Hawken said:
[...] Is there an errata or some supplement from Wizards about Adamantite shields? [...]
Hi!
FAQ, 6th of Sept. 2004:
Q: What happens when you make a shield from
adamantine or mithral? The adamantine description says
you can make a shield from the metal, but there’s no cost
given. What is the price for an adamantine shield? What
benefits do you get from an adamantine shield? Do you get
damage reduction? If so, how much? What if you have an
adamantine shield and adamantine armor? Does the
damage reduction stack? When you make a shield from
mithral, what benefits do you get? If you had a mithral
heavy shield, would it have the properties of a light metal
shield? (A light shield’s weight lets you carry other items in
that hand, although you cannot use weapons with it.) What
would the damage rating be for a shield bash with a heavy
mithral shield? Also, the mithral heavy shield listed on page
220 in the Dungeon Master’s Guide weighs 5 pounds, less
than half of what a heavy steel shield weighs. The text for
mithral on page 284 says a mithral item weighs half what a
normal item weighs. Which one is correct?
A: An adamantine shield costs an extra 5,000 gp (the same as
the extra cost for adamantine light armor). Adamantine armor
gives you some damage reduction (how much depends on the
kind of armor; see page 283 in the Dungeon Master’s Guide)
but an adamantine shield does not. An adamantine shield is
always a masterwork shield, so its armor check penalty is
reduced by 1 (–0 for a buckler or light shield, –1 for a heavy
shield). An adamantine shield also has a hardness of 20 and one
third more hit points than normal (6 for a buckler, 13 for a light
shield, 26 for a heavy shield). A tower shield is made from
wood, so you can't make one from adamantine.
The basic properties of a mithral shield remain unchanged.
For example, a mithral heavy shield is still a heavy shield. If
you’re size Medium and you shield bash with a heavy mithral
shield, you deal 1d4 points of damage (or 1d6 if the shield has
a shield spike). You can’t use your shield hand for anything
else when you’re using a heavy mithral shield.
Any mithral item is masterwork, but the –3 armor check
reduction for a mithral item already includes the adjustment for
a masterwork item. Any mithral item has a hardness of 15, but
it has no extra hit points.
In general, mithral items weigh half what their normal
counterparts weigh. When you find a specific listing for a
mithral shield or armor, however, use the weight listed for it,
not what the formula gives you. A mithral chain shirt, for
example, weighs only 10 pounds (see page 20 of the Dungeon
Master’s Guide), not 12 1/2 pounds (half the normal weight of
25 pounds).
Kind regards
