Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Crowell
Even old fashioned wrought iron, which has very little carbon in it is still smelted from ore.
The big problem with "cold iron" is that there is no universally accepted definition for the stuff. I have seen it cited as cast (as opposed to forged) iron, wrought iron (as opposed to steel), meteoric iron, bog iron, and even simply iron or steel which is physically cold.
If "cold iron" is going to have game mechanical effects distinct to "ordinary" iron and steel it would be well to provide a definition of what for game purposes constitutes "cold iron".
Of course one could just as well say that large quantities of iron (or steel) in close proximity are disruptive to magic, so shackling a wizard in iron chains would suffice.
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For all those "answering" my comment, I should probably clarify that I'm not talking actual science here, but rather the folklore that I've found. Yes, I know iron doesn't "grow" into a sword shape naturally. The point is that the processes of smelting iron and steel differ in various ways, as does the content of the metal, and that seems to *somehow* be significant in terms of effect on magic.
Equally obviously, this has little to do with how Steve envisioned Cidri -- he's got his own rules there, and probably had something in mind when he wrote them.
All I'm trying to do is help answer Steve's original question; that is, what makes "cold iron" what it is? I chose to answer from a "folklore" perspective, not a "scientific" perspective.