Spell Crystals
Millenia ago the Gods changed how the mystical forces on the world were governed and used. No longer were the mortals able to pluck the power from the very air and use it. So they altered it, thinking the mortals were not clever enough to find a way to use it again. The God’s crystalized the magic and placed the power in the four elements of the world. Now mortals did indeed determine a way to use magic again, albeit at a much lower proficiency. Magic users now require a focus staff made of the very essence of magic. These crystal staves store the mystical energies required to cast spells, needing to be recharged over time. The magic users scribe, etch, or carve the spells symbols directly on the staves and focus the energy through the symbols.
Now with the change in how magic worked, a way was needed to replace scrolls. Instead of the traditional paper, parchment, papryus, or skin and leather made scrolls a new way was found very similar to the focus staves.
Since magic had to be focused through a conduit for it to work, spell crystals were created.
These small 1” to 2” geometric cubes have the spell symbols etched directly on the crystals. When the spell is cast the crystals shatters into motes of fine dust and the spell activated, using up all the mystical energies within the crystals. The number of sides determine the potency of the actual spell crystals.
The cube (6 sides), the octahedron (8 sides), tetrahedron (4 sides) are the most common. They only have enough stored energy to have the most basic and general spells etched into their sides. The more complex spell crystals such as the dodecahedron (12 sides) and the icosahedron (20 sides) can hold far more energies and have far more complicated and powerful spells etched on their sides.
Propably the most sought after spell crystals is the truncated tetrahedron (8 sides). This odd shaped crystals is smaller than the rest but seems to be able to hold twice as much energies than the more complicated crystals. Another effect of this crystals is that it is the only one that does not shatter and destroy itself when it is used. These spell crystals can be used over again. The extent, if they have one, to which they can be used is unknown. There have only been eight of these odd crystals reportly seen and used in the last few centuries of the spell crystals use. They are highly coveted and lusted after by the magic community.
The spell crystals allow for far easier use and transport than of the traditional magic scrolls. They do not succumb to weather effects and are light weight and very easy to carry multiple crystals.
Having spell crystals reduces srolls, making mobile magic less prominent. It is difficult to find the required crystals, and those that are sold in apothecary’s are never sold cheaply. Because of this they are coveted by those without the knowledge to create them.
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? Responses (11)
Two paws up
Very useful.
Must say, I like this - a simple idea that makes a lot of sense
Nice for the GMs' viewpoint too - magic can be easily controlled by simply limiting the availability of crystal
Sometimes the simple ideas are the best
3.5/5
You know we love dice and magic, so you give us dice that make magic. Brilliant!
Perhaps an even cooler form of crystal would be a four-dimensional one. 'How to incorporate this into a 3-d gameworld?' you ask. Simple: all that we mortals can see is a three-dimensional projection of the gem, which may alter subtly as it rotates in four dimensions. This could give these gems a hard-to-hold, ephemeral quality: it would be possible if you gripped them wrongly that they would just fire off into the fourth dimension.
The reason I thought of this was your enumeration of the Platonic solids: in four dimensions there is an extra regular polytope which has no analogue in any other dimension (in 5+ dimensions there are only three Platonic 'solids'). Somehow the mysteries of four dimensions seem suited to the properties of a magic-focussing device.
ephe!
I know where you got this idea from, Pug, ehrrr, I mean Mourngrymn. I long suspected your influences and yesterday it was confirmed ;)
I often get inspiration from Fantasy authors myself and this is certainly a feature which I liked about the game/novel you took it from. A nice addition to any setting!
My magical system is based off of a ew chapters in one of those books. The spell crystal idea was a continuation of that.
I actually spoke with Midkemian Press for permission to use and adapt that system. They didn't want it as it only showed up in two chapters of a side plot in a book. Something they actually forgot about. The person I corresponded with said he had to go read the book in question to remember what I was talking about.
In the basics it is similar but I have adapted it and altered it far enough to make it different by far. Part of the reason they didn't remember it. So yes you found me out. But I have permissions to use.
I always liked this one. I used to represent this in game by getting dice in the appropriate size and when someone found one or used one the dice would exchange hands. I would then have them keep them in their pocket or a small dice bag to give the idea of carrying them and the amount of space they take up, that while they are small, they do take up space in numbers.
Pound O' Dice anyone?
I do like this one - good job!
This is very good info.
Can you tell me were I can find more of this out.
I think you be would best served to post your questions...
