Are armor and weapons made with Mithril and Adamantium considered Magical? Mitiril and Adamantine Armor and Weapons are listed as Uncommon Magical items in the RAW.
Would a Mithril sword overcome magical resistance? Can an Artificer infuse a set of Adamantine armor?
To me nothing is magical unless noted otherwise. Mithral and Adamantine armor are magic items. Adamatntine weapons aren't said to be magical specifically, and no information exist on mithral weapons to say one way or another.
Adamantine Weapons: Adamantine is an ultrahard metal found in meteorites and extraordinary mineral veins. In addition to being used to craft adamantine armor, the metal is also 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 a n 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 norma l version, whether the weapon or ammunition is made of the metal or coated with it.
That might depend on what you consider these materials to be in your world. Are they magically enchanted ores, or just really hard rocks? Personally I would say no, but it’s up to the DM.
@Rankaquion Why is an Adamantine Armor a magical item while a Adamantine Weapon is just one made with a diferent material?
@JeremyECrawford Adamantine is a material, with which you can make weapons, armor, frying pans, bunny sculptures, fence posts, and more. There is also a magic item called adamantine armor. The existence of that magic item doesn't erase the fact that other things can be made with adamantine.
Are Mithril and Admantine items fully magical? Probably not. You will notice that only armors are fully detailed for each with the addition that Admantine weapons doing critical damage when they hit mundane items. Whether the weapons would overcome magical “resistance” or be infusable is really up to your DM. In my world they are the names for titanium (Mithril) and Tungsten (Admantine) and as such they would not overcome resistance but would be infusable. I treat them much like “masterwork” weapons from earlier editions. So better to as your DM rather than us as it will be his decision
So better to as your DM rather than us as it will be his decision
I am the DM. :D
I've ruled that the are Magical (Which I understand is a departure from past editions) so they can't be infused but will overcome Resistance to Magic. And for the purposes of purchasing and crafting are classified as Uncommon Magical Items. This simplifies and adds consistency as they are handled like any other Magic Item rather than as a special case of non-magical items. I've also added properties for Mithral Weapons for my game.
@Rankaquion Why is an Adamantine Armor a magical item while a Adamantine Weapon is just one made with a diferent material?
@JeremyECrawford Adamantine is a material, with which you can make weapons, armor, frying pans, bunny sculptures, fence posts, and more. There is also a magic item called adamantine armor. The existence of that magic item doesn't erase the fact that other things can be made with adamantine.
Mr. Crawford gave and answer, but it doesn't answer the question posed. He simply restated the conundrum that prompted the question in the first place. What makes Adamantine Armor magical while and Adamantine Longsword is not?
I've ruled that they are, in fact, magical simply by the fact that they're made from Adamantium (Or Mithral) which makes things much more consistent in the rules.
Mr. Crawford gave and answer, but it doesn't answer the question posed. He simply restated the conundrum that prompted the question in the first place. What makes Adamantine Armor magical while and Adamantine Longsword is not?
I've ruled that they are, in fact, magical simply by the fact that they're made from Adamantium (Or Mithral) which makes things much more consistent in the rules.
What makes the Adamantine Armor magical is the magic enchantment it receives, not the material in and of itself is basically what he says, and which doesn't contradict the rules if we refer to adamantine weapons since it doesn't say they're magical.
If in your campaign they are indeed magical more power to you! In my GREYHAWK campaign there was items and weapons made of material that had special properties despite not being magical, like cold iron bypassing resistance of fey, fiend and undead creaturesfor exemple.
By RAW, in 5E, no. However there was in past editions in the different pluses on weapons/armors being of special material. In 1E a standard +5 weapon was made of adamantine. So it would be up to the DM to use that as a house rule.
Mr. Crawford gave and answer, but it doesn't answer the question posed. He simply restated the conundrum that prompted the question in the first place. What makes Adamantine Armor magical while and Adamantine Longsword is not?
I've ruled that they are, in fact, magical simply by the fact that they're made from Adamantium (Or Mithral) which makes things much more consistent in the rules.
What makes the Adamantine Armor magical is the magic enchantment it receives, not the material in and of itself is basically what he says, and which doesn't contradict the rules if we refer to adamantine weapons since it doesn't say they're magical.
If in your campaign they are indeed magical more power to you! In my GREYHAWK campaign there was items and weapons made of material that had special properties despite not being magical, like cold iron bypassing resistance of fey, fiend and undead creaturesfor exemple.
"What makes the Adamantine Armor magical is the magic enchantment it receives" The why is Adamantine Armor listed as an Uncommon Magical Item. Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 7: Treasure, Magic Items (A–D), Magic Items A, Adamantine Armor (First entry)
Adamantine Armor
Armor (medium or heavy, but not hide), uncommon
This suit of armor is reinforced with adamantine, one of the hardest substances in existence. While you’re wearing it, any critical hit against you becomes a normal hit.
@Rankaquion Why is an Adamantine Armor a magical item while a Adamantine Weapon is just one made with a diferent material?
@JeremyECrawford Adamantine is a material, with which you can make weapons, armor, frying pans, bunny sculptures, fence posts, and more. There is also a magic item called adamantine armor. The existence of that magic item doesn't erase the fact that other things can be made with adamantine.
I think he's indicating that adamantine armor is magic even though an adamantine frying pan may not intrinsically be so. (What enchantment would you use?)
@Rankaquion Why is an Adamantine Armor a magical item while a Adamantine Weapon is just one made with a diferent material?
@JeremyECrawford Adamantine is a material, with which you can make weapons, armor, frying pans, bunny sculptures, fence posts, and more. There is also a magic item called adamantine armor. The existence of that magic item doesn't erase the fact that other things can be made with adamantine.
I think he's indicating that adamantine armor is magic even though an adamantine frying pan may not intrinsically be so. (What enchantment would you use?)
Whatever is needed to create permanent magic items but it may even be secrets according to the DMG. XGE offers more guidance though.
Magic Items: The game assumes that the secrets of creating the most powerful items arose centuries ago and were then gradually lost as a result of wars, cataclysms, and mishaps. Even uncommon items can’t be easily created. Thus, many magic items are well-preserved antiquities.
XGE offers more guidance on the process of creating magic items;
Crafting Magic Items. Creating a magic item requires more than just time, effort, and materials. It is a long-term process that involves one or more adventures to track down rare materials and the lore needed to create the item. Potions of healing and spell scrolls are exceptions to the following rules. For more information, see “Brewing Potions of Healing” later in this section and the “Scribing a Spell Scroll” section, below.
To start with, a character needs a formula for a magic item in order to create it. The formula is like a recipe. It lists the materials needed and steps required to make the item.
An item invariably requires an exotic material to complete it. This material can range from the skin of a yeti to a vial of water taken from a whirlpool on the Elemental Plane of Water. Finding that material should take place as part of an adventure.
To complete a magic item, a character also needs whatever tool proficiency is appropriate, as for crafting a nonmagical object, or proficiency in the Arcana skill.
If all the above requirements are met, the result of the process is a magic item of the desired sort.
The following is strictly Forgotten Realms Lore but…. From the beings of Codification of magic around -35,000 DR until the fall of Karsus in -399 DR spells of up to at least L12 were (at least in theory) possible. And many artifacts and legendary items were probably made during this long time period using L10&11 spells (the Karsus Avatar spell is supposed to be the first and last L12 spell ever created). In addition there was elven high magic and what later became known as “Epic” magic. From -339 DR until the SpellPlague in 1385 DR you were limited to L9 spells plus Elven High Magic and Epic Magic for magic beyond that of L9 but these were ritual practices not combat castings. In addition you had the spells “enchant item” and “permanancy that were ntended for use in the creation of items and permanent effects. The 4e period (1385 - 1485 DR) had its own very different structure but did (sort of) allow for the continued existence of Elven High Magic and Epic Magic for ritual castings reaching beyond L9 in power. The 5e era has seen the return to a leveled approach with level 9 being the max and with the existence of elven high magic being unclear and epic magic apparently ceasing to exist officially. Because of this it is no longer possible to create legendary and artifact level items and even the lesser stuff has been reduced from a +5 max to a +3 max (for game balance with bounded accuracy.
The rules for special materials has been just about as torturous but those are more open to DM fiat.
You can make anything out of Adamantine, but it doesn’t make the item magical. Look at Adamantine weapons/ammo from Xanathar’s. Do they have the effect of doing double damage to objects & structures? Yes. Are they listed as magic items? No, just like Silvered weapons/ammo aren’t magic items. Adamantine armor is magical because it’s been enchanted. Adamantine is the rare material required to make the magic item Adamantine armor, much like Mithral is the rare material needed to make Mithral armor, and dragon hide/scales is the rare item needed to make dragon scale mail, but an enchantment is required to make those magic items.
@Rankaquion Why is an Adamantine Armor a magical item while a Adamantine Weapon is just one made with a diferent material?
@JeremyECrawford Adamantine is a material, with which you can make weapons, armor, frying pans, bunny sculptures, fence posts, and more. There is also a magic item called adamantine armor. The existence of that magic item doesn't erase the fact that other things can be made with adamantine.
I think he's indicating that adamantine armor is magic even though an adamantine frying pan may not intrinsically be so. (What enchantment would you use?)
That is left to the DM to decide. One DM might require the armor be enchanted with the mage armor spell, while another might require that the magic weapon spell is used and another DM might require something else entirely.
Something to note is that prosthetic limbs are considered "magic items". The Apparatus of Kwalish, folding boat, elven armor, sovereign glue, oil of slipperiness, oil of sharpness, universal solvent are all in the "Magic Items" section but none of them are actually magical. Though it is inconvenient to allow mithril and adamantium armor and weapons to be non-magical for the purpose of infusions, it would be disingenuous to declare them magical, at least in the Faerun setting.
Something to note is that prosthetic limbs are considered "magic items". The Apparatus of Kwalish, folding boat, elven armor, sovereign glue, oil of slipperiness, oil of sharpness, universal solvent are all in the "Magic Items" section but none of them are actually magical. Though it is inconvenient to allow mithril and adamantium armor and weapons to be non-magical for the purpose of infusions, it would be disingenuous to declare them magical, at least in the Faerun setting.
Something to note is that prosthetic limbs are considered "magic items". The Apparatus of Kwalish, folding boat, elven armor, sovereign glue, oil of slipperiness, oil of sharpness, universal solvent are all in the "Magic Items" section but none of them are actually magical. Though it is inconvenient to allow mithril and adamantium armor and weapons to be non-magical for the purpose of infusions, it would be disingenuous to declare them magical, at least in the Faerun setting.
That they could hypothetically function due to non-magic principles doesn't rule out that- in the overarching D&D concept- they function because of a magical component in these instances. The prosthetics are probably one of the best examples, since they restore full functionality to a limb like it wasn't even missing. As of the last I heard, the concept of any kind of neural integration in prosthetics is still more theoretical lab work and sci-fi than reality, so the D&D prosthetic limb magic item is literally an order of magnitude better than our cutting edge production models.
@Rankaquion Why is an Adamantine Armor a magical item while a Adamantine Weapon is just one made with a diferent material?
@JeremyECrawford Adamantine is a material, with which you can make weapons, armor, frying pans, bunny sculptures, fence posts, and more. There is also a magic item called adamantine armor. The existence of that magic item doesn't erase the fact that other things can be made with adamantine.
Mr. Crawford gave and answer, but it doesn't answer the question posed. He simply restated the conundrum that prompted the question in the first place. What makes Adamantine Armor magical while and Adamantine Longsword is not?
I've ruled that they are, in fact, magical simply by the fact that they're made from Adamantium (Or Mithral) which makes things much more consistent in the rules.
Not gonna lie, this is kind of classic Crawford. Doesn't generally answer the question well, but makes sure to be condescending anyway. IamSposta wrote a good, much more clear, answer here.
Hi;
Are armor and weapons made with Mithril and Adamantium considered Magical?
Mitiril and Adamantine Armor and Weapons are listed as Uncommon Magical items in the RAW.
Would a Mithril sword overcome magical resistance?
Can an Artificer infuse a set of Adamantine armor?
Thanks for your thoughts.
To me nothing is magical unless noted otherwise. Mithral and Adamantine armor are magic items. Adamatntine weapons aren't said to be magical specifically, and no information exist on mithral weapons to say one way or another.
That might depend on what you consider these materials to be in your world. Are they magically enchanted ores, or just really hard rocks? Personally I would say no, but it’s up to the DM.
FYI the question was asked to a Dev in the past;
Are Mithril and Admantine items fully magical? Probably not. You will notice that only armors are fully detailed for each with the addition that Admantine weapons doing critical damage when they hit mundane items. Whether the weapons would overcome magical “resistance” or be infusable is really up to your DM. In my world they are the names for titanium (Mithril) and Tungsten (Admantine) and as such they would not overcome resistance but would be infusable. I treat them much like “masterwork” weapons from earlier editions. So better to as your DM rather than us as it will be his decision
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I am the DM. :D
I've ruled that the are Magical (Which I understand is a departure from past editions) so they can't be infused but will overcome Resistance to Magic. And for the purposes of purchasing and crafting are classified as Uncommon Magical Items. This simplifies and adds consistency as they are handled like any other Magic Item rather than as a special case of non-magical items.
I've also added properties for Mithral Weapons for my game.
Mr. Crawford gave and answer, but it doesn't answer the question posed. He simply restated the conundrum that prompted the question in the first place. What makes Adamantine Armor magical while and Adamantine Longsword is not?
I've ruled that they are, in fact, magical simply by the fact that they're made from Adamantium (Or Mithral) which makes things much more consistent in the rules.
What makes the Adamantine Armor magical is the magic enchantment it receives, not the material in and of itself is basically what he says, and which doesn't contradict the rules if we refer to adamantine weapons since it doesn't say they're magical.
If in your campaign they are indeed magical more power to you! In my GREYHAWK campaign there was items and weapons made of material that had special properties despite not being magical, like cold iron bypassing resistance of fey, fiend and undead creaturesfor exemple.
By RAW, in 5E, no. However there was in past editions in the different pluses on weapons/armors being of special material. In 1E a standard +5 weapon was made of adamantine. So it would be up to the DM to use that as a house rule.
"What makes the Adamantine Armor magical is the magic enchantment it receives"
The why is Adamantine Armor listed as an Uncommon Magical Item.
Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 7: Treasure, Magic Items (A–D), Magic Items A, Adamantine Armor (First entry)
Adamantine Armor
Armor (medium or heavy, but not hide), uncommon
This suit of armor is reinforced with adamantine, one of the hardest substances in existence. While you’re wearing it, any critical hit against you becomes a normal hit.
Why is the Adamantine Armor listed as an uncommon item is because it's magical and has such rarity. No magical enchantment = no magic item nor rarity
I think he's indicating that adamantine armor is magic even though an adamantine frying pan may not intrinsically be so. (What enchantment would you use?)
Whatever is needed to create permanent magic items but it may even be secrets according to the DMG. XGE offers more guidance though.
XGE offers more guidance on the process of creating magic items;
The following is strictly Forgotten Realms Lore but….
From the beings of Codification of magic around -35,000 DR until the fall of Karsus in -399 DR spells of up to at least L12 were (at least in theory) possible. And many artifacts and legendary items were probably made during this long time period using L10&11 spells (the Karsus Avatar spell is supposed to be the first and last L12 spell ever created). In addition there was elven high magic and what later became known as “Epic” magic.
From -339 DR until the SpellPlague in 1385 DR you were limited to L9 spells plus Elven High Magic and Epic Magic for magic beyond that of L9 but these were ritual practices not combat castings. In addition you had the spells “enchant item” and “permanancy that were ntended for use in the creation of items and permanent effects.
The 4e period (1385 - 1485 DR) had its own very different structure but did (sort of) allow for the continued existence of Elven High Magic and Epic Magic for ritual castings reaching beyond L9 in power.
The 5e era has seen the return to a leveled approach with level 9 being the max and with the existence of elven high magic being unclear and epic magic apparently ceasing to exist officially.
Because of this it is no longer possible to create legendary and artifact level items and even the lesser stuff has been reduced from a +5 max to a +3 max (for game balance with bounded accuracy.
The rules for special materials has been just about as torturous but those are more open to DM fiat.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Short answer: No
You can make anything out of Adamantine, but it doesn’t make the item magical. Look at Adamantine weapons/ammo from Xanathar’s. Do they have the effect of doing double damage to objects & structures? Yes. Are they listed as magic items? No, just like Silvered weapons/ammo aren’t magic items. Adamantine armor is magical because it’s been enchanted. Adamantine is the rare material required to make the magic item Adamantine armor, much like Mithral is the rare material needed to make Mithral armor, and dragon hide/scales is the rare item needed to make dragon scale mail, but an enchantment is required to make those magic items.
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That is left to the DM to decide. One DM might require the armor be enchanted with the mage armor spell, while another might require that the magic weapon spell is used and another DM might require something else entirely.
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Something to note is that prosthetic limbs are considered "magic items". The Apparatus of Kwalish, folding boat, elven armor, sovereign glue, oil of slipperiness, oil of sharpness, universal solvent are all in the "Magic Items" section but none of them are actually magical. Though it is inconvenient to allow mithril and adamantium armor and weapons to be non-magical for the purpose of infusions, it would be disingenuous to declare them magical, at least in the Faerun setting.
Every item you listed is explicitly magical.
That they could hypothetically function due to non-magic principles doesn't rule out that- in the overarching D&D concept- they function because of a magical component in these instances. The prosthetics are probably one of the best examples, since they restore full functionality to a limb like it wasn't even missing. As of the last I heard, the concept of any kind of neural integration in prosthetics is still more theoretical lab work and sci-fi than reality, so the D&D prosthetic limb magic item is literally an order of magnitude better than our cutting edge production models.
Not gonna lie, this is kind of classic Crawford. Doesn't generally answer the question well, but makes sure to be condescending anyway. IamSposta wrote a good, much more clear, answer here.
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