What special materials do you guys like to use on your arms and armor? I personally enjoy Voidglass for armor, that +1-3 bounus against mind affecting is sooo worth it and I never see anyone mention the stuff.
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If the armor isn't mithral, I don't wear it.
Voidglass can be worth it on weapons.
+1 to damage and not subject to rusting (since it's not a metal).
It can also be worn by druids (again, not a metal).
Mithral is too much of a mechanical advantage not to grab- it raises your potential AC, and it can allow you to possibly forgo a speed reduction. it also allows for melee casters like bards to use a heavier type of armor (since a mithral breastplate is light for everything other than proficiencies, which should include spell casting). Additionally, with the armor expert trait, mithral can allow any class to grab a mithral breastplate without any penalties or need for proficiency.
Overall, the effects of mithral is not something that can be replicated by other magic items, so it is pretty much the king for armor material.
Adamantine is the preferred material for weapons, but it isn't to such a huge extent as mithral for armor. So you might be able to entice people with a nice material for weapons.
I was hoping to break a weapon or at least scare some of my players with it by using living steel armor in the big evil lady. however, no 1's were rolled in the combat. :(
I gave them 500gp extra, they are happy.
For armor, MIthral is the go to metal, it's lightness and other mechanical advantages are too great to be ignored.
For Weapond, I love me enchanted (at least +3) adamantite
@Snowlilly, what's the source for void glass? I can't find it in U Equipment.
For armor, MIthral is the go to metal, it's lightness and other mechanical advantages are too great to be ignored.
For Weapond, I love me enchanted (at least +3) adamantite
@Snowlilly, what's the source for void glass? I can't find it in U Equipment.
Dragon's Demand
thanks... putting it on my list
Weapons-
Silversheen: Counts as silver, immune to rust and works with the Ancestral Weapon trait for a +1 trait bonus on attack rolls.
Primitive materials: Glass, obsidian, stone: For Ammo, there is no reason NOT to use these materials as the save gp and weight. If special materials are needed, add blanch and you get to bypass DR usually for a cheaper cost than actual special material ammo.
Armor:
Mithral: Always top of the pile. It's hard to match.
Darkleaf/Darkwood: The druid version of Mithral.
Horacalcum: bonuses on Initiative checks.
What special materials do you guys like to use on your arms and armor? I personally enjoy Voidglass for armor, that +1-3 bounus against mind affecting is sooo worth it and I never see anyone mention the stuff.
Honestly almost every character I have who is martial ends up in Mithril Armor and uses Adamantine weapons.
The one big exeption I had was a Character in 3.5 who used Starmetal for their weapon since it was an option in that game and was basically adamantine that did a natural +1d6 on outsiders when on the material plane. That same character used Adamantine for his full plate since his dex was super low and he used boots of striding and spring along with the Travel domain to increase his movement back up to 40.
Like many others, the default is Mithril armor and adamantine weapons.
In the campaign of Hell's Rebels that I'm in, I went Mithril on my main weapon for the DR/Silver.
I have one character that went Alchemical Silver on their main weapon -- an Earthbreaker. I'm now saving up for an Adamantine weapon on them. I have a different character that went Silversheen, but they don't do as much melee.
I'd love to get mithril for my barbarian's breastplate. Adamantine is ... useless in that regard for her. DR 2 for a level 9 Invulnerable Rager is ... well ...
Here's a better question: let's say that you've got your level 9 hero. She's slaughtered a small army with her beloved greataxe or greatsword or whatever. And now she's able to afford adamantine ... but she's already spent over 8,000 gp on her current weapon. How do most GMs play through that upgrade process?
I should add Sunsilk: DR 2/bludgeoning for + 6,000 gp to
the cost of the garment or armor.
Depends on the character. My fighters typically end with up with discount mithril armor and adamantine weapons like everyone else, but I have had some fun with a myrmidarch magus with adamantine full plate and a noqual bastard sword.
Also, having solid gold armor and weapons is tight as hell.
Depends on the character. My fighters typically end with up with discount mithril armor and adamantine weapons like everyone else, but I have had some fun with a myrmidarch magus with adamantine full plate and a noqual bastard sword.
Also, having solid gold armor and weapons is tight as hell.
Try a better armourer. Only experienced ones can avoid fit and sizing issues due to a suboptimal material.
Depends on the character. My fighters typically end with up with discount mithril armor and adamantine weapons like everyone else, but I have had some fun with a myrmidarch magus with adamantine full plate and a noqual bastard sword.
Also, having solid gold armor and weapons is tight as hell.
Noqual sword? where's that from and what does it do?
and I don't see why you'd want gold armor, the penalty and weight are just not it, though it's snazzy to bash your foes with a golden mace or truncheon.
Try a better armourer. Only experienced ones can avoid fit and sizing issues due to a suboptimal material.Depends on the character. My fighters typically end with up with discount mithril armor and adamantine weapons like everyone else, but I have had some fun with a myrmidarch magus with adamantine full plate and a noqual bastard sword.
Also, having solid gold armor and weapons is tight as hell.
lol
Noqual sword? where's that from and what does it do?
and I don't see why you'd want gold armor, the penalty and weight are just not it, though it's snazzy to bash your foes with a golden mace or truncheon.
Special materials, just scroll down. It's kinda like cold iron for weapons, and cold iron and mithril for armor. I basically had it for flavor, as my myrmidarch was a mage killer.
Gold items were for flavor. It was a silly game. Also said penalties go away if you're using the UE rules for primitive materials, which includes magical strengthening.
Adventure path #61: shards of sin. [Weapons made of noqual weigh half as much as normal, and gain a +1 enhancement bonus on damage rolls against constructs and undead created by feats or spells.]
Adventure path #61: shards of sin. [Weapons made of noqual weigh half as much as normal, and gain a +1 enhancement bonus on damage rolls against constructs and undead created by feats or spells.]
Yeah, it definitely is a suboptimal weapon material; like I said, it was a flavor thing.
Hey, it's expensive for the benefits, but the flavor is flawless.
It's not just the DEX. The armor counting as one category lighter for everything except proficiency comes in handy.
If you are a fighter using heavy armor, mithral is a waste.
You eventually move at full speed and can benefit from up to a +6 dexterity modifier.
The fighter I am currently playing in one of my campaigns.
Funny story: a while back the DM threw rust monsters at the party :P
did you laugh at them with your dragonhide plate and glass sword, or did that encounter make you turn to materials that could not be so affected again?
did you laugh at them with your dragonhide plate and glass sword, or did that encounter make you turn to materials that could not be so affected again?
I laughed at them.
The DM spent the rest of the night muttering about me under his breath.
The materials were mostly chosen for thematic reasons. I wanted black & red dragonscale armor with a matching weapon.
But it's still useful for a non-fighter martial (like a barbarian or paladin), who won't have access to Armor Training.If you are a fighter using heavy armor, mithral is a waste.
You eventually move at full speed and can benefit from up to a +6 dexterity modifier.
Mithral is certainly the best mechanical choice for many classes, but it is not universally the best choice for all.
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I generally discount dragon hide because of the difficulty of slaying a dragon large enough to make armor for a mediumm sized person... where I play, it's generally simply not available.
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Adamantine is like my favorite material for both armors and weapons ;)
I'd like to share something though: back in D&D 3.5, I purchased several 3rd-party booklets. One of them was the Epic Bestiary Vol.1 (from Eternity Publishing) and it presented several OP epic-level creatures, including an Orichalcum Golem. Orichalcum, a very dense starmetal, was presented as a special material and it has the property to either 1) multiply the armor bonus by a margin or 2) multiply the weapon damage by a margin, both according to how much orichalcum you would use. The item becomes heavier, requiring a monstruous Str score to even lift, up to like 2 million times the weight, but the armor has a HUGE armor bonus and a HUGE damage reduction and a Medium weapon hits like a Colossal version... or heavier and bypass hardness of 100.
Here's the kicker: I had another book called Arms & Armors (from Bastion Press), which was a book filled with new weapons, materials and enhancements. For both weapons and armors, there's the weightless enhancement, which essentially negates the item's weight and grants bonuses from being lighter than usual. So yeah... you could have a bastard sword, a full plate and a tower shield, all three made from orichalcum, and all three having the weightless enhancement.
I just love the cheesinesss of this combo XDD
mithril for armor adamantine for weapons
This.
Additionally, with the armor expert trait, mithral can allow any class to grab a mithral breastplate without any penalties or need for proficiency.And all this time my Monk's been running around in no armor, to think I could have had him in a Mithril Breastpate!
...well yes. Some monks actually enjoy using mithral breastplates. Mostly the archetypes of the original monk.
If you trade out flurry of blows (or you can flurry in light armor like a sohei) then you can grab light armor early on instead of relying purely on dex/wis. And a mithral breastplate counts as light for many purposes.
Of course, most monks would onlyhave limited use for the armor expert trait. This is because even monks with 'meh' dex/wis eventually get more from going unarmored when they get two different stat items adding to AC, along wth scaling bonuses. So there would only be a rather small gap where the breastplate would be useful, and then later the trait would be wasted and might need retraining.
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Blood processed by a Ghorazagh.
While ghorazaghs can digest nearly anything, they are incapable of digesting blood. Their digestive systems process flesh, bone, and all other organic material, filtering out blood and storing it in large reservoirs within their bodies, whereupon the blood is mixed internally with mucus and other strange fluids to form a thick, gluelike substance. While a ghorazagh can spray this fluid as an attack to impede prey, the primary use of the foul substance is as a building material. Ghorazagh hives are constructed entirely of this material, which when it dries has the strength of metal while retaining a dark red resinlike appearance. A ghorazagh hive is a nightmare place as a result—twisting tunnels with an eerily organic appearance that can wind for miles on end.
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Weapons: Adamantine
Armor: Mithral, Darkleaf, Darkwood
Ammunition: Cold Iron with Alchemical Silver weapon blanch
Utility: Mithral waffle iron
I got so tired of mithral armor and adamantine weapons that I jacked up the prices dramatically, and people still paid them happily.
In my home game I made mithral and adamantine "not generally available for purchase". The characters had to find these sources and then I defined the amount they found in terms of what they could make.
My equipment system is very DM-hands-off, so that wouldn't work for me, but for a standard campaign it might be the thing to do.
Then again, I'd be afraid to hear "Hey! Bob got an adamantine sword! Why can't I get one, too?" and I'd hate to have to answer, "Because I'm sick of them!"
Honestly, the solution to mithral and adamantine being overused is to add in more types of special materials to fill other mechanical niches. Unfortunately, pretty much all we have for special materials other than those two are materials that are only good for beating material-based DRs, and a couple things Druids like since they can't wear metal.