Sunday, March 7, 2010

Five Uncommon Metals

When spicing up a treasure hoard, sometimes minor -- if still unusual -- properties of an item's material can be every bit as interesting as a new enchantment, especially if the material is rare and/or valued in and of itself. (Mithral, anyone?)

With that in mind, a few unusual metals for weapons, armour, or odder widgets:

Ignis Cor: A dense, brilliantly cherry-red and slightly translucent metal that -- despite being of no unusual temperature itself -- registers as fire to anything which may react to fire. Useful as a weapon against creatures weak to flames, dangerous when stored with very flammable substances.

Pet'tjeri: Deep bluish black with ultramarine highlights, this metal is shot through with coiling filaments of silver. Often used in protective charms, when alloyed 1:1 with steel the resulting weapon may injure creatures vulnerable to silver or cold iron.

Noctis: A very fragile but beautiful metal found natively only in easily-shattered nodules, best used as wire niello or other forms of inlay or alloyed with gold or silver. Noctis, pure or alloyed, glows softly in a variety of colours, some hues -- such as purple -- being rarer and highly sought after.

Pashken: Dull, almost pewter grey in colour, this metal is strong enough to be made into weaponry but is not recommended for armour. It is riddled through with a strange absorbent quality to its substance; a pashken sword, for example, will absorb as much as a flask of any fluid applied to it. Impact will cause the fluid to be expelled.

Hekai: Very obviously an exotic metal, hekai is as transparent as glass and etched with frosted feathering. If touched to an enchanted object or a magical field or other effect, hekai or an object composed mainly of hekai will flicker with a brief shower of golden sparks on a one-in-six chance.

2 comments:

Natalie said...

Nice! New weapon materials were always my favorite part of 3e supplements, though these I think are cooler than anything I ever saw there. ;) Pashken I think may be my favorite. So many evil possibilities...

Five Eyes said...

These are fantastic. I'm a big fan of exotic materials - I used them to spice up the loot in a low-magic 3e game, with good results. These are definitely seeing use when I get a chance.

Ignis Cor in particular is a nice flavorful addition - even a small amount would be invaluable as a fire-starting kit in the wilderness. One of those exotic luxuries unique to the wealthy and adventurers, perhaps.