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Our party had a run in with a black pudding this weekend and it permanently damaged a fellow party member's metal armor which was covered by a leather tunic.

The character in question always wears a leather tunic over their mithral chain shirt and the wording on the black pudding says, "The pudding can eat through 2-inch-thick, nonmagical wood or metal in 1 round."

I understand if it had a clear shot at the armor, of course. But it didn't and the page says, "nonmagical wood or metal" which seems pretty specific to me to not include other organic material.

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Yes, but not the mithral armor underneath it.

Mithral (and adamantine) armors are listed under the "Magic Items" section of text in the DMG, and are listed directly in the magic items tables. They follow the rules for magical items, and are treated as magical items for any terms or conditions that discriminate based on such.

JC confirms in this twitter post circa 2017 when it still meant something.

However, if the default ruling at your table is that mithral and adamantine don't count as magical items, a leather tunic could be considered clothes with an AC value of 10. Another attack from the black ooze reads

Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 18 (4d8) acid damage. In addition, nonmagical armor worn by the target is partly dissolved and takes a permanent and cumulative −1 penalty to the AC it offers. The armor is destroyed if the penalty reduces its AC to 10.

In this reading, the tunic would be destroyed on first contact unless it's magical. But this reading also implies that none of my assumptions about the rules in your game are necessarily accurate, so you might want to have a talk with your DM.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I didn't notice that part, as I got hung up on the section I quoted. Thanks for the information! It makes sense now. \$\endgroup\$
    – Vrastyr
    Nov 7, 2022 at 18:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ You probably also want to address whether it can corrode the leather as that is the question posited in the title. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Nov 7, 2022 at 18:45
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Akixkisu The leather is the vest, unless I'm missing something. The answer does specifically address that, treating a vest as clothing (ac10 armor) which by the definition of the pseudopod attack is destroyed on hit if its AC is reduced to 10. ...Annnnd I should've used the word "tunic" clearly. :-D \$\endgroup\$
    – TheFallen0ne
    Nov 7, 2022 at 18:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ @LloydLeinenweber There are two cases, a literal walk in (corrosive form) and an attack (Pseudopol) :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Nov 7, 2022 at 18:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ @LloydLeinenweber A tunic isn't a vest; it's a long loose shirt that, in this context, goes over the armor with a belt around the waist. I suspect what the player has in mind is something like Link's armor from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, where he's wearing the classic green tunic, but a chain shirt underlayer peeks out around the edges. It's historically accurate; it was a common way to make armor more fashionable or advertise group affiliation. Just for a common example, if you think of a Templar, the famous white surcoat with red cross is a long sleeveless tunic. \$\endgroup\$
    – Darth Pseudonym
    Nov 7, 2022 at 22:41

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