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Eldan
2013-11-06, 07:30 AM
Description and production

Ur (pronounced "oor", with an "oo" as in "food") is earth in its purest, elemental form, the atomic substance that gives other earth materials such as metals and soil their properties. The metal has a dull, grey-black colour slightly darker than lead and is extraordinarily hard, without being brittle.
Incredibly rare in nature, even on the elemental plane of earth, Ur is produced by an alchemical distillation process that involves rare salts, precious metals and a fair amount of cold iron. The result of the process is always a perfect, polished looking sphere about one inch in diameter. Such a unit of Ur can not be further shaped by any known process.

Making a one-inch sphere of Ur takes a Craft: DC 30 alchemy check and 300 gold pieces worth of raw materials. Unlike the normal rules for craft check, the process of making it always takes 3 days if the check is successful.
A unit of Ur has a market price of 900 gold pieces.

Properties

Ur has several interesting properties that make it interesting to alchemists and spellcasters and valuable to many others. Note that all these properties are natural and inherent to the material, not magical, and are as such unaffected by antimagic fields or any attempts to dispel them magically.

The first is it's extraordinary hardness and resistance. It is harder than any other known substance including adamantine, which has the drawback that once distilled, it can not be forged or shaped by any means. Furthermore, magical energies, especially those of both air and earth, simply slide off it without affecting it.

Ur has hardness 60. A one-inch sphere of the material has 100 hit points. It has magic immunity (infinite spell resistance), like that of a golem and is immune to both acid and electricity damage.

The second extraordinary property is the material's weight and curious effect on gravity. A unit or one-inch sphere of Ur weighs a little more than a pound, making it considerably denser than any other known metal, such as more than four times as dense as lead.
Ur has the ability to distort gravity and magnetism in unique ways. Most metal that comes into contact with Ur can only be separated from it with great difficulty. Any light object left near Ur will move slowly towards it, if it can do so along a surface.

Any metal that comes into direct contact with Ur can only be separated from it by a DC 20 strength check. If more than one unit of Ur touches the same piece of metal, the DC increases by +1 for every sphere after the first. Such a bond can hold up to 100 pounds of weight.
Any item that weighs one pound or less that is left unattended within 10 feet of a unit of Ur will move towards it over any surface at a speed of one foot per round or ten feet per minute.

Third, the touch of Ur is highly unpleasant or even painful to beings of elemental air and those of strong chaotic alignment. They will avoid its touch at all cost.

Creatures with the [air] subtype or any amount of damage reduction that can be overcome by cold iron or a combination of cold iron and another factor must make a DC 20 will save or immediately drop a unit of Ur they are touching or try to move away from it as quickly as possible. This is a mind-affecting fear effect, though not a magical one.
A unit of Ur can be used as an improvised weapon dealing 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage. Furthermore, it deals 1d6 points of untyped damage to all creatures with the air subtype or damage reduction that can be overcome by cold iron, as well as overcoming all damage reduction as if it was made from that material.

Applications:

Gravity Manipulatior:
In a simple magical ritual, Ur can be used to distort local gravity around it, making it stronger, weaker, or even changing it entirely so that creatures can walk on walls or ceilings. This is often used by planar travelers to make small zones of stability within planes that have unusual gravity traits.

A gravity manipulator is, in its most basic form, a circular metal sheet of about one foot in diameter, inscribed with magical runes and diagrams and often simple instructions, such as "this side up". In its middle is set a piece of Ur.

Creating a gravity manipulator requires a piece of Ur, the Craft Wondrous Item or Ritual Magic (my own homebrew) feat, 1000 gold pieces of material components and a full day of work.
The resulting manipulator is itself a magical item with a caster level of 5. The Ur in the middle loses its own gravity effect, which returns if the manipulator surrounding it should be destroyed or dispelled.
During creation, the creator of a manipulator has to choose which gravity trait (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/planes.htm#gravity) they want the item to radiate: normal, heavy or light gravity.
The manipulator creates a cylinder ten feet wide and extending ten feet above and below, with the manipulator at its center. Inside the cylinder, all gravity traits normally applying to the plane the manipulator is one, including subjective gravity, are replaced by the manipulator's gravity traits.
If left alone, a gravity manipulator will float ten feet above a surface and remain in the same orientation. Its orientation can be changed as a full round action, though this requires a DC 15 strength check.
If there is a surface of the correct orientation relative to the manipulator, creature can walk on that surface as if it was the ground, while surfaces with a different orientation are treated as walls, inclines or ceilings, as appropriate.
If creatures move into or out of the cylinder from an area of gravity with a different orientation, they must make a DC 20 reflex save or tumble check or fall prone, but never take any tumble check.

Ur weapons

There are two applications of a unit of Ur in weaponry, either as sling ammunition or by setting it into the head of any bludgeoning weapon. These weapons are slightly awkward to use for the untrained, but their density means they deal a lot more damage than normal.

A sphere of Ur may be used as ammunition for any sling of small to large size. It counts as a lead ball, but always deals damage as a sling two size categories larger, to a maximum of huge and an additional +1d6 points of untyped damage to certain creatures, as described under properties, above, as well as overcoming damage reduction like cold iron.
However, the ammunition's weight makes it difficult to use, giving a -4 penalty to hit, unless the wielder takes exotic weapon proficiency (sling with ur ammunition), which also gives him proficiency with all other types of sling.
With a DC 20 craft: weaponsmithing check and a day of work, a unit of Ur may be set into any bludgeoning melee weapon of small or larger size. The weapon is from then on treated as cold iron in addition to any other special materials it may have, for purposes of both enchanting and overcoming damage reduction and deals an additional +1d6 points of damage to certain creatures, as described under properties, above. Furthermore,it's base damage is increased as if it was one size category larger.
Like with sling ammunition, a bludgeoning weapon with an Ur head is awkward to use, giving it a -4 penalty to hit, ulnless the wielder has exotic weapon proficiency (ur weapon). A character with Exotic Weapon Proficiency (ur weapon) is proficient with all weapons containing Ur, if he is also proficient with the base weapon.

Example: A fighter is proficient with warhammers. He takes exotic weapon proficiency (ur weapon) as well. This means he is now proficient with a warhammer containing Ur.
A wizard takes exotic weapon proficiency (ur weapons). However, since he is not proficient with martial weapons, he is still not profient with a warhammer containing Ur.

Rizban
2013-11-06, 08:01 AM
So that you understand my review style, I'm doing a review of this on my first read through, so some of my thoughts might not be the most insightful had I given this a full, thorough reading prior to that.

This review is literally my thoughts on the post as I go through it, reading each section. If my questions or concerns are addressed later in the material, I will make note of that at the point they are addressed. This method of review helps to identify trouble spots and ambiguous areas that need a bit of editing that a comprehensive review might not catch. After I finish the entire post, I'll usually read through it a second time and post a comprehensive review in my final thoughts.

Also of note, I have done a lot of editing in my time, some of it professionally. As such I will point out spelling mistakes and flagrant grammatical errors. Please don't take this personally, as some are very inclined to do. I'm just trying to help you make your work the best it can be.

Finally, it takes time and effort to review your work. You may not agree with all of the comments I post as a reviewer, and that's fine. I ask only that you be polite about any disagreements you have and, if you're so inclined, check out my own homebrew in return (links in signature). Thank you.
Description and production

Ur (pronounced "oor", with an "oo" as in "food") is earth in its purest, elemental form, the atomic substance that gives other earth materials such as metals and soil their properties. The metal has a dull, grey-black colour slightly darker than metal and is extraordinarily hard, without being brittle.
Incredibly rare in nature, even on the elemental plane of earth, Ur is produced by an alchemical distillation process that involves rare salts, precious metals and a fair amount of cold iron. The result of the process is always a perfect, polished looking sphere about one inch in diameter. Such a unit of Ur can not be further shaped by any known process.Slightly darker than "metal"? What kind of metal? Metal comes in lots of colors.

Can't be shaped by any process? Even sundering? Is it therefore invulnerable to damage? Can I sovereign glue a bunch of these to my armor to make myself invincible?


Making a one-inch sphere of Ur takes a Craft: DC 30 alchemy check and 300 gold pieces worth of raw materials. Unlike the normal rules for craft check, the process of making it always takes 3 days if the check is successful.
A unit of Ur has a market price of 900 gold pieces.For such a rare and difficult to produce item, it certainly has a low market price. Despite the rarity, the demand must be pretty low.


Properties

Ur has several interesting properties that make it interesting to alchemists and spellcasters and valuable to many others. Note that all these properties are natural and inherent to the material, not magical, and are as such unaffected by antimagic fields or any attempts to dispel them magically.

The first is it's extraordinary hardness and resistance. It is harder than any other known substance including adamantine, which has the drawback that once distilled, it can not be forged or shaped by any means. Furthermore, magical energies, especially those of both air and earth, simply slide off it without affecting it.Ah, so this + sovereign glue = impenetrable armor that's immune to all [air] and [earth] spells/effects. Nice.


Ur has hardness 60. A one-inch sphere of the material has 100 hit points. It has magic immunity (infinite spell resistance), like that of a golem and is immune to both acid and electricity damage.Oh wait, I take that back. It's even better now. But, wait, I thought it couldn't be worked or shaped by any means. But if I have something with enough hardness, I can cut it. Some magically hardened adamantine could feasibly do it with the right optimization...


The second extraordinary property is the material's weight and curious effect on gravity. A unit or one-inch sphere of Ur weighs a little more than a pound, making it considerably denser than any other known metal, such as more than four times as dense as lead.
Ur has the ability to distort gravity and magnetism in unique ways. Most metal that comes into contact with Ur can only be separated from it with great difficulty. Any light object left near Ur will move slowly towards it, if it can do so along a surface.Oh, sweet, I don't need the glue. I can just outright stick these to my armor. I stick with wooden weapon or natural attacks, and I'm good to go.


Any metal that comes into direct contact with Ur can only be separated from it by a DC 20 strength check. If more than one unit of Ur touches the same piece of metal, the DC increases by +1 for every sphere after the first. Such a bond can hold up to 100 pounds of weight.
Any item that weighs one pound or less that is left unattended within 10 feet of a unit of Ur will move towards it over any surface at a speed of one foot per round or ten feet per minute.Nifty effect. Nice way to retrieve coins that have fallen behind/under furniture with minimal effort.


Third, the touch of Ur is highly unpleasant or even painful to beings of elemental air and those of strong chaotic alignment. They will avoid its touch at all cost.Good thing I don't have air or chaotic subtypes. Seems like a neat way to avoid encounters on certain planes too.


Creatures with the [air] subtype or any amount of damage reduction that can be overcome by cold iron or a combination of cold iron and another factor must make a DC 20 will save or immediately drop a unit of Ur they are touching or try to move away from it as quickly as possible. This is a mind-affecting fear effect, though not a magical one.So it works against air elementals and fey and certain demons.


A unit of Ur can be used as an improvised weapon dealing 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage. Furthermore, it deals 1d6 points of untyped damage to all creatures with the air subtype or damage reduction that can be overcome by cold iron, as well as overcoming all damage reduction as if it was made from that material.Can I use it as a sling bullet instead of improvised throwing weapon?


Applications:

Gravity Manipulatior:
In a simple magical ritual, Ur can be used to distort local gravity around it, making it stronger, weaker, or even changing it entirely so that creatures can walk on walls or ceilings. This is often used by planar travelers to make small zones of stability within planes that have unusual gravity traits.

A gravity manipulator is, in its most basic form, a circular metal sheet of about one foot in diameter, inscribed with magical runes and diagrams and often simple instructions, such as "this side up". In its middle is set a piece of Ur.Okay, now this is the first really cool thing I've seen in this so far. Everything else up until now just seemed a bit silly. This seems really super useful and a cool effect. "This Side Up" is also a nice touch. :smalltongue:


Creating a gravity manipulator requires a piece of Ur, the Craft Wondrous Item or Ritual Magic (my own homebrew) feat, 100 gold pieces of material components and a full day of work.
During creation, the creator of a manipulator has to choose which gravity trait (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/planes.htm#gravity) they want the item to radiate: normal, heavy or light gravity.
The manipulator creates a cylinder ten feet wide and extending ten feet above and below, with the manipulator at its center. Inside the cylinder, all gravity traits normally applying to the plane the manipulator is one, including subjective gravity, are replaced by the manipulator's gravity traits.
If left alone, a gravity manipulator will float ten feet above a surface and remain in the same orientation. Its orientation can be changed as a full round action, though this requires a DC 15 strength check.
If there is a surface of the correct orientation relative to the manipulator, creature can walk on that surface as if it was the ground, while surfaces with a different orientation are treated as walls, inclines or ceilings, as appropriate.
If creatures move into or out of the cylinder from an area of gravity with a different orientation, they must make a DC 20 reflex save or tumble check or fall prone, but never take any tumble check.Based on the effect, this should really be a much more expensive item. I'd estimate a market price (not counting the cost of the Ur itself) of around 5,000 to 8,000gp, depending on the setting. But, given the rather small area of effect, it might go as low at 2,000. You'd still need at least 4 of them to maintain "proper" gravity in a simple 20 x 20 room though... Well, 5 to get total coverage of the room instead of just "good enough" coverage.

Given that this is a non-magical item, I still don't see it with a market price of a mere 300gp + Ur cost.


Ur weapons

There are two applications of a unit of Ur in weaponry, either as sling ammunition or by setting it into the head of any bludgeoning weapon. These weapons are slightly awkward to use for the untrained, but their density means they deal a lot more damage than normal.Ah! Good, it can be used as sling ammo.


A sphere of Ur may be used as ammunition for any sling of small to large size. It counts as a lead ball, but always deals damage as a sling of huge size (1d8+str) and an additional +1d6 points of untyped damage to certain creatures, as described under properties, above, as well as overcoming damage reduction like cold iron.
However, the ammunition's weight makes it difficult to use, giving a -4 penalty to hit, unless the wielder takes exotic weapon proficiency (sling with ur ammunition), which also gives him proficiency with all other types of sling.Only issue I see with this is that ammunition is always destroyed when it hits something. This would be VERY expensive ammunition. Always dealing damage as a huge weapon is a bit much too. Certainly makes halflings a desirable race to use with this.
The EWP feat is a bit oddly named too.


With a DC 20 craft: weaponsmithing check and a day of work, a unit of Ur may be set into any bludgeoning melee weapon of small or larger size. The weapon is from then on treated as cold iron in addition to any other special materials it may have, for purposes of both enchanting and overcoming damage reduction and deals an additional +1d6 points of damage to certain creatures, as described under properties, above. Furthermore,it's base damage is increased as if it was one size category larger.
Like with sling ammunition, a bludgeoning weapon with an Ur head is awkward to use, giving it a -4 penalty to hit, ulnless the wielder has exotic weapon proficiency (ur weapon).Eh, I'd just make all Ur weapons usable with a single EWP feat instead of making a character take lots of different ones.
The size damage increase on this makes sense though.

Eldan
2013-11-06, 09:07 AM
Comments bold.


Slightly darker than "metal"? What kind of metal? Metal comes in lots of colors.

Lead. Slightly darker than lead. Corrected.

Can't be shaped by any process? Even sundering? Is it therefore invulnerable to damage? Can I sovereign glue a bunch of these to my armor to make myself invincible?

Hrm. I didn't think of that. It always occurs in one-inch spheres, so making armour from it would be difficult, at least. You could make something like chainmail from it, I guess, by attaching it to a backing.

For such a rare and difficult to produce item, it certainly has a low market price. Despite the rarity, the demand must be pretty low.

I guess so. Should I increase it? It's rare in nature, but it can be produced. Though not easily, I guess, DC 30 is pretty tough to hit.

Ah, so this + sovereign glue = impenetrable armor that's immune to all [air] and [earth] spells/effects. Nice.

Oh wait, I take that back. It's even better now. But, wait, I thought it couldn't be worked or shaped by any means. But if I have something with enough hardness, I can cut it. Some magically hardened adamantine could feasibly do it with the right optimization...

Oh, sweet, I don't need the glue. I can just outright stick these to my armor. I stick with wooden weapon or natural attacks, and I'm good to go.

Right. Definitely not intended. I think spheres would never provide perfect coverage, even if attached as densely as possible. And even then, you could probably push a weapon through it.
Maybe something like "Ur can be attached to armour, though it is impractical. At least 20 spheres of Ur, a suit of medium or heavy metal armour and 2 hours of work are needed to do this. The end result increases the armour's armour bonus by +2 and grants spell resistance 15, electricity resistance 10 and a +2 bonus on all saves against [air] and [earth] effects. Probably needs some material component too.

Nifty effect. Nice way to retrieve coins that have fallen behind/under furniture with minimal effort.

Good thing I don't have air or chaotic subtypes. Seems like a neat way to avoid encounters on certain planes too.

So it works against air elementals and fey and certain demons.

And Eladrin, Slaad, probably some other, obscurer chaotic outsiders. Azuras, perhaps?

Can I use it as a sling bullet instead of improvised throwing weapon?

See below.

Okay, now this is the first really cool thing I've seen in this so far. Everything else up until now just seemed a bit silly. This seems really super useful and a cool effect. "This Side Up" is also a nice touch. :smalltongue:

Based on the effect, this should really be a much more expensive item. I'd estimate a market price (not counting the cost of the Ur itself) of around 5,000 to 8,000gp, depending on the setting. But, given the rather small area of effect, it might go as low at 2,000. You'd still need at least 4 of them to maintain "proper" gravity in a simple 20 x 20 room though... Well, 5 to get total coverage of the room instead of just "good enough" coverage.

Given that this is a non-magical item, I still don't see it with a market price of a mere 300gp + Ur cost.

Dropped a "0" there, should have been 1000 gold. Still too cheap? That makes almost 2000 with the Ur istelf. It was intended as a magic item, actually. The Ur itself is non-magical, but the item directing the effect is. Ill add a sentence clarifying that.

Ah! Good, it can be used as sling ammo.

Only issue I see with this is that ammunition is always destroyed when it hits something. This would be VERY expensive ammunition. Always dealing damage as a huge weapon is a bit much too. Certainly makes halflings a desirable race to use with this.
The EWP feat is a bit oddly named too.

Can't think of a better name, but I agree that it's awkwardly phrased. I'll add a passage that it is not destroyed when fired and change the damage to +2 size categories, to a maximum of huge. But surely, a weapon dealing 1d8 damage in the hands of a small creature would not be terribly broken? Especially since you still take a move action to reload.

Eh, I'd just make all Ur weapons usable with a single EWP feat instead of making a character take lots of different ones.
The size damage increase on this makes sense though.

That was intended, clarified.