Iron

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 21:18:02 -0800


Gang,

I chatted with greg about this, and here are what we came up with.

Iron is wierd stuff. It resists magic, and resists "enchantment" much more than other metals (note that +40 resistance on HW 234). You cannot just say a few words over a Iron sword to enchant it, it requires a lot of manual labor to "enchant" it to steel. Dwarves can manipulate it much easier than other races (they have the specs and the Bessemer steel mills to play with it). Humakt and a few other Death/Combat cults can enchant it, and Smithing cults are often based around the "secret" of enchanting Iron. (lower-case s secret, as in "only a few cults know how to do it", not "this is The Secret of Gustbran").

Note that even though you can claim to have an entire panoply of Iron at character creation, (subject to narrator Approval, of course), it is still a rarity. Just as in RQ, most temples would *like* to give out iron equipment, but few actually have the equipment to give out. A hero wearing Iron armor will be the primary target of most enemies, because he presents the most apparent threat.

Iron (enchanted or not) emphatically *does* get the bonus against Trolls and Elves. That is the purpose for which the dwarves made it. Whether you call it Steel or Iron, Enchanted or Unenchanted, it burns the elves & trolls.

We're playing with & testing these rules for iron:

Unenchanted iron has normal armor/weapon ranks in HW. It has +2 Weapon Ranks vrs trolls and elves. (here's a new bit that is being tested, comments requested): It disrupts magic cast *at* and *by* the user, from ~D+2 for a spearpoint, D+10 for a sword or helmet, to D+40 for a full suit. Any magic (Animist, Theist or Sorcerous, but not Mystic, as it really isn't "magic" in the same way)
cast at or by the wearer gets this extra resistance

Enchanted Iron or Steel is a better mundane weapon/armor - it holds an edge better and is more durable, so gets +2 Weapon/Armor ranks. It no longer disrupts magic.
It still gets the +2 rank vrs elves and trolls. for a total of +4 against those
elder races.

Roderick

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