...Huh? Cold Iron?

[Talanic]

Okay, I was flipping through my DMG last night, and paused on the section for Special Materials. I know most of them pretty well (at least in DMG/SRD).

One of them is Cold Iron. The only things listed in the DMG about Cold Iron are that it is found deep beneath the earth, it is oddly effective against fey creatures, it is forged at lower temperatures, and it costs a boatload of cash.

NO GAME BENEFITS LISTED. What does Cold Iron do? It's the same in the SRD.

[Arbitrarity]

Bypasses DR/cold iron.

So things with that DR get fully affected by hits.

Most fey have DR/cold iron.

[Skjaldbakka]

There are monsters with DR/cold iron. there are a handful of monsters that take extra damage from cold iron, IIRC, but I can't remember where from.

This would have been a good question for the Q&A thread.

EDIT- Wow, quadruple-post. Way to go guys!

[Indon]

Cold iron defeats the damage reduction of fae and other outsiders with DR X/Cold Iron.

Or really, anything with DR X/Cold Iron, so I guess you could beat up Warlocks with it, too.

Edit: And it's not expensive unless you want a magic Cold Iron weapon.

[Douglas]

It penetrates some creatures' damage reduction. For example. sprites and most other fey have DR/cold iron. Some demons also require cold iron to bypass their DR.

[Eldan]

What it says. It works against the damage reduction of fey and, if I'm not mistaken, Tanar'ri.

[Yvian]

Demons, Devils and Fey have DR -- / Cold Iron. So no game play affect unless you go into combat with one of those.

[Ramza00]

Because Cold Iorn sounds so much cooler than Hot Iron, just like Cold Fusion is cooler than superheated fusion that is created by high magnetic fields and/or lasers and contained in a magnetic coil.

I think this thread is now answered

[Duke Malagigi]

Cold iron is a both a real world metal and a symbol of logic and industrial skill and acumen. Hence both fey and demons are easily harmed by it.

[ArmorArmadillo]

Cold iron is a both a real world metal and a symbol of logic and industrial skill and acumen. Hence both fey and demons are easily harmed by it.

Not entirely; the reason it bypasses DR is that Cold Iron was said to ward off magic and evil spirits; this is why it hurts the inherently magical fey and the evil spirt Demons, it is also why it costs 2000 gp extra to enchant.

[Duke Malagigi]

Not entirely; the reason it bypasses DR is that Cold Iron was said to ward off magic and evil spirits; this is why it hurts the inherently magical fey and the evil spirt Demons, it is also why it costs 2000 gp extra to enchant.

Good point ArmorArmadillo.

[Amiria]

Yes, it has some anti-magic properties, hence it is harder to enchant. Afaik it is also the only of the three core DR-beating metals (Adamantine, (Alchemical Silver, Cold Iron) that you can't temporarily change your weapon to with a spell or item (i.e. the Touch of Adamantine spell or Silversheen). However, you could change a weapon to Cold Iron if it has the Metalline enhancement.

[Dausuul]

Of course, the way cold iron is described in D&D is entirely different from what cold iron is in real life. You'd have a hell of a time trying to make a sword out of real cold iron; you'd have to enchant the thing just to keep it from snapping in half the first time you hit bone.

[Talanic]

*forehead whap* Ah yes. DR/Cold Iron. Can't believe I forgot that.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Of course, the way cold iron is described in D&D is entirely different from what cold iron is in real life. You'd have a hell of a time trying to make a sword out of real cold iron; you'd have to enchant the thing just to keep it from snapping in half the first time you hit bone.

Not true, there is a 'cold forged' process by which one can make an extremely deadly blade which will not snap, which is similar to the damascus layered steel method, only without the extra layers of carbon and without the heating element. I have a friend who is a smith (does varous RenFaires and Conventions to sell his wares) who has learned this process. It's time consuming, and hard to do, but it does make an extremely nasty weapon. It's price, however, is generally prohibitive compared to a conventional high-carbon steel blade due to the extra work involved, and is not significantly better than aforementioned high-carbon steel blade, although not significantly worse either.


Also, there's a forge called Angel Sword which produces a blade called a Cryo-Avatar which uses cryogenic forging methods to create one of the world's nastiest blades. In fact, the Cryogenic-treated Avatar won a world record for being able to cut through more material than any before. Video Demonstration. However, I believe the cryo-avatars are first forged in a damascus type process then cryogenically treated, so these would likely not qualify as true cold-iron.

[Zherog]

Demons, Devils and Fey have DR -- / Cold Iron. So no game play affect unless you go into combat with one of those.

I can't think of one devil with DR X/Cold Iron. When a material bypasses a devil's DR at all, it's silver. Demons and fey you are correct about.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Demons, Devils and Fey have DR -- / Cold Iron. So no game play affect unless you go into combat with one of those.

Devils are linked to silver rather than Cold Iron.

Not entirely; the reason it bypasses DR is that Cold Iron was said to ward off magic and evil spirits; this is why it hurts the inherently magical fey and the evil spirt Demons, it is also why it costs 2000 gp extra to enchant.

There's a little bit of both going for that. Creatures that have DR vs. cold iron tend to be Chaotic. Demons have DR vs. cold iron while devils are vulnerable to silver. Fey tend to be Chaotic. Warlocks must be either Evil or Chaotic. And so forth.

So yeah, Cold Iron is associated with both Order and Anti-Magic.

[Morty]

Hm. Would cold iron surpress spellcasting abilities? Just a thought.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Hm. Would cold iron surpress spellcasting abilities? Just a thought.

Not as written.

But it would be great flavor to create items that can supress spellcasting or grant spell resistance out of cold iron.

[Dhavaer]

Hm. Would cold iron surpress spellcasting abilities? Just a thought.

I think both Bears With Lasers and I have created feats/class abilities that disrupt spellcasters hit by cold iron weapons.

[Morty]

Yeah, I remember BWL's anti-caster fighter abilities being powered-up by cold iron weapons. I was mostly thinking about cold iron disrupting magic by itself, which would, for example, render spellcasters wearing it weakened- like what Shhalahr said. I feel a homebrew coming on.

[Person_Man]

I allowed a PC to make a custom Morningstar with an Adamantine shaft and ball, and Alchemical Silver and Cold Iron spikes, which he then enchanted. It bypassed virtually every damage reduction. By RAW it doesn't work, but I thought it was very clever of him and a cool idea, so I allowed it.

There's also a magic item property that specifically bypasses any non-Epic form of damage reduction. It's a +3 enchantment. I can't remember what its called though.

[Arbitrarity]

Metalline+ sure striking?

Bypasses all alignment/metal DR...

[Green Bean]

Yeah, I remember BWL's anti-caster fighter abilities being powered-up by cold iron weapons. I was mostly thinking about cold iron disrupting magic by itself, which would, for example, render spellcasters wearing it weakened- like what Shhalahr said. I feel a homebrew coming on.

I remember making up something like this a while ago. If I remember correctly, armor and shields made of the metal added their AC for magic touch attacks.

[Morty]

I remember making up something like this a while ago. If I remember correctly, armor and shields made of the metal added their AC for magic touch attacks.

At this moment, I'm thinking about two items: a set of two bracers and a collar that renders spellcaster powerless, and lock made of cold iron that is immune to Knock spell. I'm aiming more for out of combat uses.

[Dausuul]

Also, there's a forge called Angel Sword which produces a blade called a Cryo-Avatar which uses cryogenic forging methods to create one of the world's nastiest blades. In fact, the Cryogenic-treated Avatar won a world record for being able to cut through more material than any before. Video Demonstration. However, I believe the cryo-avatars are first forged in a damascus type process then cryogenically treated, so these would likely not qualify as true cold-iron.

*drools over swords*

Man, if only I had about twenty thousand dollars to spare...

[Shhalahr Windrider]

So for many of these things...

Cold iron does none of this on its own. And, while doable, some of them don't really feel right if they are magic items themselves.

Seems to me we could make 'em alchemically instead.

Boy, this is drifting into a homebrew thread...

[Quietus]

At this moment, I'm thinking about two items: a set of two bracers and a collar that renders spellcaster powerless, and lock made of cold iron that is immune to Knock spell. I'm aiming more for out of combat uses.

I got the same idea, reading this thread.

[Sutremaine]

Is there any mundane (Ex) property that could be applied to cold iron? Silver and adamantine both have properties unrelated to their damage reduction, leaving cold iron as the odd material out. I've thought of something for mithral, but nothing comes to mind for cold iron.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Is there any mundane (Ex) property that could be applied to cold iron? Silver and adamantine both have properties unrelated to their damage reduction, leaving cold iron as the odd material out. I've thought of something for mithral, but nothing comes to mind for cold iron.

Mithral has a very good property. It increases max dex bonus, reduces ASF and Dex Penalties, reduces effective armor category, and in general is about the best thing to make armor out of ever.

Cold Iron is used primarily to bypass the DR of fay and certain demons. Considering how many various demons there are, depending on the GM and what is being tossed your way, that in and of itself can be good enough.