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And if he can, can he keep holding it like when he's earthgliding or vortexing?
If they have a humanoid form they can wield weapons. I think it says in the monster description they can come in pretty much any shape they want. So air elemental could be a humanoid shaped avian looking creature.
If you meant "weapons made by/for humanoids", I think that only humanoid-shaped Earth elementals would be able to wield them, although they'd prefer not to, since they wouldn't be able to use Earthglide (those weapons don't "meld" with earth). As for the others... Fire would burn/melt them while Air and Water would drop them.
If you meant "weapons in general" as opposed to Slam, feel free to explore the possibilities. Afterall, wouldn't it be possible for a whole Plane inhabited by intelligent creatures to build themselves houses and forge themselves weapons and armors? Meeting a fire-elemental-creature with a fire-elemental-greatsword and a fire-elemental-fullplate... that would be an Intimidation check all by itself.
I agree - the weapons would have to be made specifically to accommodate the elemental in question. I could see this happening more on their native plane than on our own, but you never know.
If you want to bolster your elementals, what would happen if the earth elemental was summoned on, say, holy/unholy ground? or you summoned an air elemental in the area of effect of a Cloud Kill spell? A water elemental made of holy water? A fire elemental made from Hellfire? Of course I have no idea if the rules would allow for such things but it would be fun anyway.
If you meant "weapons made by/for humanoids", I think that only humanoid-shaped Earth elementals would be able to wield them, although they'd prefer not to, since they wouldn't be able to use Earthglide (those weapons don't "meld" with earth). As for the others... Fire would burn/melt them while Air and Water would drop them.
If you meant "weapons in general" as opposed to Slam, feel free to explore the possibilities. Afterall, wouldn't it be possible for a whole Plane inhabited by intelligent creatures to build themselves houses and forge themselves weapons and armors? Meeting a fire-elemental-creature with a fire-elemental-greatsword and a fire-elemental-fullplate... that would be an Intimidation check all by itself.
Just a thought for a weapon-wielding fire elemental: many fantasy stories I read had some foe wielding a fire whip (the Balor from LotR comes to mind). That's scary as well.
Elemental subtype:
# Proficient with natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with all simple weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
# Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Elementals not indicated as wearing armor are not proficient with armor. Elementals are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor.
Can they carry armor or weapons(or other objects)? Yes.
Will they? Not usually.
Do they keep them when using whirlwind or similar ability?
Well, genies do have and keep them. So yes.
To take the question one stage further (I'm not sure if this was what the OP was after or not):
Can a druid or other caster, polymorphed into an elemental, use weapons previously dropped at her feet?
Relevant: you don't gain the elemental type. You don't lose your own weapon proficiencies. You assume a generic form of the elemental. You may change size.
So then I think we're left with a DM call: are the generic elemental forms in a given campaign capable of hefting weaponry?
Mmmm, elementals are not insubstantial so I think what I said before stands. They can pick up, move or wield any weapon or object.
Proficiencies affect how well they can do it but the ability it's alredy there. A wildshaped druid has the proficiencies.
Size changes can be a problem to wield a manufactured weapon but that's not intrinsecally related to elemental forms.
So technically a druid could drop his scimitar wildshape into a medium sized elemental form them pick it up and start slashing things but the benefit he would get from it is marginal IMO.
Mmmm, elementals are not insubstantial so I think what I said before stands. They can pick up, move or wield any weapon or object.
Proficiencies affect how well they can do it but the ability it's alredy there. A wildshaped druid has the proficiencies.
Size changes can be a problem to wield a manufactured weapon but that's not intrinsecally related to elemental forms.So technically a druid could drop his scimitar wildshape into a medium sized elemental form them pick it up and start slashing things but the benefit he would get from it is marginal IMO.
Nothing says he can't carry around a large or huge weapon in a efficient quiver or whatever. Drop the weapon before he changes then pick it up. I look at wild shape as a buff. It is just another way a druid can buff str, dex, ac and increase size.
Mmmm, elementals are not insubstantial so I think what I said before stands. They can pick up, move or wield any weapon or object.
Proficiencies affect how well they can do it but the ability it's alredy there. A wildshaped druid has the proficiencies.
Size changes can be a problem to wield a manufactured weapon but that's not intrinsecally related to elemental forms.So technically a druid could drop his scimitar wildshape into a medium sized elemental form them pick it up and start slashing things but the benefit he would get from it is marginal IMO.
Nothing says he can't carry around a large or huge weapon in a efficient quiver or whatever. Drop the weapon before he changes then pick it up. I look at wild shape as a buff. It is just another way a druid can buff str, dex, ac and increase size.
Sure, if you want to invest in that particular tactic it can become more useful. I was talking in a general sense.
Can an elemental use a weapon? Certainly. I love giving longspears to Medium fire elementals.
Melee slam +7 (1d6+1 plus burn) with 5 ft. of reach before the longspear. Melee longspear +7 (1d8+1) with 10 ft. of reach and slam +2 (1d6 plus burn) with 5 ft. of reach. If no one's in longspear range, forgo the full attack and use slam +7 (1d6+1 plus burn).
:)
Have a look at the Elemental Sub Type reference:
"Proficient with natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with all simple weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry"
So is this more of an question of a druid or spell caster using elemental form then an actual elemental?
To take the question one stage further (I'm not sure if this was what the OP was after or not):Can a druid or other caster, polymorphed into an elemental, use weapons previously dropped at her feet?
Relevant: you don't gain the elemental type. You don't lose your own weapon proficiencies. You assume a generic form of the elemental. You may change size.
So then I think we're left with a DM call: are the generic elemental forms in a given campaign capable of hefting weaponry?
You don't gain the type, but it is fairly strong evidence that you have hands. I mean, when you assume the form of a tiger, you get its claws. And when in that same tiger form, you lack the hands that usually come with the human subtype, and can't wield a weapon or wand. If you gain the body of another creature, you gain the very basics of its physical form, like corporeality. And the subtype says 'yes, they can touch stuff', which is a good indication that, with an elemental body, you can in fact touch stuff. With hands!
And due to the nature of size and reach, I would say that anything above large earth elemental would likely have a humanoid shape. This is because, due to their reach, they obviously have the 'tall' type instead of the 'long' type seen in creatures like dire wolves and horses. So that seems like a fairly good indication that they are humanoid shaped, since I can imagine very, very few 'terrestrial animals' that would be described as 'tall' rather than 'long'.
Also relevant: does anyone know where the idea that 'you can't take stuff with you when you earthglide' comes from? I have only ever seen it mentioned as a presumption in these kinds of threads. I do not find any such restrictions in the bestiary description, elemental body spell, earth glide universal monster ability, the earthglide spell, the monk and summoner archetypes with earth glide, or the oracle and sorcerer....origins? with earthglide. None of them say anything about your equipment...at all.
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Also relevant: does anyone know where the idea that 'you can't take stuff with you when you earthglide' comes from? I have only ever seen it mentioned as a presumption in these kinds of threads. I do not find any such restrictions in the bestiary description, elemental body spell, earth glide universal...
It seems to have come from the realization that the elemental can grab, next turn "drag" 10 feet into the ground.
Fight is now over.
Also relevant: does anyone know where the idea that 'you can't take stuff with you when you earthglide' comes from? I have only ever seen it mentioned as a presumption in these kinds of threads. I do not find any such restrictions in the bestiary description, elemental body spell, earth glide universal...It seems to have come from the realization that the elemental can grab, next turn "drag" 10 feet into the ground.
Fight is now over.
But there are plenty of abilities and spells that go 'you can only take yourself and x with you' or simply 'you cannot bring another creature with you'. Heck, a third of the class options (archetypes, bloodlines, etc) that give earthglide have language about what happens when you bring other creatures with you.
Of course, there is no unified language for this. The class options I mentioned (stone mystery and gray disciple monk) were along the lines of 'use up more of the time limit/ki on your earthglide ability when bringing others'. Obviously, things like this do not apply to earth elementals, who constantly have the ability. And with those abilities, the lethality of no longer earthgliding varies. Oracles just have the wind knocked out of them, but monks 5d6 damage (which can also be used as a weapon when bringing other creatures along).
So yes, the whole thing is a bit of a tangled mess, I'll admit. Still, the sheer number of times it appears as a character option, and it never gets mentioned on how it affects you equipment? Even on oracles and monks who could use weapons?
Also relevant: does anyone know where the idea that 'you can't take stuff with you when you earthglide' comes from? I have only ever seen it mentioned as a presumption in these kinds of threads. I do not find any such restrictions in the bestiary description, elemental body spell, earth glide universal...It may come from the description of Earthglide:
Earth Glide (Ex)
A burrowing earth elemental can pass through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. If protected against fire damage, it can even glide through lava. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other sign of its presence.
The "except metal" part implies that metal cannot be moved through earth.
Also relevant: does anyone know where the idea that 'you can't take stuff with you when you earthglide' comes from? I have only ever seen it mentioned as a presumption in these kinds of threads. I do not find any such restrictions in the bestiary description, elemental body spell, earth glide universal...It may come from the description of Earthglide:
Earth Glide (Ex)
A burrowing earth elemental can pass through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. If protected against fire damage, it can even glide through lava. Its burrowing leaves behind no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other sign of its presence.
The "except metal" part implies that metal cannot be moved through earth.
I agree with Kaldragon.
But if you push me on the issue, then I will just work around it. If you tell me I can't take metal, then I can use nonmetal items. Stone and obsidian are choices (although fragile). Since you are only arguing metal (and earthglide might have to deal with treeroots), I could also use wood.
Altogether, there are ways to make it work, even if you place an arbitrary houserule like that on it.