Introduction to Metallurgy

Metallurgy covers the use of metals and alloys in the Andórë Crafting System. Metals are used for weapons, armor, tools, fittings, containers, mechanisms, jewelry, spell components, magical item frames, and other crafted goods that require strength, conductivity, durability, precision, or symbolic value.

This page provides a reference for common and unusual metals, their refined forms, their typical uses, their relative values, and any inherent magical properties they may possess. It is intended to help the DM and players decide which metals are suitable for a crafting recipe, what substitutions are plausible, and when a specific metal matters.

Most mundane recipes only require an appropriate metal of sufficient quality. A lock, chain, blade, clasp, hinge, or lantern does not usually require a named metal unless the recipe says otherwise. More specialized recipes may call for a particular metal or alloy because its physical or magical properties are essential to the item being made.

As a default rule, the listed value represents one pound of usable refined metal unless the table says otherwise. Raw ore, damaged scrap, contaminated fragments, and unrefined deposits may be worth less until properly processed.

Metal Use in Recipes¶

When a recipe calls for a metal by rarity, any suitable metal of that rarity or higher may be used unless the recipe names a specific metal.

When a recipe names a specific metal, the identity of the metal matters. Silver may be required for a weapon meant to harm certain supernatural creatures, mithral may be required for lightweight armor, cold iron may be required for fey or fiendish work, and telstang may be required when resisting alteration is central to the item.

Use metal rarity to determine whether the material is valuable or refined enough for the recipe. Use metal identity when the recipe depends on a specific physical, symbolic, alchemical, or magical property.

In short:

Metal rarity determines quality and value.
Metal identity determines special properties.

On Metals, Alloys, and Their Nature¶

Not all metals are created equal.

A bar of iron and a bar of mithral may appear similar to the untrained eye—both shaped, both refined, both useful. Yet one will bend beneath strain, while the other will endure forces that would shatter lesser materials.

This is because a metal is defined not only by its form, but by its nature.

Raw vs. Refined¶

The tables that follow distinguish between a metal in its raw state and its smelted form.

Raw metals are as they are found in the eath: ore, fragments, or unstable deposits
Smelted metals are what they become after fire, refinement, and intent are applied

Some metals change little in this process. Others become something entirely new. A master smith understands both forms—and knows that some properties are lost, gained, or awakened only through proper refinement.

On Value and Rarity¶

The value listed reflects a standardized ingot of refined material, suitable for crafting. However, value alone does not determine usefulness. A common metal like iron forms the foundation of most tools and structures. A rare metal like mithral or star metal may be useless in bulk, but invaluable in precision work.

Rarity instead reflects:

how difficult the material is to obtain
how stable it is to work with
and how often it appears in a usable state

On Alloys¶

Few great works are made from a single metal. Alloys represent the true mastery of metallurgy—the blending of multiple materials into something greater than their parts.

As noted in the tables:

combing metals such as adamant and mithral produces adamantine, a material of exceptional strength
other alloys introduce new properties not found in either component

Such processes require:

precision
patience
and an understanding that not all metals wish to be combined

Failure does not produce a weaker alloy. It produces ruin.

On Magical Properties¶

Some metals carry inherent qualities beyond the physical. These properties are not enchantments—they are intrinsic.

For example:

cold iron retains effectiveness against certain creatures due to its method of forging
star metal strengthens enchantments placed upon it
telstang resists alteration entirely

Such traits cannot be replicated through simple magic. They must be respected and worked with, not overwritten.

Final Consideration¶

A metal’s name tells you what it is. Its refinement tells you what it can become. Its nature determines whether it will obey you—or break you.

Metals¶

Name	Rarity	Value*	Raw	Smelted	Uses	Magical Properties
Adamant	★★★★	1000	Jet-black metal ore	Shiny black with a mirror-like finish	Creation of Adamantine alloy	Great protection against magical and natural flames, immune to all elemental effects
Arambarium	★★★★★	1500	Polished silver	Lustrous, polished silver	Armor, jewelry, magical artifacts	Amplifies magical effects, tuned to primordial and elemental energy
Arandur	★★★	800	Blue-green streaked metal within pockets of hyaline glass	Silver-blue with green reflective radiance	Weapons, armor, shields, gnomish locks	Resistant to sonic waves, elemental forces, acid, magical force, and disintegration; absorbs arcane energy from magic missile spells
Barium	★	20	Powdery white or gray	Smooth silver-gray metal	Binder in metalworking and smelting	None
Chromium	★★	100	Extremely shiny, reflective	Highly polished, reflective	Decorative items, tools	None
Cobalt	★★	90	Blue-tinged metal	Shiny blue-gray	Pigments, tools, weapons	None
Cold iron	★★	80	Dark, dull metal	Matte gray with a cold touch	Weapons, armor	Effective against fey, Eladrin, demons, and ghasts; retains delicate properties from special forging process
Copper	★	0.5	Reddish-brown	Bright reddish-orange	Coins, utensils, conductors	None
Gold	★★★	50	Bright yellow	Shiny yellow	Coins, jewelry, decoration	Resistant to nearly all acids
Illithium	★★★★	1300	Lustrous, never becomes soiled	Bright silver-white	Enhancing magical weapons, especially against undead	Strengthens magic, enhances effectiveness of weapons like maces of disruption against undead
Iron	★	10	Dull gray	Shiny silver-gray when polished	Tools, weapons, construction	None
Lead	★	15	Dull gray, heavy	Matte dark gray	Bullets, weights, shields	None
Lithium	★★	30	Soft, silvery-white	Shiny silver	Production of explosives	None
Magnesium	★★	40	Silvery white, volatile	Bright silver	Production of explosives, providing bright white light, spells like sparkler and flare, fertilizer	None
Manganese	★	20	Metallic black, similar to hematite	Shiny gray	Producing metal alloys, metal-polishing abrasives	None
Mercury	★★	70	Heavy, white-silver liquid	Liquid, shiny silver	Material component in various spells, such as flame shield, chain contingency, Tenser's floating disk, and maddening darkness	Essential for powerful spells, enhances certain divine and arcane spells
Mithral	★★★★	1500	Silver-and-black mineral	Shining silvery-blue	Lightweight armor, high-end weapons	Unpredictable magical protection, lightens armor allowing better agility and spellcasting, weighs half as much as steel
Molybdenum	★★★	85	Soft, lustrous black metallic mineral	Shiny gray	Alloys (adamantine, steel), bolts, rivets, nails, wire, blades	Improves weldability of adamantine, enhances steel's lamination and resistance to rust and corrosion
Nickel	★	25	Silvery-white	Shiny silver	Alloys (including with silver), accessories, jewelry, sword crossguards and pommels, tuning forks	Planeshift to the plane of Limbo (with tuning fork)
Palladium	★★★★	1200	Silvery-white	Bright white	Holy symbols, magical artifacts	Enhances divine magic
Platinum	★★★★	500	Silvery-white	Bright white, shiny	Coins, jewelry, decoration, armor, weapons, magic items, spell components, construction	Enhances certain spells
Pyrohydram	★★★★★	2000	Bright red-orange, fiery	Glowing red	Musical pipe instruments	Produces a unique sonorous and grandiose timbre when heated by breath
Silver	★	5	Bright white	Shiny white	Coins, jewelry, utensils, weapons (alchemical silvering), items related to light and moon magic	Harmful to shapechangers, vampires, devils, wraiths, and wights; used in alchemical silvering to make weapons effective against these creatures
Star metal	★★★★★	2500	Thumb-sized to ogre-head-sized metallic meteorite pieces	Iridescent with celestial glow	Alloyed with common metals for durable weapons, ideal for enchantment	Enhances strength, sharpness, flexibility, durability of weapons, strengthens and prolongs enchantments on blades
Tin	★	8	Silver-white	Shiny silver	Making bronze and pewter alloys, small items like plates, buckets, cups, candle-holders, tankards, lanterns, tinplate	None
Whitesteel (Tungsten)	★★★	90	Grayish-white	Shiny white-gray	Creation of magic rings	Used in magic rings like the ring of wizardry
Zardazil	★★★★★	2000	Amber to red, similar to raw iron	Soft but extremely durable	Alloyed weapons that can be hidden inside a person	Becomes intangible to the first being whose blood it spills, allowing it to be carried without detection, immune to spells like heat metal and enlarge
Zinc	★	15	Silvery-blue	Shiny silver-blue	Alloys (brass), apothecaries, spell components	Tuning forks for planar travel to the Elemental Plane of Earth, used in material components for spells like Bigby's clenched fist, Mordenkainen's sword, and magic mirror
Zirconium	★★★	90	Silvery-gray	Shiny silver-gray	Metalworking and smelting processes	None

* 1 lb bar, in gold pieces

Alloys¶

Name	Rarity	Value*	Apperance	Uses	Magical Properties	Alloy Components
Adamantine	★★★★	1200	Polished black with green sheen (candlelight) or purple-white sheen (magical light)	Weapons, armor, magical staves, manacles	Ultra-hard, damages most other materials, absorbs energy from physical blows, effective against golems, superior enchantment potential	Adamant, Mithral
Brass	★	50	Shiny yellow	Decorative and practical purposes	None	Copper, Zinc
Bronze	★	60	Dull gold-brown	Decorative and practical purposes	None	Copper, Tin
Darksteel	★★★★	1100	Silvery with a purple luster	High-end weapons, armor, magical items	Absorbs electrical energy, highly resistant to damage, resistant to flames, cold, electricity, acid, magical fire, crushing, disintegration; takes on enchantments easily	Star Metal, Iron, Chromium, Nickel
Dlarun	★★★	900	Frosted silver-blue	Jewelry, specialized weapons	Cold damage, enhances ice magic	Silver, Mithral, Platinum, Tin
Elven steel	★★★	850	Shiny silver-green	Bladed weapons, armor	Half the weight of regular steel, pierces through armor with ease	Steel, Mithral, Silver
Pewter	★	15	Shiny silver-gray	Steins, mugs, tankards, tuning forks, golems	Plane shift to the Para-Elemental Plane of Ice	Tin, Lead, Copper, Antimony
Steel	★	20	Shiny silver-gray	Weapons, armor, tools	None	Iron, Carbon
Telstang	★★★★	1800	Shiny silvery-blue	Amulets, magical items	Prevents alteration in form or state, immune to natural elements of fire, cold, electricity, resistant to acid, disintegration, and magical fire and lightning	Copper, Mithral, Platinum, Silver