Adamantite Bypassing DR?

[Caliban]

Which Sage ruling are you guys referring to, I haven't seen any comments from him on this....??

I e-mailed him specifically about the adamantite thing several months ago, and he said that you needed a magical enhancement bonus to bypass DR. You also need a magica enhancement bonus before you can a special weapon abilities to an adamanite weapon.

Adamantite really only makes it harder to break your weapon, and still has bonus in antimagic areas. *shrug*

 

[Hejdun]

First,

From what I know about "The Sages" rulings I have made up my mind that a reference to him is not a valid argument.

I 100% agree with this. The Sage isn't reliable, and our group completely and utterly ignores whatever he says.

Our group discussed this, and we agreed that adamantine weapons break through DR. It isn't worth the extra cost otherwise.

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

Concretebuddha, if you check the SRD under special abilities, you will see nothing that says anything like "nonmagical weapons do not bypass DR." In fact, if you read carefully, you will even see that it does not limit the bypassing of DR strictly to nonmagical weapons, and explicitly says that "a certain type of weapon—usually a magic weapon" can overcome DR. And indeed, the word "nonmagical" isn't even mentioned anywhere near the DR section, and only mentioned twice on the page (under the "extraordinary abilities" and "incorporeality" sections).

Read the MM, on page 10, under the heading: "Damage Reduction."

Then get back to me.

 

[FANGO]

No, because I don't own an MM

However, the SRD, under the special abilities section, which has been released under the OGL, doesn't say anything about nonmagical weapons.

 

[Caliban]

No, because I don't own an MM

However, the SRD, under the special abilities section, which has been released under the OGL, doesn't say anything about nonmagical weapons.

However, the SRD does state:

Usually, a certain type of weapon—usually a magic weapon—can overcome this reduction.

And the Damage Reductioin Ranking table in the SRD is here:

Table: Damage Reduction Rankings

Power 		Rank	Weapon Type
-----		----	-----------
Best		+5	enhancement bonus
2nd best	           +4	enhancement bonus
3rd best	           +3	enhancement bonus
4th best	          +2 	enhancement bonus
5th best	           +1	enhancement bonus
Weakest		Silver, mithral, or other special material

*shrug* I think that adamantite would fall under "other special material."

 

[Cloudgatherer]

Ah, but you must include the relevant table from adamantine!

[color=blue]
Enhancement					Market Price
Item					Bonus	Modifier
-----------				-----	------------
Light armor				+1	+2,000 gp
Medium armor				+2	+5,000 gp
Heavy armor				+3	+10,000 gp
Shield					+1	+2,000 gp
Weapon damage 1d4 or 1d6		+1	+3,000 gp
Weapon damage 1d8, 1d10, or 1d12	+2	+9,000 gp

[/color]

Seems to me an adamantine weapon does in fact have a +2 bonus, which falls into the "3rd best" category.

I'd still contend a natural enhancement bonus is still an enhancement bonus, just as natural armor is a form of armor.

 

[AGGEMAM]

And that list is from the special materials section is it not?

 

[FANGO]

Is "silver" in the special materials section of the creating magic items section of the DMG? No, it's not. Does that mean it's not a special material? Of course not.

The "special materials" in the creating magic items section and the "special materials" in the DR section are two completely different things. This has already been discussed. What has not been discussed is that adamantine gives an enhancement bonus, and enhancement bonuses are needed to overcome DR, so therefore adamantine overcomes DR. This cannot be disputed, as it is precisely what the rules state, and any argument against adamantine overcoming DR that does not refute this point will be insufficient for showing that adamantine doesn't overcome DR. In other words, adamantine can bypass DR.

Adamantine may be a "special material", but it also has a +2 enhancement bonus. That is all there is to it. And the reason I quoted the "usually a magic weapon" quote in the first place was to show that no, a magical weapon is not needed to overcome DR, as some people in this thread have said.

 

[AGGEMAM]

Is "silver" in the special materials section of the creating magic items section of the DMG?

No, it's in the special materials section in the PHB !!!!!

Special material are special materials anyway you look at it.

One day you too shall see the light !!

 

[HeavyG]

No, it's in the special materials section in the PHB !!!!!

Special material are special materials anyway you look at it.

That's completely irrelevant.

Even if adamantite is a special material, it also has an enhancement bonus which could (or could not) bypass the DR.

Or are you saying that a +2 silver longsword wouldn't be able to hit something with 20/+1 DR ? Because it's also made of special materials ? Nope.

The only thing that's relevant here is the definition of DR. Is the part about needing magical weapons flavor text or rules ? Is a natural enhancement bonus different from a normal plain old enhancement bonus ? It seems to me that you can interpret it both ways.