What's your iron threshold?

[Axly Suregrip]

ITL 140 states, "A wizard wearing ordinary iron or steel armor, or carrying an ordinary weapon, will suffer a -4 DX on any spell he attempts to cast."

The smallest ordinary weapon is a dagger. It weighs 0.2 lbs. That is my limit. If it weighs less than 0.2 lbs, it is not a problem.

So, that means their may be a problem once a wizard has 4 arrows in him. (20 arrows weigh 1.0 lbs). But that assumes the whole arrow is made of iron. Say it is 20% iron, then it will only be an issue when a wizard has taken 20 arrows. And assuming none where then snapped off or pulled out.

Or if you want the math to have a wider margin, then assume 40% of arrow weight or assume 0.1 lbs is the tolerable limit of iron. Either way the wizard is down to 10 arrows. With both it becomes 5 arrows.

This does mean it is okay for a wizard to use bows (not crossbows) without a penalty. As long as they carry no more than your prescribed limit of arrows.

Also, let's not ignore that stone, iron and bronze arrowheads are just as effective. It is more of a question of reusability. But if you want to follow the rules, stone or bronze arrowheads do -1 damage. This is now becoming a new issue.