jgbrowning
Hero
how much does a pound of each of these cost?
trying to find that info, but not having much luck.
thanks!
joe b.
trying to find that info, but not having much luck.
thanks!
joe b.
Last edited:
mithril and adamantine?
- Thread starter jgbrowning
- Start date
CRGreathouse
Community Supporter
500 gp for mithral; no cost given per pound for adamantine.
jgbrowning
Hero
heh
NOW i see it....
even under the Mitral section.. doh!
any one have suggestions for adamantine?
i cant seem to figure the equation between the items made of mithral and adamantine.
adamantine is only 1000gp more for each armor type... anyone math smarter than me give me help here?
thanks again,
joe b.
NOW i see it....
even under the Mitral section.. doh!any one have suggestions for adamantine?
i cant seem to figure the equation between the items made of mithral and adamantine.
adamantine is only 1000gp more for each armor type... anyone math smarter than me give me help here?
thanks again,
joe b.
Tiefling
First Post
I'm not sure that's possible. Even assuming that adamantine full plate is entirely made of adamantine, to reverse-engineer the price of the metal you'd have to take into account the necessary skill required to work it, plus the armor charging more because he knows the adventurer has lots of dough, etc.
Celebrim
Legend
I general, at least two thirds the cost of anything is the labor, so even when an item made of mithral costs 500 g.p. per lb. do not assume that the mithral itself costs 500 g.p. per lb. Probably the true price for unworked mithral bars and rods is somewhere between 100 g.p. and 200 g.p. per pound (depending largely on whos buying). I'd guess 100 g.p. myself, making it an even progression up from p.p. (ei 100 g.p. = 10 p.p. = 1 m.p)
If we choose a higher number for the cost unworked cost, it would not work correctly as the cost of mithril armor. For instance, the cost of making mithral banded mail is equal to the cost of making masterwork mail plus the cost of making it out of mirthral. Mithral banded mail costs 9250 g.p. and weighs 18 lbs. We will assume that the mithral version is essentially all metal because mithral chain is so light that leather is used only for straps at most. If we make the unworked cost 500 g.p., then > 9000 g.p. of the cost is in the material. This is less than the masterwork surcharge. The situation is worse for mithral full plate costing 10500 g.p. and weighing 25 lbs. because the cost of the raw materials is greater than the cost of the armor.
So I'm guessing that the armorer only pays about 100 g.p. from his supplier for mithral. If an adventurer comes in with 25 lbs. of mithral he picked up in the Tomb of Horrors and wants a suit of masterwork mithral plate mail made, it only drops the price from 10700 g.p. to 8200 g.p. Most of the price is in the (highly skilled) labor, although the armorer, being a sales man, is likely to complain about the cost of obtaining rare oils for quenching and the huge amount of charcoal requried to heat mithral and so forth to disguise what should be obvious - not many people can work mithral and those that can expect to make a decent living.
Just as a guess, I'd say that the raw material cost of adamintium is similar, but that because it is so much harder to work with (literally), the final cost of goods is slightly higher.
Oh, and for the record, an Expert (Blacksmith) with +19 in craft blacksmith working by himself takes about 10 years to make a suit of mithral heavy armor. Considering that historically a suit of steel full plate took about a year to produce, that's not that unrealistic.
If we choose a higher number for the cost unworked cost, it would not work correctly as the cost of mithril armor. For instance, the cost of making mithral banded mail is equal to the cost of making masterwork mail plus the cost of making it out of mirthral. Mithral banded mail costs 9250 g.p. and weighs 18 lbs. We will assume that the mithral version is essentially all metal because mithral chain is so light that leather is used only for straps at most. If we make the unworked cost 500 g.p., then > 9000 g.p. of the cost is in the material. This is less than the masterwork surcharge. The situation is worse for mithral full plate costing 10500 g.p. and weighing 25 lbs. because the cost of the raw materials is greater than the cost of the armor.
So I'm guessing that the armorer only pays about 100 g.p. from his supplier for mithral. If an adventurer comes in with 25 lbs. of mithral he picked up in the Tomb of Horrors and wants a suit of masterwork mithral plate mail made, it only drops the price from 10700 g.p. to 8200 g.p. Most of the price is in the (highly skilled) labor, although the armorer, being a sales man, is likely to complain about the cost of obtaining rare oils for quenching and the huge amount of charcoal requried to heat mithral and so forth to disguise what should be obvious - not many people can work mithral and those that can expect to make a decent living.
Just as a guess, I'd say that the raw material cost of adamintium is similar, but that because it is so much harder to work with (literally), the final cost of goods is slightly higher.
Oh, and for the record, an Expert (Blacksmith) with +19 in craft blacksmith working by himself takes about 10 years to make a suit of mithral heavy armor. Considering that historically a suit of steel full plate took about a year to produce, that's not that unrealistic.
jgbrowning
Hero
good post
1. where did you get your labor cost information? my main concern is that it is from the modern period, not from the medieval period. did it take 2/3 of an items price for labor during the medieval period? its probably a workable number, but im interested anyway....
2. acutally (if im reading the craft skill right) it would only take a +19 blacksmith 224 weeks to make the adamantine heavy armor (DC 18 ... 10+8AC) if he roles average for every roll.. (10. i know its really 10.5 but hey!). Every week he would get 52.2 gp of work done. So to build the standard componant (11500GP)he would need 221 weeks. the masterwork componant (150GP)he would make in 3 weeks so he needs a total of 224 weeks or something like 4.3 years. still one hell of a long time though. and your talking about one hell of a blacksmith as well.. a more common blacksmith wouldn't be able to do it as he'd just keep failing and ruining his material, and i wouldnt assume you'd have that much material to spare.
joe b.
Celebrim said:
1. where did you get your labor cost information? my main concern is that it is from the modern period, not from the medieval period. did it take 2/3 of an items price for labor during the medieval period? its probably a workable number, but im interested anyway....
2. acutally (if im reading the craft skill right) it would only take a +19 blacksmith 224 weeks to make the adamantine heavy armor (DC 18 ... 10+8AC) if he roles average for every roll.. (10. i know its really 10.5 but hey!). Every week he would get 52.2 gp of work done. So to build the standard componant (11500GP)he would need 221 weeks. the masterwork componant (150GP)he would make in 3 weeks so he needs a total of 224 weeks or something like 4.3 years. still one hell of a long time though. and your talking about one hell of a blacksmith as well.. a more common blacksmith wouldn't be able to do it as he'd just keep failing and ruining his material, and i wouldnt assume you'd have that much material to spare.
joe b.
Last edited:
It doesn't matter.
Whether the added value derived primarily from labor or capital, it, av, still accounts for a large degree of the price of any finished good. How that has changed over time is difficult to say. In terms of precious luxery commodities, labor and other productive inputs probably comprise a smaller amount of the cost of a product then in the preindustrial age. But it mass consumer markets where raw, non precious materials have become easier to extract thanks to new tech, the added value quotient has probably gone up.
Whether the added value derived primarily from labor or capital, it, av, still accounts for a large degree of the price of any finished good. How that has changed over time is difficult to say. In terms of precious luxery commodities, labor and other productive inputs probably comprise a smaller amount of the cost of a product then in the preindustrial age. But it mass consumer markets where raw, non precious materials have become easier to extract thanks to new tech, the added value quotient has probably gone up.
The Sigil
Mr. 3000 (Words per post)
Re: heh
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12885
--The Sigil
This came up about 3 months ago in the "Rules" forum. Here ya go. Enjoy.jgbrowning said:
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12885
--The Sigil
jgbrowning
Hero
thanks
thanks for the link, i cant search yet, but i will soon as i become a member.. (will happen soon.
but i do have a few differences with you. mostly its style, of course.
i follow the core rules, and attempt to "reverse engineer" how they got that number. Most of the time, i agree they just "whiped out the rule 0 pen" but i try to stay within what they said, just to help myself maintain internal consistancy easier. ( i dont have more than a handful of house rules).
like a said, its a style difference, but i do appreciate the effort you put into your posts. nice to see it, in fact.
thanks again for the post,
joe b.
thanks for the link, i cant search yet, but i will soon as i become a member.. (will happen soon
.but i do have a few differences with you. mostly its style, of course.
i follow the core rules, and attempt to "reverse engineer" how they got that number. Most of the time, i agree they just "whiped out the rule 0 pen" but i try to stay within what they said, just to help myself maintain internal consistancy easier. ( i dont have more than a handful of house rules).
like a said, its a style difference, but i do appreciate the effort you put into your posts. nice to see it, in fact.
thanks again for the post,
joe b.
jgbrowning
Hero
why i ask
actually the reason why i was asking was to determine how much 1 oz. of adamantine would cost as a material componant. i just broke down and said "1 oz. of adamantine/steel alloy worth 50 gp."
hehe my pen-of-0-power writes again!
joe b.
actually the reason why i was asking was to determine how much 1 oz. of adamantine would cost as a material componant. i just broke down and said "1 oz. of adamantine/steel alloy worth 50 gp."
hehe my pen-of-0-power writes again!
joe b.
