How much does adamantine weigh, compared with gold and steel?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

Sczarni

I can't seem to figure out the answer to this myself, so I'm asking the forums:

How much does adamantine weigh, compared to gold and steel?

The main reason I want to know is that I've got a magic adamantine ring, covered in gold so that it looks like a normal gold wedding ring. Would it weigh more or less than a solid gold ring of the same volume?

I sort of assumed from its hardness that it would weigh more than gold, but from looking at adamantine items it seems like it might just weigh the same as steel.


Adamantine weapons and armor do not weigh more or less than normal ones, so it must weigh the same as steel.

Also note that weight and hardness have no relationship to each other, as steel is significantly lighter than gold, while also being significantly harder.


umm you know you are talking infinitesimal weigh, right? I have a tungsten wedding ring IRL I cant tell the difference between it and my old gold ring. I'm sure anything other than a jewelers scale could either.

the game doesn't bother with weight that doesn't effect encumbrance.

Maybe compare the weigh of something large made from adamantine like a shield and figure how much gold would weigh in the same mass and do the conversion from there down to the amount you are talking about.


For further reference, gold is about 2.5 x denser than steel, so if some volume of steel weighs 10 pounds, that same volume of gold will weigh somewhere in the area of 25 pounds.

Gold is one of the densest metals on earth, actually (the densest is Osmium), but is simultaneously one of the softest.


In game, equipment made from gold weigh an extra 50% over comparable steel equipment. Adamantine equipment carries no such adjustment. That suggests to me that adamantine is on the order of steel for density. Now, it could be that adamantine is twice as dense but so strong you can make armor and weapons half as thick and still reap protective benefits. Lacking any description to that effect, I'd probably assume it's the same as steel, though.

So within the confines of the game, your ring should be about two thirds of the weight of a real gold ring. Somebody familiar with the weight of gold (like pretty much every adventurer) would probably pretty quickly make it for a fake if they held it.

Sczarni

Thanks! Ah, well, it must be all the magic that's making that adamantine ring so heavy, then! :)

In case anybody's curious, the reason I care is that my adventurers found a big gold wedding ring that a giant had lost. I decided that there was a powerful Thassilonian relic hidden inside it: a ring made of adamantine that can trigger the Riddleport Cyphergate.

I wanted someone to notice the unusual weight, so that they'd have a reason to melt the ring down rather than just selling it off.


If they don't know yet that it's adamantine, it could certainly be made of something else inside that is extra heavy.

Sczarni

mplindustries wrote:
If they don't know yet that it's adamantine, it could certainly be made of something else inside that is extra heavy.

Nope, they've already melted it down and found the artifact. Ah well, maybe I'll make that a plot point later on...maybe there's something heavy *inside* the adamantine...like an extradimensional space full of demons. :)


MacGurcules wrote:
In game, equipment made from gold weigh an extra 50% over comparable steel equipment...

Heh, I find this amusing for two reasons:

First, because what mplindustries said above is true, regarding rough weight of a comparable amount of gold compared to steel.

Second, because as I'm a somewhat recent convert from a modified 2nd edition system, and one of our characters was gifted with a ceremonial, solid gold suit of chain mail (studded with precious gemstones, no less), I know that per 2nd edition rules, gold armor gave +100% weight (gold is heavy), a x3 cost multiplier (gold is pricy), and a -4 penalty to the ac of the armor (gold is soft).

For reference, in 2nd edition, mithral (a.k.a. elven steel) gave a -50% weight adjustment, just like in Pathfinder. Adamantine, on the other hand, gave a -25% weight adjustment, a +1 AC adjustment (to represent its hardness; PF gives the DR rule instead), and a cost multiplier of x500 (!) due to rarity.

Source: 2nd edition DMG.


Adamantine weapons do not change weight due to Adamantium aloy (the compound that is used for weapons and armor) has very little adamantine in it. Now a while back I did the math on why a single pound bar of adamantine and a single pound bar of mithral cost the same. I did the math and found out that pure adamantine is FRICKEN heavy.

coming in at just almost one thousand pounds per cubic foot, these single pound bars were pretty tiny.

Again this is from 3.5, and I did the math for a DM who wanted to know how much he could make via cubic feet (again can't remember much, the only reason I remember the numbers is because I wrote them down)


How, exactly, did you infer the density of adamantine from the price of mithril? Also, where does it say that they cost the same pound-for-pound?

Sczarni

DeusTerran wrote:

Adamantine weapons do not change weight due to Adamantium aloy (the compound that is used for weapons and armor) has very little adamantine in it. Now a while back I did the math on why a single pound bar of adamantine and a single pound bar of mithral cost the same. I did the math and found out that pure adamantine is FRICKEN heavy.

coming in at just almost one thousand pounds per cubic foot, these single pound bars were pretty tiny.

Again this is from 3.5, and I did the math for a DM who wanted to know how much he could make via cubic feet (again can't remember much, the only reason I remember the numbers is because I wrote them down)

That's kind of what I was originally thinking, but it seems that they simplified that a whole lot for Pathfinder, apparently. As far as I know, in PF adamantine weapons and armor are made out of pure adamantine, not an alloy.

You can have things like adamantine doors, and they don't weigh multiple tons.

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