Küberstaal (3.5e Equipment)
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Origin of Küberstaal[edit]
The proximity of certain breeds is sometimes the fruit of a long past, which sometimes materializes in an undeniable technological growth, as is the case with the Küberstaal. This stone-like metal, the lightness of ash wood, but still solid metal. This oddity was born from the long coexistence of dwarven blacksmiths of the badlands and gnome engineers. They came up with the idea of throwing fragments of onyx and magnetite powder into a fusion of iron, aluminum, and adamantine. The result was a metal that looked like a dark gray stone, but very hard to work. They had just made the first viable metal / rock alloy, but it was far from usable. Working together, the dwarves and gnomes began to look for a way to make the metal easier to work. But it was Yordrian Küber, a gnome alchemist, who replaced aluminum with zinc. He added a flask of Alchemist's Friend (a neutral oil normally used in potion preparation) to the formula mixed with a vial of Atramen oil. He also advised to use a tall vented forge and add magnetite powder at the end of the preparation with the Atramen oil. And the result was spectacular, the Küberstaal was created. And from that day, the formula was perfected, modeling the parity of the various ingredients to give today an almost perfect formula. The announcement of the discovery and its formula caused a stir in dwarf and gnome cities, and within a few months, this discovery began to spread to human, goblins, and orcs cities. Although many blacksmiths tried to reproduce the formula, but none succeeded outside the city of appearance of the Küberstaal. This metal became a major economic opportunity for this city and it saw waves of craftsmen disembarking from all over the world, some simply curious, others more eager for this metal. Years passed, and the craze for the Küberstaal subsided. This metal remains in people's minds as an exceptional, but inaccessible metal. And 52 years after the creation of the Küberstaal, its inventor will reveal that he secretly added an ingredient to the alchemical preparation. He said shortly before he died that he had added powdery silver with a drop of purified alcohol. By ridding the affairs of the deceased alchemist, a thirty page book was found, describing all the tested methods (and not conclusive) on how to create this metal, and at the end, a precious page describing all the ingredients, their quantity, the tools used, and the practical details on the creation of the Küberstaal.
Physics Properties[edit]
Physical Description: Küberstaal is a dark gray metal, dull and grainy in appearance. Once polished or sharpened, its edge is shiny, very light gray and ribbed with perfectly straight lines of a deep black reflection. It is used to make military equipment (weapons, armor, and shields), mechanical parts & tools (such as cogs, latches, wrists, cranks, screwdrivers, serrated keys), parts of structures (like beams, rivets, screws, frames, and scaffolding), but also everyday objects (like bowls, dishes, buckets, and candlesticks).
General Properties: The first quality of this metal is its weight. It weighs 30% less than iron at equal volume. It is also slightly more resistant than Iron with 36 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness of 12. This metal is a poor electrical and thermal conductor, which gives it a resistance of 5 to Electricity, Cold, and Fire. It cannot therefore be used as a conduit for electricity, but since it tends not to conduct heat, it is possible to make containers for hot liquids. By its composition, it is immune to corrosion and to rust, but it has a vulnerability of 2 to acid. Even if it is hard to break an object in Küberstaal, a damaged object cannot be easily repaired. For each HP that the object lost requires 50 gp of material to repair it. Repairing an object in Küberstaal requires one hour of preparation plus five minutes per HP lost. The craft skill DC is 30 regardless of the kind of item repaired (choose the appropriate craft skill). A non-magic Küberstaal object that has been completely destroyed is impossible to repair, the object must be redone. A magic object made in Küberstaal and completely destroyed can be repaired, but you must spend 500 gp per magic effect contained in the object, in addition to the physical repairs.
Weapons: A weapon made in Küberstaal counts as Adamantine and Silver to bypass Damage Reduction. Magic Enhancements that deal Fire, Cold, or Electricity damage cost 50% more than normal, and those that deal Acid damage are impossible to create. Even if the formula made it easier to forge the Küberstaal, it is still intended for experienced blacksmiths. The crafting DC is increased by 5 for weapon creation, and the weapons thus created are automatically in masterwork quality (thus giving the bonus of +1 to the attack).
Armor:It is possible to make light armor with Küberstaal, but there is no point in doing so, because the metal brings no benefit to its wearer. The benefits of this metal begin to be felt when it is used to make intermediate armor. Intermediate or heavy armor made of Küberstaal gives the wearer a resistance of 5 to Electricity, Cold, and Fire. The movement penalty is reduced by 5 ft, the armor check penalty is reduced by 1 for intermediate armor, and by 2 for heavy armor. The maximum Dex is increased by 1, and the Arcane spell failure is reduced by 10% for intermediate armor, and by 15% for heavy armor. The armor gives the wearer a damage reduction of 1/Adamantine for intermediate armor, and 2/Adamantine for heavy armor. The craft skill DC is increased by 5 for armor creation, and the armor thus created is automatically in masterwork quality (the armor check penalty due to masterwork quality is already count).
Shield: When used to make shields the Küberstaal reveals its full potential. A shield made in Küberstaal gains a +1 AC shield bonus. The high density of the metal allows it to be effective against attacks which would normally go beyond. So he keeps half of his (non-magic) shield bonus to the contact AC. A shield in Küberstaal gives a Damage Reduction of 2/Adamantine to its wearer (this bonus can be combined with the bonus given by armor, a gift, or magic, but not with the wearing of two shields). Finally, the armor check penality of a shield is reduced by 1 for a standard shield, and by 2 for a tower shield. The craft skill DC is increased by 5 for shield creation, and the shield thus created is automatically in masterwork quality (the armor check penalty due to masterwork quality is already count).
Price: Objects in Küberstaal are produced at retail. It is necessary to create the exact quantity of material for each creation of object, because the redesign is almost impossible. For this technical reason, the price of the Küberstaal is counted by weight. The forged Küberstaal is sold 325 gp/pound, whatever the use.
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