Questions about Spells like Ironwood

[darthauthor]

Wanted to get a fair ruling on some spells like Ironwood.

Does Ironwood burn like regular wood?

Will it also float like regular wood?

If someone carved a wooden knife or sword would it keep its "edge"
If it lost its edge through wear and tear could it be sharpened?

If a canteen were carved out of wood and transformed into ironwood would it hold water or would it pass through it?

Would an ironwood shield be MD for protection?

Would ironwood stakes do more damage to vampires?

Could one carve wooden bullet heads, change them to ironwood, pack them as ammo and shoot them, like against vampires?

Ironwood arrows?

IF a wooden bow were transformed into Ironwood would an archer still be able to shot from it or is it to inflexible?

Does the spell work on living trees? turning a forest into a steal wall of sorts?

Tree stumps, can the be transformed into iron obstacles?

What is a reasonable sale price for ironwood material or the service of the spell?

One idea was to carve wooden coin/tokens then have ironwood cast upon them. They would then use them as currency. The idea was that you could tell the real ones apart from the counterfeit because the real ones are as touch as iron. The only impracticality of it, I can see, is having to cast ironwood so many times.

[Grazzik]

Does Ironwood burn like regular wood?

No, it is MDC in nature and not damaged by SDC fire.

Will it also float like regular wood?

Yes (BoM pg 145)

If someone carved a wooden knife or sword would it keep its "edge"

Assuming used by a SDC being, it would retain its edge as much as any other MDC structure. If a MDC being uses it, their SNPS may cause damage to the blade.

If it lost its edge through wear and tear could it be sharpened?

Depends how the repair is effected. A laser scalpel should do the trick. The warlock spell Mend Wood (PF MoM pg 94) may not apply as it repairs SDC. Mend the Broken would work, but would be highly wasteful of PPE given what is needed to fix MDC materials.

If a canteen were carved out of wood and transformed into ironwood would it hold water or would it pass through it?

Like any wood canteen, it should work fine. Though wood is heavy, so perhaps not the best choice for a canteen that you'd be lugging long distances.

Would an ironwood shield be MD for protection?

Yes.

Would ironwood stakes do more damage to vampires?

Yes, an additional 1d6 damage (WB28 pg 89).

Could one carve wooden bullet heads, change them to ironwood, pack them as ammo and shoot them, like against vampires?

Yes.

Ironwood arrows?

Yes, no different than any other wooden arrow, though add the 1d6 damage.

IF a wooden bow were transformed into Ironwood would an archer still be able to shot from it or is it to inflexible?

The bow simply becomes able to absorb MDC levels of damage, but it is still wood. As buoyancy and "feel" is maintained as per BoM pg 145, that would indicate density of the material has not changed. It would be safe to presume that other qualities, such as rigidity, have not changed either.

Does the spell work on living trees? turning a forest into a steal wall of sorts?

GM call on this one. It could be argued that living wood of a tree is a complex biological mechanism and may not be transformed.

Tree stumps, can the be transformed into iron obstacles?

Dead stumps, sure. Be careful though, as a stump and its root system can be surprising large, particularly for older trees. Make sure the mage knows how much wood the stump represents... I'd rule it is all or nothing - they shouldn't be able to transform only part of the stump.

What is a reasonable sale price for ironwood material or the service of the spell?

Depends what is made, where, by whom, for whom. WB28 pg 88 - basic Ironwood armor weighing 20lbs is 75-85KCr. You can extrapolate from there.

One idea was to carve wooden coin/tokens then have ironwood cast upon them. They would then use them as currency. The idea was that you could tell the real ones apart from the counterfeit because the real ones are as touch as iron. The only impracticality of it, I can see, is having to cast ironwood so many times.

Ironwood simply makes the coins durable, but does not guarantee authenticity as a form of currency since any mage with the spell could counterfeit the coins. I'd add a mystic mark (PF MoM pg 82) on each coin as a means of authentication. Depending on the strength of the currency (purchase power), exchange rates against other currencies, and market value of PPE, it might be worth it. Just make sure the mint is on a ley line...

Or, prior to transformation, drill a couple holes in the coins so that they can double as plates for armor. That way if people don't see any intrinsic value in the coins as currency, they might retain value as armor material. The coins don't have to be circular - they could be rectangular so as to fit into armor better, perhaps similar in shape to PF Wolfen coinage (Library pg 124).

[darthauthor]

Excellent idea on the coins