Magical Cold Iron Weapons

[Westwind]

From the SRD:

Iron, Cold: This iron, mined deep underground, known for its effectiveness against fey creatures, is forged at a lower temperature to preserve its delicate properties. Weapons made of cold iron cost twice as much to make as their normal counterparts. Also, any magical enhancements cost an additional 2,000 gp.
Items without metal parts cannot be made from cold iron. An arrow could be made of cold iron, but a quarterstaff could not.
A double weapon that has only half of it made of cold iron increases its cost by 50%.

Say I have a masterwork cold iron longsword and decide I want to get it enchanted to be a +1 sword. This would cost me 4,000 gp (2,000 for the +1, 2,000 for the cold iron penalty) plus the cost of the sword. Now, if I want to further enchant the sword at a later date do I need to pay the 2,000 gp penalty every time or is it a one time thing to "magic up" the sword?

 

[CRGreathouse]

is it a one time thing to "magic up" the sword?

Yes.

 

[FrankTrollman]

Yes. Although I wish to point out that having to buy special "cold iron" weapons at great cost is like having to buy special bottles of "running water" to fight vampires with.

Every time I see or hear the words "cold iron" in the context of 3.5 I want to hurl someone into a furnace. It is the lamest thing I've ever been exposed to - and physically hurts me with its stupidity.

But yes - it is written to function exactly as you describe.

-Frank

 

[Draugin]

Yes. Although I wish to point out that having to buy special "cold iron" weapons at great cost is like having to buy special bottles of "running water" to fight vampires with.

Every time I see or hear the words "cold iron" in the context of 3.5 I want to hurl someone into a furnace. It is the lamest thing I've ever been exposed to - and physically hurts me with its stupidity.

I was wondering where did this "cold iron" thing come from. Is it from a legend, a myth (I don't quite remember anything similar), a popular fantasy novel, like mithr(a/i)l, a distortion of medieval lore?

 

[FrankTrollman]

I was wondering where did this "cold iron" thing come from. Is it from a legend, a myth (I don't quite remember anything similar), a popular fantasy novel, like mithr(a/i)l, a distortion of medieval lore?

OK, here's the skinny:

Cold Iron is one of the first industrial techniques, where you stamp metal into the desired shape. It's cheap. So cheap, in fact, that peasants can afford to have flatware made out of it.

In stories from the middle ages (and since), having cold iron about keeps demons and fairies away. Not because it was mined deep underground - but because it represents industry and modernity.

In short, it has the same magical properties as Fire: it scares away the animals and the nightmares that live in the darkness. It isn't rare. It isn't expensive. It's commonplace - that's the whole point.

It is the thing which seperates us from beasts - and as such it has powers over creatures of the imagination. That's it. Any ordinary metal weapon you buy in a corner blacksmith's shop should have the same properties.

-Frank

 

[Creamsteak]

I'm using "Firearms = Cold Iron Type" in one of my more interesting mixture games. Just something interesting to note.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

OK, here's the skinny:

Cold Iron is one of the first industrial techniques, where you stamp metal into the desired shape. It's cheap. So cheap, in fact, that peasants can afford to have flatware made out of it.

In stories from the middle ages (and since), having cold iron about keeps demons and fairies away. Not because it was mined deep underground - but because it represents industry and modernity.

In short, it has the same magical properties as Fire: it scares away the animals and the nightmares that live in the darkness. It isn't rare. It isn't expensive. It's commonplace - that's the whole point.

It is the thing which seperates us from beasts - and as such it has powers over creatures of the imagination. That's it. Any ordinary metal weapon you buy in a corner blacksmith's shop should have the same properties.

-Frank

It is the source of the 'good luck horseshoe' over the door. The fact that it is a horseshoe doesn't matter. The fact that it is iron does.

In Huckleberry Finn Huck's father has iron nails in the form of a cross on the heel of his boot.

Mothers used to suspend scissors over an infants bed to prevent it being snatched and replaced with a changeling.
Some folks kept a nail in their pocket to keep safe from the fey.

This was mixed up with the passion nail from early christianity as well in some cases.

In some cases the existance of the iron was enough...
Iron axe and iron blade,
each shall slay a faerie babe,
With each an elphin child shall die
Hush, ma cushla, don't you cry...

Silver also features in some stories - for example in The Elphin Knight (one of Childe's Ballads) a lady bars the door to prevent her elphin lover from escaping.

The Auld Grump

 

[S'mon]

OK, here's the skinny:

Cold Iron is one of the first industrial techniques, where you stamp metal into the desired shape. It's cheap. So cheap, in fact, that peasants can afford to have flatware made out of it.

This is how I use 'cold iron' IMC - it's simply cold-forged (ie stamped into shape at a low temperature) iron without carbon admixture (ie it's not steel) - if not enchanted it's too soft to make very good weapons, like the iron weapons in Slaine.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Can you enchant a Cold Iron Weapon with the Flaming attribute?

AR

 

[ruleslawyer]

See; this is what happens when you have multiple types of evil outsiders.

IMC, both demons and devils just have alignment and magic DR. Material DR is reserved for exceptional circumstances where folklore and "game logic" dictate it would exist (silver for lycanthropes and vampires, adamantine for golems).

Cold iron does seem to work with fey, though. Nor is the actual context that absurd. In a standard late-medieval D&D universe, cold iron IS likely to represent the force of human industry at its most elemental.