Availability of Mithril

[CWD]

Did the DM tell you right away that he wasn't going to allow the mithral crafting? If he did why did you spend 6 ranks on your smithing skills? If he didn't doesn't he realize that its a little unfair to deny you the ability to make it now?

If I was the DM, I'd let you do it, because quite frankly, its a cool idea and adds depth to the character instead of you just taking more ranks in Spellcraft or Spot.

Maybe you should ask the DM if you can track down some elves and beg them to teach you their secrets. You can get some good role-playing in.

 

[trentonjoe]

I'd ask the DM if your PC could seek out an old, forgotten/lost dwarven mine and search for some ore himself. Get your armor and adventure at the same time. Try to make him see that instead of finding a magic leather armor +2 in the next dungeon, a nice stash of ore would do better. That way the metal is not "cheap" anymore, but bought with blood and sweat and tears.

).

A couple of points I didn't include in my first points, most of which you guys brought up.

1. The last adventure we went on was a mission for an old, large, obviously well financed dwarven clan. We were offered 3,000 gp each. I asked that in exchange for the gold I would do it for enough mithral to make a mithral shirt and a buckler. He led me to believe that this certainly was a possibility. He never actually said yes but I thought I was going to get it.

2. I am an elf.

3. I took the ranks in armorsmithing (elven armor), thinking, incorrectly, that this would be an appropriate skill to have for my purposes.

4. For 7 of the first eight levels I have been wearing an elven armor I kinda made up (ie stole the idea from Dragon 279) that is padded armor in all ways except it is made from leaves. I had multiple oppurtunities to have "better" armor but kept holding out for the mithral shirt.

5. I offered to spend a feat on craft magical arms and armor even though you don't need it to make it.

Basically, I thought I covered most of the role-playing aspects. The DM basically told me I should have taken the +2 leather that was available at one point. Which I didn't take because I thought I was going to be able to make the mithral shirt.

End rant.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Just a tip from a fellow craftsman who'd mug his own granny for some mithril:

Go with a mithril breastplate.

But for what it's worth, I got tired of waiting, too. No mithril from my DM either, so eventually I just told the party mage to enchant the same crappy shirt I had from day one.

Wulf

 

[hong]

Basically, I thought I covered most of the role-playing aspects. The DM basically told me I should have taken the +2 leather that was available at one point. Which I didn't take because I thought I was going to be able to make the mithral shirt.

End rant.

Man, your DM sounds like a hard case. He should see one of the Returns to the ToEE I'm in (I'm playing in two campaigns right now, both of which are doing RttToEE by sheer coincidence). Everyone except me has a mithril shirt. Even the wizard has a mithril shirt, but he wears it only at night to foil assassins. We call it his mithril pyjamas.

 

[Black Omega]

Man, your DM sounds like a hard case. He should see one of the Returns to the ToEE I'm in (I'm playing in two campaigns right now, both of which are doing RttToEE by sheer coincidence). Everyone except me has a mithril shirt. Even the wizard has a mithril shirt, but he wears it only at night to foil assassins. We call it his mithril pyjamas.

Heh I've seen this before. We had a Paladin in one of the games I was in who had a fur lined breastplate specially made as his 'sleeping' armor.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

*shakes head*

You've done more than enough to justify a mithral shirt, guy. Per the PHB, mithral is a marketed item. Sure it's rare. That's why it's expensive. But buy-able, nonetheless. But rather than just trying to buy a mithral shirt, you're trying to make one, which is really cool and a neat twist to your PC.

The fact that you not only took the skill, but were willing to spend a feat to get the shirt (wizards have skills in spades, feats they do not...) tells me that this is a role-playing decision in every sense of the word.

What can be said? You should get to make the shirt. It's as simple as that.

 

[Darkness]

i think it is an exclusive skill for only elves and dwarves.

Elves can make light mithril armor (chain shirt) and dwarves make s heavey armor(half and full plate)

it is not explicitly stated, but in teh DMG under magical items, it is called "elven chain" and "dwarven plate" so i would assume that it would be exclusive to that race...

Only in the example armor types. Check out the special materials, DMG, p. 242 instead.

 

[Jezrael]

"Decaffeinated coffee, it's useless, warm, brown, liquid."

It's not like mithril in D&D is like the mithril in Tolkein's works: a naturally occuring magical ubermetal. It seems to me like (in D&D) it's more like fantasy titanium: a bit stronger, a bit lighter, a bit harder to work, it's not even a magical metal in D&D. Nothing for your DM to get all bent out of shape over. The guy obviously needs to cut down on his caffeine intake. Tell him to switch to decaf.

 

[Taren Nighteyes]

Damn....your DM is being a hard ass about mithril.

I inflate prices in my games, just because I hand out a little too much gold

But mithril....heck, I would allow a character to buy a block of mithril for some outragous price from:

1) Some adventurers who came across it as treasure.

2) As part of an adventure - "Rumors abound of an old dwarven mine, that is now haunted." There might be a mithril block or two down there for the plundering.

3) Hire a merchant to get you that block of mithril. He says "It will cost you....quite a bit." Drop 500 gp on him and say "And 2,500 more when I get the goods"

4) A wizard hires you to get some nifty magical item or spell component and you set YOUR price at "One block of mithril, enough to make a chain shirt."

And all this armour camparison stuff. Hogwash. The armour ratings fo cost and type are just fine overall. Mithril surely isn't anything to complain about!

Taren Nighteyes

 

[Lord Pendragon]

4) A wizard hires you to get some nifty magical item or spell component and you set YOUR price at "One block of mithril, enough to make a chain shirt."

I love this solution the best of all of them. It has everything. It's an adventure hook, provides the mithral, and has the bonus of being believable in any world, no matter what the availability of the stuff is. After all, wizards can commune with the dead and speak with elementals and gods. If anyone can get a line on the Mother Lode, it's a wizard.

I think I may plant seeds for this idea to sprout in my campaign. I have many special materials. Rather than just have them appear, I believe I'll let the PCs hear rumors, then have this wizard show up. Maybe the players will think of it, maybe not, but the idea is so eloquent in its design...