Rust - Rustmonsters

[Nail]

Well according to simple Chemistry, Sodiumsalt would be findable as sodiumsalt, sodium(aq) and chlorid(aq) in any Enviroment with water in the "air"... Soi Chemistry Still prevails...

The real question you are struggling with is "What is a metal in D&D?"

A common definition might be: Something that is solid, shiny, bendable, conducts heat (and electricity!) well, and can be made reflective.

Examples would include iron, copper, gold, platnium, silver, mithril, adamantine, cold iron, Pandemonic Silver, Thinaun, Aurorum, Solarian Truesteel, Ysgardian Heartwire, Touchstone metal, Baatorian Green Steel, etc.

Bottom line: Rust monsters aren't good for your metalic equipment, regardless of it's metallic alloy.

 

[Arkhandus]

Yes. In D&D metals are just the kind of stuff average joes would consider 'metal', and a few other things, like the special metals D&D adds, like Baatorian Green Steel or Adamantine. And all metals are subject to rusting attacks in D&D, generally. Similarly, all metals in D&D are considered subject to magnetism effects and such. Just the way it is. Normally chemistry and physics have no place in D&D, the elements and other forces in D&D are just too different.

 

[blargney the second]

Incidentally, we modified rust monsters to have the same effect as rusting grasp - 1d6 damage to an armor's AC bonus.

 

[Unkabear]

D&D relies on a person to suspend their beliefs. If you get down to how a rust monster can rust/corrode a metal how do you justify a Wizard casting Wish? Or even a Cleric Healing someone. Heck the weapon/armor list is ripped out of multiple places in history and in many cases are just an idealized version of the real thing. Does this stop me from having fun? Absolutely not, but mainly because I immerse myself in the story/world and not the realism/physics of it.

 

[MarkB]

Well according to simple Chemistry, Sodiumsalt would be findable as sodiumsalt, sodium(aq) and chlorid(aq) in any Enviroment with water in the "air"... Soi Chemistry Still prevails...

Sodium is a solid metallic substance that corrodes in the presence of oxygen and combusts in the presence of water.

Sodium compounds such as table salt are no more metals than your blood corpuscles are metal just because they're composed of compounds containing iron atoms.

If a rust monster found a lump of sodium that had been kept sufficiently arid not to have seriously reacted with anything, then yes, it could corrode that sodium, because it's a metal. The resulting substance would not be metallic, but would still contain just as much sodium as was present before the rust monster arrived.

 

[Votan]

During a very exciting sesson last night, our party encountered two Rustmonsters...

We quickly realised though, that the Definition of what Metals can be "Rusted" is nonexistent ...

An existing definition would be very welcome (If there is one)..

Our Main Question is/was Can Mithril Rust? Can Adamantine?

Our logical sence and knowledge tells us that things such as Gold and silver should be unaffected by the usual "Rust".. BUT the only other refence about the rust we got other than "metals" is that it also works on Gold and Silver... Hence.. realism is kinda out the window at this point?

Any help would be Greatly Appreciated

It would actually be nice if they could not. One of the strange things in modern D7D is that equipment is more valuable than the player's lives. It is often easier to ressurect the fighter than the re-equip her. This leads to strange and counter intuitive situations.

On the other hand, if a Rust Monster was not able to damage mithril and adamantium, they would be a heck of a lot less scary as critters go -- especially to high level characters. Even a 20th level fighter can dread the rust monster with the illusion cast on it to look like a speedbump monster.

 

[Nail]

One of the strange things in modern D&D is that equipment is more valuable than the player's lives.

Strange, true,...and undesireable, IMHO.