Adamantine weapons

[STARP_JVP]

The DMG says you can only make adamantine weapons out of weapons ordinarily made of metal. To me, this makes no sense. Why couldn't you have an adamantine quarterstaff? A quarterstaff is basically just a stick. You get the adamantine, hammer it into a six-foot long, two-inch wide cylinder, and BAM, you have an adamantine quarterstaff. Doesn't that rule suck major donut? Am I the only one who thinks so? Am I ranting? I'm ranting, aren't I? I need sedation...

 

[Kwitchit]

Try wielding a solid iron rod like a quarterstaff. It's too heavy. It would end up being used more like a blunt spear (in which case why not put a point on it?) or a 2-handed mace (which is a Greatclub)
Admittedly, there are iron-shod quarterstaves (with iron tips), but if you hit something that is tough enough to have DR/adamantine with one, the wooden bit will shatter.

Also, there are practical gaming reasons. The price scaling for adamantine assumes that the base weapon is metal. Non-metal weapons are a lot cheaper, but require more adamantine. So you need a new mechanic...

 

[cattoy]

Volume for volume, aluminum is heavier than ash or maple. (woods commonly used in baseball bats)

Yet, we have aluminum baseball bats. They're hollow. (they also break less often than their wooden counterparts)

You could make an adamantium quarterstaff if it was hollow. Depending on how much of it was air, and the density of adamantium, relative to wood, it should be possible to make one that had exactly the same weight and balance as a wooden quarterstaff.

 

[Kisanji Arael]

Or more common in medeival times would be to have the wooden staff plated with adamantine.

Cum nefas et candore,
CLKC

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Either of the 2 previous suggestions requires at least one other assumption.

You could make an adamantium quarterstaff if it was hollow.

Assumption #1 Adamantine is common enough to work into large tubes.
Assumption #2 Adamantine is ductile enough to work into a tube.

Or more common in medeival times would be to have the wooden staff plated with adamantine.

Assumption #1 Adamantine can be worked onto a wooden surface in such a way as to not damage the underlying wood.

I don't know what your campaign rules are for how ductile Adamantine is, or how hot it has to be to work it, or even how plentiful it is, etc.

But consider...the aluminum bat is a product of modern manufacturing techniques. And there are other metals we COULD use to make bats, but its just not feasible to do so.

 

[cattoy]

Either of the 2 previous suggestions requires at least one other assumption.



Assumption #1 Adamantine is common enough to work into large tubes.
Assumption #2 Adamantine is ductile enough to work into a tube.

Well, they let you make platemail out of adamantium, parts of which (bracers and greaves) are essentially tubes.

 

[Bad Paper]

I'm a big fan of getting adamantine weapons for my PCs, and my latest PC has a longspear. What to do about making it adamantine? I mean, sure, I can do that to the tip, but it will still be made mostly of wood and therefore too easy to sunder. How would you create an adamantine longspear with a long thin shaft (or tang, or whatever you call it), and then maybe some wooden grips along it to help you wield it? Does this seem reasonable?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

cattoy
Well, they let you make platemail out of adamantium, parts of which (bracers and greaves) are essentially tubes.

Yes- very thin, lightweight tubes that don't depend on mass to be functional.

A lightweight quarterstaff would be virtually useless- it needs mass to do its damage. Otherwise, its a wiffle-weapon.

 

[Jack Simth]

Yes- very thin, lightweight tubes that don't depend on mass to be functional.

A lightweight quarterstaff would be virtually useless- it needs mass to do its damage. Otherwise, its a wiffle-weapon.

That aspect would be simple enough to fix - the ends could be weighted, the curled sheets composing the tube could be made thicker, another rod of appropriet weight and length could be slid inside....

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And what is the tube's diameter going to be?

A breastplate, bracer or greave is going to have a circumference 2"+ greater than a quarterstaff (I can wrap my hands around my quarterstaff, but not around my wrist). If you make a tube the same curvature of a bracer or greave, it will be quite difficult to grip.

THEN you'll have to rivet it to the wooden staff inside.

I'm not saying its impossible...but I'm having difficulty imagining the smith who'd agree to taking the job.

Let me back up and say that I'm an amateur jeweler, so I get to deal with all kinds of metals. There are people out there who are now making jewelry out of titanium, tungsten, rhodium, purple gold (yes, purple) and all kinds of unusual metals. However, to do so requires special equipment, high temperature forges and torches and so forth. Additionally, some jobs simply can't be done with certain metals...they're too brittle. They require too much heat. They fracture. They unbend.