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Master Greytalker
Joined: Jun 29, 2001
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From: Bronx, NY
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Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:53 pm
Oerthblood
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So has anyone else bothered reading about the official version of Oerthblood yet or what?
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Mad Archmage of the Oerth Journal
Joined: Dec 09, 2002
Posts: 342
From: Ohio
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Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:24 pm
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who me? Of course I have. I'm still pondering over the pic of Cobb Darg. _________________ Cheerz,
-Rick "Duicarthan" Miller
Editor-in-Chief, Oerth Journal
http://www.oerthjournal.com http://www.greyhawkonline.com/duicarthan
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Master Greytalker
Joined: Jun 29, 2001
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From: Bronx, NY
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Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:26 pm
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I'm still flashing over that mesa.
But what about the Oerthblood rules?
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Journeyman Greytalker
Joined: Jun 29, 2001
Posts: 170
From: Second Primordial Ooze on the Left
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Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:10 pm
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Myself, I'm still pondering the painting of the city itself. I'm still gonna have to stare at it a while before I can decide if I like it or not. I mean, its certainly interesting, it seems to have some interesting elements that suggest to me the artist took a look at my original maps on my website (although I suppose it could be coincidence), but none of the artwork was vetted past Gary or I, nor were we asked for any suggestions or advice. Heck, I didn't even get confirmation that the manuscript had been received, never mind accepted, until I got the contract in the mail (which was long after the "Previews" section in the previous Dragon mentioned a Greyhawk article).
I'm beginning to lean towards liking it, and may even be able to take it and use some elements from it... but... I still must ponder it longer.
And Sam... get over the mesa.
Denis, aka "Maldin"
=========================
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Loads of edition-independent Greyhawk goodness... maps, magic, mysteries, mechanics, and more! Including more Irongate!
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Master Greytalker
Joined: Jun 29, 2001
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From: Bronx, NY
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Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:13 pm
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Over mesa grande?
I'll never get over mesa grande . . .
But I'm more interested in who will be giving out oerthblood magic items to people.
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Black Hand of Oblivion
Joined: Feb 16, 2003
Posts: 3835
From: So. Cal
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Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:14 am
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The Artificers' Guild has a swap meet every weekend in the main plaza of the Underlevel. There you can find anything from a one shot Quaal's Feather Token to a genuine imitation replica of Cobb Darg's Oerthblooded Pinky Ring of Obscure Identities. Prices tend to be 10% higher than those listed in the DMG. Damn the organized labor!
Also, Maldin seems taller in his Halloween pics, but I guess when everyone and everything in the pics is gnome-sized the illusion is not so easy to see. You have a small nose for a gnome Maldin. That's just an observation, not a challenge to your gnomeliness, so don't get worked up or anything.
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Black Hand of Oblivion
Joined: Feb 16, 2003
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From: So. Cal
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Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:10 am
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And the city paining looks almost a bit too sci-fi-ish. Reminds me of Star Wars city concepts. I like Ben Wooten's art though. The Savage Tide art looks great.
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Master Greytalker
Joined: Jul 13, 2002
Posts: 1077
From: Orlane, Gran March
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Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:52 am
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I havent had time do more than glance at the article. However, the picture (which I dont have here) reminded me of the cliffs of Normandy more than a desert mesa. I will have to look at it again.
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Mad Archmage of the Oerth Journal
Joined: Dec 09, 2002
Posts: 342
From: Ohio
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Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:58 am
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I agree, looks like a desert mesa. _________________ Cheerz,
-Rick "Duicarthan" Miller
Editor-in-Chief, Oerth Journal
http://www.oerthjournal.com http://www.greyhawkonline.com/duicarthan
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Journeyman Greytalker
Joined: Dec 07, 2003
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Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:08 pm
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So, let me get this straight (since I finally got the mag from my FLGS). Oerthblood is basically hopped up adamantine. That costs less to enchant. And can be alloyed with other special materials. And presumably retaining those properties too?
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Black Hand of Oblivion
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Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:30 pm
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And don't forget its ability to protect from magic (if armor) or make targets more susceptible to it (if a weapon).
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Master Greytalker
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Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:25 am
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Nothing in the article says that items retain their base metal properties for the purposes of overcoming damage resistance. You could take that as implied but I agree that would make Oerthblood extremely desirable and I expect that it will become illogically common as a result!
I'm torn on the issue as a DM since I'd REALLY like my own pc to have an Oerthblood scimitar. A Cold Iron Oerthblood Scimitar +1 even better.
A Keen Cold Iron Oerthblood Scimitar of Speed +1... see what I mean - power corrupts!
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Master Greytalker
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Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:27 am
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On reflection, why not simply rule that, like Adamantium, Oerthblood can only be a steel alloy and it saves getting into bizarre combinations.
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Journeyman Greytalker
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Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:37 pm
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Because the sidebar with the rules talks about alloying it with cold iron and mithral. No specific rules are given for these so that's why I'm asking what the concensus is.
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Black Hand of Oblivion
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From: So. Cal
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Sat Jan 13, 2007 3:47 am
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You have the right of it. Oerthblooded metals have all of the qualities of the base metal type, and also gain the Oerthblooded qualities. If the base metal qualities are similar to those for Oerthblooded metals, the better of the two is used. That got left out of the original write-up but it is intended. For example, Oerthblooded adamantium weapons will ignore any hardness of less than 20 just as a normal adamantium weapon would; Oerthblooded mithral armor has all of the qualities of regular mithral in addition to the normal Oerthblooded benefits, etc.
Nothing will make a dwarf metal smith tear up quite so easily as the sight of Oerthblooded iron, let alone Oerthblooded mithral or adamantium, which turns them into little emotional blubbering babies. So yes, it's probably a HUGE understatement to say "Oerthblooded metal is highly desirable." And before anybody even asks...
Oerthblooded Adamantium Drowcraft Weapons*:
1. +2 luck bonus to attack and damage
2. A target that takes damage from an Oerthblooded weapon incurs a -1 penalty to all
saves vs. magical effects for one round; penalties from multiple hits stack. For
example, a fighter striking at initiative 15 hits an ogre twice with an Oerthblooded
dagger, giving the ogre a total of a -2 penalty to its saves vs. magical effects until
initiative 15 on the following round.
3. Ignores hardness of less than 20 for purposes of inflicting damage to items/structures.
4. Hardness 40
5. Hit Points: as regular adamantium item of that type x 1.5(ex: 7 hp for a longsword)
6. Total Enchantment Bonus: +12
Oerthblooded Adamantium Drowcraft Armor*:
1. +2 Luck bonus to AC
2. Light Armor: DR 1/-, +1 luck bonus on saves vs. magic effects.
Medium Armor: DR 2/-, +2 luck bonus on saves vs. magic effects.
Heavy Armor: DR 3/-, +3 luck bonus on saves vs. magical effects.
3. Hardness 40
4. Hit Points: as armor type x 1.5(ex: 30 hp for a heavy shield)
5. Total Enchantment Bonus: +12
*(Based on Faezress "Drowcraft" stats from FR: Underdark p. 68)
Yes, it's very sick, and the first person who actually writes (let alone officially publishes) some sort of uber-magicked Oerthblooded Adamatine Drowcraft item will probably be burned in effigy.
Think of Oerthblood as a magical liquid that sometimes is found permeating metal ore (of all kinds). Most often it permeates and becomes one with metal ores and gemstones, though it can solidify into a pure solid form on its own as well...or so it is thought. Oerthblooded metals are gawdawfully rare. Perhaps the proper rarity comparison would be: iron is to adamantium, as adamantium is to Oerthblooded metals (all of it, regardless of type). The rarity factor carries over further of course, meaning Oerthblooded adamantium is much rarer than Oerthblooded iron. For every ton of iron ore there is an ounce of adamantium, and for every ton of adamantium, there is an ounce of Oerthblooded metal (of whatever type). Then, carry that rarity factor over to Oerthblooded metal types. That is how I like to think of the rarity.
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Journeyman Greytalker
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Sat Jan 13, 2007 8:27 am
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But alloys are mentioned. Alloys are man-made, not natural. If the oerthblood comes mixed with something else out of the ground, that is oerthblood with impurities, not an alloy. This says to me that the oerthblood is extracted from whatever else is in its ore and then alloyed with steel or whatever else to create the final product.
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Novice
Joined: Jan 14, 2007
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Sun Jan 14, 2007 12:37 am
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Can someone tell me where i can find the article about Oearthblood?
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Black Hand of Oblivion
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Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:16 am
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Korgan: The article "Irongate: City of Stairs", which contains the information on Oerthblooded metals, may be found in Dragon Magazine #351(January 2007), on page 42.
callmeandydammit: You probably refer to this sentence:
"Oerthblooded metals have twice the Hardness of the base metal the Oerthblood is alloyed with..."
"Alloyed" in this case just means "mixed with" or "is a part of". If you want to be utterly clear then replace "is alloyed with" in the article with "permeates". or edit it ro read thusly:
"Oerthblooded metals have twice the Hardness of the base metal."
That is what is meant. Just before this in the article is a description of Oerthblooded iron, so-called "blood-iron", which is described as an amalgam of Oerthblood and iron. "Amalgam" is a good word for it too."
Oerthblood itself is not usually alloyed with other substances, as pure deposits of Oerthblood are even rarer. Oerthblooded metal is found in a raw state- as raw ore that needs to be processed according to what base metal type it is. For whatever reason the Oerthblood is there in the first place, it has become one with the base ore. Processing it merely removes anything that is not the base metal, but the Oerthblood stays in the base metal because it is bonded to it. It would require some sort of magical alchemical process to remove the Oerthblood from the base metal ore.
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Journeyman Greytalker
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Sun Jan 14, 2007 8:44 pm
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So that means any metal can be oerthblooded, with the attendant modifiers, including extra cost, added to the final product. Oerthblooded mithral armor, oerthblooded cold-iron swords, etc.
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Black Hand of Oblivion
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Sun Jan 14, 2007 11:14 pm
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That is correct.
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Forum Moderator
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From: Ullinois
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Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:52 am
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To answer Sam's earlier question, I plan on using Oerthblooded metal items for one reason, it's unique to Greyhawk. Adamantite, Mithral, etc. are all staples of fantasy genres. This is finally a material for weapons/armor that can only be found on Oerth and not Faerun or Eberron etc. (That is unless some dimwit-designer decides to publish "X'blooded metal in the next splatbook.)
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Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:44 pm
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Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
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Master Greytalker
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Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:39 am
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Cebrion wrote: |
Korgan: The article "Irongate: City of Stairs", which contains the information on Oerthblooded metals, may be found in Dragon Magazine #351(January 2007), on page 42.
callmeandydammit: You probably refer to this sentence:
"Oerthblooded metals have twice the Hardness of the base metal the Oerthblood is alloyed with..."
"Alloyed" in this case just means "mixed with" or "is a part of". If you want to be utterly clear then replace "is alloyed with" in the article with "permeates". or edit it ro read thusly:
"Oerthblooded metals have twice the Hardness of the base metal."
That is what is meant. Just before this in the article is a description of Oerthblooded iron, so-called "blood-iron", which is described as an amalgam of Oerthblood and iron. "Amalgam" is a good word for it too."
Oerthblood itself is not usually alloyed with other substances, as pure deposits of Oerthblood are even rarer. Oerthblooded metal is found in a raw state- as raw ore that needs to be processed according to what base metal type it is. For whatever reason the Oerthblood is there in the first place, it has become one with the base ore. Processing it merely removes anything that is not the base metal, but the Oerthblood stays in the base metal because it is bonded to it. It would require some sort of magical alchemical process to remove the Oerthblood from the base metal ore. |
Doesn't that mean that the most common and cheapest Oerthblood weapons will be cold iron, since steel is an alloy that will require more specialist? It should also mean that there should an exponential rise in cost for rarer metals like mithral and adamantium rather than a flat cost? These are rare metals as it is so finding them mixed with Oerthblood would be an even rarer occurrence thus inflating the cost substantially.
Does Oerthblood Adamantite exist? It would be indestructible! Must be what Captain America's shield is made from! Presumably the DR for Oerthblood Adamantite armour would not stack?
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Black Hand of Oblivion
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Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:16 pm
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Many parts to this one, so I hope I catch them all Pokemon style.
So-called "blood-iron" is probably the most common Oerthblooded metal to be found. One myth is that cold iron is easier to create weapons out of than steel is. It only takes a few trace elements to turn iron into steel, and more importantly steel can be properly forged. Cold iron work is not heated at all during the hammering process. It doesn't take any more skill to forge metal cold, it is just more difficult(because the metal is harder when cold) and time consuming, and therefore, more expensive. A smith could forge at least two (maybe more) steel swords in the time that it takes to hammer out a single cold iron one. The hammering/shaping process actually generates heat itself, and "work hardens" the metal (I've done this a bit). So, cold iron items are more expensive than steel to begin with due to the time involved in forming them. Oerthblooded iron can be made into steel using the regular process(adding trace elements of carbon, etc.), and does not require any specialist other than a properly trained metal smith.
The costs listed for Oerthblooded metal is just for the Oerthblooded quality, and is added to the cost of the base metal. It breaks down this way for full plate armor:
Oerthblooded iron (steel, not cold iron): 33,650 gp
Oerthblooded mithril: 40,650 gp
Oerthblooded adamantium (yes, it exists): 46,650 gp
EDIT: Those base costs are just for the item made out of the particular metal. Add to that the actual costs of enchanting the item. So, as a great lord do you A: keep your non-magical Oerthblooded adamantium full plate, or B: sell it and build a fortified keep/castle?
The DR bonuses for Oerthblooded adamantium armor do NOT stack. That would just be utterly foul, particularly when worn by a high level barbarian (DR 11/-)!!! Heck, DR 8/- is foul enough as it is.
EDIT: Ok, the DR doesn't stack. 8/- would be pretty nasty anyways.
Oerthblooded adamantium is pretty tough stuff, your average round heavy shield (a' la Cap') having Hardness of 40 and 30 hit points.
Last edited by Cebrion on Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:27 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Master Greytalker
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Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:32 pm
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Well, barbarian DR doesn't stack with armor DR anyway. And I agree about the cold iron bit. The previous comment about alloying oerthblood was referring to having supposedly "pure" oerthblood to mix with an element in some way, rather than finding an permeated element in the first place.
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Master Greytalker
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Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:58 am
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Kewl. Thanks for that.
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