D&D 5E What would be the hierarchy of materials from weakest to strongest used in both Armor & Weapons?

snickersnax · Oct 23, 2017

Yaarel said:
I understand why you say that.

At the same time, Mithril is a fictional metal with quasi-magical properties. (For what it is worth, I treat steel as also quasi-magical, being ‘alchemical transmutation’ of iron.) The benefit of Mithril is it is both ultralight, yet suprisingly as effective as heavier metal, thus suitable for armor and weapons. I think Mithril deserves some explanation for *why* it behaves this way, but in game, it does..

Light and strong really works well for armor

Yaarel · Oct 23, 2017

snickersnax said:
Light and strong really works well for armor

But a mithril shirt isnt ‘strong’. It is supple.

Cap'n Kobold · Oct 23, 2017

Yaarel said:
But a mithril shirt isnt ‘strong’. It is supple.

All chain mail is pretty supple, but a lighter metal would be more so since it would hang less heavily and move better with the wearer. While significant padding would still be needed underneath it to protect from blows, you'd need less around the shoulders and hips to deal with the weight distribution.

Compare modern butcher's mail with riveted steel chain perhaps?

snickersnax · Oct 23, 2017

Yaarel said:
But a mithril shirt isnt ‘strong’. It is supple.

As [MENTION=6802951]Cap'n Kobold[/MENTION] suggests in his post, suppleness is a quality of chainmail, not mithril. Each tiny link in a mithril shirt is very strong.

Yaarel · Oct 23, 2017

@snickersnax, @kap'n Kobold

But there is no ‘padding’ under a mithril shirt. It is silk-like. And often it is worn as an undershirt.

Somehow this silky metal mesh is able to dampen bludgeoning weapons.

lowkey13 · Oct 23, 2017

*Deleted by user*

snickersnax · Oct 23, 2017

Yaarel said:
@snickersnax, @kap'n Kobold

But there is no ‘padding’ under a mithril shirt. It is silk-like. And often it is worn as an undershirt.

Somehow this silky metal mesh is able to dampen bludgeoning weapons.

I'm not sure how this is significantly different from a regular chain shirt. There is no significant padding in the description of a chain shirt(a layer of cloth). Somehow a regular chain shirt protects against bludgeoning weapons too.

Chain Shirt. Made of interlocking metal rings, a chain
shirt is worn between layers of clothing or leather. This
armor offers modest protection to the wearer’s upper
body and allows the sound of the rings rubbing against
one another to be muffled by outer layers. PHB p. 144

Also not sure where the silky description of mithril is coming from. Small-link chainmail does have a fun feel. I have a swatch of it on my desk that I just love to play with.

Since mithril originally comes from LOtR we might look there for some guidance: [He]held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel.

Almost as supple as linen, not quite silky...

AFAIK: Tolkien only has armor and jewelry and gates made out of mithril.... no weapons

The DMG describes mithril as a light flexible metal. This seems like a poor, vague description of mithril, unless they are using flexible in the sense that spring steel is flexible (ie not brittle).

gyor · Oct 23, 2017

lonsdaleite is harder then diamonds and comes from metorites.

gyor · Oct 23, 2017

Green and Red steel are powerful planar metals.

Yaarel · Oct 23, 2017

snickersnax said:
I'm not sure how this is significantly different from a regular chain shirt. There is no significant padding in the description of a chain shirt(a layer of cloth). Somehow a regular chain shirt protects against bludgeoning weapons too.

Chain Shirt. Made of interlocking metal rings, a chain
shirt is worn between layers of clothing or leather. This
armor offers modest protection to the wearer’s upper
body and allows the sound of the rings rubbing against
one another to be muffled by outer layers. PHB p. 144

Also not sure where the silky description of mithril is coming from. Small-link chainmail does have a fun feel. I have a swatch of it on my desk that I just love to play with.

Since mithril originally comes from LOtR we might look there for some guidance: [He]held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel.

Almost as supple as linen, not quite silky...

AFAIK: Tolkien only has armor and jewelry and gates made out of mithril.... no weapons

The DMG describes mithril as a light flexible metal. This seems like a poor, vague description of mithril, unless they are using flexible in the sense that spring steel is flexible (ie not brittle).

In reallife, a chain armor *always* has padding under it, typically a gambeson (tunic quilted with various padding, such as leather rags and horse hair), but alternatively layers of heavy wool tunics.

At least in my campaigns, ‘chain shirt’ armor includes the ‘padded’ armor by default, just like it includes a ‘helmet’ by default. If for some reason it was lacking, then the chain armor would be defective and the AC would lower, missing the +1 from the padded armor.

But the mithril shirt is something different. It can be worn explicitly without padding. Yet it dampens bludgeoning.