Resonant Quartzteel (Material)(3.5)

[Qwertystop]

Resonant Quartzteel:
This is a special alloy made by melting quartz dust together with iron and a small amount of charcoal, using elecricity instead of fire to melt the materials together, and bathing it in a copper solution instead of water to cool it when finished. Objects made from this are a greenish-gold color with small white flecks, are slightly rough, like fine sandpaper, and seem to vibrate slightly.

Any creature attempting to hold Resonant Quartzteel without some sort of protection (which can be as simple as a leather glove) or Natural Armor of at least 1 takes 1 piercing damage every 5 rounds from the vibrations and the rough surface. Most weapons made from this have protection on their handles though, such as leather bands wrapped around it.

If a Resonant Quartzsteel object that does piercing or slashing damage is left in a target it has wounded, its vibrations will make it fall out in several rounds. If the object is ammunition or a throwing weapon, it will fall out in 3 rounds. If it is a light weapon, it will fall out in 2 rounds. If it is a one-handed weapon, it will fall out in 1 round. Two-handed weapons will not stick in the target, nor will weapons that are a equal to or larger size category as an object than their target. If 5 Resonant Quartzteel objects are stuck in the same target at a time, they resonate together and shatter, dealing 5d6 piercing and slashing damage to the target. If the target dies, any leftover damage is split evenly between all the possible targets within 5 feet of the exploded creature, as the shrapnel scatters, unless they make a Reflex save DC 12 or have sufficient DR to reduce or negate it.

If 5 solid Quartzsteel objects of at least 1 lb. each are put in direct contact with each other, they explode, dealing 5d6 piercing and slashing damage per pound detonated in a 10' radius, and 1d6 in a radius of 10' per pound detonated, to a maximum of 100 feet, to anything the point of detonation has line-of-effect to. If something that was blocking line-of-effect to another target is destroyed by the explosion, any leftover damage that would have been given to it is instead given to the thing it was blocking.

Prices by Psyborg:
100 gp/pound
15 gp/arrowhead
10 gp/ crossbow bolt

Alchemical Items by Psyborg:

Quartzchime Solution (175gp? per 1-oz vial) -- This thin, clear, nonflammable liquid was devised to enhance the sonic characteristics of resonant quartzsteel. One vial is sufficient to coat one pound of unformed quartzsteel, ten throwing weapons, or fifteen projectile tips (bolt or arrowheads) as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. When applied to a quartzsteel object, the natural vibrations are enhanced, becoming audible as a faint, clear tone that gives the character carrying them a -8 penalty to Move Silently checks. Weapons so treated do an additional 1 sonic damage per hit.

Quartzsteel treated with this solution doesn't fracture into shards as normal when it explodes. Instead, bursts into fine dust with a tremendously loud noise, dealing d4s of sonic damage instead of d6s of physical damage. All creatures within 5' of the explosion must make a DC14 Fort save or be deafened for 1 round.

The effects of quartzchime solution fade about six hours after application. It can be washed off earlier with a full-round action and a pint of water; doing so provokes an attack of opportunity.

Doomshard Paste (900gp per dose) -- Similar to quartzchime solution, this is an alchemical substance intended for application to resonant quartzsteel objects. The explosion of these objects deals force damage equal to the amount of physical damage it would normally deal. Doomshard paste is unstable; its effects only last 1 minute after application.

[Qwertystop]

Oh, come on.... 88 views and NOBODY had a comment?! I know the forum mostly does PrCs, but still...

[~Nye~]

Very cool idea,
I'm not really familiar with material worth, but I know you can buy and chop a ladder and sell it as fire wood and make a profit...
I was gonna say somthing like 20k in material costs and refining it. But upto 35k for greatwords. Or maybe reverse depending on whether you have sneaky rogues exploting throwing weapons...

But this is really in terms of my standard campaign setting, I've never had a player have more than 50k gold. But he was the group money holder in many respects. It's really dependant on how much gold you shower on your PCs.

[Qwertystop]

Very cool idea,
I'm not really familiar with material worth, but I know you can buy and chop a ladder and sell it as fire wood and make a profit...
I was gonna say somthing like 20k in material costs and refining it. But upto 35k for greatwords. Or maybe reverse depending on whether you have sneaky rogues exploting throwing weapons...

But this is really in terms of my standard campaign setting, I've never had a player have more than 50k gold. But he was the group money holder in many respects. It's really dependant on how much gold you shower on your PCs.

The ladder-firewood/10ft pole is just stupidly bad proofreading, and anyway that's not what a Material Cost is for.

The costs are usually a set addition to the item's cost, irrelevant of size, but I think there should be a better way.

Also, it would be almost useless in a Greatsword because it needs to be left in an enemy for long enough that a second weapon gets stuck in the enemy, and you lose the weapon afterward anyway, so making big weapons from it would only be any good as a trap (like not covering the grip in sufficient leather, so they get a small bit of damage, which may not even be noticed until their hand is raw and bleeding since it's so slow).

[Ziegander]

So basically it's something that sort of makes shurikens and the like useful. Really, it should be... I dunno, about as cheap as mithril weapons (500gp/lb), maybe as much as 1000gp/lb considering it's usefulness is inversely proportional to the weight of the item in question.

Now, I think you should imagine the uses of Resonating Quartzteel as a special armor material. ;)

[Garryl]

I'd price this at around 10g to 15g per arrowhead. Each such arrowhead deals 1d6 points of damage (5d6 divided by 5 weapons), which is roughly equivalent to a CL 1 Magic Missile (1d4+1 damage). There's no SR to worry about, but you actually have to hit, and do so multiple times in quick succession. On the other hand, you get this on top of your normal arrow damage. Hence, the pricing of roughly equivalent to a single charge of a CL 1 wand of Magic Missile.

[Ziegander]

I'd price this at around 10g to 15g per arrowhead. Each such arrowhead deals 1d6 points of damage (5d6 divided by 5 weapons), which is roughly equivalent to a CL 1 Magic Missile (1d4+1 damage). There's no SR to worry about, but you actually have to hit, and do so multiple times in quick succession. On the other hand, you get this on top of your normal arrow damage. Hence, the pricing of roughly equivalent to a single charge of a CL 1 wand of Magic Missile.

This is probably a much better pricing. Especially since it does absolutely nothing unless you hit 5 times. Which is actually a lot.

[Land Outcast]

About the pricing, I think 100 gp per pound of weight would be fine...
15 gp per arrow/10 gp per bolt

[Qwertystop]

Added pricing, and made it so that time stuck varies by size of weapon. Also prevented things like sticking 5 human-size daggers in a frog.

[Psyborg]

Should probably add a guideline on how much damage this does if you put, say...five one-pound chunks of it a few feet apart and then use unseen servants to slam them together. Because this is just begging to be adapted for traps and demolitions.

Say, 4-5d6 per pound detonated in a 10' radius, and flat 1d6 in a radius of 10' per pound detonated, to a maximum of 100 feet?

[Qwertystop]

Should probably add a guideline on how much damage this does if you put, say...five one-pound chunks of it a few feet apart and then use unseen servants to slam them together. Because this is just begging to be adapted for traps and demolitions.

Say, 4-5d6 per pound detonated in a 10' radius, and flat 1d6 in a radius of 10' per pound detonated, to a maximum of 100 feet?

Sounds good.

[Psyborg]

Cool.

A) What damage type(s) does this stuff do? Probably Piercing and Slashing, and counts as magic for penetrating DR if the exploding objects counted as such?

B) How about some alchemical items?

Quartzchime Solution (175gp? per 1-oz vial) -- This thin, clear, nonflammable liquid was devised to enhance the sonic characteristics of resonant quartzsteel. One vial is sufficient to coat one pound of unformed quartzsteel, ten throwing weapons, or fifteen projectile tips (bolt or arrowheads) as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. When applied to a quartzsteel object, the natural vibrations are enhanced, becoming audible as a faint, clear tone that gives the character carrying them a -8 penalty to Move Silently checks. Weapons so treated do an additional 1 sonic damage per hit.

Quartzsteel treated with this solution doesn't fracture into shards as normal when it explodes. Instead, bursts into fine dust with a tremendously loud noise, dealing d4s of sonic damage instead of d6s of physical damage. All creatures within 5' of the explosion must make a DC14 Fort save or be deafened for 1 round.

The effects of quartzchime solution fade about six hours after application. It can be washed off earlier with a full-round action and a pint of water; doing so provokes an attack of opportunity.

Doomshard Paste (900gp per dose) -- Similar to quartzchime solution, this is an alchemical substance intended for application to resonant quartzsteel objects. The explosion of these objects deals force damage equal to the amount of physical damage it would normally deal. Doomshard paste is unstable; its effects only last 1 minute after application.

[Qwertystop]

Cool.

A) What damage type(s) does this stuff do? Probably Piercing and Slashing, and counts as magic for penetrating DR if the exploding objects counted as such?

B) How about some alchemical items?

Quartzchime Solution (175gp? per 1-oz vial) -- This thin, clear, nonflammable liquid was devised to enhance the sonic characteristics of resonant quartzsteel. One vial is sufficient to coat one pound of unformed quartzsteel, ten throwing weapons, or fifteen projectile tips (bolt or arrowheads) as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. When applied to a quartzsteel object, the natural vibrations are enhanced, becoming audible as a faint, clear tone that gives the character carrying them a -8 penalty to Move Silently checks. Weapons so treated do an additional 1 sonic damage per hit.

Quartzsteel treated with this solution doesn't fracture into shards as normal when it explodes. Instead, bursts into fine dust with a tremendously loud noise, dealing d4s of sonic damage instead of d6s of physical damage. All creatures within 5' of the explosion must make a DC14 Fort save or be deafened for 1 round.

The effects of quartzchime solution fade about six hours after application. It can be washed off earlier with a full-round action and a pint of water; doing so provokes an attack of opportunity.

Doomshard Paste (900gp per dose) -- Similar to quartzchime solution, this is an alchemical substance intended for application to quartzchime objects. The explosion of these objects deals force damage equal to the amount of physical damage it would normally deal. Doomshard paste is unstable; its effects only last 1 minute after application.

A) Yes, Piercing and Slashing, which is actually in the description
B) Those seem good, mind if I quote them in the first post? Also, it's called Resonating Quartzsteel, not Resonant. I like your name better though. <stolen>

[Psyborg]

A) Yes, Piercing and Slashing, which is actually in the description

Derp.

B) Those seem good, mind if I quote them in the first post? Also, it's called Resonating Quartzsteel, not Resonant. I like your name better though. <stolen>

Feel free, though be aware the prices were complete WAGs. And be sure to quote them from my original post, not your post's quote, as I edited and fixed a couple typos that will still be in your quote.

[~Nye~]

The ladder-firewood/10ft pole is just stupidly bad proofreading, and anyway that's not what a Material Cost is for.

The costs are usually a set addition to the item's cost, irrelevant of size, but I think there should be a better way.

This was really just a light hearted comment, but you could have some rediculous damage potential with this. Also by the process of forging described it seemed like it was sort of prestigeous craftmanship thats sounds rare and expensive if anything. But, that's just my humble opinion ofc.

[Qwertystop]

This was really just a light hearted comment, but you could have some rediculous damage potential with this. Also by the process of forging described it seemed like it was sort of prestigeous craftmanship thats sounds rare and expensive if anything. But, that's just my humble opinion ofc.

As far as the prestige, I seem to have flourished the description a bit. Here's a rough rephrasing:
1: Grind quartz
2: Mix quartz dust with charcoal, sandwich in layers of iron
3: Place quarts-charcoal sandwich on electrically insulated funnel above mold
4: Apply high-powered electricity damage spell to sandwich until melted. It will drip into the mold.
5: Dip mold into pre-prepared copper solution
6: Wrap leather around handle to protect end-user's hands (optional, but may inspire customer loyalty).

Lot less prestigious than you thought, isn't it?

Anyway, I just took the fact that quartz vibrates when electrified and the fact that copper conducts electricity and sorta ran with it.