D&D 5e: Why Weapon Materials Don't Exist Anymore

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Dungeons & Dragons scrapped a mechanic from the older editions of the game that allowed weapons to be made from different materials, in order to grant them unique properties when used in battle. It's not too difficult to homebrew some of these materials back in or use them as a substitute for magic items, but they're not part of the official rules. This is due to major changes in the design philosophy of 5e, especially when it comes to D&D's three core rulebooks.

In the D&D 3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide, there were options for weapons, armor, and equipment to be made from alternate materials. These included the incredibly durable Adamantine, which granted a +1 attack and damage bonus to regular weapons that weren't removed under the effects of antimagic; Dragonhide, which was as strong as metal half-plate but was considered a natural material, so druids could wear it without affecting their spellcasting abilities; and Mithral, which was metal so light that all armor is was used in was classed as a weight category lower, with a Mithral chain shirt being so weightless that it didn't impact the magic of arcane spellcasters, so long as they were proficient in wearing the armor.

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The D&D 5e Player's Handbook doesn't include rules for alternate materials, save for one exception. It's assumed that armors are made out of a combination of leather, metal, and cloth, depending on the type, while weapons are made from wood and/or metal. The specifics of weapon materials can be left to the DM and it's easy to just replace the material as needed for certain settings (such as how metal is rare on the world of Athas from the Dark Sun campaign setting), but keep the