Compendium: Common Metals and Minerals

The following information is taken from Metals and Minerals by Free Marcher academic Clayton Reisinger. Lyrium is not discussed in this book.

History & Usage

Industrial Use

Metals

1. Iron
Iron is the most common and abundant metal. It generally gets the job done, though it is prone to breaking under stress.
Coloration: gray.
2. Grey Iron
Slightly sharper and has a bit more bite than iron. Used in Antivan weapons for cutting through overgrown forests.
Coloration: matte-gray (no luster).
3. Steel
Similar in abundance as iron, though a bit more difficult to smith and mold. It holds up tougher than iron, which means things smithed with this metal will often cost more.
Coloration: blue-gray.
4. Veridium
Whereas other blades become near-untouchable in colder conditions, veridium seems to be unaffected by outside temperatures. This is useful for explorers and adventurers, though terrible for smithing. Avvar have developed chiseling techniques to work with the metal, which is a near necessity since otherwise metallic weapons would be impossible to use where they live.
Coloration: gray-green.
5. Red Steel
Rarer, though commonly used by the Templar Order for hunting demons.
Coloration: dark red.
6. Silverite
Difficult to sculpt, the smithing techniques to treat this metal are secrets of Orzammar's smith caste. It has a tremendously sharp edge. Legend says that it was useful against werewolves long, long ago.
Coloration: silver.
7. White Steel
Popular amongst the Legion of the Dead in the Deep Roads, they often have their weapons smithed using this material. It is particularly effective against those alien creatures down there.
Coloration: white.
8. Dragonbone
Though not truly a metal, it is tougher than almost any metal found throughout Thedas. If they even truly exist, the Dragon Teeth presumably would've been made from this material.
Coloration: white-yellow.
9. Starmetal
A rarity, to say the least. It is only found in meteorites, which rarely fall from the skies above Thedas.
Coloration: electric blue.

Enchanted weaponry can only be made out of Red Steel, White Steel, Dragonbone, or Starmetal.

Minerals

In the smithing process, someone who has been trained in rune-etching can imbue armors with certain additional properties. Rune-etching is a non-trivial task which requires creating runes inside the layers of metal or leather as they are being put to the forge. Physically, each rune is made using a single type of mineral.
One known rune-etcher was Garrod Arantheal.
Note: The following listings are D&D 5e mechanical abstractions of how rune-etching works in Thedas. The dice and number (i.e. 1d4) represents how much less damage someone would take if they were wearing armor rune-etched with that mineral. A color is also associated as to what color the armor itself will be tinted.

Lightning Resistance

These are often found in stormy and rainy environments.

1. Blue Vitriol (1d2)
Locations: Ferelden's Storm Coast or Fallow Mire.
Coloration: dark gray.
2. Lazurite(1d4)
Locations: Orlais' deserts, namely the Hissing Wastes or the Western Approach, which are occasionally hit with lightning storms (though no rain comes from these storms).
Coloration: royal blue.
3. Paragon's Luster(1d6)
Locations: Dark, flooded caverns.
Coloration: light gray, silver.
4. Stormheart (1d8)
Locations: Underwater caverns found off of Rivaini's coastline (be wary of the Drowners of Rialto Bay!)
Coloration: gold.

Fire Resistance

These are generally found in warm environments. Those particularly unbearable seem to be host to even finer forms of these minerals.

1. Drakestone (1d2)
Locations: Ferelden's Hinterlands.
Coloration: orange, bronze.
2. Summer Stone (1d4)
Locations: Antiva's beaches.
Coloration: light brown, copper.
3. Pyrophite (1d6)
Locations: Orzammar
Coloration: pink, reddish copper.
4. Dawnstone (1d8)
Locations: the Deep Roads
Coloration: red.

Cold Resistance

These can be found in cold, usually snowy, locales.

1. Serpentstone (1d2)
Locations: Free Marches'/Kirkwall's Vinmark Mountains.
Coloration: yellow.
2. Serault Infused Glass (1d4)
Locations: Caverns throughout Orlais' Emprise du Lion
Coloration: green.
3. Everite (1d6)
Locations: Found in high, high-elevation mountains such as the Frostback Mountains.
Coloration: purple.
4. Nevarrite (1d8)
Locations: On the rare occasion, it washes on the shores of Cumberland, Nevarra.
Coloration: silver, blue.

Psychic Resistance

This type of mineral is incredibly rare. The few reports that the author of this book was able to gather were from Templar publicized documents.

1. Fade Quartz (1d8)
Locations: Areas where there are/have been great numbers of demons.
Coloration: cream.

Type

Ore/Mineral