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I've been browsing spells and I've noticed several that specifically state they can't create cold iron but can create things like mithral or adamantine. Is there something I'm missing which means cold iron is so much more powerful than the other special metals/materials which requires it be specifically called out as not being able to be made?
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I've been browsing spells and I've noticed several that specifically state they can't create cold iron but can create things like mithral or adamantine. Is there something I'm missing which means cold iron is so much more powerful than the other special metals/materials which requires it be specifically called out as not being able to be made?
It's really just a flavor thing: Cold Iron is traditionally anti-magical, so magical spells can't easily create it...
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From the looks of it DR cold iron also seems to be a little more common than DR that is overcome by other special material. Cold Iron usually is needed to hurt Demons, Div, Fey Kami and Qlippoth. Fey is a basic type not a subtype like most of the others.
basically cold iron is how the low magic mobs stood up to their high magic rulers.
the material has bad alignment with magic, it's is also why from the most common special material for weapons it's the cheapest (just double the base weapon price), but once you try and make it into a magical weapon it gets:
"..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..." (from the 'special material' section of the equipment chapter).
cold iron, which doesn't require the intense heat facility steel and such need- it's mostly just hammered out ingots of iron, can be obtained a lot easier for the oppressed mob (a lot of oppressors had been known to only allow blacksmiths to forge for them).
that and torches is what a lynch mob need to deal with high dr monsters.
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Thankfully, if you really need to spam out some cold iron for whatever reason, there's Iron Stake in the mix, which can only create cold iron, and even then, probably only 1 pound at a time if it's like the iron spikes from the adventuring gear part of the equipment list.
Another one of those spells that makes my inner Rule Lawyer cry.
The spell is instantaneous, so it conjures a cold iron stake 1' long that stays after you have cast the spell?As it is a real item, it "is treated as a magic and cold iron weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction" forever, or only the round the spell is cast?
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Thankfully, if you really need to spam out some cold iron for whatever reason, there's Iron Stake in the mix, which can only create cold iron, and even then, probably only 1 pound at a time if it's like the iron spikes from the adventuring gear part of the equipment list.Another one of those spells that makes my inner Rule Lawyer cry.
The spell is instantaneous, so it conjures a cold iron stake 1' long that stays after you have cast the spell?As it is a real item, it "is treated as a magic and cold iron weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction" forever, or only the round the spell is cast?
Yeah, this probably should have been instantaneous (see text) and the first paragraph of the description should have ended with something like "The stake disappears after the spell is cast and the damage is dealt." That's how pellet blast took care of the "free materials" problem.
There's actually a large amount of these "create projectile" spells that don't explicitly say their created effects disappear.
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Just parsed iron stake some more and, yeah. . . the stake has to disappear.
...The stake is treated as a magic and cold iron weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, and deals 1d6 points of piercing damage for every 2 caster levels you have (maximum 10d6 at 20th level).
If that stake stayed in existence, every melee class in your party would be clamoring for you to cast several as soon as you hit 6th level. (Because they would have a permanent 3d6 weapon.) And then again at 8th, 10th, etc...
I'd say the Iron Stake only does that kind of damage as part of the spell attack. After the spell, it's just a regular cold-iron stake, which should do 1d4 damage if it's comparable to the wooden stake.