Mithral Towershield?

[calypso15]

Can you have a mithral towershield? I know the entry for towershield says that it's made of wood, and that mithral only applies to things made primarily of metal.

But... consider why a tower shield is wood. Because one made of metal would weigh far too much, right? But one made of mithral would actually be lighter than one made of wood.

If you look at the worst case, a Heavy Wooden Shield weighs 10 lbs. and a Heavy Steel Shield weighs 15. That would (probably) mean that a Steel Tower Shield would weigh 45*1.5 = 67.5 lbs. Mithral weighs half as much, so you end up with a 33.75 lb. shield.

Calypso

 

[rgard]

Can you have a mithral towershield? I know the entry for towershield says that it's made of wood, and that mithral only applies to things made primarily of metal.

But... consider why a tower shield is wood. Because one made of metal would weigh far too much, right? But one made of mithral would actually be lighter than one made of wood.

If you look at the worst case, a Heavy Wooden Shield weighs 10 lbs. and a Heavy Steel Shield weighs 15. That would (probably) mean that a Steel Tower Shield would weigh 45*1.5 = 67.5 lbs. Mithral weighs half as much, so you end up with a 33.75 lb. shield.

Calypso

If one of my players wanted a mithral shield and had the materials and a smith to work it, I wouldn't have a problem with a mithral tower shield.

 

[kjenks]

The PH version of the tower shield is indeed made out of wood, so the special material rules in the DMG don't allow you to create a mithral version of it: "Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected by being partially made of mithral."

But the Races of Stone book has a steel tower shield (which weighs a ton, as you'd expect). This hunk of metal can be re-created in mithral, per the DMG rules and pricing guidelines (+1,000 gp).

===
Mithral: Mithral is a very rare silvery, glistening metal that is lighter than iron but just as hard. When worked like steel, it becomes a wonderful material from which to create armor and is occasionally used for other items as well. Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light. Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from mithral are decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 2, and armor check penalties are lessened by 3 (to a minimum of 0).

An item made from mithral weighs half as much as the same item made from other metals. In the case of weapons, this lighter weight does not change a weapon’s size category or the ease with which it can be wielded (whether it is light, one-handed, or two-handed). Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected by being partially made of mithral. (A longsword can be a mithral weapon, while a scythe cannot be.)
Weapons or armors fashioned from mithral are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.

Mithral has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 15.
===

 

[calypso15]

The PH version of the tower shield is indeed made out of wood, so the special material rules in the DMG don't allow you to create a mithral version of it: "Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected by being partially made of mithral."

But the Races of Stone book has a steel tower shield (which weighs a ton, as you'd expect). This hunk of metal can be re-created in mithral, per the DMG rules and pricing guidelines (+1,000 gp).

Ooh, could you post it's cost and weight?

Calypso

 

[Diirk]

Although when you consider that even a wooden tower shield weighs as much as heavy metal armours, your DM would be justified in saying that a mithral tower shield carries a +9000gp price tag (or the +4000 for medium armour if he wanted to be nice).

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Although when you consider that even a wooden tower shield weighs as much as heavy metal armours, your DM would be justified in saying that a mithral tower shield carries a +9000gp price tag (or the +4000 for medium armour if he wanted to be nice).

Or that normal tower shields are ridiculously over-weighted.

 

[werk]

"just cast tortoise shell"

If you can find a dwarf that will waste that much mithril on a tower shield, more power to you. If your world has copious amount of special materials ("Mithral is a very rare silvery, glistening metal...") then knock yourself out. get horseshoes, belt buckles, and plumbing for your house made while you're at it. I'd say it's DMs call, totally doable IMO, no forbidden by the rules.

What the stats should be tho...
SRD:Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from mithral are decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 2, and armor check penalties are lessened by 3 (to a minimum of 0).
SO, mithril tower shield would be Max Dex Bonus 4, Armor Check Penalty 7, ASF 40%.

Is it worth it?

 

[EPRock]

Why not make it out of Darkwood, Darkwood has the same properties as Mithril, but applies to wooden objects.

 

[Diirk]

Or that normal tower shields are ridiculously over-weighted.

Well, yes, they weigh alot, but then I don't think they were ever designed to be carried in 1 hand while you swung your bastard sword in the other... a more realistic useage of them would be such as the following:

"The concept of the spear phalanx was so central to mass combat that shieldbearers were enlisted to protect them. A shieldbearer is a man whose only job is to plant a tower shield firmly into the ground in front of the spear line to keep enemies from penetrating the line."

taken from http://mu.ranter.net/theory/weapons.html, quite an interesting read.

I'm not quite sure if you think D&D statted them as weighing too much or just that they simply weigh too much, but as far as I can tell from googling, d&d has them about right. Thus I think +4k-9k is fair... thats a whole lot of metal

 

[Scharlata]

Hi!

Can you have a mithral towershield?[...]

According the Races of the Wild, p. 168, Table 7--2: Armor, you can have!

Shield, mithral tower, 1,030 gp, AC +4, MDB +4, ACP -7, ASFC 40%, 50 lb. (but that must be wrong; it should weigh 22,5 lb.).

Enjoy!