How to prevent rust?

[weckar]

I know there is no RAW that says that metal armour/weapons rust... but they should, right? Especially if submerged in salt water for a long time?

Is there any way (enchantment, alchemical thingy) to prevent rust in 3.5?

[zergling.exe]

Blueshine and Everbright in Magic Item Compendium make armor and weapons respectively immune to rusting, with other benefits. Both are cheap fixed price enhancements.

[Darrin]

Blueshine and Everbright in Magic Item Compendium make armor and weapons respectively immune to rusting, with other benefits. Both are cheap fixed price enhancements.

The Durable armor property (500 GP, Dungeonscape) is even cheaper, 1/3rd the cost of Blueshine and also protects the armor against green slime.

[Inevitability]

The items could be submerged in an oily substance to prevent rusting. A non-acidic aquatic slime, like the flotsam ooze, should also work.

[Celestia]

The best way to prevent rust is to keep the thing away from rusting conditions. As that's not always possible, the second best method is to coat the thing in a non-rusting agent. Oil or oil-based paint work. However, they are somewhat fragile, and putting them on a weapon will cause those coatings to break or rub off quickly. It works perfectly for a showpiece put on display, but it's not a practical solution. Therefore, I suggest galvanizing the object with a non-corrosive metal, particularly zinc. Due to the existence of silver galvanized weapons in RAW, this should definitely be a possible solution in D&D.

Edit: This is, of course, the cheap option. Using magic, like the first couple posts suggest, probably works better.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Oiling a weapon/metal armor and buffing out rust are part of routine maintenance.
It's assumed that your character takes proper care of their equipment, the same way you don't have to keep track of sharpening your sword or restocking your spell component pouch.

Though if you want to dump your armor or sword into saltwater for storage then yes, you should probably go with a magical solution.

[Telonius]

Gauntlet of Rust (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#gauntletofRust):


This single metal gauntlet looks rusted and pitted but is actually quite powerful. Once per day, it can affect an object as with the rusting grasp spell. It also completely protects the wearer and her gear from rust (magical or otherwise), including the attack of a rust monster.

Moderate transmutation; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, rusting grasp; Price 11,500 gp; Weight 2 lb.

Once had a Warforged PC who was paranoid about Rust Monsters. Completely relieved when he discovered the existence of this thing.

[skunk3]

The Durable enchantment is definitely my go-to. It's really inexpensive and does exactly what I need it to and nothing more, unlike Everbright or Blueshine. It's a small price to pay for insurance and I put it on everything (that I can) that my characters own.

[Dr_Dinosaur]

My martial characters carry a whetstone and armor maintenance kits (oiled rags, etc). Take care of your gear and it'll take care of you.

[NOhara24]

I know there is no RAW that says that metal armour/weapons rust... but they should, right? Especially if submerged in salt water for a long time?

Is there any way (enchantment, alchemical thingy) to prevent rust in 3.5?

If the DM wants to enforce that on weapons & gear, sure. Me personally, I think wear & tear over time isn't built into the game for a reason.

[Zanos]

If the DM wants to enforce that on weapons & gear, sure. Me personally, I think wear & tear over time isn't built into the game for a reason.
You could if you want, but magic weapons don't really have to worry about becoming degraded unless they're directly abused, and most characters don't have non-magical weapons/armor for a particularly long time. And caring for metal really isn't that difficult. Properly cared for equipment shouldn't really rust and the process isn't difficult enough to call for a skillcheck.

You have to protect against rust monsters, though.

[sleepyphoenixx]

You could if you want, but magic weapons don't really have to worry about becoming degraded unless they're directly abused, and most characters don't have non-magical weapons/armor for a particularly long time. And caring for metal really isn't that difficult. Properly cared for equipment shouldn't really rust and the process isn't difficult enough to call for a skillcheck.

You have to protect against rust monsters, though.

Rust monsters aren't really dangerous. Sure, they're the iconic "it eats your stuff" monster, but their sole way to actually inflict damage is a 1d3 bite attack at -2 to hit.
I'd be more worried about the various acidic oozes. Those are actually dangerous in addition to destroying your stuff, and they're not limited to metal either.

[Zaq]

Rust monsters aren't really dangerous. Sure, they're the iconic "it eats your stuff" monster, but their sole way to actually inflict damage is a 1d3 bite attack at -2 to hit.
I'd be more worried about the various acidic oozes. Those are actually dangerous in addition to destroying your stuff, and they're not limited to metal either.

Rust monsters are scary because they attack long-term resources rather than short-term resources. Within reason, HP damage is way easier to reverse than “whoops, hope you didn’t need your weapon or armor, Mr. Fighter.” Rust monsters (alone) don’t usually kill you, but that doesn’t make them not scary. They make way the hell more sense in the old AD&D mindset (where characters are quick to build and quick to die, and loot is expected to be fundamentally random rather than an integral part of one’s character), but even then, they’re obnoxious.

Totally agree that various acidic oozes are Very Bad News, though. They’re a particularly bad case of the old “oozes are puzzles, not monsters” problem, but with a side of ruining long-term resources. If they’re in an environment favorable to the ooze(s) and disfavorable to the PCs, they can very easily end up in “jerk DM” territory.

[weckar]

The reason I ask is not because our DM is cruel or anything, but because it may be a reasonable penalty to impose when we start our PotC-inspired March across the Ocean Floor.

I like the proposed solutions. Those should be within our budget.

[Crake]

I mean, there's always the option of just not using metal. 3.5 has a plethora of different materials that you can make weapons and armor from. Glassteel is basically mithril, but non-metallic, costs about the same, crystal can be used to make weapons, or, if you have resistance to cold, blue ice works for both as well. Those are just a few, off the top of my head.

[weckar]

Actually getting all-new armour may be a tad out of our price range at the moment. I think we each have less than 1000GP to our name.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Rust monsters are scary because they attack long-term resources rather than short-term resources. Within reason, HP damage is way easier to reverse than “whoops, hope you didn’t need your weapon or armor, Mr. Fighter.” Rust monsters (alone) don’t usually kill you, but that doesn’t make them not scary. They make way the hell more sense in the old AD&D mindset (where characters are quick to build and quick to die, and loot is expected to be fundamentally random rather than an integral part of one’s character), but even then, they’re obnoxious.

Totally agree that various acidic oozes are Very Bad News, though. They’re a particularly bad case of the old “oozes are puzzles, not monsters” problem, but with a side of ruining long-term resources. If they’re in an environment favorable to the ooze(s) and disfavorable to the PCs, they can very easily end up in “jerk DM” territory.

Rust monsters are CR 3, way before you get magical weapons/armor. As Aberrations they don't even have any particular immunities to watch out for.
Unless the RM happens to munch your full plate you're not really losing that much. It can be annoying if it's in the middle of a dungeon, but that's about it.

More relevant, at the time you're most likely to run into Rust Monsters you're unlikely to have the gold to spend on Durable or similar enchantments in the first place.
I certainly have better things to buy at level 3 than a defense for one item against a very small subset of monsters. I'd be willing to carry a club or quarterstaff as a backup weapon, but that's about it.

[Necroticplague]

Rust monsters are CR 3, way before you get magical weapons/armor.

Considering CR 3 is when incorporeal creatures start popping up, I'm pretty sure it's assumed you have magic weapons by then. Otherwise the whole party can either die or have fun having most of them be useless against low level Ghosts, Shadows, and Allips, and that's just off the top of my head.

[Inevitability]

Considering CR 3 is when incorporeal creatures start popping up, I'm pretty sure it's assumed you have magic weapons by then. Otherwise the whole party can either die or have fun having most of them be useless against low level Ghosts, Shadows, and Allips, and that's just off the top of my head.

...you know the shadow and allip are some of the most frequently-used monsters whenever someone wants to point out WotC is bad at assigning CRs?

WBL for a level 3 PC is 2700 GP. That is theoretically enough for a magic weapon (+1 longswords are 2315 GP, for instance), but in most games a large part of those 2700 GP will be stuff like potions, scrolls, and mundane items that can only be sold for half price, if at all. This makes it very unlikely that a fighter is going to have a way to harm incorporeal beings before level 4-5.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Considering CR 3 is when incorporeal creatures start popping up, I'm pretty sure it's assumed you have magic weapons by then. Otherwise the whole party can either die or have fun having most of them be useless against low level Ghosts, Shadows, and Allips, and that's just off the top of my head.

You don't need a +1 weapon for those. In fact as Inevitability pointed out it's unlikely you can afford one.
But there's Oil of Magic Weapon, alchemical items and spells for that kind of stuff, so it's not really a problem.
You're better off spending 200gp on a Weapon Capsule Retainer and some Ghostblight instead of dealing with the 50% miss chance of a 2,3xxgp +1 weapon anyway.
Or buying a Triple WCR for 450gp and also loading it with Quicksilver or something to be prepared for more than just incorporeals.

[Inevitability]

You don't need a +1 weapon for those. In fact as Inevitability pointed out it's unlikely you can afford one.
But there's Oil of Magic Weapon, alchemical items and spells for that kind of stuff, so it's not really a problem.
You're better off spending 200gp on a Weapon Capsule Retainer and some Ghostblight instead of dealing with the 50% miss chance of a 2,3xxgp +1 weapon anyway.
Or buying a Triple WCR for 450gp and also loading it with Quicksilver or something to be prepared for more than just incorporeals.

Are you telling me that when you play a 3rd-level martial in your average game you spend over one-sixth of your WBL (and an even smaller portion of your expendable gold) on something that'll only come into play against a tiny fraction of all enemies? You don't use it to buy healing potions or save up for a magic item?

[Grod_The_Giant]

Are you telling me that when you play a 3rd-level martial in your average game you spend over one-sixth of your WBL (and an even smaller portion of your expendable gold) on something that'll only come into play against a tiny fraction of all enemies? You don't use it to buy healing potions or save up for a magic item?
I think the expectation is for them to be puzzle-y at low levels. You run into a ghost, you bust out Turn/Rebuke Undead or Magic Weapon (the spell, not an item), both of which you'd expect a low-level party to have access to. Heck, it's a time for the Cleric to shine, in the same way the room full o' goblins is a time for the blaster-Wizard to shine, the trap-filled corridor is a time for the Rogue to shine, and the golem is a time for the Fighter to shine. (Whether that expectation works out in actual play is another question, but hey)

[sleepyphoenixx]

Are you telling me that when you play a 3rd-level martial in your average game you spend over one-sixth of your WBL (and an even smaller portion of your expendable gold) on something that'll only come into play against a tiny fraction of all enemies? You don't use it to buy healing potions or save up for a magic item?
I wouldn't buy a TWCR at level 3, no. Just an Oil of Magic Weapon. I certainly don't buy healing potions with it.

I generally don't buy much in the way of magic items early on (before level 4-5 or so). I get a Healing Belt first thing and a bunch of cheap consumables after that. And a Haversack to carry loot of course.
Permanent, at-will and daily use items are overrated imo, especially early on. You can get a lot more bang for your buck from a bunch of alchemical items than a single magic item.