Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Naderion 05-13-07, 08:43 AM	I want to make crystal a special material to create slashing weapons, but unfortunately, I have really no idea what effects it would have on a weapon to be made of crystal. There are crystal blades used for psionic weapons, but the crystal itself doesn't behave anything different than steel. Any ideas what properties crystal as a special material could have?
blowfish 05-13-07, 02:53 PM	By crystal, do you mean diamond? Because if not, then you might as well use glasteel from the forgotten realms campaign setting. Diamonds are tough, so hardness and hp or the item would be much higher than if it were made of steel. Diamonds should be very difficult to sunder, and this would reflect that. As for the other aspects of the armor/weapon I have no idea.
Damionte 05-13-07, 03:52 PM	Actually there is a problem. Diamonds are both very hard and verry brittle. A sword made out of normal diamong woudl shatter if you tried to use it in combat. The individual peices are super hard but strike a diamond in the right place and it falls apart.
ranger_of_renwood 05-13-07, 05:06 PM	This is a cool subject. Actually there is a problem. Diamonds are both very hard and verry brittle. A sword made out of normal diamong woudl shatter if you tried to use it in combat. The individual peices are super hard but strike a diamond in the right place and it falls apart. So, maybe high hardness but low hp?
Tempest Stormwind 05-13-07, 05:13 PM	Already statted, as you noted. See the XPH. This sexy sword isn't just for show. (http://wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/33174.jpg) Just use Deep Crystal if you want special properties. Do note that even the regular crystal behaves differently than steel: 1) It's nonmetallic, so Heat Metal and similar is out. 2) It has hardness 8 as compared to hardness 10. 3) It's crystalline, so watch out for Shatter. This represents weapons-grade crystal. In other words, the sort of crystal you'd be using in a sword.
Watchman 05-13-07, 05:32 PM	So, maybe high hardness but low hp?Diamond is best thought of as very hard glass. Due to its extreme hardness it can be used to cut, or at least scratch, almost any other material, but it doesn't withstand blows worth a jack. Some Roman wrote that you could tell a genuine diamond by stomping down hard on it; if it didn't break, it was real. This, so a genuine teacher in goldsmithing and jewelcraft taught me back in watchmaking school, is pretty much pure BS and has been the doom of many an innocent piece of diamond over the centuries. Put a diamond on a hard surface and hit it with something; it's nearly quaranteed to split. Comes from the tensions inherent in the rigid matrix the carbon atoms are arranged in (different arrangements give you graphite or coal...), much like with high-carbon steel (which indeed acts much like glass in many respects; it even makes a similar sound when gently tapped). I presume you can deduce how well diamond would do as a weapon material from the above already. :D
Ged Coldplain 05-13-07, 05:39 PM	Diamond is best thought of as very hard glass. Due to its extreme hardness it can be used to cut, or at least scratch, almost any other material, but it doesn't withstand blows worth a jack. Some Roman wrote that you could tell a genuine diamond by stomping down hard on it; if it didn't break, it was real. This, so a genuine teacher in goldsmithing and jewelcraft taught me back in watchmaking school, is pretty much pure BS and has been the doom of many an innocent piece of diamond over the centuries. Put a diamond on a hard surface and hit it with something; it's nearly quaranteed to split. Comes from the tensions inherent in the rigid matrix the carbon atoms are arranged in (different arrangements give you graphite or coal...), much like with high-carbon steel (which indeed acts much like glass in many respects; it even makes a similar sound when gently tapped). I presume you can deduce how well diamond would do as a weapon material from the above already. :D You just raised the average IQ of wizard forums with 100 points, you are now my hero.
kouryuu_the_leviathan 05-14-07, 01:26 AM	As an addendum to what Stormwind said above, here are the stats word for word, here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/specialMaterials.htm), at least as per the SRD. Hope that hepld out.
Xeviat-DM 05-14-07, 01:34 AM	Even though real crystal wouldn't make a good weapon, it's reasonable to want one in a fantasy world where magic is possible. In my games, I allow crystal weapons. They are grown by psions with the Craft (Psionic Crystal) skill. An alchemical mixture is prepared, and the crafter meditates infront of it for 8 hours a day to cause the item to grow. Psionic Crystal has 20 hardness and 5 hp per inch of thickness. Just half the HP of any steel item to get the hp for Psionic Crystal. This means it resists minor damage well, but once it is hit hard, it's usually gone.
Watchman 05-14-07, 08:17 AM	Well, magick stuff is an entirely different topic of course. Personally I would imagine even most odd supernatural crystals made for rather poor swords, as there's no possibility of playing around with the exact qualities and thicknesses of the metal and the balance distribution during the forging process, but ought to work well enough in the types of weapons where they're only used for the "business end" such as axes and spears since tweaking the balance and so on can be done with the shaft.
Naderion 05-14-07, 10:29 AM	I'm currently working on a couple of special materials for my world. Does anybody know where one might find some ideas?