I buy.... the WORLD! (What's up with Cold Iron???)

[kadance]

A weapon made of Cold Iron costs twice as much as normal.

Step 1, buy a weapon, say, a Cold Iron Horsechooper (20 gp, good price to weight ratio and mostly made of metal)
Step 2, melt it down, cast the 12 lbs of metled weapon into a bar shape
Step 3, sell it as a trade good for 50 gp per pound (50*12-20=580 gp profit per horsechopper)
Step 4, repeat
Step 5, buy everything you want

So, what's up with Cold Iron's pricing?

[Benchak the Nightstalker]

PRD wrote:

Iron, Cold: This iron, mined deep underground and known for its effectiveness against demons and 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, adding any magical enhancements to a cold iron weapon increases its price by 2,000 gp. This increase is applied the first time the item is enhanced, not once per ability added.

Likely, melting cold iron down and casting it into bars risks destroying its delicate properties, rendering it, well, just plain iron.

[pogie]

I would imagine it could be explained away by the metal not being pure cold iron but an alloy containing cold iron. Just a thought.

[Drake Brimstone]

A Horsechopper has a considerable amount of Wood to it in the form of it's shaft. This would be a Hardwood to give it strength making it a considerable amount of it's weight. This is also why they are so cheap, there really isn't that much metal to them.

[n00bxqb]

Any GM worth his salt would put a stop to an obvious exploit like this (assuming it even works).

[Greylurker]

the full name is Cold Wrought Iron meaning Cold Worked Iron IE: Iron that has been worked without using heat.

That means no smelting, no melting, no heat of any kind, just - here is a lump of iron that is roughtly the right shape and bang on it till it's what you want.

Melting it down means it is no longer Cold Iron, because...well you heated it.

[Rikkan]

So, with heavy labour you can make a bit of money.
What exactly is the problem?

[Splendor]

Quote:

Cold Wrought Iron meaning Cold Worked Iron IE: Iron that has been worked without using heat.

Cold iron is simply cast iron. Its iron ore that was melted and made into weapons. It didn't reach the necessary temperatures to burn off the impurities and become steel.

Even in the game its description is....

Quote:

This iron, mined deep underground and known for its effectiveness against demons and fey creatures, is forged at a lower temperature to preserve its delicate properties.

It come from European folk lore, Iron was equated with blood (rust can look like blood, blood can smell like iron) and when they could forge this "iron blood" into weapons they could hurt/repel the supernatural.

[Aelryinth]

It's not cold wrought iron. It's Cold Iron. It's an anti-magical substance that has properties that are distinct from normal iron. If it was Cold Wrought Iron, it would Iron that is cold wrought. It's not, it's a very specific substance on it's own kind.

Cold wrought iron actually had its start in lumbs of iron taken out of peat bogs and the like, just sitting on the ground. You actually have to mine Cold Iron from specific veins underground, not with other iron.

TECHINICALLY speaking, steel is 'cold iron' too, because the cold refers to the fact its metal and burns the fey with cold fire, and is smooth and uncaring, unlike stone.

But in PF, cold iron is it's own thing.

==Aelryinth

[Davor]

I think what you're forgetting, OP, is that any item's price is based off of the materials required to make it. This is reflected if you look at the rules for crafting, as the time required to craft is based on the rarity and value of the materials.

A cold iron Horsechopper, when reduced to its base components, will produce about 10 GP worth of bits, including, but not limited to, Cold Iron.

[kadance]

The horsechopper is just an example (because I use the server goblins image as my desktop). Do the same thing with a longsword, or almost any other metal weapon and you still profit. I don't suggest that anyone try this in a game. It is stupid.

My point is that 50gp for a pound of cold iron (as listed in trade goods) is greatly at odds with the cost of creating cold iron weapons. I wonder if the trade goods list is in error.

[Magicdealer]

Congratulations! Since you've begun a profession re-purposing materials, you get to make a profession check to determine how much money you earned this week!