Titanite (3.5e Equipment)

Titanite
This illustrious dark mineral is permeated with various metallic ores and is thought to form under conditions of great pressure within ancient layers of bedrock where raw proteum is highly prevalent. Titanite is associated with the Gods by many, and some postulate that the ancient deities that once roamed the unformed used the substance to forge weapons of great power.

Due to the high concentration of raw proteum within the mineral, titanite is highly sensitive to ambient essences, and will often absorb them over many years of exposure. While titanite is normally a black, smooth, very dense mineral with a texture somewhat akin to limestone, different forces will affect it to form in different colours. Titanite is a conduit for magical and supernatural energies, and it is for this reason that the material is perceived by some to be the bridge between the mortal realm and the beyond due to its ability to gain otherworldly properties through aeons of exposure. Titanite in its base form is extremely rare, and special forms of titanite even more so.

''Author's Note: titanite is a potential alternative system for the creation of magical items in a campaign where magic and, by extension, magical crafting are rare. Titanite is pricy as a buyable resource largely due to its rarity and to ensure it is impossible to procure weapons of certain levels of enhancement before a player should be able to acquire them with money, and may be best awarded to players as loot for exploration or completing quests.''

Statistics
Regardless of the origins of titanite, the substance has become diluted over the aeons, and most of what remains are small shards that only carry a faint degree of its forgotten potency. Only in rare old places can the material still be found in greater concentrations. Titanite is generally too rare and precious to use as a construction material, and the brittleness of low-concentration titanite does not possess any useful engineering properties, but the material is incredibly valuable as a catalyst and enhancement for skilled craftsmanship that surpasses mundane limits. Upon being used in crafting, the titanite crumbles and is subsumed within the item(s) it was used to enhance. Titanite is completely impervious to all energy types, but can be manipulated by pure, magical energy. A regular furnace won't melt titanite, though skilled blacksmiths in the esoteric arts of titanite forging use special tools, such as transmuter's forges, in order to break the material down.

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Shards of titanite are brittle and small, ranging from around 2 to 5 inches and being generally slim, like a piece of hard, splintered rock. Titanite shards are capable of increasing the raw enhancement bonus of a weapon, armor or shield up to +2. In order to enhance a nonmagical weapon with titanite, the weapon must be suitable for magical enhancement initially (i.e be masterwork in quality), or else both the weapon and the titanite will be ruined in the attempt.

A titanite shard possesses only 5 hit points but has a hardness of 30. They require a DC 20 Craft check of the appropriate type to manipulate. A titanite shard weighs 1 pound and is valued at 3,000 gp.

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Larger shards of titanite are still dissolute and weakened from their original state, but they are bigger and more powerful than regular shards. Its edges are still jagged, displaying signs of having once belonged to a larger whole, though any signs of whatever shape this shard held in its completed state have eroded from constant exposure to the elements. Large titanite shards are capable of increasing the raw enhancement bonus of any +2 weapon, armor or shield up to +4.

A large titanite shard has 10 hit points and a hardness of 40. They require a DC 25 Craft check of the appropriate type to manipulate. A large titanite shard weighs roughly 3 pounds and is valued at 10,000 gp.

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Chunks of titanite are dense and largely unscathed, and some still exhibit vague hints of markings, and a visible breakline where they have once been part of a larger whole. Finding such a large concentration of titanite on a fairly ordinary continent may be the discovery of a lifetime. Unlike smaller concentrations of titanite, chunks are rarely farmed, but rather found in the remotest, most hidden places of the world. If they are excavated at all, it is likely from ruins of truly ancient civilizations. Titanite chunks are capable of increasing the raw enhancement bonus of any +4 weapon, armor or shield up to +5.

A titanite chunk has 25 hit points and a hardness of 50. They require a DC 35 Craft check of the appropriate type to manipulate. A titanite chunk weighs roughly 15 pounds and is valued at 30,000 gp.

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It is believed by some that titanite has been formed by the Gods for some purpose, and that in the distant past the substance existed only in the forms of large steles or slabs, covered in ancient scripture that none today have the ability to interpret. Why these slabs were formed and what knowledge they contained is unknown, though some ambitious wizards suspect they contain the secrets behind powerful epic magics and even divinity itself. The knowledge of the slabs' origin is lost to time, and the creation method of titanite itself is a secret known only by the gods. A titanite slab is one of these ancient steles, containing secret writings on it whose meanings and the language they're written in are both undecipherable by mortal means. Unlike lesser concentrations of titanite, a titanite slab is whole and counts as a minor artifact.

A titanite slab is capable of increasing the raw enhancement bonus of any +5 weapon, armor or shield beyond ordinary limits, to +6 or over.

A titanite slab has 200 hit points and a hardness of 70. They require a DC 50 Craft check of the appropriate type to manipulate. A titanite slab weighs 150 pounds and its value is beyond measure, as few of them have ever been sold.

Breaking Down Titanite
It is possible to break down titanite into smaller concentrations for the purpose of crafting. This requires a Craft check of the same DC as a particular form of titanite requires to manipulate. Doing so will cause some amount of loss, however.


 * Breaking down a large titanite shard yields the equivalent of 2 titanite shards.
 * Breaking down a titanite chunk yields the equivalent of 2 large titanite shards.
 * Breaking down a titanite slab yields the equivalent of 10 titanite chunks.

Using brute force to break titanite is possible, though often difficult, and the yield is only half of what you would get by breaking the material down properly.

Crafting with Titanite
Bla bla crafting bla. Fluff and rituals to be filled in.

Special forms of Titanite
To be done.