For some, weapons and armor made of iron, mythril, or adamant are simply not enough to encompass their desires, and they seek something more suited to their talents. Darksteel is one such material, and is well-suited to dark knights and other warriors who wish to harness such umbral power. Made through a painstaking process that involves alchemical infusions and exposure to powerful shadow magic, this metal is a boon to dark knights that want to get an edge over those who use more traditional materials.
Weapons made of darksteel are supernaturally harsh in the wounds they inflict, dealing 1 point of shadow damage on top of whatever other damage the weapon deals. Dark knights and other creatures who have the harm touch ability can treat the weapon as though it has the conductive property, regardless of whether it actually does, or even if the weapon has an enhancement bonus. Holy knights wielding weapons made of darksteel take 1 point of shadow damage per round, so long as the item is in their hands.
Armor made of darksteel has the curious habit of attaching itself to its wearer. For some, this is far less of a problem than one would think. Dark knights wearing armor made of darksteel reduce their armor check penalty by 2 instead of 1, increase the maximum Dexterity bonus by 1, and suffer no penalties to movement speed from wearing it, regardless of whether the armor is light, medium, or heavy. Any others who wear darksteel armor instead find the material to make them rigid and clumsy, increasing their armor check penalty by 1, reducing their maximum Dexterity bonus by 1, and reducing their movement speed by an additional 5 feet. Shields made of darksteel provide no armor check penalty for dark knights, but increase their armor check penalty for all other creatures by 1.
Darksteel has a hardness of 15, and has 30 hit points per inch of thickness. All items made of darksteel are considered to be of masterwork quality; this is included as part of the prices below.
Item cost modifier:
Weapons: +3,000 gil
Light armor: +1,000 gil
Medium armor: +4,000 gil
Heavy armor: +9,000 gil
Shields: +1,000 gil
Weapons made of darksteel are supernaturally harsh in the wounds they inflict, dealing 1 point of shadow damage on top of whatever other damage the weapon deals. Dark knights and other creatures who have the harm touch ability can treat the weapon as though it has the conductive property, regardless of whether it actually does, or even if the weapon has an enhancement bonus. Holy knights wielding weapons made of darksteel take 1 point of shadow damage per round, so long as the item is in their hands.
Armor made of darksteel has the curious habit of attaching itself to its wearer. For some, this is far less of a problem than one would think. Dark knights wearing armor made of darksteel reduce their armor check penalty by 2 instead of 1, increase the maximum Dexterity bonus by 1, and suffer no penalties to movement speed from wearing it, regardless of whether the armor is light, medium, or heavy. Any others who wear darksteel armor instead find the material to make them rigid and clumsy, increasing their armor check penalty by 1, reducing their maximum Dexterity bonus by 1, and reducing their movement speed by an additional 5 feet. Shields made of darksteel provide no armor check penalty for dark knights, but increase their armor check penalty for all other creatures by 1.
Darksteel has a hardness of 15, and has 30 hit points per inch of thickness. All items made of darksteel are considered to be of masterwork quality; this is included as part of the prices below.
Item cost modifier:
Weapons: +3,000 gil
Light armor: +1,000 gil
Medium armor: +4,000 gil
Heavy armor: +9,000 gil
Shields: +1,000 gil