TL:DR, what is adamant/ adamantine worth per pound? Please provide a source.
Trying to find a consistent value for what adamant is worth per pound in DnD 5e, or how heavy of a chunk of adamant you would need to cast Invulnerability? I have recollection of adamant being used in this edition 3 times: 1) adamantine armor, an uncommon magic item, 2) being sold in ToA campaign, in the city of chult (apparently), 3) as a spell component for invulnerability.
According to the first source, it seems like worked and enchanted adamant is worth less than 12gp per pound. If you have adamant splint armor, it would be evaluated as being worth somewhere between 100-700gp - RAW, uncommon magic items are worth 100-500gp, and splint armor is worth 200gp. Splint armor weighs 60 lbs, so adamant by this measurement would be worth somewhere between 1.67gp - 11.67gp per pound (100gp/60lb at least, or 700gp/60lb at most).
According to the second source, adamant is worth 10gp per pound, or at least that is what it is being sold for in the city of Chult. This 'source' however is by word of mouth, I do not own the physical book myself, but I have asked a friend of mine who owns the adventure path for ToA and he could not find it in the book.
The third mention is in the spell description of Invulnerability, a 9th level spell. For spell component, it requires 'a small piece of adamantine worth at least 500 gp.' Small is a relative term and makes no mention of weight, but according to the other sources, that much adamant would weigh about 50 pounds, which doesn't seem small or very manageable in a wizard spell component pouch.
Thoughts? Sources? DM fiat? How much is adamant worth?
I don’t believe there are any costs for any sorts of raw goods from adamantine and iron to wood and leather. It’s all what the DM wants it to cost.
I think the closest you can get is reverse-engineering it based on crafting costs (where making an item requires raw materials equal to half the retail value). But even then you are not likely to get the same values for the same materials, because D&D doesn’t even attempt to be accurate at economics.
We don't have a cost per pound for adamantine, but Xanathar's Guide to Everything gives a value for a weapon +500 gp
Adamantine Weapons: Adamantine is an ultra hard metal found in meteorites and extraordinary mineral veins. In addition to being used to craft adamantine armor, the metal is a lso used for weapons. Melee weapons and ammunition made of or coated with adamantine are unusually effective when used to break objects. Whenever an adamantine weapon or piece of ammunition hits an object, the hit is a critical hit. The adamantine version of a melee weapon or of ten pieces of ammunition costs 500 gp more than the normal version, whether the weapon or ammunition is made of the metal or coated with it.
Do you want your players to have it? Then, the price is whatever they can afford to pay.
Are your players selling? Then it sells for exactly as much as you want your players to have.
I understand wanting to be consistent, and have sources, and so on. I get that. But really, in a market economy, prices aren't fixed. As an example, I pay like ... 14 kroner pr. liter of gasoline, here in Denmark. That's like $7.40 for a gallon. Apparently, the price for a gallon of gas in the US is like 3.18?
So. That's the real world. Adamantine might have entirely different price ranges in say Chult and Waterdeep.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
And the 5e giants adventure book has a number of ( large) pieces that you can potentially get and do stuff with. Like Mithril, there is a potential real world analog for Admantine - tungsten. Ultra high melting point, corrosion resistant, dense, strong, hard but workable ( barely), and relatively expensive. Before depleted uranium armor piercing sabots were made of tungsten, as are high quality darts, Armor piercing slugs and high speed drill bits (with tungsten carbide tips).
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Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
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TL:DR, what is adamant/ adamantine worth per pound? Please provide a source.
Trying to find a consistent value for what adamant is worth per pound in DnD 5e, or how heavy of a chunk of adamant you would need to cast Invulnerability? I have recollection of adamant being used in this edition 3 times: 1) adamantine armor, an uncommon magic item, 2) being sold in ToA campaign, in the city of chult (apparently), 3) as a spell component for invulnerability.
According to the first source, it seems like worked and enchanted adamant is worth less than 12gp per pound. If you have adamant splint armor, it would be evaluated as being worth somewhere between 100-700gp - RAW, uncommon magic items are worth 100-500gp, and splint armor is worth 200gp. Splint armor weighs 60 lbs, so adamant by this measurement would be worth somewhere between 1.67gp - 11.67gp per pound (100gp/60lb at least, or 700gp/60lb at most).
According to the second source, adamant is worth 10gp per pound, or at least that is what it is being sold for in the city of Chult. This 'source' however is by word of mouth, I do not own the physical book myself, but I have asked a friend of mine who owns the adventure path for ToA and he could not find it in the book.
The third mention is in the spell description of Invulnerability, a 9th level spell. For spell component, it requires 'a small piece of adamantine worth at least 500 gp.' Small is a relative term and makes no mention of weight, but according to the other sources, that much adamant would weigh about 50 pounds, which doesn't seem small or very manageable in a wizard spell component pouch.
Thoughts? Sources? DM fiat? How much is adamant worth?
DM fiat.
I don’t believe there are any costs for any sorts of raw goods from adamantine and iron to wood and leather. It’s all what the DM wants it to cost.
I think the closest you can get is reverse-engineering it based on crafting costs (where making an item requires raw materials equal to half the retail value). But even then you are not likely to get the same values for the same materials, because D&D doesn’t even attempt to be accurate at economics.
We don't have a cost per pound for adamantine, but Xanathar's Guide to Everything gives a value for a weapon +500 gp
Do you want your players to have it? Then, the price is whatever they can afford to pay.
Are your players selling? Then it sells for exactly as much as you want your players to have.
I understand wanting to be consistent, and have sources, and so on. I get that. But really, in a market economy, prices aren't fixed. As an example, I pay like ... 14 kroner pr. liter of gasoline, here in Denmark. That's like $7.40 for a gallon. Apparently, the price for a gallon of gas in the US is like 3.18?
So. That's the real world. Adamantine might have entirely different price ranges in say Chult and Waterdeep.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Dragon Heist p.90 lists it as 100gp per pound.
And the 5e giants adventure book has a number of ( large) pieces that you can potentially get and do stuff with. Like Mithril, there is a potential real world analog for Admantine - tungsten. Ultra high melting point, corrosion resistant, dense, strong, hard but workable ( barely), and relatively expensive. Before depleted uranium armor piercing sabots were made of tungsten, as are high quality darts, Armor piercing slugs and high speed drill bits (with tungsten carbide tips).
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.