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Da Beast
2008-04-08, 06:30 AM
Yes, I realize that this question is stupid and random, but I honestly want to know.

Arang
2008-04-08, 06:32 AM
I think it's dark gray and pretty dull. Think.

My experience being the Adamantine Golems in BG2 and the Adamantine Bar in NWN.

Bag_of_Holding
2008-04-08, 06:35 AM
I always thought it'd be black. Something like Hinjo's katana.

Nebo_
2008-04-08, 06:40 AM
I always imagined it as sort of a purply-yellow, or a reddish green.

Artemician
2008-04-08, 06:55 AM
Wierd.. I always pictured it as a sort of reddish/ochre colour. No idea why.

Proven_Paradox
2008-04-08, 06:59 AM
I've always thought it a dark blue color.

There is a surprising lack of consensus here.

Pronounceable
2008-04-08, 07:00 AM
Dull, dark gray I think. What other exotic stuff is there apart from adamantine and mithril (which we all know is shining silver) and what color are they?

Decoy69
2008-04-08, 07:01 AM
I my head, it's always looked like Uranium. Which makes no sense becaues Uranium is softer than steel....

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/HEUraniumC.jpg

Miraqariftsky
2008-04-08, 07:02 AM
I agree with Bag of Holding. I've always imagined adamantine as incredibly hard and the colour of soot.

Dark blue or purple? Nah, that's byeshk, yo...

mostlyharmful
2008-04-08, 07:03 AM
Gun Metal Grey for me. Possibly with an oily edge to it in the right light.

Thufir
2008-04-08, 07:04 AM
I always thought it was black. In fact, I thought it said so in the DMG, but I just checked, and it doesn't.

senrath
2008-04-08, 07:05 AM
I've always imagined it as sort of a dull greyish green color.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-04-08, 07:07 AM
I always thought of it as gray, but I think the color says more about the poster than the metal itself.

AslanCross
2008-04-08, 07:10 AM
I always thought of it as a very dark shade of purple, almost black.

Half-blood
2008-04-08, 07:16 AM
I Always thought it was a darkish green as well.

Zenos
2008-04-08, 07:17 AM
I always thought of it as green, may jsut be that the first time I heard about anything sounding like adamant it was in Runescape.

Kristoss
2008-04-08, 07:19 AM
In the epic level handbook, an adamentine golem is described as appearing like a huge iron golem. By this you could assume that it is grey like iron, but their is no official word that I can find.

streakster
2008-04-08, 07:21 AM
I assumed purple as well.

senrath
2008-04-08, 07:23 AM
In the epic level handbook, an adamentine golem is described as appearing like a huge iron golem. By this you could assume that it is grey like iron, but their is no official word that I can find.

Of course, since it doesn't actually mention color it could be interpreted that it looks like an iron golem, but may or may not be the same color.

Archpaladin Zousha
2008-04-08, 07:23 AM
I always imagined it to be a dull, bronze-like color. This mainly comes from my experience in playing Age of Mythology, where the gates you're trying to protect are reputedly made from adamantine. The metal on the doors looks like bronze, and that carried over to my experience in D&D. Only recently has that opinion started to shift, seeing as how adamantine in NWN2 appears to be an almost pitch-black metal.

Wolf53226
2008-04-08, 07:29 AM
Brushed silver, not shiny like the silver in fancy silverware. Although I could certainly go with gun metal like mostlyharmful suggested.

Dark Knight Renee
2008-04-08, 07:39 AM
Darker than steel, possibly almost black; either a dark grey, grey-blue, a purplish or a similar. My mental image is slightly un-specific. I suspect I get this darker color from the Adamantine Golem in NWN.

Ossian
2008-04-08, 07:43 AM
Sorry to state the obvious, but Adamantine sounds a lot like diamonds.
One can give the color he likes to his alloys and special metals, and can make it change from the raw material to the finished and polished product. Still, often names are pickes on what the thing looks like. Emeralds were "green stones" and so on...

Thus, Adamant might look like a quartz looking crystalline material, with spikes and sharp jutted surfaces, a bit like the Krypton crystals from Superman's comics and movies.

When polished and forged into a smooth blade, I see it having many traits in common with a shiny blueish steel, with a sort of dusty, irregular texture all along the surface, coarse to touch like a fine sandpaper sheet, cold, glittering in the sun (and, of course, projhecting concentrig hexagons of light from the tip when held aloft....). He Man's Sword of Greyskull could be Adamantine...

O.

Kaelaroth
2008-04-08, 07:45 AM
Dull grey, maybe slightly reflective in bright light.

RTGoodman
2008-04-08, 07:52 AM
I always think of it as dark blue-gray, though I'm not sure why. I, too, thought it was described that way somewhere, but thinking back over it I don't think it is.

And I'm not sure why I don't think of it as green, since Runescape was also my first experience with a similar material...

Swooper
2008-04-08, 07:59 AM
Pitch black, but not dull or matted like some have described it, but with a distinct metallic gleam.

Edit: Come to think of it, I believe this image might originate in me playing with my Lego as a kid. All the swords I owned were gray, except one which was black.

Glawackus
2008-04-08, 08:07 AM
A dark grey with hints of blue was what I always thought of. *shrug*

Charity
2008-04-08, 08:08 AM
I have always gone for this
http://z.about.com/d/geology/1/0/0/D/1/demantoid500.jpg
the crystals rather than the rock.

Prometheus
2008-04-08, 08:12 AM
Black with a blue, green, or purple shine.

SamTheCleric
2008-04-08, 08:13 AM
Put me in the Black/Dark Grey crowd... I don't know why. Maybe 2nd edition said something about it?

senrath
2008-04-08, 08:22 AM
I have always gone for this
-snip-
the crystals rather than the rock.

Yes! That's the almost the exact color I thought of! Only a little more grey.

Albonor
2008-04-08, 08:27 AM
If we admit that adamantine isn't restricted to D&D, The Elder Scrolls series (CRPGs) depicted it as pitch black.

When Hinjo's katana was first introduced, the debate was between adamantine and cold iron (which the Giant ended by stating it was cold iron) so a lot of people assume that it is as least dark gray if not black.

I also seem to remember that 2ed said something about this, maybe related to drow weaponry? If not I can only state other fantasy products's assumptions.

Indon
2008-04-08, 08:30 AM
I envision it as kind of a semi-luminescent blue... I think my brain might have stolen that imagery from WoW.

Gerrtt
2008-04-08, 08:42 AM
I realize that it's not a canon source, but here's some pictures of adamantine stuff from NWN.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll278/gerrtt06/golem.jpg

and some adamantine itself

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll278/gerrtt06/adamantine.jpg

Inyssius Tor
2008-04-08, 08:53 AM
My first response is "faintly luminescent bluish-silver", but that's pretty much mithril in D&D.

The problem is that, in most worlds, mithril(/mythril/mithral) and adamantine are one metal, that metal is called adamant(ine/ium), and it's silver with maybe a hint of blue. In D&D, they're two entirely different materials, and mithril is bluish-silver.

I hadn't ever really thought about it, but I quite like Ossian's description.

Khanderas
2008-04-08, 09:10 AM
I pictured it as the colour of aluminium.

Mando Knight
2008-04-08, 09:27 AM
I've thought that it would be either silver or semi-reflective black, depending on what would be more awesome (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool) on the character the item's made for... and the Black Knight from Fire Emblems 9 & 10 has pretty neat armor...

Worira
2008-04-08, 09:45 AM
http://sunsetvale.com/images/AdamantineGolem.gif

Adamantine golem.

Burley
2008-04-08, 09:46 AM
I poured over the WotC website and this (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20050505a) is the best I could find...
If you scroll to the description of the "Dwarf Mercenary" mini, it says
Clad in heavy-looking full plate armor crafted from a dark metal (adamantine, perhaps?), the Dwarf Mercenary is carrying a (dwarf-sized) longsword forged from some sort of dark coppery metal in one hand and a very sturdy-looking metal shield (which matches the armor) in the other.

So...according to that mini, it's black-ish?

Kioran
2008-04-08, 09:52 AM
Dark, dull gray. To me.

Truthseeker
2008-04-08, 09:54 AM
Put me in the Black/Dark Grey crowd... I don't know why. Maybe 2nd edition said something about it?

I did a quick look... 2E's Arms and Equipment Guide characterizes its "adamantite" as being "as dull, heavy, and dense as mithril is reflective, light, and pure." They were doing a contrast piece between the heights of elven and drow metallurgy.

I've always seen it as kind of purplish; the drow weapons in BG2 got to me, despite drowish items being characterized as an alloy. I also thought I remembered the "official" answer as being green, but after a look through some books I realized I was confusing it with Baatorian Green Steel. Neat how we've all filled in the blanks and come up with a score of different answers. :D

Lord Tataraus
2008-04-08, 10:09 AM
I've always seen it and described it as the blackest black, yet slightly reflective. I thought there was an official statement somewhere that adamantine was black or grey but I can't find it....

Hadrian_Emrys
2008-04-08, 10:09 AM
I agree with the Elder Scrolls comment. I can only see it as so black that it doesn't even reflect light when polished thanks to Daggerfall.

Indon
2008-04-08, 10:21 AM
I pictured it as the colour of aluminium.

I picture Mithril as being Aluminum (alloy), honestly.

About as strong as steel but much lighter? A description of Aluminum/Iron alloy. Expensive and difficult to make using esoteric methods? A description of Aluminum extraction methods before electrolysis. Shiny? And so on.

Fhaolan
2008-04-08, 01:31 PM
I've wavered between thinking of it as a very dark gun-metal gray (basically gray that is almost black with a bluish/purplish tinge), or a very dark gold/bronze colour.

Destro_Yersul
2008-04-08, 02:01 PM
I've always thought of it as green. Maybe a darker green than most. Like that colour that Games Workshop used to paint their Necron Monoliths. That would be cool.

Closet_Skeleton
2008-04-08, 02:26 PM
Sorry to state the obvious, but Adamantine sounds a lot like diamonds.
One can give the color he likes to his alloys and special metals, and can make it change from the raw material to the finished and polished product. Still, often names are pickes on what the thing looks like. Emeralds were "green stones" and so on...

Adamantine sounds like Diamond because they have the same root word, which just means "very strong".

I'm in the dark grey crowd for D&D but Adamant from my own original fiction just looks like steel.

Timmit
2008-04-08, 02:48 PM
I always pictured it as a dark, glossy black. The same sort of black that was used to describe the spaceship Arthur/Ford stole at the Restuaurant at the End of the Universe in the Hitchhiker's Guide (which I can't quote from work, blah).

JupiterJazz
2008-04-08, 03:01 PM
And what root word is it that they share?

Lord Tataraus
2008-04-08, 03:21 PM
And what root word is it that they share?

From Merriam-Webster online's entry: diamond (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diamond)

Etymology:
Middle English diamaunde, from Middle French diamand, from Late Latin diamant-, diamas, alteration of Latin adamant-, adamas hardest metal, diamond, from Greek
Emphasis mine.

hewhosaysfish
2008-04-08, 03:46 PM
Next time I GM, I am so going to declare that adamantine is pink.

Collin152
2008-04-08, 04:52 PM
I figured it was never pure, and gained colors based on the impurities/other metals in the alloy.
Since I guess Iron would be the most common one, reddish to gray.

Signmaker
2008-04-08, 05:02 PM
Played Runescape. Can't get Dark Green out of my head.

gnomas
2008-04-08, 05:12 PM
i've always thought of it as dark green in my head (goddam runescape stuck that in there)

though i suppose it depends, different sources seem to have different views. in DnD i think it's dark silver-ish (like in the golem pic)

Kyeudo
2008-04-08, 05:15 PM
I've always thought of it as looking mostly like steel, but with a slightly darker color. Most NPCs in my worlds can't tell the difference at a glance.

Da Beast
2008-04-08, 05:26 PM
I have always gone for this
http://z.about.com/d/geology/1/0/0/D/1/demantoid500.jpg
the crystals rather than the rock.

I always thought of it like that, but darker. From the sounds of it, I can say it looks like whatever I want and not be contradicted by the rules.


I figured it was never pure, and gained colors based on the impurities/other metals in the alloy.
Since I guess Iron would be the most common one, reddish to gray.

I like this idea.

Gralamin
2008-04-08, 05:27 PM
When polished and forged into a smooth blade, I see it having many traits in common with a shiny blueish steel, with a sort of dusty, irregular texture all along the surface, coarse to touch like a fine sandpaper sheet, cold, glittering in the sun (and, of course, projecting concentric hexagons of light from the tip when held aloft....).
Stolen. This is pretty close to what I imagined.

Glyde
2008-04-08, 05:34 PM
I've always thought it a dark blue color.

There is a surprising lack of consensus here.


This is what I think - Dark blue.

Tengu
2008-04-08, 05:37 PM
I did a quick look... 2E's Arms and Equipment Guide characterizes its "adamantite" as being "as dull, heavy, and dense as mithril is reflective, light, and pure." They were doing a contrast piece between the heights of elven and drow metallurgy.

I've always seen it as kind of purplish; the drow weapons in BG2 got to me, despite drowish items being characterized as an alloy. I also thought I remembered the "official" answer as being green, but after a look through some books I realized I was confusing it with Baatorian Green Steel. Neat how we've all filled in the blanks and come up with a score of different answers. :D

A nitpick, but adamantine is not the same as adamantite - adamantine is the extremely hard metal that can cut through everything, adamantite is the magical drow metal that turns to dust in sunlight. People who ran one NWN2 persistent world I played (notice the past tense) couldn't see the difference and decided that adamantine on their server will turn to dust in sunlight, and be available only in the Underdark equivalent. Feel free to contemplate their idiocy with me.

I always imagined adamantine to be very dark, almost black purple.

Hazkali
2008-04-08, 05:40 PM
I've always pictured it as being in-between normal steel and mithril in terms of colour and lustre; for some reason I can't picture a really hard metal being a dark, dull, lead-like colour.

Citizen Joe
2008-04-08, 05:48 PM
Bioware's Adamantine golem is sort of grey.
http://nwn.bioware.com/underdark/images/creature_adamgolem.jpg

Vazzaroth
2008-04-08, 05:54 PM
Wierd.. I always pictured it as a sort of reddish/ochre colour. No idea why.

Me too. It has something to do with the dwarven armor from Morrowind for me, I think.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Janx_14/Morrowind/Armour2.gif
The weird thing is, thats not that red.

In my mind, when I think of Adamantine armor, I think of that armor above, in a dark, blood/rust red color with flecks of mustard orange. Again, I have no idea why either, really.

I love DnD. Something as fundamental as this and it's diffrent for everyone.

Wooter
2008-04-08, 06:09 PM
I don't like what they did with the Dwarven armor in Oblivion...

Anyway, I think of adamantine to be black, but shiny. Like electrical tape, actually.

Gorbash
2008-04-08, 06:16 PM
I always imagined adamantine to be very dark, almost black purple.

Same here.

But, basically, it's the pigment of your imagination.

SurlySeraph
2008-04-08, 07:43 PM
Black and shiny, but not really black and shiny. Think obsidian mixed with iron.

Truthseeker
2008-04-08, 08:24 PM
A nitpick, but adamantine is not the same as adamantite - adamantine is the extremely hard metal that can cut through everything, adamantite is the magical drow metal that turns to dust in sunlight.

Yeah, I thought I was saying that when I mentioned that the drow stuff was an alloy, but in retrospect it came out less clear than I'd have liked. I meant to be taking a "this isn't the same thing, but here's where we may have come up with that notion" tone. Good clarification. :smallredface:

martyboy74
2008-04-08, 08:30 PM
Runescape's gotten me too; the green seems like the perfect shade to me now.

Fishy
2008-04-08, 08:36 PM
Final Fantasy Adamantite is usually dark green, in games with graphics for it.

Wolverine's Adamantium claws are just steel-colored.

For my fantasy metal needs, I prefer Orichalcum, which is either a shiny red metal mined in Atlantis, or a magical alloy of gold, silver, lead and mercury (for the four Alchemical elements, naturally).

If you'd like to stay in the 'real' world, you want Damascus Steel: forged in the middle east using a technique that layers it with rippling carbon 'imperfections'. It shimmers in the light, as if it were constantly held under running water, and will essentially snap lesser swords in half. Also, it may or may not have been filled with carbon nano-fibers.

Neon Knight
2008-04-08, 08:55 PM
In my mind, its a shade of cold-toned gray, probably closest to slate-grey.

ashmanonar
2008-04-08, 08:57 PM
Black. Like Obsidian.

SilverClawShift
2008-04-08, 09:03 PM
Obligatum VII in the Elder Evils book has an adamantine vorpal longsword.

It's a dull matte gray with a subtle reddish tint. The subtle red might be from being vorpal.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2008-04-08, 09:23 PM
I picture it like a shiny dark-grey metal with the very faintest blue hue.

skywalker
2008-04-08, 09:32 PM
I've always pictured it as being in-between normal steel and mithril in terms of colour and lustre; for some reason I can't picture a really hard metal being a dark, dull, lead-like colour.

I had never thought of this before, but up until now, I've always thought of Adamantine as blackest black. Although, I also had the factoid about diamond floating around in my head. At one point, adamantine meant "made of diamond," so that has been in my head.

Overall, though, admantine is still blackest black to me.

Nonanonymous
2008-04-08, 09:34 PM
Silky brown, or deep colors of rubies or sapphires, as I reserve the glossy black for actual onyx, and it keeps with the real mineral with a mohs hardness of 9 of the same name to some extent.

Cruiser1
2008-04-08, 09:36 PM
Another vote for adamantine as very very dark gray (almost black) that's glossy reflective. The only thing that's obviously blacker is a sphere of annihilation or similar constructs, that are black holes that don't reflect anything at all.

Adamantine is in contrast to mithral that's very very light gray (almost white) like Frodo's armor in LotR. Cold iron is dark gray with a dark greenish tint, indicating its ability to affect fey. Lighter gray than cold iron is standard iron and most other metals.

Collin152
2008-04-08, 09:45 PM
Another vote for adamantine as very very dark gray (almost black) that's glossy reflective. The only thing that's obviously blacker is a sphere of annihilation or similar constructs, that are black holes that don't reflect anything at all.

Adamantine is in contrast to mithral that's very very light gray (almost white) like Frodo's armor in LotR. Cold iron is dark gray with a dark greenish tint, indicating its ability to affect fey. Lighter gray than cold iron is standard iron and most other metals.

My cold iron has a sickly blue tinge when reflecting light.

zaei
2008-04-08, 09:52 PM
I've always pictured Adamantium as being a dull gray.

I've always pictured Mithral as having a distinct purplish tint.

FlyMolo
2008-04-08, 10:05 PM
Runescape's gotten me too; the green seems like the perfect shade to me now.
AoM, the Titans expansion pack got to me, personally. You can build Atlantean walls with various enhancements. One is Adamantine, and it's green.

But pitch black is awesomesauce.

Crowheart
2008-04-08, 10:27 PM
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/9/98/175px-Eberron_cs_book_cover.jpg

The warforged in this picture is supposed to have adamantine plating.

Adamantine has always been glossy black to me. I guess the picture fortifies my mental image.

JaxGaret
2008-04-08, 10:27 PM
My mental image of Adamantine is that it is exactly the same color as Adamantium from the Marvel universe.

Collin152
2008-04-08, 10:46 PM
My mental image of Adamantine is that it is exactly the same color as Adamantium from the Marvel universe.

So...
Unique to each item?

skywalker
2008-04-08, 10:54 PM
Addendum, I've always considered mithral to look exactly the same as in LOTR.

I've always thought cold iron as being very, very dull, because someone once said it's the least magical of special materials. I'm not sure about that, but something that's useful against fey should be opposite of them, I think. Dull seems to be the opposite of fey. I dunno.

CockroachTeaParty
2008-04-08, 11:15 PM
Wow, all of these people with greens, blues, ochres... I always pictured it as really dull, dark gray. Does that mean my imagination is bland and colorless?
:smalleek:

Ceric
2008-04-08, 11:20 PM
Yes! Finally, I can find out what color adamantine really is and... there's no one answer. At all.

I've always pictured red-orange, like copper but darker and not as shiny. Maybe I was affected by Maple Story (don't blame me, I was young). But my family says it's bright silver, like mithril.

Collin152
2008-04-08, 11:21 PM
Wow, all of these people with greens, blues, ochres... I always pictured it as really dull, dark gray. Does that mean my imagination is bland and colorless?
:smalleek:

What color is yor psicrystal?
That's the real test.




Mine is pink.

Ascension
2008-04-08, 11:58 PM
I'm with the so-incredibly-dark-grey-it's-almost-black crowd, but not quite as black as the obsidian crowd. It only shines at all if sharpened, but when it is, the sharpened edge gleams almost like silver. This leads to the seeming contradiction of a nearly-black blade with a gleaming razor-sharp edge (which realistically would be dulled after... ehh... we'll give it two swings... but hey, it's fictional and INCREDIBLY hard, it can defy logic to some extent). In my mind it is also incapable of being manipulated at all except with adamantine tools or the raw power of magic. Or by dwarves. Because dwarves are speshul.

It was the dwarven ability to easily manipulate adamantine that inspired the gnomes to enslave them and drive them underground to work in the mines... but now we're veering off into my own homebrew stuff...

Theodoxus
2008-04-09, 12:03 AM
Per the DMG II: "An incorporeal binding weapon is always misty gray in color, even if the base material used in its construction has a distinct color of its own (such as adamantine) (emphasis mine) Pg 260 under Incorporeal Binding.

Also: "...used the adamantine as raw material for several powerful magic weapons and suits of armor. The skin of creatures bound to the power of the Ironsworn gains a vaguely metallic sheen..." Pg 244 under Last Stand of the Ironsworn.

So, we know that it isn't misty gray, but has a distinct color that is vaguely metallic.

Onward!

Not WotC, but the Tome of Artifacts has this description: "The bow is permanently strung with a wire of adamantine as black as the bow itself." Pg 45 under The Bow of Night

From Complete Arcane comes this description: "Dyrr’s Impervious Vestment: This black silk robe is embroidered with adamantine thread in an elegant waterfall pattern." Pg 148. Inconclusive, since it's black silk... but it might be black on black...

Then Complete Champion has this to say: "Moradin's Forge: Usually made of a heavy metal (lead, adamantine, or even gold) and painted flat black, this talisman comes in two parts..." Pg 134. Why paint adamantine black, unless it isn't black to begin with.

More definitive from Complete Mage! "ADAMANTINE WINGS: You feel an instant of searing pain from your back, which swiftly fades into a sensation
of ultimate freedom. You sprout a pair of dull gleaming wings made of overlapping feathers of dark metal." Pg 95. Looks like we're back to the dull gun-metal.

So, I'd suspect that much like titanium, you can forge Adamantine to take on one of many different hues, ranging from a burnished steel all the way to a deep black. I think the basic color is a dull dark metal, like uranium or paladium.

I'm tired though, so no more research from me tonight. :)

Theo

Kizara
2008-04-09, 12:23 AM
Matte-Black for me. Although I think a purplish hue to it might be cool, and could go for that as well.

Patashu
2008-04-09, 12:36 AM
I've always pictured it as either metallic red or metallic blue.

Icewalker
2008-04-09, 12:42 AM
A pale green-grey.

GoldDragon
2008-04-09, 12:45 AM
Yellow-Green. Don't ask me why.

HOO
2008-04-09, 12:47 AM
I always imagined it to be black or at least VERY dark metallic, dull or shiny depending on the kind of item.

Ascension
2008-04-09, 12:47 AM
Yellow-Green. Don't ask me why.

Mountain Dew product placement? :smallwink:

MelkorsHalo
2008-04-09, 12:53 AM
this is a surprisingly long thread. but i'm with the matte black people. don't know why, really. just how it looks in my head.

Innis Cabal
2008-04-09, 12:57 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adamantine

sometimes wiki can be your friend.

Yahzi
2008-04-09, 01:07 AM
It's dull purple in my world.

Da Beast
2008-04-09, 04:22 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adamantine

sometimes wiki can be your friend.

Wait, adamantine is a real material? O_O

I guess I have my answer. I originally made this topic because I was trying to get a mental image of my latest character. So far I know that he carries a brown greatsword, used to be a member of the Red Cloak battalion and that people from Breland tend to wear a certain shade of blue. This sounds familiar...

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/images/ike/ike.jpg

****.

JBento
2008-04-09, 05:06 AM
I don't know if this extraneous source has been mentioned, but my first contact with Adamantine/-ium is from the oldie but goodie game Master of Magic, where it was a purplish metal. I stand by that, whatever Reality decides to say :smallbiggrin:

hamishspence
2008-04-09, 05:34 AM
Narnia: The Magicians Nephew, had the doors of Charn being a black, increadibly hard metal not found in our world. Maybe thats where idea of black adamantium came from?

it goes by a few names: adamantium, adamantine, adamantite.

Dhavaer
2008-04-09, 06:08 AM
I'll go with black.

hewhosaysfish
2008-04-09, 06:27 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adamantine

sometimes wiki can be your friend.

Ah but, unfortunately the page you link to says right at the top:


This article is about the real mineral. For mythological and fictional substances of a similar name, see Adamant.

...and the page about Adamant says nothing about colour.

Admiral Squish
2008-04-09, 06:34 AM
I always thought of adamantium as a really white-shiny metal. Like burnished silver. And mithral was always bluish.

Lord Tataraus
2008-04-09, 06:52 AM
Narnia: The Magicians Nephew, had the doors of Charn being a black, increadibly hard metal not found in our world. Maybe thats where idea of black adamantium came from?

it goes by a few names: adamantium, adamantine, adamantite.

Actually, I think it might come from its real-world roots. Adamant is the root word of diamond, a form of carbon. Carbon is usually black in color with some reflective properties, thus one can say that adamantine is a carbon-based material which would most likely be black.

senrath
2008-04-09, 06:57 AM
Wait, adamantine is a real material? O_O

I guess I have my answer. I originally made this topic because I was trying to get a mental image of my latest character. So far I know that he carries a brown greatsword, used to be a member of the Red Cloak battalion and that people from Breland tend to wear a certain shade of blue. This sounds familiar...

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/images/ike/ike.jpg

****.

Of course, I'm pretty sure that adamantine in DnD is much stronger than adamantine spar in the real world.

Lord Tataraus
2008-04-09, 09:27 AM
Well, Brennus, here is your answer:
{table=head]Color|Supporters|Percent
Dark grey/black|33|38.82%
Light grey|12|14.12%
Grey-Purple/Blue|11|12.94%
Greenish|11|12.94%
Blue|8|9.41%
Reddish|7|8.24%
Bronze/Yellowish|3|3.53%
Total|85|100%
[/table]

Note: I took or's into account (as in, if you gave two answers, I took both.

Note 2: I grouped a lot of answers so every thing that signified dark grey or darker than/as dark as steel went into Dark grey/black, anything that was green-something or just green went into green, etc.

Note 3: These results do not reflect any posts that may follow this one.

JaxGaret
2008-04-09, 09:28 AM
So...
Unique to each item?


So, I'd suspect that much like titanium, you can forge Adamantine to take on one of many different hues, ranging from a burnished steel all the way to a deep black. I think the basic color is a dull dark metal, like uranium or paladium.

Precisely.


...and the page about Adamant says nothing about colour.

QFT

ghost_warlock
2008-04-09, 09:30 AM
I'm with the adamantine is black crown, maybe a holdover from previous editions. /shrug

Dannoth
2008-04-09, 09:58 AM
Black / Dark Grey = Obsidian

I am thinking a Light Blue and Metallic color for adamantine

something like this:
http://www.enworld.org/Pozas/Pictures/Illustration/warforged.jpg

RyanM
2008-04-09, 10:17 AM
In my campaign world, at least, Mithril = titanium alloy (approaches low-to-mid quality modern steels in strength, but half as dense), and Adamantine is a tungsten-iron alloy (same strength as the better Ti alloys, but twice as dense as steel).

Hawriel
2008-04-09, 10:24 AM
go look at any comic book cover with Wolverine on it. He almost always has his claws out. There you go. The color of adamantine.

hewhosaysfish
2008-04-09, 10:33 AM
go look at any comic book cover with Wolverine on it. He almost always has his claws out. There you go. The color of adamantine.

Actually, that's the colour of adamantium.

Adamantine may be completely different.

InkEyes
2008-04-09, 10:55 AM
I always imagined it was black, and I couldn't think of why. Until I remembered the color of the Adamantine Clockwork Horror is black with a bluish tint.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm2_gallery/88268_620_19.jpg

(The other ones are steel, gold, and electrum)

Eldmor
2008-04-09, 11:06 AM
I've always imagined it as sort of a dull greyish green color.

Same here. And to that warforged picture that was linked, that's the color I view Mithral as.

Fixer
2008-04-09, 11:22 AM
I figured it was never pure, and gained colors based on the impurities/other metals in the alloy.
Since I guess Iron would be the most common one, reddish to gray.
My believe is that the above statement is most true, but that adamantine items, without pigmentation, are a dark grey/near black.

mroozee
2008-04-09, 12:28 PM
As I think about it, I've held at least two different positions regarding the color of adamantium.

IIRC, in first edition adamantium was described as coming from space so I pictured it like the Willamette Meteorite (at least in its unworked state).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Meteorite

Possibly due to Wolverine, I started seeing adamantium as a perfect reflector.

mroozee
2008-04-09, 12:32 PM
As I think about it, I've held at least two different positions regarding the color of adamantium.

IIRC, in first edition adamantium was described as coming from space so I pictured it like the Willamette Meteorite (at least in its unworked state).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Meteorite

Possibly due to Wolverine, I started seeing adamantium as a perfect reflector.

mroozee
2008-04-09, 12:47 PM
As I think about it, I've held at least two different positions regarding the color of adamantium.

IIRC, in first edition adamantium was described as coming from space so I pictured it like the Willamette Meteorite (at least in its unworked state).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Meteorite

Possibly due to Wolverine, I started seeing adamantium as a perfect reflector.

mroozee
2008-04-09, 01:02 PM
As I think about it, I've held at least two different positions regarding the color of adamantium.

IIRC, in first edition adamantium was described as coming from space so I pictured it like the Willamette Meteorite (at least in its unworked state).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Meteorite

Possibly due to Wolverine, I started seeing adamantium as a perfect reflector.

Fawsto
2008-04-09, 01:08 PM
The 4 dungeon master guide metals, as I imagine them:

Cold Steel: Dark Gray, almost black (Hinjo's Katana)

Mithral: Shining Silver that sparkles with even low lights

Alchemical Silver: Something like Silver colored, but, somehow, with patterns that make it look like melted metal, but solid.

Adamantine: Silver, but with sort of a golden shine, very hard to notice. Take a look on the Adamantine Golem from ELH.

Edit: Holy S***! Quadruple Post! Awesome!

SoD
2008-04-09, 01:12 PM
Holy quadruple post, batman!

And I always pictured adamantine as a dark black with tiny flecks of green in it, that glint when light shines on them.

Animefunkmaster
2008-04-09, 01:12 PM
I always felt it was orange... not sure why.

bosssmiley
2008-04-09, 01:13 PM
Adamantine/-ite/-ium is black.

Why? Because adamantine/-ite/-ium is the most METAL! of all metals.
And black, as any true rocker will tell you, is the most METAL! of all colours.
QED. :smallamused:

The Rose Dragon
2008-04-09, 02:05 PM
Holy quadruple post, Eggman!

I always thought of adamantine as purple. I don't really know why.

Charity
2008-04-10, 02:24 AM
Eggy's had his signal scrambled.

Green man Green! eggs and ham

GammaPaladin
2008-04-10, 02:42 AM
I always envisioned it as a bright, light blue, but exceedingly shiny, generally mirror finished. That's probably because on a molecular level, something that hard would need a particularly uniform structure, and would lend itself to extremely smooth (And therefore reflective) surfaces.

Khanderas
2008-04-10, 02:45 AM
I always envisioned it as a bright, light blue, but exceedingly shiny, generally mirror finished. That's probably because on a molecular level, something that hard would need a particularly uniform structure, and would lend itself to extremely smooth (And therefore reflective) surfaces.
I would like to change my entry from the aluminum colored adamantium to your version.

Erebus
2008-04-10, 02:53 AM
Adamantine/-ite/-ium is black.

Why? Because adamantine/-ite/-ium is the most METAL! of all metals.
And black, as any true rocker will tell you, is the most METAL! of all colours.
QED. :smallamused:

Totally agree on that I always thought of adamantine either as pitch black or shiny aluminum color...like a mix of steel and silver...

Ossian
2008-04-10, 03:27 AM
Adamantine sounds like Diamond because they have the same root word, which just means "very strong".

I'm in the dark grey crowd for D&D but Adamant from my own original fiction just looks like steel.

:smallsmile: oh, well, I guess it's 1-0 for you :smallsmile:
I checked emerald, and it was green, and it didn't occurr to me that diamond might have more to do with its properties than with its color. You live, you learn!

Although, let me grasp at this thin straw...
If we are referring to emerald as green and o diamonds as strong, and since we are arguing over a fictional material invented in a fantasy world, known for its property of hardness, in a world where diamonds already existed, couldn't thay have said: "hmmm...this ore here looks like a diamond, only tougher....let's call it adamant?" (scientific mumbo jumbo: similar properties, similar crystalline structure, similar appearance), so, you see...*SNAP!* (sound of straw breaking) aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (echoes dying in the darkness of a chasm)

GammaPaladin
2008-04-10, 03:54 AM
Ah, well, if we're talking original fiction, I too use "adamant", but I have three varieties, white, red, and black. They have different properties, although they're all harder than any other known substance (And literally cannot be worked without the use of magic).

White is the strongest. It's basically the color of white gold, and always mirror finished. It simply can't be shaped in any way that leaves a rough edge. Yes, as you might expect, this implies that it is crystalline, and it is.

Black adamant is like obsidian. It's smooth and glassy, and translucent. It's crystalline qualities are readily apparent. It also functions as a magical "hole". Any magical effects directed at it are simply swallowed up and absorbed.

Red Adamant is my favorite though. It's like a ruby, red and translucent. Unlike Black Adamant, it's magically reactive, it refracts magical energies, allowing it to be crafted into devices which amplify or focus magical effects. It's basically mandatory for the creation of most magical artifacts.

But this has nothing to do with D&D so ;)

Skjaldbakka
2008-04-10, 04:25 AM
I always pictured it as black. It was midnight blue in one campaign I was in. In the Silmarillion, it is black (or at least, the only item ever mentioned that was made of it was black).

zaei
2008-04-10, 05:04 PM
Adamantine/-ite/-ium is black.

Why? Because adamantine/-ite/-ium is the most METAL! of all metals.
And black, as any true rocker will tell you, is the most METAL! of all colours.
QED. :smallamused:

You win the thread. Change my vote to BLACK.

drengnikrafe
2008-04-10, 11:24 PM
I believe there is no fully truely conclusive evidence as to what color Adamantine is (although you can almost prove it in a few ways, it's impossible to be truely concrete), and it's all what you want it to be.
That being said, it'll always be a green with a bit of blueish mixed in there to me.

Turcano
2008-04-11, 12:35 AM
I've always pictured adamantine as a very dark grey with a noticeable tinge of green, with an almost oily sheen to it. (I'm a fan of Steven Brust, so black weapons have different connotations to me.)

Mithral is almost the exact opposite: light silver with a hint of blue, and very reflective when polished.

Cold iron has Widmanstätten patterns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widmanst%C3%A4tten_pattern) in it.

Eldritch_Ent
2008-04-11, 01:08 AM
I always thought of it as a sort of translucent, yellow glass-like substance.

Like Topaz or Frozen Lemonade.

Greyen
2008-04-11, 01:39 AM
MIC has a pic of an ax- forget which one right now- but it is statted as an adamantine axe with a veined black head. So I'd go with black.

Eldmor
2008-04-11, 01:39 AM
I always thought of it as a sort of translucent, yellow glass-like substance.

Like Topaz or Frozen Lemonade.

I want the stats for a Frozen Lemonade Elemental now. Bonus points if it has Cleave and when activated it says "OH YEAAAH!".

The Sandman
2008-04-11, 01:51 AM
The answer's easy.

Just find a picture of Wolverine and look at his claws.

Whatever color they are is the color adamantine is. Presumably.

Haruspex
2008-04-11, 02:03 AM
Always figured it was dark grey, in contrast to mithril which is bright shiny silver-white.

Seems to be plenty of different colors though...

Da Beast
2008-04-11, 02:07 AM
According to Keith Baker it's black.

Yeril
2008-04-11, 07:55 AM
Played Runescape. Can't get Dark Green out of my head.

Ditto realy, I imagine it either as a dull dark green, or a dull dark black.

FreiSchultz
2008-04-12, 09:55 PM
I've pictured it as basically lead with a reflective sheen myself, while orichalcum is copper with gold streaks. But that's just me.

Bandededed
2008-04-12, 10:24 PM
I'm going with black, black, black. That is, until you hold it up in very bright light. Then you can see for yourself that it is really the darkest possible green (and perhaps slightly translucent).

Favorite fantasy metal + favorite color FTW!

JaxGaret
2008-04-12, 10:30 PM
I'm going with black, black, black. That is, until you hold it up in very bright light. Then you can see for yourself that it is really the darkest possible green (and perhaps slightly translucent).

Favorite fantasy metal + favorite color FTW!

That sounds awesome. I want one.

EDIT: Come to think of it, that sounds almost exactly like the Sword of Leah's coloring.

Tsotha-lanti
2008-04-12, 10:42 PM
Always been black for me.

There's even a picture of clockwork horrors in ... MM2? FF? Silver, Electrum, Gold, Adamantine. The horrors in the picture are silvery, silvery, golden, and black. The adamantine golem can curl up and rust!

Collin152
2008-04-12, 11:08 PM
Go out, and make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme,
Without no seams nor needlework,
Then you'll know the color of adamantine.

AslanCross
2008-04-12, 11:51 PM
MIC has a pic of an ax- forget which one right now- but it is statted as an adamantine axe with a veined black head. So I'd go with black.

The Axe of Ancestral Virtue, page 45-46. Yeah, it is a pretty solid black with veins.

Draco Ignifer
2008-04-13, 03:04 AM
My conception of it always came from some second edition magic of Faerun supplement, which described it as black as pitch, yet shiny in the same way steel was, with the twist of making natural light reflect green, and magical light reflect an eerie blue-violet color. Yes, it ignores any suggestion of how light would really behave, but hey, this was the book which had a metal that, after wounding a person for the first time, would go through a reaction where it would end up making it and any metal it was alloyed with phase through a person's body. Laws of physics need not apply.

Reaper_Monkey
2008-04-13, 06:40 AM
I encountered Eternium before I encountered Adamantine, and for some reason I always thought of Eternium as being green (like copper green, with the ripple lines of colour when its been heated unevenly), and as they are both the "best" metal in their respective games, I've just transposed its looks.

However I also like to add Eternium into any game I'm DMing in which case Adamantine is a little open for dispute for looks, in which case I normally make it unpolished grey.

RukiTanuki
2008-04-14, 02:46 PM
I'm away from books, but the adamantine dragon in the 4th Edition preview book WP:W&M is black. There seem to be several Warforged illustrated in the Eberron books with the Adamantine Body feat, who are also black.

HoopyFrood
2008-04-15, 06:08 PM
I'm going to third Bandededed's motion, black, but actually really really dark green.

Mando Knight
2008-04-15, 07:25 PM
Heh. When I joined, I saw a few threads about "Fluff doesn't matter" and yet here we are, a 5 page thread on color. Unless someone's planning on running a Green Lantern campaign sometime soon, I don't see color being a game mechanic anytime soon.:smalltongue:

EDIT: I officially bumped it up to a 6-pager. Go figure.

Collin152
2008-04-15, 07:28 PM
Heh. When I joined, I saw a few threads about "Fluff doesn't matter" and yet here we are, a 5 page thread on color. Unless someone's planning on running a Green Lantern campaign sometime soon, I don't see color being a game mechanic anytime soon.:smalltongue:

EDIT: I officially bumped it up to a 6-pager. Go figure.

Green Lantern game!
Brilliant!