Post/Author/DateTime	Post
babysamurai 11-13-06, 03:22 AM	How much is cold iron worth per pound?
Maxxx 11-13-06, 07:09 AM	Twice as much as normal iron.
risner 11-13-06, 10:06 AM	Twice as much as normal iron. To make objects in the metal. One could assert the raw metal costs 2 sp a pound (twice the cost of raw iron.)
Nylkran 11-14-06, 10:24 AM	Bump! Because I cannot believe people are seriously saying Silver is is more expensive than Cold Iron, (I know sp are not only made of silver but still). PS: Yes I know I shouldn't be posting in here because I play the agme and I have a comflict of interest.
babysamurai 11-14-06, 11:03 AM	Bump! Because I cannot believe people are seriously saying Silver is is more expensive than Cold Iron, (I know sp are not only made of silver but still). PS: Yes I know I shouldn't be posting in here because I play the agme and I have a comflict of interest. Aha, greed rears its ugly head!
Nylkran 11-14-06, 11:05 AM	I am playing a dwarf you know! :D
wonlee76 11-14-06, 11:08 AM	I agree generally with the other posters. 2 sp/lb. for raw cold iron. Now the question is, do you have refined cold iron? Raw is cheaper because it takes time to refine it into a useable form. That might up the price a bit and how well refined is it? Ultimately, the DM makes this decision and can start the pricing at 2 sp/lb. and maybe increase it a bit as he feels appropriate. I usually just put a general price tag on precious metals such as Mithral, Cold Iron, Adamantite, etc. if the PCs find it and explain any inconsistency in pricing off as the "purity" level of the metals in question.
Ltlconf 11-23-06, 01:44 AM	Hello Folks, Never understood why cold iron cost so much. All cold iron is, traditionally, is cold worked iron ore. AKA you take soft bog iron or meteoric, soften it in forge (but not melt it) and hammer it as is into what you want. Hard as hell to do as the iron is crude and dirty with impurities and thus not something you want to use in a real fight, but according to folklore dang good for whacking the supernatural. In otherwords, cold iron is just relatively pure iron ore worked into a one-shot weapon to deal with a supernatural threat. Yeah the FINISHED product is worth alot, for the work in it if nothing else. But the ore was either cheap bog iron or very pricey and rare meteoric iron (what the original kris knives were made from) so priced accordingly. Thus it was for us ol timers. Now, what WOTC has made Cold Iron into is another matter...
Pandaemoni 11-23-06, 05:01 AM	Now, what WOTC has made Cold Iron into is another matter... That's the key. While "cold iron" is iron that was worked without melting it in the real world, in D&D they made it a "special" sort of iron. One wonders if the authors just didn't really know what "cold iron" was, so winged it.
Neutronium_Dragon 11-23-06, 07:42 AM	I'd say that cold iron is worth the same as normal iron, maybe even less since it's not refined. It's the extra work required to make the item that pushes the final product price up, not the material cost.
Azdraugnor 11-23-06, 07:30 PM	There's no such thing as unworked cold iron. Before it's forged into a cold iron item, it's just a plain old block of iron.
jeffepp 11-23-06, 08:17 PM	What makes "Cold Iron" is that it is "Cold Forged". That is, not hot forged, but beat into shape by brute force and time. Normal iron items (to include steel) are heated to make the iron soft enough to more easily shape. So the increased cost of Cold Iron items is not the actual material cost, but the cost of labor. It is worth noting that Cold Iron is more prone to breakage than normal iron, and does not hold an edge as well. You would only use Cold Iron over regular weapons when facing magical creatures that take extra damage from it.
Grey_Mage 11-24-06, 02:56 AM	Want the cost of Refined cold iron? Take the cost of a cold iron longsword, chop it in half, and divide by the weight of a longsword. Enjoy.
Pandaemoni 11-24-06, 08:24 AM	There's no such thing as unworked cold iron. Before it's forged into a cold iron item, it's just a plain old block of iron. According to the DMG, "Cold Iron" is a special material that is mined deep underground, not "iron worked in a particular way..." So, at least in D&D, you could have a lump of unworked "cold iron."
jaelis 11-24-06, 10:48 AM	Because I cannot believe people are seriously saying Silver is is more expensive than Cold Iron, (I know sp are not only made of silver but still). Why shouldn't silver be more expensive than cold iron?
risner 11-24-06, 12:19 PM	Why shouldn't silver be more expensive than cold iron? Mee too I wanna know too
Wharin 11-24-06, 02:46 PM	I wouldn't rate cold iron much more than traditional iron. Its not particularly strong, it doesnt ignore hardness, and its not any lighter.For all its trouble, its only good at one thing; overcome DR/cold iron. And for that it costs twice as much to make, and everytime you enchant it you have to throw in an additional 2k gp just to enchant it, which means upgrading it is a pain. Cost of base materials per lbs. is kinda moot anyway. When you make a weapon/armor/item, it always costs 1/3 its cost in materials. As long as there is a supply of said materials, its assumed that you can make it. That said it would be nice if the designers did give a base materials price list. But it would completely change the weapon and armor costs around. Most special material made weapons and armor are costed as so for their effectiveness in combat. While it would make more sense to price them according to the amount of metal used, it would screw with balance. That said, i had a DM that, not agreeing with that sentament, did make a chart where items were based on the amount of metal used and not its affect on combat.
Airos 11-24-06, 09:23 PM	Because I cannot believe people are seriously saying Silver is is more expensive than Cold Iron. Why shouldn't silver be more expensive than cold iron? I think what he's trying to say is 2 sliver pieces = 1/25 lb = 1 lb cold iron, making sliver 50 times more valuable than cold iron. Which, as far as I'm concerned, sounds about right, since the above also happens to work out to 20 copper pieces = 2/5 lb = 1 lb cold iron. Copper has by far more usefulness than iron does, but it's still common enough to make it "cheap".
risner 11-24-06, 09:39 PM	That said it would be nice if the designers did give a base materials price list. But it would completely change the weapon and armor costs around. They do, in the PHB and in Draganomicon (I know I didn't spell it correctly). The one missing item is Cold Iron. Every other metal is there. Mithril/Ada both cost 100 gp a pound for example.
Wharin 11-24-06, 11:40 PM	They do, in the PHB and in Draganomicon (I know I didn't spell it correctly). The one missing item is Cold Iron. Every other metal is there. Mithril/Ada both cost 100 gp a pound for example. Really? Wow... well that wasnt as nearly as expensive as I thought it would have been. Heh... Well if they are that cheap, then i guess it wouldn't really throw off the prices that much. I guess alot of that cost goes into the actually proccessing of the metal, and not so much the metal itself.
risner 11-25-06, 12:19 AM	I guess alot of that cost goes into the actually proccessing of the metal, and not so much the metal itself. Exactly.
Codger 12-02-06, 11:37 AM	I think what he's trying to say is 2 sliver pieces = 1/25 lb = 1 lb cold iron, making sliver 50 times more valuable than cold iron. Which, as far as I'm concerned, sounds about right, since the above also happens to work out to 20 copper pieces = 2/5 lb = 1 lb cold iron. Copper has by far more usefulness than iron does, but it's still common enough to make it "cheap". Comparison for todays prices of iron and silver (totally not related to D&D but still interesting) 1 pound of Iron (processed) sells for as little as $1 depending upon the quantity and quality. 1 troy oz of silver at spot price today is $13.97 and rising. There are 12 Troy oz in a pound (as opposed to the avoirdupois system where it is 16) so that would make the cost of a Troy oz of iron as little as $.08. So silver is as much as 174 times as valuable as iron. (I used a conservative price for Iron)
WinterPsionic 12-02-06, 08:54 PM	Sorry to interupt the thought train but I have a stupid question, typical weapons aren't made out of cold iron are they(In game)? Buddy says yes, I say No, otherwise DR/Cold Iron would be kinda lame.
Kohdok 12-06-06, 12:45 PM	Yeah, Cold Iron is cheap on mundane weapons, you can get like 5 cold iron daggers for the cost of 1 silver dagger and they don't suffer a damage penalty. Here's how Cold Iron gets more expensive: Enchantments. A +1 Cold Iron Greatsword, simply due to the added cost of enchantment, costs nearly twice as much as a silver greatsword. Cold Iron is the anti-magic metal and doesn't take to enchantment too well. It costs 2000 extra gold to add any form of enchantment. A +1 Flaming Cold Iron Greatsword costs 4000GP more than a regular one. This difference might be considered negligible at higher levels until you realize you could have buffed two ability scores for that extra gold you spent with a pair of wondrous items instead.
Wharin 12-06-06, 02:10 PM	Sorry to interupt the thought train but I have a stupid question, typical weapons aren't made out of cold iron are they(In game)? Buddy says yes, I say No, otherwise DR/Cold Iron would be kinda lame. The metal weapons listed in the PHB, and really all the books for that matter, are assumed to be made out of iron and steel for the price listed; not cold iron. That said, Cold Iron is one of the easiest special metals to get your weapons made of, as all they do is cost double the base cost, which is for most weapons very reasonable.