Elemental Crafting: Difference between revisions

** ''Bronze'' - Usually the first metal weapons or armor you'll find and tougher than leather or wood. Sometimes preceded by weaker copper gear. However, bronze is always weaker than...

** ''Iron'' - The most common material for metal weapons like swords. One of the strongest mundane metals around. Generally includes steel but sometimes precedes the alloy in the hierarchy.

** ''Precious Metals'' - For some reason, precious metals like silver, gold, or even platinum are often treated as stronger than iron. Never mind that the durability, weight, and sharpness of these elements is in no way helped by the material being rare or expensive. Very slightly [[Truth in Television]]. It's fairly common for weapons and armor on display in museums to be gold-coated. That's because they're ornamental pieces, made for nobility and monarchs, essentially [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] for men. The more practical stuff tended not to be treated very delicately, so it was much less likely to last long enough to be exhibited.

*** ''Silver'' - The main utility of silver weapons is in serving as an [[Achilles Heel]] to supernatural creatures like werewolves or vampires. Still, because of this magical quality, silver is often treated as stronger than steel.

** Partly averted in [[Real Life]] by the Mesoamerican warclubs with obsidian blades along their length (the best known being the Aztec version, the ''macuahuitl''). Obsidian, like all glasses, can take a sharper edge than any metal, though it doesn't last, and a far-future army might, say, equip soldiers with single-use ultra-cutters lined with synthetic diamond blades.

* ''Magical/Elemental equipment'' - Late in the game, equipment starts to take on explicitly magical properties to keep up with the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] in the world. This often includes elemental weapons such as the [[Flaming Sword]] or [[Laser Blade]]).

 

Now, even if the work does plainly say these elements are outright better than everything else [[A Wizard Did It|(what with being magic and all)]], there won't be any special technique to smelt the metal, forge the armor, or otherwise craft this amazingly rare find that any old armorer or PC can't pick up. Some games try to balance this by putting "Crafting" systems into play, that require a set level to even ''consider'' creating a Depleted Uranium Sword of [[Dirty Communists|Soviet Slaying.]]

 

Compare [[Random Power Ranking]]. Can lead to [[Palette Swap]].

 

== [[Anime]] ==