Gold

Typically only used for ceremonial weapons and armor and for display, metal equipment made from gold is fragile, heavy, and expensive.

Often golden armor is gold-plated rather than constructed entirely from gold. Gold-plated items triple the base price of weapons and armor and have the same properties as the item the gold is plating. Items constructed purely of gold cost 10 times the normal price for items of their type. Gold items weigh 50% more than typical weapons or armor of their type.

Gold is often too soft to hold a decent edge, but light weapons that deal piercing or slashing damage can be constructed of gold or some nearly gold alloy. They take a –2 penalty on damage rolls (minimum 1 damage).

Gold weapons have half the hardness of their base weapons and also have the fragile quality.

Gold can be fashioned into light or medium metal armor. The softness and the weight of the metal decrease the armor/shield bonus by 2, and increase the armor check penalty by 2. Gold armor has hardness 5. Magically strengthened gold is the equivalent of steel and can be made into any armor or weapon that can be made of steel.