DSA/The Dark Eye: Can Mages use bronze?

[deuxhero]

I'm starting to look into DSA proper (instead of just the games based on it). While reading the rules I noticed that every time the magic penalties are mentioned it only ever says "iron" or "steel", not metal. Is this a translation artifact? Is there any bronze wearing battle mages in the setting? I saw that restrictions on arms and armor are also enforced by guilds, but that wouldn't apply to witches, (half-)elves or guildless mages anyways.

 

[mondblut]

Well, in Realms of Arkania mages can use silver shields I think.

 

[RatTower]

The german version of the magic guide ("Wege der Zauberei") says "Alle Rüstungsstücke aus geschmiedeten, gegossenen, gehämmerten Metallen, also solche aus Eisen/Stahl, Bronze und Messing, behindern den Zauberkundigen in der Ausübung seiner Magie" (page 31)

Meaning, all armor made of forged, cast or hammered metals, such as iron/steel, bronze or brass interfere with the practice of magic.

 

[Snorkack]

In the german fifth edition, RAW indeed only name iron as a forbidden material. There hasn't yet been any game aid, rule book or errata that changes things. In VR3 Aventuria Magic, there's also a new perk "Kein Bann des Eisens" that only ever explicitly mentions iron (and the fact that you can completely ignore negative effects when wearing iron as a caster with that perk).

Anyways, most DSA 5 groups I know of still continue banning all forged and casted metals for magicians, like it used to be in the editions before.

Is there any bronze wearing battle mages in the setting?

No, mages are usually required to wear the gowns that identify them as members of their respective guilds.

 

[deuxhero]

Was carrying coins a problem for mages in older editions?

Snorkack
I knew about the dress code, but as mentioned in the first post "Guildless Mage" is explicitly a thing in the core book, as are other traditions that (as far as I can see) don't follow said rules.

 

[Snorkack]

Was carrying coins a problem for mages in older editions?

At least in 4.1, only armor, weapons and shackles have rules for hurting a caster's abilities. Metals that are explicitly mentioned are iron, steel, bronze and brass; so coins wouldn't be an issue anyways as they are made of copper, silver and gold.
Pre 4 rules I don't know as I lack the source books atm.

I knew about the dress code, but as mentioned in the first post "Guildless Mage" is explicitly a thing in the core book, as are other traditions that (as far as I can see) don't follow said rules.

Ah, right, didn't catch that. Anyways, a mage armoured with brass is afaik unprecedented in the TDE canon. Rules-wise he would be pretty lackluster, too, I think. But that's a different topic.

 

[deuxhero]

Thanks.

Random other DSA question: Can the salander spell turn a human into a different human (particularly with the SEs that allow the result to be the same size and retain full memories)? The spell only says the resulting creature must be smaller and lighter and not be a magical or supernatural creature, though the examples make it clear it was meant to turn people into animals.

Edit: Nevermind. One adventure has a man transformed into an Ogre this way, so it's absolutely possible to make someone into a non-animal.