Special Materials

Mined from fallen meteorites, this ultrahard metal is prized for penetrating defenses. Weapons made of adamantine bypass hardness less than 20 and ignore DR/adamantine. Armor made of adamantine grants its wearer damage reduction that stacks with no other DR: 1/— (light), 2/— (medium), 3/— (heavy). All adamantine items are automatically masterwork.

A metallurgical process bonds silver to a steel weapon, allowing it to bypass DR/silver (common for lycanthropes, some devils, and certain undead). The weapon deals −1 damage on a successful hit (minimum 1). Cannot be applied to adamantine, cold iron, or mithral items, nor to nonmetal items. Alchemical silver has hardness 8 (vs. 10 for steel).

The preserved skin of an angel retains a fraction of celestial grace. Crafted into leather, hide, or studded leather armor. Any evil aura the wearer radiates is reduced in strength by 10 Hit Dice — auras reduced below 1 HD cannot be detected by detect evil. The armor radiates a moderate good aura. Angelskin armor is automatically masterwork.

Warped quartz from deep underground that craves blood. When a piercing or slashing blood crystal weapon hits a target that is already suffering from a bleed effect, the attack deals 1 additional point of damage as the crystal draws blood from the wound. On a natural 1, the weapon shatters. An unfed blood crystal weapon radiates an aura of faint necromancy.

Iron mined deep underground and forged at lower temperatures, preserving its effectiveness against fey and certain demons. Bypasses DR/cold iron. Adding any magical enhancement to a cold iron weapon adds +2,000 gp to the first enhancement only. Items without metal parts cannot be made of cold iron. Arrows made from cold iron cost 4 times normal.

Woven from darkwood leaves and bark, then alchemically treated. The result is tough as cured hide but much lighter. Applicable to light or medium flexible armors (leather, hide, studded leather, chain shirt). Benefits: arcane spell failure −10% (minimum 5%), maximum Dexterity bonus +2, armor check penalty −3. Automatically masterwork.

A rare magic wood as hard as normal wood but weighing half as much. Any wooden or mostly-wooden item (bows, spears, shields, quarterstaffs) made from darkwood is automatically masterwork. Items only partially wooden (battleaxes, maces) gain no benefit. Darkwood shields have their armor check penalty reduced by 2. Darkwood items are never affected by heat metal.

Armor crafted from dragon scales is masterwork quality and has no arcane spell failure chance — making it popular with druids and other divine casters barred from metal armor. One dragon produces enough hide for a masterwork hide armor one size smaller, or progressively smaller suits of banded/half-plate/breastplate/full plate. The color of the hide may grant energy resistance at the GM's discretion.

Supple and electricity-resistant leather made from eel skin. Crafted into leather, hide, or studded leather armor. Benefits: armor check penalty −1 (minimum 0), maximum Dexterity bonus +1, and electricity resistance 2. Always masterwork.

First crafted by titans for monster-slaying heroes, Elysian bronze is as hard as steel but colored like polished gold. Weapons add +1 damage against magical beasts and monstrous humanoids (multiplied on a critical hit); after hitting such a creature, the wielder also gains a +1 bonus to AC against that creature until the start of their next turn. Armor made from Elysian bronze grants the same AC bonus automatically. Always masterwork.

Developed by dwarves, this metal channels heat in one direction. Armor made of fire-forged steel channels heat away from the wearer, granting fire resistance 2. A weapon of fire-forged steel gains the ability to deal 1 additional fire damage for 1 minute each time the wielder takes at least 5 fire damage — activating from the heat absorbed.

The cold counterpart to fire-forged steel — crafted with a subtle difference in metal alignment that channels heat toward the wearer instead of away. Armor grants cold resistance 2. A weapon gains the ability to deal 1 additional cold damage for 1 minute each time the wielder takes at least 5 cold damage. Less universally useful than fire-forged steel due to fewer nonmagical cold sources.

Cut from trees animated by treants and shaped by dryads, greenwood remains alive after harvesting. It does not warp, crack, or rot from heat, cold, or moisture. However, it must be doused with at least 1 gallon of water (plus 1 gal per 10 lbs of item weight) once per week and allowed to rest for an hour. Failure to water it inflicts the broken condition. Applicable to shields and wooden weapons.

Strong, light cloth woven from the manes of griffons, chimeras, or manticores. Wearing a cloak, robe, clothing outfit, or padded/quilted armor made from griffon mane grants a +2 competence bonus on Fly checks. If an item of griffon mane is enchanted with a flight ability, the cost to add that specific property is reduced by 10%.

Harvested from trees that absorb potent minerals through their roots, this glossy green metal slowly repairs itself. An item made from living steel repairs damage at a rate of 2 HP per day (1 HP/day if it has the broken condition). Living steel is otherwise treated as steel for all purposes including hardness and HP.

The most broadly useful special material — a silvery metal lighter than steel but just as hard. Armor made of mithral is treated as one category lighter for movement, sleep, and most purposes (heavy → medium, medium → light; light stays light). This does not change the armor's proficiency requirement or class restrictions. Additional benefits: ACP −3, maximum Dexterity bonus +2, arcane spell failure −15%. Mithral weapons and shields are always masterwork.

Deep green volcanic glass formed from molten rock tainted by toxic trace minerals. Fragile but razor-sharp. Any successful hit with a viridium weapon forces the target to contract leprosy (Fort DC 12 negates). On a confirmed critical hit, a tiny fragment embeds itself in the wound — the target must succeed on a Fort DC 16 or the fragment becomes permanent (and continues to inflict leprosy weekly until removed surgically). Viridium has hardness 4 and shatters on a natural 1 attack roll.

An extremely flexible composite wood crafted by vanara woodworkers by weaving and fusing thin wooden fibers. Only wooden weapons can be made of whipwood (axes and spears with wooden hafts qualify). A creature wielding a whipwood weapon gains a +2 bonus to CMD when defending against sunder attempts, and the weapon gains +5 hit points.

The root of the wyrwood tree harvests life force from critical hits. When a weapon made of wyroot confirms a critical hit, it absorbs life force and gains 1 life point. As a swift action, a wielder with a ki pool or arcane pool can absorb that life point, converting it to 1 ki point or 1 arcane pool point. Most wyroot weapons hold only 1 life point at a time; higher-quality versions hold more.