The Character of Metals

I use various metals in my campaigns. I have written at length about silver for weapons, here, here, and here. The gist of all of these posts is silver is a special metal, a magical metal. In my campaign, it is a gateway metal for true magical weapons. By its very properties, it can strike targets immune to regular weapons but does not confer bonuses to hit or damage. It is the metal of choice for fey folk and elves, be it for weapons or armor. 

Iron is also a special material. Iron poisons fey folk, so they will not use it. They also look down on those that do use it. Regular weapons are usually made of some sort of steel, so the more sophisticated cultures don't carry iron weapons anymore. The fey receives 1 extra point of damage from a steel weapon, but actual iron weapons do an additional 1d4 points of damage, dissipating at a rate of 1 point per round. 

For example, if struck by a short sword made of iron, a pixie would take 1d6 from the weapon itself and 1d4 for the iron's poisoning effect. If 4 points of damage were rolled for the iron poisoning, it will dissipate over 4 rounds. 4 HP in the first round, 3 in the next, and so on. 

If crafted into armor, it will do poison damage to fey folk just like a weapon - 1d4 HP dissipating. This is per touch. Steel armor will not cause any damage as it can't penetrate the skin and get into the blood. 

Elves do not use iron for two reasons: they are too advanced for it and they respect fey folk too much. They also have mithril, which is finer than steel or silver. 

The next special metal in my campaign is Cold Iron, also known as meteoric iron. It is exceeding rare. It is always at least +2. If a creature is from a different plane, the bonus is doubled and it also causes a poisoning effect just like iron does to the fey. 

Things look grim for magical folks in my campaigns. No so. They have access to Blood Metal. Blood Metal is a dull blue color, and takes a fine edge. Blood Metal affects mammals, snakes, birds, and lizards (but not spiders, insects, or magical beings) with draining damage. Every strike causes a save vs. paralyzation. If failed the target is weakened to the point of exhaustion. This is dastardly metal when added to sling bullets or arrowheads.    

Demon's Bane is wrought iron alloyed with many different kinds of minerals and metals in a magical process. This kind of weapon has a bonus to hit but never a bonus to damage. The maximum bonus to hit is +5. Sometimes, precious metals are applied to the surface. All weapons and armor made of Demon's Bane appear to be ceremonial. Against creatures of the prime material plane, they do half the damage and never apply their bonuses to hit. 

However, when used against creatures from other planes they receive the bonus to hit and it does normal damage. People wearing Demon's Bane armor cannot be touched by creatures of other planes or those who are astral or ethereal. However, wearers can be struck with a weapon. 

When used on a Demon (not a devil) this metal shows its worth. Demon's Bane causes a Demon's blood to boil and burn. This causes an additional 1d8 points of damage dissipating over up to 8 rounds. This is in addition to the damage done by the weapon itself. Armor and holy symbols also cause the same 1d8 point burning damage on contact despite not normally being able to cut or injure a Demon like a weapon can.

Now one final point in this post. I have a schedule for when a character can draw and hold a magic weapon. For AD&D it was: 

Silver  1-3 levels
+1       4-6 levels
+2       7-9 levels
+3      10-12 levels
+4      13-15 levels
+5      16+ levels  

For OSE and rules which do not get to such heights, every other level suffices. The reason for this rule is I could give a character a plussed weapon on day one and just not think of it again. It would work like a special survival reward for reaching x level. Usually, the pitch was this was a family weapon passed from parent to child and was only effective in the hands of the worthy. 

New Star Smuggler Equipment

I have always wanted new equipment for Star Smuggler but balancing them against the rules and scenarios makes it difficult.  

One of the difficulties is, adding more shots per round or increasing damage is not viable. More shots would increase the chance of a critical, while increasing the damage from 1 to an arbitrary number would result in speeding up combat a bit or being an instant kill weapon. Criticals are termed a something that puts a character down and out without zeroing out their endurance.  

For this reason, the new weapons must be more limited but still useful. In the case of a stunner, a critical always blocks the enemy from taking their next action, which is useful. The body pistol is like a tiny sidearm that can't punch through utility suits let alone armor. The upside is it can be concealed from searches. Both make sense in the setting as they can't damage vehicles at all, which is a bonus when the vehicle is keeping you alive.

One quirk of the sidearm is anyone can use them, but the rules specifically say that certain characters can't. I believe the spirit of the rule is someone without training is ineffective. A to hit roll requires a number greater than 1, as you must roll under your combined marksmanship skill and the tech level of the weapon. For Duke has a Marksmanship of 5. With the standard TL-1 sidearm, he hits on a roll of 2 to 6 and misses on anything higher. For a medic with no marksmanship ability, he needs to roll under the TL of the weapon, which is 1 to 6. So a TL-1 gun won't work for him. What about a TL-6 weapon? He would hit on 2-6, which is a little weird. 

Stunner:
This is a small device that uses hand-to-hand ability to strike either in melee or at a distance. It is available from events where sidearms are available at the same cost. A box of 20 takes up 2 CU.  

To hit with a stunner, the character either shoots or swings it in melee. Add the character's hand-to-hand rating to the weapon's technology level. If the roll is under this value, a strike has been scored. If either of the dice is a 1 or 6, the target has been hit for a critical. Merely striking does no damage, a critical is needed to have any effect. 

When a critical scored, roll one six sided die. On a roll of 1, the target is unconscious for the rest of the day. On a roll of 6, the target is down for 6 combat rounds (30 minutes). Any other roll causes the target to lose their next action. 

A stunner does not cause physical damage and is useless against vehicles, robots, targets in utility suits or armored u-suit. Victims do not lose any endurance. 

This "weapon" is usable by anyone, such as drivers and medics. 

Body Pistol: 
This is a small, short ranged gun that fires slugs. It is different than a sidearm as it can be hidden. If a character is searched, they can keep the gun hidden with a cunning roll. It is available from events where sidearms are available at twice the cost. These weapons are limited to Tech Level 3 or less, any higher roll will be treated as TL-3. A box of 20 takes up 1 CU.  

The Body Pistol has tactical advantages at a cost. When shooting at a target, it does 1 point of damage on a hit. However, it cannot inflict criticals against vehicles, or targets wearing a utility suit or armor. The point of damage will not penetrate or damage a utility suit. it's the shock of impact and bounce that causes the point of damage to the wearer. Unprotected individuals can take extra damage or be knocked out on a critical. 

Body Pistols are considered gimmick weapons and are only outlawed where all weapons are prohibited.   

52 weeks of Magic - 9 of 52 - Libertatem

This week's item is another sword. It has a special purpose from which it takes it's name: Libertatem or liberty.

It is a +3 gladius, or short sword. It is +5 vs. undead. Libertatem has the special purpose of freeing slaves and freeing captives unjustly imprisoned and has a bonus to strike undead and animated dead as a side effect.

The sword has one primary power - to heal once per day. Libertatem has one special purpose power: disintegrate. The nature of the power is limited to specific items but nearly unrestricted in usage. When the sword comes into contact with non-magical bonds, it will disintegrate them. Once per day, the disintegrate power can be used over an area 25 feet in radius freeing many bound people at a time. It can cleave magical bonds on a to hit roll. If the holder is bound, only the pulse effect can free them from non-magical bonds, unless they can contrive away to get the sword out and touch their own bonds.

If confronted by a person who is compelled by a charm-like effect, the sword will glow and smoke in frustration. The holder is entitled to a +5 save verses spells which compel, such as charm or command. If the spell is successful in affecting the character, Libertatem will either grant or refuse the bonus to hit, depending on the circumstances. In extreme situations, the sword can come into conflict with a charmed character and escape their grasp.

Libertatem has no power in a court of law, so long as the law is actually being followed. If justice is perverted in the court, the sword will literally smolder and glow. This is merely a show of force, it does not actually generate heat. The sword will use telepathy to make this determination. It is not particularly good at judging at relative justice, such as a goblin court of law and may go silent in these cases.

The sword radiates a magical and good aurora. Casting a detect alignment spell on Libertatem will not reveal an alignment, only it's purpose of liberty. Strangely, the sword will allow itself to be held by anyone who values freedom, justice and/or law regardless of alignment. It has clear preference for demi-humans over humans.

Libertatem has the ability to speak human (Latin), common, dwarven and halfling, in addition to using telepathy. Libertatem chooses to communicate in a very limited fashion, often in single words or short phrases, which can come across as bossy.

The sword has an Ego of 19. If the sword comes into conflict with a character the sword seeks to resolve the conflict as peaceably as possible. If the conflict is not extreme, such as a character being afraid to free others or enter combat, the sword will allow the character to set it aside or give the weapon away. If it becomes apparent that the character does not wish to free slaves and prisoners, the sword will try to worm it's way out the character's hand when drawn. Every time the sword is drawn or swung, the character must make a save vs. dexterity or lose control of the sword and drop it. Once freed, the sword's point will spin towards the character when they attempt to recover it. If the character persists in picking it up, the sword can strike them.

The sword will never express conflict in the form of adornments, the shedding of other magic and weapons, seeking creatures to slay, payment, or anything else that would restrict a character's freedom. It will try to talk it's way into a better characters hands, but only when a conflict exists.

Only those who actively subvert the law to unjustly imprison or enslave cannot hold the sword. If confronted by undead, the sword will allow any living person to pick it up and use it for as long as the immediate danger exists.

This weapon is close to being an artifact. The creation process required four wishes. This weapon is dwarven, and all dwarves are proficient when using it. The sword was deliberately forged as a traditional human weapon, as it was felt that a gladius would rally humankind to it.

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	26	Coming Soon	27	Coming Soon	28	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

Hording Gear

After years of hoarding, I finally have a character that can use some of my accumulated gear. Ryvell, my cleric has a matching pair of maces:

You remove a sigil-etched black Ora mace from your silvery leather sheath.
You remove a white Ora mace from you black leather sheath.

I need to get better sheaths, but for a 6th level cleric, follower of Zelia, these weapons are perfect.

Black Ora Weapons

My sigil-etched black Ora mace is sort of a disappointment. I thought it would flare, but it doesn’t because it has been uncursed. Pity.

However, today Serendipity was able to ensorcell it. Right now I just have a level one temporary ensorcellment, but soon I shall have a permanent cast on it.

Runestave Collection

Magarven is lucky. He has found three rune staves in three weeks, bringing his collection to 4 four.

He first is a blackened orase runestaff, which is +20 and ensorcelled.

The second is a deringo runestaff that carries two different enhancements. It adds +2 to my mana and +6 to Dexterity. It has an odd bonus of +14. It is currently fully charged.

The third is a baby blue kakore runestaff, which adds to my mana regeneration. It is also ensorcelled. This one has bonus of +9 and flares with fire.

The last and most recent discovery is a banded faewood runestaff. It does not appear to have any special statistics other than the +20 to defense.

Pretty soon I will need a golf bag for all of my staves.