How good would a sword made out of a meteorite really be?

[Grouchy Chris]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Of course, in a fantasy setting it might well have actual magical powers, or at least be easier to enchant than a sword made of earthly metal.

Or, in my fantasy setting, impossible to enchant. In fact, completely antithetical to magic. So much so that it ignores spells such as Fortify, Steelwraith, Ruin, etc.

[pnewman]

What if the universe is like 'The Magic goes Away' by Niven?

The earth is a no mana or, at best, very low mana, setting because almost all of the mana has been used up. Meteorites come from space where the mana has not been used up. Therefore meteoric material, whatever it is, is full of mana and therefore ideally suited to make magic items from.

[Mateus]

Originally Posted by pnewman

What if the universe is like 'The Magic goes Away' by Niven?

The earth is a no mana or, at best, very low mana, setting because almost all of the mana has been used up. Meteorites come from space where the mana has not been used up. Therefore meteoric material, whatever it is, is full of mana and therefore ideally suited to make magic items from.

Excelent suggestion. This book of Niven is a master piece.

[The Colonel]

Tad William's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (Tri)logy had all of the titular swords be particularly useful for their plot specific purpose because they were made of material that didn't belong in the world - one was an unnatural hybrid of iron and wood, one part of a ship from a long way away (and possibly not the seagoing variety) and one meteorite iron.

If such things matter in your campaign, this may be important.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Tad William's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (Tri)logy had all of the titular swords be particularly useful for their plot specific purpose because they were made of material that didn't belong in the world - one was an unnatural hybrid of iron and wood, one part of a ship from a long way away (and possibly not the seagoing variety) and one meteorite iron.

If such things matter in your campaign, this may be important.

That reminds me of someone's home version of Path Magic, with secret rituals capable of embodying ephemeral concepts into physical form. Like creating a dagger sharpened by a scorned woman's vengeance or something like that.

[Disliker of the mary sue]

Hm okay changing the subject a little, what would a sword made out of a radioactive material be like? Can radioactive metals be forged into swords in the first place and if so how sturdy would they be? Also how fast would the radiation kill you if you used such a sword as your regular weapon. I'd start a new thread but it seems too similar a question to do so. I'm thinking at best it be a normal blade equal to something made of bronze with maybe a reputation as cursed blade in a society without knowledge of radioactivity.

[Flyndaran]

Not all radioactives are transuranic. There are radioactive isotopes of iron.

[Disliker of the mary sue]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Not all radioactives are transuranic. There are radioactive isotopes of iron.

Huh Transuranic....hm nice to learn a new word, but yeah I am thinking of Transranic metals. Like what if you made a sword out of uranium.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Disliker of the mary sue

Like what if you made a sword out of uranium.

Uranium is a hard, dense, slightly toxic metal. You could probably make a decent sword out of it, but other than being abnormally heavy for its size and thickness, I doubt it would have especially interesting properties.

[Disliker of the mary sue]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Uranium is a hard, dense, slightly toxic metal. You could probably make a decent sword out of it, but other than being abnormally heavy for its size and thickness, I doubt it would have especially interesting properties.

would it be radioactive or is this one of those cases of misconception on how radiation works.