Mining Adamantine [Archive] - Wizards Community

Mining Adamantine [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Reclaimed
08-13-06, 01:26 PM I have a PC that would like to mine(retrieve) the doors from the adventure in the ECS. He is level one currently. What would it take to mine this and be able to transport this back to where he could sell it etc?

When he asked I was like are you nuts, but didn't say it. Any help?
Thwyvylyn
08-13-06, 02:41 PM Well he's gonna need something unbelievably hard to mine it or he could come back in a couple of levels with this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shatter.htm)

The above solution would break it into multiple chunks weighing not more that the equivalent in iron.

In terms of balance, he's being an economy munchkin. That much admantine would fetch a considerable sum of gold for a first level character.
Gurv
08-13-06, 05:55 PM In terms of balance, he's being an economy munchkin. That much admantine would fetch a considerable sum of gold for a first level character.
Not at all. Adamantite isn't expensive...not really. The expensive part is making things out of adamantite. It's so hard and durable that the manufacturing process is expensive.

If you don't believe me, ask yourself why an adamantite dagger (1 lbs) costs 3,002gp, and an adamantite battleaxe (6 lbs) costs costs only 3,010gp?
Edymnion
08-13-06, 09:18 PM Yes, its the work that goes into making the item that makes it so costly, not the material itself.

Even if you don't buy that answer, I houserule that adamantine is a once-forged metal. As in, once you give it the shape you want and let it cool down to room temperature, it will be that shape forever more. So basically, he would have a huge adamantine door. It should come in handy the next time he needs to furnish a huge adamantine house.
zambuka
08-13-06, 09:50 PM Yes, its the work that goes into making the item that makes it so costly, not the material itself.

Even if you don't buy that answer, I houserule that adamantine is a once-forged metal. As in, once you give it the shape you want and let it cool down to room temperature, it will be that shape forever more. So basically, he would have a huge adamantine door. It should come in handy the next time he needs to furnish a huge adamantine house.
Ya beat me to that answer.

The only way to forge adamantine in my games is from the original adamantine ore (which is relatively common and found pretty much the same places you mine iron). It is the expense and difficulty in smelting, refining and forging the material that keeps adamantine items in the uncommon to rare list of stuff to loot.
Edymnion
08-13-06, 10:06 PM My adamantine is found as a very soft metallic ore, much like lead. Once you melt it down and alloy it with iron, you can still work it like iron, but if it cools to the point it stops glowing, it "sets" and is in that shape forever more. Meaning you have to keep a very hot forge and keep the adamantine literally red hot at all times, or you waste all of your time and effort. Thats also why it takes so long to make anything out of it, because you can hammer on something for weeks, and the slightest slip ruins it all when you try to hammer on it for a second too long and it sets up.

I mean, sure, you could use Shatter on adamantine to get shards, but even the best formed shard is still going to be no better than an improvised weapon at best, and since there's nothing around harder than adamantine to use as a file, and you can't melt it back down, you've just got some indestructible gravel.
Reclaimed
08-13-06, 11:38 PM Thanks for the reply's, I really like the answers of not being able to reforge because I thought it was a rediculous request, but just out of wanting to let him semi decide on what he wanted to do I decided to see what other people thought.

Question though-If it is very soft when forged in the way you say, and is very prominent-Then the only thing that would make it as expensive as it is would be that it is such a strong metal and that once used it can't be reused-right.

Any other reason it would be as expensive as it is in this case?
zambuka
08-14-06, 01:17 AM Any other reason it would be as expensive as it is in this case?
My reasons are as follows.

First: You need to use quite a few Khyber shards as a catalyst and the heat from raw elemental fire to refine the raw adamantine ore to a point where you have enough adamantine to work with. This produces a molten adamantine alloy that can be worked and pured like steel. It is quite expensive to have access to this raw elemental fire for a long enough preiod to smelt the adamantine.

Second: You must keep the adamantine molten until you are ready to shape it, even when you shape it you must keep it near melting point. At this almost melting point you can work the adamantine alloy pretty much the same as you would steel. The protection required to work with the alloyed adamantine is quite expensive and not something you find at your typical smith.

Finally: Once you have the worked object to a point where you are happy with the results you must leech out the final Khyber shard particles as you cool the item down until you have a nearly pure adamantine item. As you are cooling and leeching out the shards you can sharpen and add some more detailed work like etching and other decorations.

Once the adamantine is pure and cooled it is pretty much impossible to rework or resmelt for reuse. There is some rumour that house Cannith has a method for reworking and repairing adamantine, but it is quite unsubstantiated. This last cooling and leeching phase is the most time consuming part of the process. If the item cools before the shard fragments are fully leeched out the item takes on a dull matte grey texture and react with the air to quickly corrode back into the base ore.

The materials required to smelt adamantine and working in such dangerous conditions puts a hefty markup of what these items would otherwise cost.
MobiusKlein
08-14-06, 01:45 AM Did the adventure, saw the doors and dooled over the cash we would have after selling them.

GM quickly quashed that (with pretty much the same logic about not being able to re-forge it.) but it was fun to dream.

I think that taking them out of the place you find them could be impossible too, given the size of the doors and the passages into there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Reclaimed 08-13-06, 01:26 PM	I have a PC that would like to mine(retrieve) the doors from the adventure in the ECS. He is level one currently. What would it take to mine this and be able to transport this back to where he could sell it etc? When he asked I was like are you nuts, but didn't say it. Any help?
Thwyvylyn 08-13-06, 02:41 PM	Well he's gonna need something unbelievably hard to mine it or he could come back in a couple of levels with this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shatter.htm) The above solution would break it into multiple chunks weighing not more that the equivalent in iron. In terms of balance, he's being an economy munchkin. That much admantine would fetch a considerable sum of gold for a first level character.
Gurv 08-13-06, 05:55 PM	In terms of balance, he's being an economy munchkin. That much admantine would fetch a considerable sum of gold for a first level character. Not at all. Adamantite isn't expensive...not really. The expensive part is making things out of adamantite. It's so hard and durable that the manufacturing process is expensive. If you don't believe me, ask yourself why an adamantite dagger (1 lbs) costs 3,002gp, and an adamantite battleaxe (6 lbs) costs costs only 3,010gp?
Edymnion 08-13-06, 09:18 PM	Yes, its the work that goes into making the item that makes it so costly, not the material itself. Even if you don't buy that answer, I houserule that adamantine is a once-forged metal. As in, once you give it the shape you want and let it cool down to room temperature, it will be that shape forever more. So basically, he would have a huge adamantine door. It should come in handy the next time he needs to furnish a huge adamantine house.
zambuka 08-13-06, 09:50 PM	Yes, its the work that goes into making the item that makes it so costly, not the material itself. Even if you don't buy that answer, I houserule that adamantine is a once-forged metal. As in, once you give it the shape you want and let it cool down to room temperature, it will be that shape forever more. So basically, he would have a huge adamantine door. It should come in handy the next time he needs to furnish a huge adamantine house. Ya beat me to that answer. The only way to forge adamantine in my games is from the original adamantine ore (which is relatively common and found pretty much the same places you mine iron). It is the expense and difficulty in smelting, refining and forging the material that keeps adamantine items in the uncommon to rare list of stuff to loot.
Edymnion 08-13-06, 10:06 PM	My adamantine is found as a very soft metallic ore, much like lead. Once you melt it down and alloy it with iron, you can still work it like iron, but if it cools to the point it stops glowing, it "sets" and is in that shape forever more. Meaning you have to keep a very hot forge and keep the adamantine literally red hot at all times, or you waste all of your time and effort. Thats also why it takes so long to make anything out of it, because you can hammer on something for weeks, and the slightest slip ruins it all when you try to hammer on it for a second too long and it sets up. I mean, sure, you could use Shatter on adamantine to get shards, but even the best formed shard is still going to be no better than an improvised weapon at best, and since there's nothing around harder than adamantine to use as a file, and you can't melt it back down, you've just got some indestructible gravel.
Reclaimed 08-13-06, 11:38 PM	Thanks for the reply's, I really like the answers of not being able to reforge because I thought it was a rediculous request, but just out of wanting to let him semi decide on what he wanted to do I decided to see what other people thought. Question though-If it is very soft when forged in the way you say, and is very prominent-Then the only thing that would make it as expensive as it is would be that it is such a strong metal and that once used it can't be reused-right. Any other reason it would be as expensive as it is in this case?
zambuka 08-14-06, 01:17 AM	Any other reason it would be as expensive as it is in this case? My reasons are as follows. First: You need to use quite a few Khyber shards as a catalyst and the heat from raw elemental fire to refine the raw adamantine ore to a point where you have enough adamantine to work with. This produces a molten adamantine alloy that can be worked and pured like steel. It is quite expensive to have access to this raw elemental fire for a long enough preiod to smelt the adamantine. Second: You must keep the adamantine molten until you are ready to shape it, even when you shape it you must keep it near melting point. At this almost melting point you can work the adamantine alloy pretty much the same as you would steel. The protection required to work with the alloyed adamantine is quite expensive and not something you find at your typical smith. Finally: Once you have the worked object to a point where you are happy with the results you must leech out the final Khyber shard particles as you cool the item down until you have a nearly pure adamantine item. As you are cooling and leeching out the shards you can sharpen and add some more detailed work like etching and other decorations. Once the adamantine is pure and cooled it is pretty much impossible to rework or resmelt for reuse. There is some rumour that house Cannith has a method for reworking and repairing adamantine, but it is quite unsubstantiated. This last cooling and leeching phase is the most time consuming part of the process. If the item cools before the shard fragments are fully leeched out the item takes on a dull matte grey texture and react with the air to quickly corrode back into the base ore. The materials required to smelt adamantine and working in such dangerous conditions puts a hefty markup of what these items would otherwise cost.
MobiusKlein 08-14-06, 01:45 AM	Did the adventure, saw the doors and dooled over the cash we would have after selling them. GM quickly quashed that (with pretty much the same logic about not being able to re-forge it.) but it was fun to dream. I think that taking them out of the place you find them could be impossible too, given the size of the doors and the passages into there.