. As the name implies,
this material is made from the carefully prepared skin and scales of slain dragons. In addition to all shields, only the
following armors can be made of dragonhide: hide, breastplate, banded mail, half-plate, and full plate. Besides
allowing for more freedom of movement than metal armors (increased dexterity bonus, reduced armor check penalty
and arcane spell failure), dragonhide armors also provide a small amount of energy resistance. The type of energy
resisted depends on the breath weapon of the dragon from which the hide was taken: red dragonhide resists fire;
blue dragonhide resists electricity; etc. Additionally, dragonhide armor provides a benefit to the crafters of magical
armors. If a spellcaster seeks to enchant dragonhide armor with an energy resistance effect that matches the armor’s
energy resistance, the price of the magical enchantment is 25% less than normal. -
Gehennan Morghuth Iron: Rare. Gehennan Morghuth Iron is terrible to craft with (often appearing pocked and pitted) but weakens those whose wounds are exposed to it. Weapons made from this iron have -1 on attack and damage rolls, but those hit by it must make a DC 11 CON save or gain 1 level of exhaustion. A creature cannot have more than 5 levels of exhaustion from this supernatural poison.
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Entropium: Rare. A flexible metal forged by the Gith. Armor made from Entropium increases the maximum DEX modifier of the armor by 1.
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Minor Resonance: Uncommon. Several materials exist that resonate elementally with certain energy types, dealing 1 extra damage of one energy type on-hit if it’s a weapon or resisting the first 2 damage taken from another energy type if it’s a set of armor. See below:
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Arandur: Silver-blue armor with a green shine. Resists Thunder damage and deals Acid damage.
