The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: Humabout

Quote from: Seraphine_Harmonium
It is harmful to them.  Its qualities counteract their magic, and Cold iron is even worse, as they suffer injury from as much as touching it.  You could think of them as being "allergic" to it. 

So here's the million-dollar question:  What the heck is "cold iron"?

Cold Iron is the same material as any other iron, but it is hammered and forged at much lower temperatures.

Final Thiodonn map. 



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Quote from: Seraphine_Harmonium
Cold Iron is the same material as any other iron, but it is hammered and forged at much lower temperatures.

So wrought iron?  You have to smelt iron ore to get iron out of it (2,190 degree F).  This is wrought iron.  Any colder and you're just pounding on ore.  At 2,800 degrees F (far beyond the reach of furnaces until the industrial revolution), you actually melt iron.

This is just how iron works.  You can always have it different in your setting.  I'm just offering food for thought and trying to better understand "cold iron."  (It always puzzled me anyway.)

Quote from: Humabout

Quote from: Seraphine_Harmonium
Cold Iron is the same material as any other iron, but it is hammered and forged at much lower temperatures.

So wrought iron?  You have to smelt iron ore to get iron out of it (2,190 degree F).  This is wrought iron.  Any colder and you're just pounding on ore.  At 2,800 degrees F (far beyond the reach of furnaces until the industrial revolution), you actually melt iron.

This is just how iron works.  You can always have it different in your setting.  I'm just offering food for thought and trying to better understand "cold iron."  (It always puzzled me anyway.)

It can be heated to extract the iron from its ore.  The thing that really makes it "Cold Iron" is the way that when shaping the iron into a blade, or whatever form it is to take, it is done at room temperature, worked with pure muscle and force of will.  Forging the metal into shape without the benefit of fire is an act of magic in itself.  It is the long, slow magic of ritual and determination, and cold iron weapons are always forged with purpose.  This purpose pours into the item over the course of the forging. 

Okay, cool.  Next question:  Since you could smelt iron with a lot of ash and stuff to create medieval-quality steel, allow the steel to cool, and then beat it into a new shape, is there such a thing as cold-steel?  The same process could be used to work bronze or copper, too.  Does the magic come from working the metal at room temperature, pouring extra effort into making it (damascan steel supposedly involved an EXTREMELY laborious process, even though it was worked well above room temperature), or an intrinsic property of iron?

In my setting, I ran with it being an intrinsic property, which led to a lot of other things (fae don't and cannot use iron or steel weapons/armor, but the wealthy ones do use bronze armor and weapons and are fond of enchanting them.  This leads to exagerated stories about faerie wealth and hiding pots of gold.  Bronze's ties to older civilizations and legends also helps make magical weapons seem more magical and legendary, even if they were forged last week.  Iron's resistance to magic gives an air of conflict between technological progress and magic, even though there really isn't any - it's all a matter of material properties and economics (bronze is Eck-Spen-Siv!).  That's who it's worked out in my setting, so far.

Quote from: Humabout
Okay, cool.  Next question:  Since you could smelt iron with a lot of ash and stuff to create medieval-quality steel, allow the steel to cool, and then beat it into a new shape, is there such a thing as cold-steel?  The same process could be used to work bronze or copper, too.  Does the magic come from working the metal at room temperature, pouring extra effort into making it (damascan steel supposedly involved an EXTREMELY laborious process, even though it was worked well above room temperature), or an intrinsic property of iron?

In my setting, I ran with it being an intrinsic property, which led to a lot of other things (fae don't and cannot use iron or steel weapons/armor, but the wealthy ones do use bronze armor and weapons and are fond of enchanting them.  This leads to exagerated stories about faerie wealth and hiding pots of gold.  Bronze's ties to older civilizations and legends also helps make magical weapons seem more magical and legendary, even if they were forged last week.  Iron's resistance to magic gives an air of conflict between technological progress and magic, even though there really isn't any - it's all a matter of material properties and economics (bronze is Eck-Spen-Siv!).  That's who it's worked out in my setting, so far.

While stat-wise i am treating iron weapons as equivalent to the standard steel weapons of other settings, as I think of it, the process of adding carbon so as to make true steel is unknown.  So while it is hypothetically possible to create "cold-steel" in the same manner as "cold iron" it does not exists currently as such.  Maybe as a plot device for a particular campaign, but in general no.

Iron has intrinsic properties that are anathema to fae, and cold forging maintains and amplifies these properties.  The hotter the iron gets, and the longer it stays that way, the more those qualities dissipate. 

The idea of iron being specifically magic-resistant is interesting, though.  I might play with that.

Excellent answers! I'm running out of questions, so I'll just expound on how I envisioned iron being magic-resistant:

In my setting (YMMV), iron interferes with magic the way lousy wiring screws with radio signals in an old house.  MAgic goes all staticy and wonky and doesn't work anymore.  Because fae are magical in nature and depend on magic to survive, jamming iron weapons inside them does really nasty things.  Encasing them in iron cuts them off from the magic they need to live and starts killing them.  Having too much iron around interferes with their connection to magic.

Now naturally, if iron interferes with magic, it cannot retain a magical enchantment, even if one were to be able to keep an enchantment together despite the iron it's enchanting.  That's why magic weapons have to be made of other materials (most of which are more expensive than (bronze), inferior to iron (copper, led, obsidian, wood), or both (gold, silver, etc.)).  This does have the effect of making magic items obscenely expensive or nerfing them (in the case of using poor-quality iron substitutes), and it generally drives up the value of bronze, since it's the only goodiron stubstitute.  I toy with the idea of the Feywild (or whatever you want to call it) being very rich in tin and copper, and giving all the faeries all the bronze they need, but I'm not sure how that will upset things (massive human raiding parties into the Feywild to steel their bronze).  It's a question I'm still working on and one you may have to answer if you travel too far down this path.

Hope that sparks your imagination, if nothing else.  I'll try to come up with some more constructive stuff to post for next time.

Quote from: Humabout
I toy with the idea of the Feywild (or whatever you want to call it) being very rich in tin and copper, and giving all the faeries all the bronze they need, but I'm not sure how that will upset things (massive human raiding parties into the Feywild to steel their bronze).  It's a question I'm still working on and one you may have to answer if you travel too far down this path.

Based on legends and folk tales about faerie otherworlds, it seems like a place that is very hard to get to on purpose.  Most people who go there do so by accident, and the ones that do go on purpose have help from someone who lives there.  This can be a faerie lover (as in the case of Oisin) or a gift from a god (as in The Voyage of Bran).  And there is a Welsh tale called "The Spoils of Annwn" in which Arthur and some knights travel there seeking treasure, and the whole thing ends in disaster. 

I'd say that as long as the Otherworld/Feywild/Annwn can take care of itself, human raiding parties aren't too big of a problem.  Certain fae charged with the protection of the treasures and the bronze sources.  Add to that the difficulty of getting there at all, such as only possible at Twilight at some kind of threshold in the presence of three magical trees on a feast day, or some such, and bronze can flow like water in Fairyland, and still be stupidly hard to come by in the mortal world.

Well, that's one issue solved.  Lol!

Not to mention that even if you do know how to get there, getting back might not be as simple as backtracking your steps :ph34r:

Quote from: Ghostman
Not to mention that even if you do know how to get there, getting back might not be as simple as backtracking your steps :ph34r:

Very true.

And that time flows differently there.  It's not uncommon for someone who ends up there to return after what they perceive as a day, only to find that a century has passed and everyone they knew is dead.

Woodwose
The massive creature before you resembles a large man coated in a thick mat of shaggy hair from head to toe, and carrying a small tree for a weapon.

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Woodwose
Large Fae CR 5	XP 1600
HP 66 (9d6+27)	Init +1; Senses Low light vision, Perception +7
Speed 30 ft.	Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +6
Dodge: +1 (Dex)	Block: +8 (+5 BAB, +4 Str, -1 size)
Melee Large Greatclub +8 (3d6+6)	Base Atk +5
Special Qualities Fae qualities, DR 5/Iron; Weakness Cold Iron	Special Attacks Spell-like abilities
Str 19, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 11	Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Feats Great fortitude, Nimble Moves, Power attack	Skills Knowledge (Nature) +5, Perception +7, Stealth +8, Survival +7

Languages Sylvan Environment Temperate forest Organization: solitary, pair, or gang (3–6) Treasure none Alignment: Neutral Advancement: By character class

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Said by some to represent man's animal nature, the woodwose is also called the Wild Man of the Woods.  These fae are usually solitary, grouping together only rarely and briefly, usually for mating.  They do not typically align themselves with either of the courts of the sidhe, as they have no mind for politics, and their minds are not suited to the concepts such things entail.  Though they are intelligent enough to be able to speak, make plans and solve problems, they are not good with abstract concepts like honor, loyalty, and rules of conduct. 

Tactics
When encountering humans, woodwose tend to be shy, observing from a distance while hiding as best they can.  If they are discovered, or feel threatened, however, they are likely to attack viciously, often calling on nearby animals for aid.

Cold Iron Vulnerability: A woodwose takes 1d4 points of damage any time they are touched by cold iron, including when struck by a cold-iron weapon.  This ignores damage reduction. 
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day: Speak with animals, speak with plants, summon nature's ally III

I have posted Class layouts for the Gaestat and the Fenian HERE

They are taking the form of base classes.  The Gaestat is an alternate Barbarian, and the Fenian is an alternate Ranger.  These replace the standard classes, though if characters wish to take archetypes for the standard classes, they may. 

If anyone has thoughts on either of these classes, I would like to hear them.

So I am working on a Cad Goleor fiction at present.  It is still untitled, but much of the action is set in Tulainn, which some of you may be familiar with.  I have been gradually editing a map of it, and it was the starting location of the semi-successful IRC game I ran a while back.

The gist is this: The king is old and has no offspring.  As the king sets out to choose his successor, two foster brothers try to prove themselves as viable candidates.  It is a mix of adventure and political intrigue.  With a dash of monsters and magic peppered in. 

I don't want to post the whole thing on the general forums, but I am willing to share it with anyone who is interested.  If you want to read the work-in-progress, send me a PM, and I will make sure you get updates as I write them. 

A more realistic overland map of the lands of Abred for Cad Goleor I made using GIMP. 


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