The dwarfs, gnomes, and molekin, when they were driven out of their subterranean homes, brought with them to the surface world the secrets of Metal magic.

This tradition offers spells and knowledge useful for combating mortal enemies, whether they be wicked faeries or foul demons loosed from the Void. Although the tradition has been slow to spread, students of the forge, warriors, and others who depend on metal weapons and armor have benefited greatly from expanding their study into this “new” area of magical power.

Although Metal overlaps somewhat with the Earth tradition, they differ in focus. Where Earth magic compels the soil and sand to obey the magic, Metal creates metallic objects out of unrefined ore dragged up from the depths. Metal magic shapes iron and similar materials into useful forms or destroys the material, rendering it useless. Although the two traditions have important differences, many users of Earth magic also dabble in Metal magic, and vice versa.

Draw Iron

Metal Utility Level

Requirement You must be standing on a natural surface

Target One creature you can reach

Duration 1 hour


You touch the target and draw forth a one-handed melee weapon of your choice that is made from iron. The weapon grants you 1 boon on attack rolls you make with it. When the spell ends, the weapon rusts away.

Fault in Steel

Metal Attack Level 0

Target One Size 1/2 nonmagical object (an object that can be held in two hands) made of metal that you can see within short range; the object can be worn or carried


You find the flaws in the target and exploit them. If you target an object that isn’t worn or carried, the object is automatically affected, as described below. If you cast this spell on a target being worn or wielded by a creature, you must make a Will attack roll against the wielder’s Agility. On a success, you affect the target as follows. On a failure, the target is not affected. If the target is a weapon, it breaks the next time it deals damage. If the target is a suit of armor, it breaks the next time it or its wearer takes damage. If the target is another kind of object, it breaks after its next use, with the exact effects determined by the GM.

Shape Metal

Metal Utility Level 0

Target One metal object you can reach and could hold with both hands


You touch the target, causing it to become like putty in your hands for as long as you remain in physical contact with it. You can cause the object to assume any shape you choose by molding, twisting, or pinching off pieces. Any piece of the target that is not in contact with you resumes its normal hardness.

Steel Skin

Metal Utility Level 0

Target One creature you can reach

Duration 1 minute


You touch the target and cause its flesh to harden until it becomes like steel. For the duration, the target’s Defense becomes equal to 12 + your Will modifier. If the target’s Defense is already higher than this, it instead gains a +1 bonus to Defense.

Unbreakable

Metal Utility Level 0

Target One object you can reach

Duration 1 minute


You touch the target. For the duration, the target’s Health is doubled and the target takes half damage from weapons.

Barbed Hide

Metal Utility Level 1

Duration 1 minute


Steel barbs emerge from your skin until you are covered completely in razor-sharp spikes. The barbs last for the duration, after which time they recede into your flesh and disappear. Until the spell ends, your unarmed attacks deal 1d6 extra damage. Furthermore, when you become grabbed by a creature, that creature takes 1d6 damage.

Pinning Strike

Metal Utility Level 1

Target One creature within medium range


You create a spear of magical iron and fling it at the target. Make a Will attack roll with 1 boon against the target’s Defense. On a success, the spear hits and deals 2d6 + 1 damage.

Attack Roll 20+ The spear impales the target, causing it to be immobilized. When immobilized in this way, the target cannot be moved by nonmagical means. The target or a creature that can reach the target can use an action to remove the spear, and with it the affliction.

Rust

Metal Utility Level 1

Duration 1 minute


The skin on one of your hands reddens and flakes like rust whenever you move it. The change lasts for the duration. When you cast this spell and whenever you use an action to do so before the spell ends, you can touch an object made from iron that you can reach. You can also attempt to touch an object made from iron that’s worn or carried by a creature other than you, but you must get a success on a Strength or Agility attack roll against the target’s Agility to do so. When you touch such an object, it takes 2d6 damage as rust spots bloom all over it. If the damage destroys the object, it disintegrates.

Sharpen

Metal Utility Level 1

Target One weapon you can reach that has an edge or point that’s made of metal

Duration 1 minute


You touch the target and cause it to become supernaturally sharp for the duration. Whenever a creature attacks with the weapon, gets a 20 or higher on its attack roll, and exceeds the target number by 5 or more, the target of the attack takes 1d6 extra damage.

Fusillade

Metal Utility Level 2

Area A 5-yard cone originating from a point you can reach


A barrage of iron needles flies from your outstretched hand, dealing 2d6 + 1 damage to everything in the area. A creature in the area can make an Agility challenge roll and takes half the damage on a success. Faeries in the area make the challenge roll with 1 bane and take 1d6 extra damage on a success or a failure.

Memory of the Forge

Metal Attack Level 2

Target Up to three Size 1 or smaller objects made of metal that you can see within short range; the objects can be worn or carried

Duration 1 minute


For each target, you recall the heat used to forge it, causing it to grow blazing hot for the duration. Any creature that touches the object takes 1d6 damage. A creature takes this damage just once per round, no matter how many times it touches the object.

If you targeted an object carried by a creature, the creature can choose to drop the target, in which case it must get a success on an Agility challenge roll or take 1d6 damage before releasing the object. If a creature is carrying multiple objects that you want to affect, it can choose to drop each object. If the creature chooses not to drop a targeted object, it takes 1d6 damage regardless of how many targeted objects it is carrying.

Finally, a creature wearing one or more targeted objects must make a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane. A creature takes 1d6 damage on a failure, or half the damage on a success. If the creature gets failures on two challenge rolls to resist this effect, the creature also catches fire. A creature that catches fire takes 1d6 damage from the flames at the end of each round until the fire is extinguished.

Strength of Steel

Metal Utility Level 2

Target One creature you can reach

Duration 1 minute


You touch the target and imbue it with the strength of steel. For the duration, the target gains a +1 bonus to Defense and a +5 bonus to Health, and deals 1d6 extra damage with melee weapon attacks. In addition, the target’s Speed drops to 2, if it’s not lower than 2 already, and creatures attacking the target gain 1 boon on their attack rolls.

Warding Buckler

Metal Utility Level 2

Duration 1 hour


A small shield of magical iron appears in the air in front of you, moving to block attacks against you for the duration. When a creature uses a weapon to attack you, the shield imposes 1 bane on the attack roll.

Triggered When a creature uses a weapon to attack you, you can use a triggered action to cast this spell. You impose 3 banes on the triggering attack roll, and the spell ends.

Cage of Iron

Metal Attack Level 3

Area A cube of space, 3 yards on a side, resting on the ground and originating from a point within short range

Duration 1 hour (see effect)


You form a cage of iron bars that appear around the leading edge of the area and remain for the duration. The cage is a Size 3 object that has Defense 5 and Health 60. If it is destroyed, the spell ends immediately. The bars are spaced wide enough to enable a Size 1/2 or smaller creature to pass between them. The bars can be bent to create a wider gap by someone who gets a success on a Strength challenge roll with 3 banes.

Any creature in the area when you cast the spell can use a triggered action to make an Agility challenge roll. On a success, the creature leaps out of the area before the cage forms, moving to an unoccupied space adjacent to the area. If no unoccupied spaces are available, the creature moves into an occupied space of the GM’s choice and then falls prone.

Iron Cloud

Metal Attack Level 3

Target All creatures in a 5-yard-long cone originating from a point you can reach


You fling magical iron dust into the air that coats each target. Each creature in the area must make a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane. Faeries make the roll with 2 banes. On a failure, the creature is blinded. If a faerie gets a failure on this roll, it also takes 3d6 damage. A creature blinded in this way can use an action on its turn to make an Agility challenge roll with 1 bane. On a success, the creature wipes the iron from its eyes and removes the affliction from itself.

Magnetize

Metal Attack Level 3

Target One object made of metal you can see within medium range, which can be worn or carried by a creature other than you

Duration 1 minute


You create a powerful magnetic field centered on and emanating from the object that persists for the duration. Any Size 1/2 or smaller metal objects within 5 yards of the target that are neither worn nor carried by a creature fly unerringly toward the target, provided they have a straight and unobstructed path to it. Such objects stick to the target and cannot be removed unless a creature gets a success on a Strength challenge roll with 2 banes, rolling once per object. If the target is worn by a creature, the creature takes 1 damage for each object that strikes it.

The target, as well as any creature within 10 yards of the target that is wearing metal armor or that is made of metal, moves at half Speed.

Any creature within 10 yards of the target that attacks with a melee weapon made of metal makes the attack roll with 3 banes.

Finally, ranged attacks against the target using ammunition made at least partly from metal automatically result in a success. But the spell imposes 3 banes on attack rolls made using ranged weapons with metal ammunition against creatures and objects within 10 yards of the spell’s target.

Riddle of Steel

Metal Utility Level 3

Target One melee weapon made from iron that you can reach; the weapon can be worn or carried

Duration 1 minute


You imbue the target with magic that awakens the hidden properties of steel. Attacks with the weapon deal 2d6 extra damage for the duration. In addition, whenever a creature gets a success on an attack roll when using the weapon, the creature makes its next attack roll before the end of the next round with 2 boons.

Animate Metal

Metal Attack Level 4

Target Up to five metal objects inside a cube, 3 yards on a side, originating from a point within medium range

Duration 1 minute; see the effect


You awaken the targets and cause them to become compelled constructs (Shadow, page 225) of their Size. You can affect any metal objects in the area whose total Size does not exceed 3, but you cannot create more than five constructs with this spell. Weapons and other objects that can be carried become small constructs. Each construct has a +2 bonus to Defense and a bonus to Health equal to its Size x 10.

Repel Metal

Metal Utility Level 4

Area A 3-yard-radius sphere centered on a point within long range


You attempt to force all metal objects and creatures made from metal out of the area, as described below.

Creatures and Armor Any creature made from metal and any creature wearing metal armor must make a Strength challenge roll with 3 banes. On a failure, the creature moves 1d6 + 3 yards in a straight line away from the area’s origin point. For each yard it is prevented from moving in this way, because it encounters a solid surface, the creature takes 1d6 damage from the impact.

Unsecured Objects Unsecured metal objects move 2d6 + 3 yards in a straight line away from the area’s origin point. Any creature in an object’s path must get a success on an Agility challenge roll or take 1d6 damage from the impact. Secured metal objects, such as those held in one’s hands or containers or are otherwise affixed to a solid surface, might bend, warp, or twist away from the origin point, based on their composition, at the GM’s discretion.

Carried and Worn Metal Objects The spell might strip carried and worn metal objects away from creatures in the area. A creature holding such an item in its hand must get a success on a Strength challenge roll with 3 banes or the object flies away, as described under Unsecured Objects, above. In addition, jewelry, coin purses, and metal ammunition all tear away from their bearers, with the same effects as described above.

Spike Burst

Metal Attack Level 4

Target A point you can see within medium range


A spiked steel ball appears at the target and then explodes, throwing jagged shrapnel into a 4-yard-radius sphere centered on the target. Every creature or object in that area takes 6d6 damage. Fragile objects in the area take double damage. A creature can make an Agility challenge roll and takes half the damage on a success.

Adamantine Chains

Metal Attack Level 5

Target Up to five creatures you can see within medium range, all Size 3 or smaller

Duration 1 hour; see the effect


Heavy chains of unbreakable iron burst up out of the ground and snake toward the targets. For each target, make a Will attack roll against its Agility. On a success, the chain wraps around the target and causes it to become immobilized for the duration or until it escapes the chains. If the target was flying, it falls. When immobilized in this way, a target grants 1 boon on attack rolls against its Defense or Agility.

A target immobilized in this way can use an action to make an Agility challenge roll with 3 banes. On a success, it slips free from the chains and removes the immobilized affliction from itself. On a failure, the chains tighten and deal 5d6 damage to the creature. Other methods to escape the chains, such as casting a spell or using a talent that allows the target to teleport, might work at the GM’s discretion.

Flesh to Iron

Metal Utility Level 5

Duration 1 minute


Your flesh turns gray and hardens to the consistency of iron, though you can still move as if your body was made from flesh. The transformation lasts for the duration.

Until the spell ends, you gain the following benefits and drawbacks.

  • You gain a +3 bonus to Defense (maximum 25).
  • Your Speed becomes 4.
  • You make Strength and Agility attack rolls and challenge rolls with 1 bane.
  • You take half damage from all sources.
  • You cannot be moved against your will.
  • Your unarmed attacks deal 2d6 extra damage.

Invincible Panoply

Metal Utility Level 5

Target One Size 2 or smaller creature you can see within medium range

Duration 1 minute


Iron plates appear and affix themselves to the target’s body. Until the spell ends, the target’s Defense becomes 25, its Speed becomes 6, and its unarmed attacks deal 1d6 extra damage. If the target has the iron vulnerability trait, in addition to its effects, the target must make a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane at the end of each round until the spell ends. On a failure, the creature takes 1d6 damage. When the spell ends, the iron rusts away.