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Old 06-14-2020, 03:06 PM   #1
Evil Roy Slade
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Default Meteoric iron immunities

In Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, we read:

Meteoric iron is immune to magic – Reverse
Missiles, Steelwraith, Turn Blade, and so on won’t stop it, and
Shape Metal, Shatter, and the like can’t destroy it. Of course, it
can’t benefit from enchantments, weapon-enhancing spells, or
magical repairs.


Would meteoric iron pass through an Utter Dome? Could it be Plane Shifted? Could you Blink with meteoric iron on your person?
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Old 06-14-2020, 04:41 PM   #2
Anthony
 
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Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

I generally assume it's equivalent to a no mana zone that doesn't extend beyond the object, which translates as yes, no, no.
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Old 06-14-2020, 04:58 PM   #3
mr beer
 
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

I would rule yes, no and yes but the meteoric iron stays behind.
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Old 06-15-2020, 03:59 AM   #4
Aldric
 
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

Yes, no and interesting question: if the answer is no, then you have a way to restrain casters, if the answer is yes, I'd say the iron stays behind.
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Old 06-15-2020, 05:58 AM   #5
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aldric View Post
you have a way to restrain casters
Another use for the meteroic iron arrowhead. It's not just good for penetrating the Reverse Missiles shield; it pins the mage to the location until they can remove it. Is it also going to prevent Levitation and Flight? Haste? There's a fine line between being affected directly by magic, and being carried along by something that's affected by magic.

It might not take long for someone to think of an AoE cloud of meteroic iron filings to dust the area with the teleport block. (The delivery method and bursting charge might even be magical; the push from expanding air or gases would be physical, and so could scatter the iron bits. But purely physical mechanisms might do as well.)
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Old 06-15-2020, 06:31 AM   #6
WingedKagouti
 
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
Another use for the meteroic iron arrowhead. It's not just good for penetrating the Reverse Missiles shield; it pins the mage to the location until they can remove it. Is it also going to prevent Levitation and Flight? Haste? There's a fine line between being affected directly by magic, and being carried along by something that's affected by magic.

It might not take long for someone to think of an AoE cloud of meteroic iron filings to dust the area with the teleport block. (The delivery method and bursting charge might even be magical; the push from expanding air or gases would be physical, and so could scatter the iron bits. But purely physical mechanisms might do as well.)
If I was the GM and this came up I'd probably rule that it would depend on the weight or volume ratio for things like Levitation, Flight, Haste etc. If what you can affect based on proximity to and mass of the meteoric iron still offers enough structural integrity, these spells would work (almost) normally.

Using Levitate you would be able to lift someone with several MI arrowheads embedded in their chest, but to lift the same person wearing a MI breast plate you'd have to hope their arms & legs could take the stress.
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Old 06-15-2020, 12:01 PM   #7
Kromm
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade View Post

Would meteoric iron pass through an Utter Dome?
Yes. Magical defenses never affect it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade View Post

Could it be Plane Shifted?
No. Magic spells can't be cast on it directly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade View Post

Could you Blink with meteoric iron on your person?
Yes. You don't become immune to magic just because you're carrying a meteoric iron token of negligible weight.



With meteoric iron, always ask two questions:

1. Is a spell being cast directly on the meteoric iron object?

2. Is the meteoric iron object (e.g., a meteoric sword or arrow) encountering magic intended as a defense against that kind of object in general (in those cases, swords or arrows)?

If the answer to either is "yes" (Y/Y, Y/N, or N/Y), then the magic doesn't work. If the answer to both is "no" (N/N), then the magic does work.

So you can walk through magical gates, Blink, teleport or be teleported, etc. while carrying meteoric iron gear. No problem. That's because such things are intended as transport, not as defenses, and they affect the carrier, not each item of gear individually. On the other hand, meteoric iron shackles are intended as a defense against someone leaving, so someone bound by them couldn't just teleport away from them, even if they could teleport with the same shackles in their backpack.

I will go on record as saying that this is very much one of those "power of plot" things, as magic is wont to be. Don't try to apply scientific thinking or you'll end up wearing it on your face like a smoothie from an uncovered blender. Just ask the questions and accept the answers.
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Old 06-15-2020, 03:12 PM   #8
Evil Roy Slade
 
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

Thanks, Kromm.

The question came about because the PCs in a more-or-less Dungeon Fantasy game recently plundered a remote ruin and the vault was secured with a door that I did not want the party's mage to just walk through (I wanted to give the thief type some spotlight time), so I noted it was made out of meteoric iron. After I did so, I realized that the door was probably worth more than the treasures behind it.

This was okay, as I don't mind the occasional treasure that is too awkward to easily carry out, but then I began pondering the backstory -- how did it get here in the first place?
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Old 06-15-2020, 03:24 PM   #9
Kromm
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade View Post

This was okay, as I don't mind the occasional treasure that is too awkward to easily carry out
I love treasures like that!

One time, I decorated a temple with big gilded bronzes. The PCs took one look at the chunky "gold" statues and forgot to search for the "real treasure" (!). They spent vast effort lugging these things back to their lair, only to learn they had mostly bronze and a little gold. But they dutifully removed and sold the gold, and found buyers for the bronze. Fun times!

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Originally Posted by Evil Roy Slade View Post

I began pondering the backstory -- how did it get here in the first place?
Someone who can work iron into a durable door of good temper and reasonable resistance to the elements – strong, corrosion-resistant alloy steel – at TL Olden Times . . . without using a shred of magic. That should provoke some pondering. It would demand unusually advanced metallurgy and more than a little muscle. As a player, my thoughts would turn to fire giants with the sort of tech normally reserved for quasi-steampunk gnomes and dwarves in fantasy. Those would make for interesting foes: big, strong, smart, high-tech, and bristling with magic-immune gadgetry.
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Old 06-15-2020, 03:42 PM   #10
Varyon
 
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Default Re: Meteoric iron immunities

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
Someone who can work iron into a durable door of good temper and reasonable resistance to the elements – strong, corrosion-resistant alloy steel – at TL Olden Times . . . without using a shred of magic.
You're missing the obvious one - you make the door out of mundane iron with all the magic your twisted heart desires. You then put it in a highly-protective shell and teleport it outside the atmosphere, far enough for the shell to become incandescent during re-entry. It falls back down, and you use some more magic to slow down the shell safely. By definition, the door is now iron from a meteor - that is, meteoric iron - and is impossible to affect with magic. Given, that's a lot of setup just to have a mage-proof door, but might not be as expensive as crafting a giant iron door at TL 3-ish without magic (and sourcing enough meteoric iron for the endeavor).

But, yeah, ISTR a story of an exasperated GM from That Other Game who made Adamantium doors or something similar, and was rather upset when the party of delvers opted to remove those from the hinges and cart them away, making a far greater profit than was intended (the doors being worth markedly more than all the rest of the treasure in the dungeon combined).
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