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Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:44 pm
by Glistam
What are all the special, fictional metals that Heroes Unlimited has noted in its books? I'm talking about things that would be sort of like Marvel's "Adamantium" or "Vibranium," or DC's "Nth Metal." The ones that come to my mind are Kisentite (an actual fictional metal), and Flexi-Steel (a fictional alloy made from two real metals).

Kisentite is described in Aliens Unlimited, and Flexi-Steel is described in Villains Unlimited. Are there any others that anyone can think of/remember?

P.S.: In Aliens Unlimited I saw that the Atorians have a special diamond/crystal armor, but I exclude that because it's not a metal. Aliens Unlimited also noted a metal alloy for their Flexible Armor Suit body armors that is almost identical to Flexi-Steel, so I did not include that either.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 1:37 pm
by drewkitty ~..~
since you got all the ones in HU2 that I can remember....

The four dragon god blood metals (PF:D&G) and Black Metal (NB:Nightlands), & Gantrium (CS_TK wars book 1).

Stardust is a maybe. The text says it gives special properties when alloyed with metals.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:47 am
by NMI
drewkitty ~..~ wrote:The four dragon god blood metals (PF:D&G) and Black Metal (NB:Nightlands), & Gantrium (CS_TK wars book 1).

Stardust is a maybe. The text says it gives special properties when alloyed with metals.

However, the user asked about special metals in HEROES UNLIMITED :-)

I know of one or two that are not yet published for HU.
Aliens Unlimited - Naiden [sp?] have a special metal called "Anira Steel" - similar to Kisentite.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:11 am
by wyrmraker
There's the material used in Robotic Endoskeleton in PU2, p83. It's not a metal, but high tech ceramics with a value of 2000 SDC.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:29 pm
by drewkitty ~..~
NMI wrote:
drewkitty ~..~ wrote:The four dragon god blood metals (PF:D&G) and Black Metal (NB:Nightlands), & Gantrium (CS_TK wars book 1).

Stardust is a maybe. The text says it gives special properties when alloyed with metals.

However, the user asked about special metals in HEROES UNLIMITED :-)

I know of one or two that are not yet published for HU.
Aliens Unlimited - Naiden [sp?] have a special metal called "Anira Steel" - similar to Kisentite.

:-P
Since he had named the two fic. metals I knew off the top on my head for HU I proceeded to name the ones from the other PB settings. And since I must of discounted "Anira Steel" as to be a Kisentite knock off it was not in working memory.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:16 am
by NMI
You didn't follow the rules of this game. you lose. off with your head!!!

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 1:17 am
by drewkitty ~..~
That is the Queen of Hearts line.

*goes about the garden painting the roses red*

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:33 pm
by SpiritInterface
In almost all cases fictional special/super metals are either unique to their fictional universe or one of a very small number (2 or 3). Palladium is unique in having what 8-10 or more super metals including whatever the call the basic MDC metal from Rifts.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 3:32 pm
by Glistam
Palladium has multiple fictional universes, and so far in the Heroes Unlimited universe there's only two fictional metals that have been pointed out: Kisentite, and Anira Steel. Doing some more searching has uncovered the following:

  • The planet Goreal, homeworld to the Latrans, has a higher gravitational pull that produces heavy metals similar to Kisentite (Aliens Unlimited, page 88).
  • Xil is a very hot, thermal world home to the Lixilas. The heat of the planet causes pressures to build in its surface, and the ores there are greatly compressed, increasing their density to be a Kisentite-like ore (Aliens Unlimited, pages 125-126).
  • On Pherridax, there are extensive deposits of a metal as strong as Kisentite (Galaxy Guide, page 61). Attempts to mine and collect this metal resulted in the discovery of the native Kaech Ne Tobru.

Interestingly, here's what Aliens Unlimited has to say about Kisentite, on page 153 in the section on the Kisent aliens and their home planet:
Deep within its crust, flows molten rock at temperatures beyond those of other planets. This heat causes pockets of intense pressure to build which eventually explode as violent volcanoes. Within those high pressure areas, are incredible thermal forces that compress the normal metal densities and create incredibly strong substances. Nearly a century ago, the Kisent aliens discovered and perfected the process for forging these metals using high technology (laser forge). As a result, the metal known as Kisentite was named after them.


Even Anira Steel, previously mentioned, is considered to be like Kisentite. Based on the description of Kisentite and the descriptions of these other metals, it seems to me that there aren't 2 or 5 different types of special metal but rather only one. And though it may go by different names (if any name at all), the most common name for it is Kisentite because of the Kisent aliens.

Meanwhile, the Gramercy Island book makes a quick mention of something called "Hypertanium," on page 208. Everything I can find on this metal is contained in that mention:
The wild thrillseeker, now calling herself Undine, was caught and sentenced to 25 years at Gramercy Island, where she has been forced to assume her liquid form and remain trapped inside a hypertanium metal cube too strong for her to break out of. This special device has no seams or weak joints, making it impossible for Undine to escape.


Also in Gramercy Island, the villain Archimedes has created an unpowered metal cloth better than Flexi-steel, called M-Flex (page 114). It mentions that the principle behind M-Flex technology is similar to that in the cybersuit worn by the Legionnaire called the Gauntlet in Century Station, but examining his write-up contains no information at all about the metal specifically, though the suit is noted as being a featureless, inky-black which confers a prowl bonus. That may or may not be related.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:47 pm
by Glistam
wyrmraker wrote:There's the material used in Robotic Endoskeleton in PU2, p83. It's not a metal, but high tech ceramics with a value of 2000 SDC.

Powers Unlimited 2 actually mentions a special metal twice more in the Super Soldier power category.

  • From the Super Soldier Enhancement Table, on page 81 we have Skeletal Plating:
    The character's bones and skull are plated with a nearly unbreakable metal that makes it impossible to break or shatter the hero's bones. Any Hit Point or S.D.C. loss that would normally result in a broken bone is halved, the bone is undamaged; solid as a bar of steel.
  • From the Special Equipment (Optional) Table, on page 85 we have Unbreakable Rope:
    The character has a metal alloy cord which appears to be completely invulnerable to damage. It has the equivalent of an A.R. 19, and 50 S.D.C., so only attacks specifically directed at the rope can hit it, and only rolls to strike that are 20 or higher (with bonuses) actually inflict damage, and even then the damage is half.

This just continues to fit the trend of Palladium's "special metals" simply being extra strong and durable, and not much more to them - except sometimes being more dense/heavy. At least, that's what I've seen here in Heroes Unlimited. As was pointed out, branching outside of Heroes Unlimited opens up a few more metal possibilities, but that's another topic for another time.

Re: Special, Fictional Metal(s)?

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 3:41 pm
by Glistam
Oh, look at this list I found. Now if only there were book and page numbers to go with all these cool things, too.