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Looking at the special materials section, it looks like a Darkwood shield is substantially better than a mithral one. Both have a 0 armor-check penalty, and no Max-Dex bonus. But is there something I'm missing?
Darkwood Pros:
Much cheaper (257gp vs. 1020gp for a heavy shield)
2.5 pounds lighter
Resistant to rust monsters
Mithral Pros:
Treated as silver against DR
More durable
Cannot burn (but I'm not exactly sure if/when that would have an in-game effect...)
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Mithral gets ride of the Arcane Spell Failure of a Light Steel Shield or Buckler completely, which is handy for arcane spell casters as the shield can be used without proficiency since there isn't an armor check penalty to stop them.
Plus there are different times when your going to have access to different materials.
Darkwood can not be used for heavy shields.
Sure it can. "Any wooden or mostly wooden item" can, and a heavy wooden shield is on the equipment list.
The only mithral advantage that the OP missed was the one Morgan pointed out -- arcane spell failure. Which only matters to arcane spellcasters, of course. The counterpart class-specific advantage is that druids get to use darkwood, but not mithral.
You can shield bash a lycanthrope with a mithral shield and bypass DR. Just sayin'...
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Not sure about that. By RAW, it might be treated exactly like Enhancement Bonuses on a Shield. The Enhancment for AC and for Attack are seperate. You might have to do that with a Shield as well, not that Mithral actually has a mechanical use in combat. The cost of a Mithral Weapon is differen than Shields.
Of course, that is RAW which doesn't have anything to do with logic or common sense. . .
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Not sure about that. By RAW, it might be treated exactly like Enhancement Bonuses on a Shield. The Enhancment for AC and for Attack are seperate. You might have to do that with a Shield as well, not that Mithral actually has a mechanical use in combat. The cost of a Mithral Weapon is differen than Shields.
While I'd agree with you in the case of adding shield-spikes, (i.e. needing to buy mithral spikes to overcome DR) - Shields count as weapons when you are shield-bashing and I quote: "Mithral weapons count as silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction."
Is there anything in the game where wood overcomes the DR?
Not sure about that. By RAW, it might be treated exactly like Enhancement Bonuses on a Shield. The Enhancment for AC and for Attack are seperate. You might have to do that with a Shield as well, not that Mithral actually has a mechanical use in combat. The cost of a Mithral Weapon is differen than Shields.
Of course, that is RAW which doesn't have anything to do with logic or common sense. . .
Well, since damage resistance for lycanthropes isn't "silver and magic/X" that wouldn't come into play. DR based on materials simply means the weapon needs to be manufactured out of it. A character could use a mithral teapot to kill a werewolf, if nothing else were at hand that would be more effective.
Mithril looks a lot cooler than Darkwood.
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Well, since damage resistance for lycanthropes isn't "silver and magic/X" that wouldn't come into play. DR based on materials simply means the weapon needs to be manufactured out of it. A character could use a mithral teapot to kill a werewolf, if nothing else were at hand that would be more effective.Not sure about that. By RAW, it might be treated exactly like Enhancement Bonuses on a Shield. The Enhancment for AC and for Attack are seperate. You might have to do that with a Shield as well, not that Mithral actually has a mechanical use in combat. The cost of a Mithral Weapon is differen than Shields.
Of course, that is RAW which doesn't have anything to do with logic or common sense. . .
What I mean is that the cost of a Mithral "weapon" Shield is different than the cost of a Mithral "armor" Shield. Similar to how if you want to use a Shield as a Magical Weapon, you have to enhance it seperately. I'm just pointing out a flaw in the new logic here, it may not be true. I can see it both ways, but certainly wouldn't rule it that you would have to use it that way. I could just see organized play doing it.
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@Beckett - I can see what you are getting at.
Issues in the rules about shields-as-weapons aside, what I'm really trying to ask is this:
Should I invest what little cash my current character has to enchant my Masterwork Darkwood heavy shield, or should I pony up the bucks to buy a Mithral heavy shield?
Assuming that you are not a druid or an arcane caster where the choice is more meaningful, I would probably just magic-up the one you already have.
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@Beckett - I can see what you are getting at.
Issues in the rules about shields-as-weapons aside, what I'm really trying to ask is this:
Should I invest what little cash my current character has to enchant my Masterwork Darkwood heavy shield, or should I pony up the bucks to buy a Mithral heavy shield?
Get mithril...it´s shiny and cool looking :). But from a practical point of view, unless your an arcanist, mithril isn´t worth the money.
Added to the list of DM possibilities of breaking stuff: enemy druid casts warp wood on your darkwood shield.
Added to the list of DM possibilities of breaking stuff: enemy druid casts warp wood on your darkwood shield.
on the other hand your darkwood shield is more likely to survive an encounter with a rust monster.
Added to the list of DM possibilities of breaking stuff: enemy druid casts warp wood on your darkwood shield.on the other hand your darkwood shield is more likely to survive an encounter with a rust monster.
Good point.
See? That's exactly why we have both! :)
I thought we had both so that druids could have cool armor too?