Just curious. I always had the impression its sort of a flat black, but I can't remember where I got that impression and don't ever remember reading it.
Think black is correct. I remember reading about it in the Aganist the Giants and Vault of the Drow adventures.
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It's yellow with purple polka-dots.
Just kidding!
Black sounds fine... But if it's a metal, shouldn't it be either black OR chrome, depending on the way the metal smith worked it? Swords and knives can be either, and I imagine that armor can too.
In the end, since the metal is fictional, it can be any color you want. So imagine a black with a purple-ish reflection (like the sunlight reflecting in gasoline). That would be pretty cool
Ultradan
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I've always imagined it to be a flat black, with hints of deep purple or blue.
i recall it being black but i am not sure where i read it.
Metal color, obviously.
I've always imagined it to resemble blued gunmetal...gloss and all.
M
Actually, I thought it had flat gray properties, or perhaps has the look of Tungsten.
Well, Wolverine's claws and Ultron's body are both constructed of true adamantium (i.e. adamantine) and they are shiny metal, so a case could be made that they are shiny.
On the other hand, Cap A's shield is red white and blue, as his shield is an adamantium-vibranium mixture, so the metal may react differently when exposed to other compounds during its smelting process. (And for those who scoff at that idea saying Captain America's shield is painted, Ha! It clearly is NOT painted; the paint would have chipped away during his countless battles since WWII!!!) :)
Well, Wolverine's claws and Ultron's body are both constructed of true adamantium (i.e. adamantine) and they are shiny metal, so a case could be made that they are shiny.
On the other hand, Cap A's shield is red white and blue, as his shield is an adamantium-vibranium mixture, so the metal may react differently when exposed to other compounds during its smelting process. (And for those who scoff at that idea saying Captain America's shield is painted, Ha! It clearly is NOT painted; the paint would have chipped away during his countless battles since WWII!!!) :)
The Marvel Universe and D&D are different settings. Do you think the drow would use any armor that was bright and shiny in the underdark???
Cap's shield has the equivilent of powerder coating, the "paint" is bonded at almost a molecular level, so I won't come off....ever
I would say that Adamantite would be flat black with slightly reflective specks that show purple.
Mayday! Mayday! We're going down!!
Ultradan
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I always figured it ranged in color(another unique quality of Adamantine) depending on the forging process(where and how, etc.--DM/GM's discretion) ALWAYS with the unique quality of glistening as though it were wet. All and all, it can range in colors but ALWAYS having the appearance of glistening as though it were wet. So blue tint steel, red tint steel, silver steel all the way down to a pitch black would be fine. My 2 cents.
Thoth-Amon the Atlanian Mindflayerian
wow, cool, never realized that adamantine was black. :)
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And one slight clarification from the Marvel universe. Adamantine is a magical metal not normally found on Earth, but could be found in alternate planes related to the Greek pantheon. Adamantium, which is what Wolverine's claws and Ultron's body, and Cap's shield are made of, is a nearly indestructable metal alloy that was created by scientists and named for Adamantine in Greek mythology. There is no actual Adamantine in Adamantium, its just named in honor of it.
The Marvel Universe and D&D are different settings. Do you think the drow would use any armor that was bright and shiny in the underdark???
Actually it wouldn't matter if the armor they wore was bright and shiny or not. Very little light ever finds its way into the underdark. So no light=no reflections. Besides metal can be black and shiny, which is the main response I'm hearing of adamantine anyway, so your theory about light reflecting off of it doesn't hold up.
A bit from my Hoarde.
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Checking in on Volo's Guide to all Things Magical, a few clarifications (at least according to 2nd edition).
Adamant is a superhard flat black metal that is ferrous. Its very difficult to actually make anything with becuase its so superhard and inflexible. Adamantine is Adamant with Silver and Gold alloyed to it, making it easier to work and shape into weapons and armor.
Adamant is flat black, but Adamantine is shiny, since silver and gold are part of it. As stated above, you can always may shiny metal flat with laquer for example, so its no more or less viable than steel for stealthy characters.
The Marvel Universe and D&D are different settings. Do you think the drow would use any armor that was bright and shiny in the underdark???
Actually it wouldn't matter if the armor they wore was bright and shiny or not. Very little light ever finds its way into the underdark. So no light=no reflections. Besides metal can be black and shiny, which is the main response I'm hearing of adamantine anyway, so your theory about light reflecting off of it doesn't hold up.
A bit from my Hoarde.
Who said anything about a theroy. Just making a statement. Besides, why would a race that on occasion raids the suface world wear back shiny armor? Wouldn't that be silly if your on a raiding mission?
Don't know about your campaign but most adventures have some sort of light in the form of spells/items or torches when they explore the underdark.
When you think of drow you think of stealth not shiny pretty armor.
Adamantine is Black?!
Man, if I ever get an adamantine (or adamantium, its all the same) weapon, I want it to be shiny silver so people can see it! My ranger will keep it under his flannel shirt for times of trouble:
"We got a problem here?!" - Ranger lifts front of flanned shirt to reveal hilt of adamantine short sword that he's packing.....
It's yellow with purple polka-dots.
How about that! My lucky tie is made of adamantine... :)
Since I always saw mithril as kind of a milky silver I assumed adamantine was sort of a lustrous dark myself.
i just dont see drow wearing anything shiny,period.
My whole reality has just been shattered!!!
--
I always thought that adamantine, at least in my twisted mind, was clear, sort of granulated on the inside. (maybe bubbles?? Hmm...)
Strange. Black adamantine. This will take a while to get my head around!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
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First edition had a module... D3 Vault of the Drow. It took us deep underground and introduced the Drow and their strange black metal, adamantine. At least to me.
I think back then there may have been a rule that the drow's enchanted adamantine weapons lost their power if brought into sunlight, perhaps as a way of limiting the soon-to-be resurfacing PCs' potential Monty Haul of claimed weapons.
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My reality has been shattered! I always pictured drow in all sorts of fancy, fru-fru duds that were shiny, scaly, iridescent (basically, whatever was impossible for human smiths/tailors to really produce).
I always figured adamantine was black; kind of like how every fantasy critter tastes like chicken.
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To revive a 13 year old thread, I always assumed that adamantine would be a shiny steely silvery color, but easily corroded to a black patina, and also had the idea that it could be given a forced patina of just about any color under the sun.
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I suddenly sensed great necromancy and it lead me here.
I always felt like it would have a hint of purple.
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I always imagined Deep Purple because... that's some HEAVY METAL!
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Maybe it's like mixing two kinds of plaid together in a non-Euclidean color out of space theme.
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I always pictured deep black with a hint of dark green when light reflected off of it.
I like the idea of other colors though, like the DEEP PURPLE!
The necro is strong with this one...
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I always imagined it being similar to brass in color, but that's because my first exposure to the word was in Age of Mythology, where the gates to Tartarus described as being made of adamantine appeared to be constructed of wood and brass. This perception was corrected by Neverwinter Nights 2, however, where it's depicted as a matte black.
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I tend to envision it as as looking like tungsten (or an alloy thereof), which by comparison of properties seems to be the most similar metal known to us (a few neighboring metals in the periodic table are also similar, but much more rare).
For that matter, I keep feeling the urge to figure out what Earth equivalents other special materials correspond to. For instance, mithril = titanium (or maybe aluminum), and cold iron = neodymium-iron-boron alloy used to make the most powerful permanent magnets known, but can't take much heat before it loses its magnetism (disadvantage of this alloy: it corrodes horrifically fast -- maybe people in the various D&D/PF campaign settings figured out how to make a version of it that is less easily corroded, but even more vulnerable to heating?).
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I always imagined it to be a pure silver in color but with a greenish sheen when the light touches it. Mithral has a reddish tint. It all really boils down to what color do YOU want it to be?
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Yes, it boils down to what color you want it to be of course, but Golarion canon gives us its versions of various skymetals - there's a greenish one, if I remember correctly, and others of many different hues.
I think mithril/mithral is as in LOTR, silvery (canon appears to agree with me on this one).
That butts heads a bit with how adamantine is described: it is said when Iomedae goes to fight (so, 24/7), her armaments turn "from gold to the silver gray of adamantine" (Inner Sea Gods, check it out). Which is fine by me, but is mithral the same color then? I hoped different skymetals could be recognized at a glance... I'd love a canon clarification from Paizo authors/developers here if I'm not asking for too much... pretty please? Is there an even subtle difference between the two?
All that said, you can color metals when you forge them, just by exposing them to different chemicals, it's a long-known technique especially used with heavily ornamented weapons and armors, although never en masse by any means.
Necromancy for the winz.
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Oh, sorry for the double post but I just noticed this forum's header, of course I was talking about Golarion, in the Forgotten Realms adamantine is black with green or purple white highlights depending on whether it's struck by candle light or magical light (source). Whoops.
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We all do a little thread necro from time to time. You’re cool!
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We all do a little thread necro from time to time. You’re cool!
Curtsies ;)
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Homebrew only, I had adamantine not being a single material but a product of planar super-impositions of different materials resulting in different colors and powers. Due to its multi planar makeup it was hard to damage, and tended to defeat resistances. It also had the advantage (as a GM) of being impossible to rework into something I hadn't planned on.
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Also!
I'd love a canon clarification from Paizo authors/developers here if I'm not asking for too much... pretty please? Is there an even subtle difference between the two?
While not exactly clarification, and really old,
In D&D-land, adamantine is black.
... it’s hard to get much more official than that!
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Also!
I'd love a canon clarification from Paizo authors/developers here if I'm not asking for too much... pretty please? Is there an even subtle difference between the two?
While not exactly clarification, and really old,
In D&D-land, adamantine is black.... it’s hard to get much more official than that!
But as I mentioned above in Inner Sea Gods it says, about Iomedae:
When she is roused to battle, her white cloak turns red and her white-and-gold armor turns the silver-gray of adamantine.
So, black or silver-gray?
Incidentally, it does say "silver-gray"... I guess mithral is more silver-white, so that might be the only difference needed to distinguish the two metals in game, now that I stop to think.
Unless the text in ISG is canonically wrong and adamantine *is* black, as James said (he mentioned D&D though... there are many differences between D&D and PF...).
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Yup-yup! Hence my two caveats.
(That post was, like, 2005? I think? Way too lazy to scroll up. Thirteen years is a long time for canon drift, especially over changing editions.)
But I’d guess the silver-gray v. silver-white is the key. Also, it would t be the first time something like that has just been wrong. But it should be noted I am far from official. :)
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^Why not both, depending upon how oxidized it is? Wouldn't be the only metal like that.
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Yup-yup! Hence my two caveats.
(That post was, like, 2005? I think? Way too lazy to scroll up. Thirteen years is a long time for canon drift, especially over changing editions.)But I’d guess the silver-gray v. silver-white is the key. Also, it would t be the first time something like that has just been wrong. But it should be noted I am far from official. :)
Yes, I agree, that must be the difference - mithral's silver with white reflections, adamantine's silver has more gray, dull hues, or something like that.
UnArcaneElection - sure, you could have it that way, but nowhere I've read it points to that kind of difference, so it would probably be less canon, more individual interpretation, in that case. Of course canon matters only up to the point you care about it, in all circumstances. DungeonmasterCal for instance has reddish-hued mithril, and that's his prerogative. Similarly, I could decide my orcs are grey instead of green, or my elves have human-like ears and eyes, or even my Varisians are more similar to actual Romani and less to Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame. It all depends on what you want your Golarion to be.
And I want to reiterate, adamantine is silver-gray on Golarion. In D&D-land it is often black, as everyone was already pointing out.
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Speaking of gray orcs...!
*goes back to fiddling with FR stuff*
