Adamantine Arrows?

[Loren Pechtel]

After reading the thread on adamantine on here I got to thinking. Consider arrowheads made of adamatine but not bearing any enchantments. They would be +2 arrows. However, these arrowheads would be hard enough that it would be very unlikely they would be damaged by being fired. The arrow might very well be unusable but normally you would recover the head which could be fitted to a new arrow.

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

You have just made my day. My archer loves you now. *sigh*

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

"this ultrahard metal adds to the quality of a weapon or suit of armor based on how much of the material is used." ---DMG pg. 242

I would be hard pressed to explain how my arrowheads have more metal in them than my daggers. Maybe you could get a +.08 enchantment?

Bad Loren! Bad Loren! You brought out the twink in me...never do it again!

 

[FANGO]

Well, first of all the mechanics of adamantine (-tite, -tium, whatever) in the game are very strange, because one would think that the density, or the adamantine:steel (or whatever else) ratio would determine the enhancement bonus, rather than the amount that is used. However, even by these strange rules an arrow would still get a +2 enhancement (for a longbow at least), because it does 1d8 damage. In our group we have just houseruled it that you can get a max of +3 on armor, max of +2 on weapons, and you get however much you pay for, irregardless of the type of item you are making out of adamantine.

And that is an excellent idea with the recovering the heads thing...I will have to use that :-D

 

[Xarlen]

Considering how the metal is supposed to be like, heavy, wouldn't the arrows be weighted badly?

 

[Crothian]

Considering how the metal is supposed to be like, heavy, wouldn't the arrows be weighted badly?

You can then make smaller, thinner arrowheads then.

 

[FANGO]

Not only that, but steel is also heavy, and items made of steel and adamantite have no difference in weight...so I don't think that it would be too much of a problem.

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

However, even by these strange rules an arrow would still get a +2 enhancement (for a longbow at least), because it does 1d8 damage.

Okay I'll whip out my rules lawyer to counter the above argument:

1) Arrows do not deal 1d8 or 1d6 damage. The chart on pg. 99 of the PHB shows arrows as doing no damage. Therefore, adamantine arrows do not gain an enhancement bonus from adamantine when projected from a bow.

2) In the DMG, pg. 183, arrows are treated as ammunition for purposes of ranged combat, not as ranged weapons, and therefore would not gain a benefit from adamantine, as it only affects weapons and armor.

3) If used as a melee weapon (pg. 97 PHB), arrows are tiny weapons and deal 1d4 damage, which would give them a +1 enhancement bonus only if the whole arrow was made out of adamantine. The descriptions of both the adamantine dagger and battleaxe say that the weapons are made out of adamantine, not adamantine and another material (such as wood or steel).

4) Since the entire weapon has to be made out of adamantine, (which has the same weight as steel) if your DM allows steel arrows to fly, then your DM is a dolt. That is the same DM that will allow adamantine clubs and whips.

 

[Michael Carter]

Considering how the metal is supposed to be like, heavy, wouldn't the arrows be weighted badly?

Adamantite doesn't weigh an more or less than other metals. Although you could get that impression by the nature of the substance it never mentions it being heavy in the DMG.

 

[AGGEMAM]

ConcreteBuddha is correct.

An arrow is not a weapon but a projectile unless it is used as a melee weapon.

So an adamantine arrow would have a natural enhancement bonus of +1 but only when it is used as a melee weapon, and not when firing from a bow.