Dead Iron (3.5e Equipment)

= Dead Iron =

Summary::It is said that when Cold Iron is prepared within zones devoid of magic, such as in an antimagic field, with proper care the cold iron's connection to the mystical realm deadens further, resulting in a dangerous bane against all things magical. Dead Iron is a bit darker than normal iron weapons, and seems to have a solid weight to it. It's resistance to magic makes it prized for armors and weapons designed to fight the arcane. Any weapon or armor made of Dead Iron is automatically considered masterwork, the masterwork cost has been assumed in the prices below.

Regardless what it is made into, any item made from Dead Iron resists magical enhancements, and so any enhancements granted cost an additional 2000g, with a few exceptions noted below. In addition, magical effects targeting the item, beneficial or not, have a 5% chance of simply failing to affect it.

Armor made from Dead Iron has an inherent resistance to spells, granting the user spell resistance equal to the armor or shield bonus granted. This SR stacks with the spell resistance enhancements for armor, and said enhancements cost normal price instead of the 2000g surcharge (however, the base +1 enhancement requires will have the 2000g surcharge). Arcane spell failure for the armor rises by 25%. For example, a suit of dead iron full plate +1 with SR 19 enhancement is a +6 armor which costs 36500 gold and has a spell resistance of 28. If the suit later gains a +3 enhancement bonus, the SR rises to 30.

Weapons made of Dead Iron count as cold iron for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. They deal an extra +1d6 damage against arcane spellcasters or any creature with spell-like abilities. The surcharge for enhancing the weapon exists for all except for the Magebane enhancement, which costs as normal. Because of the baneful nature of Dead Iron, characters with arcane spells or spell-like abilities take a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls when using the weapon.

Items without metal parts cannot be made from Dead Iron. An arrow could be made of Dead Iron, but a quarterstaff could not. Weapons, armor and shields normally made of steel that are made of Dead Iron have the same amount of hit points as normal and hardness.