D&D 5E Adamantine Skeleton?

[Elon Tusk]

Hm eventually some homebrew variant of a rust Monster? That would be for a gory death, his Skeleton dissolving and leaving a heap of flesh.

Although the bones aren't effected by the rust unless there are severe wounds exposing them.

Death within a month unless they also have matching regeneration powers.

I have Howlett now as a dwarf with Dwarven Fortitude but am now considering making him a troll or trollkin runt.

Resistance to Bashing.
+1 to AC.
The main benefit of a metal skeleton is having a much harder time breaking bones, and to a much lesser extent having a harder time getting to the soft squishy bits inside your rib cage / shoulder blades because those bones won't shatter. But the skeleton doesn't do anything to stop tissue damage, blood loss, or tender organs getting punctured and leaking vital fluids all over the place. In fact, there's no good reason to give them immunity to critical hits in general, unless the only critical hits you can imagine are broken bones.
So Resistance to Bashing because bones cannot break, and +1 to AC because the bones do provide some minimal protection against weapons penetrating the rib cage / shoulder blades. But even that is stretching things. A bludgeoning hit to the head should still do horrible damage as the brain is smushed by the transfer of force.
Also, you know, the whole horrible death because his skeleton is metal. But I'm guessing you're handwaving that part because "A Wizard Did It."

My reticence to improving AC is that he'd have to take damage before an attack hit the unbreakable bones.

 

[Nytmare]

Hm eventually some homebrew variant of a rust Monster? That would be for a gory death, his Skeleton dissolving and leaving a heap of flesh.

Isn't adamantine a green Underdark crystal? Not adamantium the miracle Marvel metal (can a rust monster still rust stainless steel?). Or did they end up switching it because everyone kept confusing the two anyways.

Beyond that, I'd argue that an adamantine skeleton is going to be pretty hit or miss when it comes to negating crits. For armor, it's supposed to be representing that that it can't be pierced or broken through. His bones wouldn't break, but the meat's still just as squishy. I'd say that it was enchanted, and then pile on whatever bonuses you want, but as for what it would technically do, it would stop him from breaking his arm.

 

[alienux]

I like the idea of resistance to bludgeoning in addition to critical hits being treated as normal.

On a side note, although I don't generally use minis in D&D that often, the Necron Flayed Ones miniatures from WH40k would be great for these creatures (they need assembled and painted like all GW minis, of course):

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Necron-Flayed-One-Pack

 

[Nytmare]

Isn't adamantine a green Underdark crystal?

Looks like the guy running the first game where I was introduced to adamantine either misread something, or homebrewed it. I've been spreading bad info for 20 or 30 years. I've birthed a whole subculture of nerds out here who think that adamantine is an iridescent, nearly black, emerald green crystal.

 

[Caliban]

Isn't adamantine a green Underdark crystal? Not adamantium the miracle Marvel metal (can a rust monster still rust stainless steel?). Or did they end up switching it because everyone kept confusing the two anyways.

In D&D Adamantine has traditionally been a black metal.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Let's say I have a dwarf barbarian NPC that has an adamantine skeleton (and adamantine spikes embedded into his hands).

How would you handle an adamantine skeleton?
Adamantine armor is supposed to make any critical hits into normal hits (that works), but that doesn't sound like enough of a benefit on its own.

Adamantine armor would normally give an AC bonus, but as a skeleton it doesn't seem like it would increase AC because it wouldn't prevent tissue damage.

I would just leave it as crit negation. The hits still hurt, you just don't feel them as deeply. or in other words you don't feel them in your bones. Half the benefit of the actual suit of armor seems appropriate to me.

 

[abirdcall]

Death within a month unless they also have matching regeneration powers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using EN World mobile app

Well bones act as storage for minerals and nutrients as well as a factory to produce blood cells.

Tendons must also be able to attach to them to allow for the function of skeletal muscle.

So if we're being realistic about it Wolverine would just be dead (not even considering how much it would actually weigh) healing factor or no healing factor.

 

[Caliban]

Well bones act as storage for minerals and nutrients as well as a factory to produce blood cells.

Tendons must also be able to attach to them to allow for the function of skeletal muscle.

So if we're being realistic about it Wolverine would just be dead (not even considering how much it would actually weigh) healing factor or no healing factor.

Healing factor magically provides all that. For reasons.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using EN World mobile app

 

[Elon Tusk]

Isn't adamantine a green Underdark crystal? Not adamantium the miracle Marvel metal (can a rust monster still rust stainless steel?). Or did they end up switching it because everyone kept confusing the two anyways.

Beyond that, I'd argue that an adamantine skeleton is going to be pretty hit or miss when it comes to negating crits. For armor, it's supposed to be representing that that it can't be pierced or broken through. His bones wouldn't break, but the meat's still just as squishy. I'd say that it was enchanted, and then pile on whatever bonuses you want, but as for what it would technically do, it would stop him from breaking his arm.

For a rust monster, "Any nonmagical weapon made of metal that hits the rust monster corrodes. "
From XGtE, "Adamantine is an ultrahard metal found in meteorites and extraordinary mineral veins. In addition to being used to craft adamann'ne armor, the metal is also used for weapons."
And from the DMG, "ADAMANTINE ARMOR (Armor...uncommon) This suit of armor is reinforced with adamantine, one of the hardest substances in existence. While you're wearing it, any critical hit against you becomes a normal hit."
So it is a metal and not magical unless made into a magical suit of armor.
So it seems adamantine, like stainless steel, would be corroded by a rust monster.

I'd argue adamantine skeleton would prevent critical hits, accounting for bones not being pierced or broken.

I like the idea of resistance to bludgeoning in addition to critical hits being treated as normal.

On a side note, although I don't generally use minis in D&D that often, the Necron Flayed Ones miniatures from WH40k would be great for these creatures (they need assembled and painted like all GW minis, of course):

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Necron-Flayed-One-Pack

I modified a HeroClix Wolverine.

 

[dco]

When you are raised like a skeleton you get the natural armor, resistances and immunities of an adamantine golem plus resistance to magical piercing weapons.