Are these "metal weapons" spicifically in relationship to Shocking Grasp?

[cerhiannon]

I have 1 or 3 weapons I'm particularly curious about:

Pick, heavy
Warhammer
Hammer, Gnomish Hooked

I know that all of them have metal heads, but (usually) have wooden hafts (handles), so I'm a bit unsure.

[Dafydd]

Well, going on what it says about such weapons when you pick up Darkwood and Mithral, I believe they count as metal.

[DM_Blake]

This is up to the GM.

As the OP said, these are usually wooden hafted, so the target of the spell is not actually touching the metal. Usually.

Would you apply the +3 attack roll to an enemy wielding a wooden great club with a nail in it? How about a wooden longspear with a metal spear head? A halberd with a wooden haft? A leather whip with metal barbs studded into the lash end?

It's pretty clear that the RAI is that a target holding metal, wearing metal, or made of metal is easier to hit. In the case of ALL weapons, if the part he's holding is not metal, then the bonus doesn't apply.

Unless it's raining... ;)

Of course, some such weapons have metal hafts so the bonus would apply in these cases.

[Kazaan]

If you're wearing insulation under your plate armor, can you also disregard that rules element? If the weapon is significantly made of metal, then Shocking Grasp gets +3 attack. Having metal barbs on your whip or a single nail in a great club isn't significant metal so that doesn't count. Basically, if the weapon could be constructed out of a metal special material like cold iron or adamantine, then it counts as metal for the purpose of Shocking Grasp. After all, even if they are wearing leather armor, they can still be shocked; the metal just makes it easier, not possible. The shock can still travel down the wooden haft (don't stand under a tree during a thunderstorm). Also, it's more a matter of magnetism than conductivity.

[p-sto]

How much are we nit picking here with the rain because if someone in the party has purify water on hand it shouldn't be much of an issue. Pure water actually insulates against electricity fairly well, it's the stuff floating around in the water that allows electricity to flow so effectively through it.

[DM_Blake]

p-sto wrote:

How much are we nit picking here with the rain because if someone in the party has purify water on hand it shouldn't be much of an issue. Pure water actually insulates against electricity fairly well, it's the stuff floating around in the water that allows electricity to flow so effectively through it.

I wasn't nit-picking at all. I was aiming for silly.

[cerhiannon]

DM_Blake wrote:

This is up to the GM.

Unfortunately I don't have a GM I can ask, as I had intended this question to be on a Pathfinder Society (i.e Organized play) Thread. So I'm looking for a clarification because it also changes my armor decisions.

I understand from a RaW/RaI that the +3 is to reflect the concept of metal conducts electricity better than not metal. Also at the time of the original inclusion of the +3 bonus to hit with shocking grasp it was pretty much presumed presumable that if you were using a metal weapon you were probably also wearing metal armor. Because your armor choices were Cloth, Leather; and everything else was either all metal, or contained lots of metal (Studded Leather).