Rules for special materials in clothing?

[javcs]

One of my players recently approached me about getting tougher footwear - he wants to know if he can get, for example, mithral or adamantine soles for his boots, and if possible, using mithral or adamantine threads woven into the rest of the boots.

Are there rules somewhere for using special materials in clothing?

I suppose the reason he wants them is that, well, special materials tend to stand up better than leather when you try and walk through acid puddles - they've lost quite a few pairs of boots doing that, and now that they're in a major metropolis, he wants to get more durable footwear.

 

[Shin Okada]

I don't know any particular special material rule regarding boots. But Hardening spell (Spell Compendium) and Matter Manipulation power (Expanded Psionics Handdbook) both increase an item's hardness. And hardness is effective against both weapon damages and energy damages in general.

 

[irdeggman]

Admantine specifically can't be used that way.

DMG

"Item without metal parts cannot be made from adamantine. . . .Only weapons, armor and shields normally made of metal can be fashioned from adamantine."

It might be possible for mithral though since other items can be crafted with it at a cost of +500 gp/lb. It does need to be worked like steel though. See desciptive text for the material "When worked like steel,. . ."

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Any acid resistance he gained at all, from armor or spell effect, etc... would also protect all his gear.

 

[javcs]

So adamantine boots are out, but I'm sure he'll make do with mithral.

Right now, I'm going to ad hoc it at +750gp/lb of the item for weaving mithral into an item of clothing in such a way to gain its benefits. He'll also have to find someone who can actually make such an item first, but it might actually pay off.

True, magical resistance would protect the boots, but, my players know me well enough, and their opponents are smart enough, that relying on magic isn't always a guaranteed protection, nor is it even always a good idea in some cases. Acid was also the only thing he mentioned to me, but I'm pretty sure that he also expects that they may have to walk through other hazardous materials at some point. And he's probably right.
Also, it's out of the box thinking, and I like to reward that in my players.

 

[irdeggman]

IMO he should probably be thinking of ways to get around such areas instead of having to walk through them constantly.

Ropes, slings, climbing gear - things like that would probably be much more useful overall IMO.

 

[prospero63]

IMO he should probably be thinking of ways to get around such areas instead of having to walk through them constantly.

Ropes, slings, climbing gear - things like that would probably be much more useful overall IMO.

Dunno... We have a DM that's kind of a one trick pony about these kinds of things. Ogres with spiked chains and improved trip. Figure out how to deal with that, then it's the new one trick pony. Level draining for everyone. Get protections for that. Ability scores baby!! Get that fixed... Psionics. Yay. Get that fixed. How about some Reciprocal Gyres for everyone. It almost becomes comical in the sense that you know that until as players we figure out a way to get past whatever the current trick is, everyone we run up against seems to have that ability, but then once we get past it, some new trick is waiting in the wings...

If folks are having to look at infusing adamantium threads into their boots (can you even make thread like that), you might be in a bit of a rut.

On the subject of the mithral, I wouldn't see that working as thread. It would, IMO need to be metal boots (ala boots from full plate) being made... which would probably incur a penalty of some sort to sneaky type moves...

Your ad-hoc cost seems fair enough to me though.

 

[javcs]

Dunno... We have a DM that's kind of a one trick pony about these kinds of things. Ogres with spiked chains and improved trip. Figure out how to deal with that, then it's the new one trick pony. Level draining for everyone. Get protections for that. Ability scores baby!! Get that fixed... Psionics. Yay. Get that fixed. How about some Reciprocal Gyres for everyone. It almost becomes comical in the sense that you know that until as players we figure out a way to get past whatever the current trick is, everyone we run up against seems to have that ability, but then once we get past it, some new trick is waiting in the wings...

If folks are having to look at infusing adamantium threads into their boots (can you even make thread like that), you might be in a bit of a rut.

On the subject of the mithral, I wouldn't see that working as thread. It would, IMO need to be metal boots (ala boots from full plate) being made... which would probably incur a penalty of some sort to sneaky type moves...

Your ad-hoc cost seems fair enough to me though.

I don't think I'm a one-trick pony - it's just that in certain environments, some hazards will be more common than others.

There's a reason I asked - I didn't think it was covered in the rules anywhere, but I haven't memorized all of them yet.

The loosing boots was kind of a running joke for a while. It doesn't happen regularly, probably averages out to about once or twice every level. The player who asked is a particularly paranoid one, who is laying groundwork preparations for going into the Abyss. Next he's probably going to ask me about tougher grappling hooks and tougher ropes.

I was planning to include a bonus when tracking someone wearing the boots - they're going to be pretty distinctive tracks, I've considered a penalty against Move Silently, but hadn't quite decided on it yet.
I'm not going to make too many changes if he only goes for mithral-laced boots, but when he starts looking at lacing mithral into pants, shirts, and jackets, then, I'm going to have to add more penalties. Probably at a certain point, it'll start counting as wearing light armor.

 

[taliesin15]

Pretty eclectic kind of problem here--one thing I would be keen on as DM is that some kind of special material employed in making such boots might require a higher DC, which in turn would probably require an Expert with a number of ranks in Craft: Cobbler. Which can be easily found in any town or city IMC.

One further suggestion I would have for a special material is maybe the hide or skin of a monster impervious to acid attacks, say Green Dragon hide?

A further consideration is whatever is chosen some attention (this is maybe a bit technical) should be paid to whether the texture of the soles is appropriate to all surfaces--it seems to me some of the things mentioned seem a bit slippery.

Also, the initial suggestion of weaving mithral in with normal hide leather seems to me to require a high DC for the Cobbler in question--now using mithril spikes one regular boots (like football cleats/boots) that doesn't seem all that technically difficult. But weaving two tough materials together?!

 

[prospero63]

I don't think I'm a one-trick pony - it's just that in certain environments, some hazards will be more common than others.

Yep, my bad for the implication. I meant that less about you and more about him and a cautionary tale to be wary of.

The loosing boots was kind of a running joke for a while. It doesn't happen regularly, probably averages out to about once or twice every level. The player who asked is a particularly paranoid one, who is laying groundwork preparations for going into the Abyss. Next he's probably going to ask me about tougher grappling hooks and tougher ropes.

Hehe. Yeah, we had a guy get his legged lopped off once and he was upset that, with a near TPK on the line, no one got his leg and he lost his magic uber-boot (since you have to have both).

I was planning to include a bonus when tracking someone wearing the boots - they're going to be pretty distinctive tracks, I've considered a penalty against Move Silently, but hadn't quite decided on it yet.

I'd definitely look to do all of that personally.

I'm not going to make too many changes if he only goes for mithral-laced boots, but when he starts looking at lacing mithral into pants, shirts, and jackets, then, I'm going to have to add more penalties. Probably at a certain point, it'll start counting as wearing light armor.

Yep, that's the only real concern I would have, the old slippery slope. Starts off with just boots, then they want to wear mithral clothes... well, those are called "chain maille"