Darkwood
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Darkwood is a fictional material from the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. It is as hard as mundane wood, but is very light. Its appearance is never described, but presumably it is very dark brown in colour, possibly even black, but is otherwise is identical to other woods.
Because so little is revealed about darkwood, it can be conjectured that it was added as an afterthought to the 3.0 version of D&D, possibly as a material comparable to mithril that could be used by druids (who are prohibited from using metal armour or shields).
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[edit] Origin
The origin of darkwood is never described in the Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks, except that it is magical in nature. Presumably it comes from a "darkwood" tree, but whether this is a coniferous, broad-leafed, or even some other variety of plant is unknown. It may occur naturally, or may be the product of careful tending by druids or fey creatures. It is also possible that it comes from the Underdark, as its magical nature may allow it to survive the sunless realm.
[edit] Game Mechanics
Darkwood items weigh half as much as normal wooden items of the same type. Only items made entirely or primarily of wood (such as a spear, shield, or wagon) benefit from this reduced weight. Items not normally made of wood or only partially of wood (such as platemail or a battleaxe) either cannot be made from darkwood or do not gain any special benefit from being made of darkwood. Darkwood items are always considered to be of masterwork quality.
Darkwood has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 5, which is identical to mundane wood. As an optional rule, darkwood takes normal damage from fire, and is immune to cold damage. Standard rules state that most objects take half damage from fire and one-quarter damage from cold.
[edit] Armour
The armour check penalty of a darkwood shield is lessened by 2, as its lighter weight creates less encumbrance.
[edit] Cost
To determine the price of a darkwood item, first find the item's original weight (as if it were made of normal wood), and add 10 gp per pound to the cost of a masterwork version of that item. For example, a normal masterwork tower shield costs 180 gp and weighs 45 lbs, so a darkwood tower shield would cost 630 gp (180 + [45 x 10]) and weigh 22.5 lbs.
