If
one looks at the legends surrounding the crafting of magical items
and artifacts, a person will most often find that the power/magic
comes from the skill of the smith who made the item and the substance
the item is made from. Legends most often include a smith of great
skill or renown, indicating that both the substance and a skilled
smith are required for the creation of these items. A number of
anthropologists have commented on the perfusion of certain magical
item archetypes occurring across cultures. One theory as to this
common thread found among various cultures and their legends, is that
metal working was held as a form or practical magic, since the skill
to produce metal items was a rarity among the populations of these
cultures. In an attempt to get back to basics, and to add an option
for low magic settings, I have comprised a list of various materials,
both mythical and theoretical, and the possible powers that would be
granted when the material is crafted into certain forms. Each
material includes background information and the powers granted when
the material is formed into: a Sword/Weapon, a Ring, a Talisman or
Amulet, and Wand or Virge. Each archetypal item possesses a number of
similarities across cultures and legends as far as function within
the stories.
This
is the first of two posts, concerning the creation of items out of
various materials. The first post will focus one theoretical
substances/materials, while the second will focus on mythical
materials.
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| 10th Century Viking Sword |
The
Sword/Weapon: While
their purposes and abilities would seem obvious, both from common
knowledge and experience playing fantasy RPG's, the sword/weapon has
a set purview in legends that is occasionally crossed in games like
Dungeons and Dragons. The purpose, or ability, most often found in
magical swords is the capability to kill something or someone
powerful. Other legends have included a number of other powers to
protect or enhance the wielder, but the main thread of killing
remains the same across all of the legends. Legends of broken
sword/weapons of great power are most often symbols of a loss of
status or honor which can be reclaimed through a great deed or hard
work, much as the reforging of a sword can be time consuming and
difficult.
Examples:
Excalibur, Durandal, Tyrfing, and Curtana.
Broken
Examples:Anduril and Gram.
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| Gold and Garnet Ring, Greek 4th Century BC |
The Ring:
A
magical ring most often, in legends, grants the wearer an ability
they would not normally possess or focuses a certain capability of
the wearer. While in Dungeons and Dragons a ring can provide
protection, protection within legends and myths was almost strictly
provided by talismans or amulets.
Examples:
Ring of Gyges, Ring/Seal of Solomon, Ring of Al-Shamardal, and Sir
Gareth's Ring.
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| Tibetan Guan Yin Amulet. |
The
Talisman/Amulet: These
items provided protection from supernatural and physical harm, as
well as granting the wearer luck. Talismans/Amulets are the only item
in this list that could be crafted by priests/wizards as well as
smiths. While they could be crafted by those in touch with the
supernatural, these items still required that they be crafted from
certain materials and be inscribed with certain writings or symbols.
They are also the most common form of magical item found throughout
cultures and histories with numerous examples still being used and
made today.
Examples:
Omamori, Hand of Miriam, Crucifix, and Hamsa.
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| Portion of a 9,000 year old wand found in Syria |
The
Wand/Virge: The
rest of this post will refer to these items as virges, since the
terms wand and rod already have very specific uses and capabilities
within standard Dungeons and Dragons rules. These items were most
often signs of a person's authority or power to change the world
around them. More mystical/occult interpretations, like those found
in the Wicca, have the virge as a tool to focus a users will or
energy. Some virges can have very specific uses or require criteria
to be present before being used, while other virges allowed the user
to focus their abilities for a number of tasks. The primary aspect of
the virge is to focus a preexisting ability or power, if one did not
possess the requisite skill or ability, the virge was useless.
Examples:
Caduceus, Barsom, Ruyi, and Gurz.
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| A visualization of Dark Matter. |
Dark
Matter/ Materia Obscura: Dark
Matter accounts for roughly 84.5% of the mass of the universe,
however it is non-reactive to all other forces an matter, such as
elctromagnetic forces, which means it is completely invisible to
sight or any other currently known form of detection. The only reason
it is proposed to exist is due to the fact that it does
gravitationally interact with normal matter, though not with itself
since it would form into disk shapes around galaxies rather than
completely encompassing them.
Fantasy/Game
Explanation: Materia
Obscura can only be captured by Astromancers as well as priests
devoted to the stars as well as the things that live between them. In
order to capture the Materia Obscura, it must be magically bound to
coal and silver dust, two items that are the most aligned with the
night sky. Materia Obscura alone cannot be forged into items and
weapons, rather it is beaten into the metal being forged or made into
a solution that the items components would soak in for a period of
time. Due to the incredible difficulty in capturing and binding this
material, it is the rarest of materials that can be used in the
crafting of items.
Sword/Weapon:
These
weapons outright ignore the physical armor of enemies and the
hardness of physical objects. The material of the weapon pushes aside
the physical makeup of the thing or person being struck, creating
perfectly clean cuts and smooth dents. Weapons made of Materia
Obscura still interact with the physicality of objects and creatures,
but the resiliency of steel is the same to such a weapon as the
resiliency of flesh or paper.
Game
Mechanics: When
determining if a to-hit roll is successful, the bonus to AC provided
by armor is completely ignored, though bonuses from magic and stats
still apply. In the case of monsters, where the bonuses to their AC
are not given, the GM is encouraged to give a penalty to AC based on
the information given by the monster's write up. A dragon may have
their AC reduced to 10 or lower (depending on the system) due to the
fact that their high AC is almost completely from their tough scales,
however, an elder air elemental may keep their entire AC due to the
fact that their high AC comes from their ability to move quickly.
Ring:
These
grant the wearer an incredible level of stealth and concealment when
worn. This ability is similar to invisibility, but with a number of
added benefits. While the wearer cannot be seen, they also do not
leave any tracks, they cannot have dust or liquid thrown on them to
reveal their presence, they make no noise, and are not impeded in any
way by terrain including the slowing effects of moving through sand
or water. The drawback to using this ring is that the user cannot
breathe while wearing it, since the air itself will avoid all parts
of the wearer, including their mouth and nose.
Game
Mechanics: These
rings act as rings of invisibility, trackless step, and freedom of
movement. However, the user must hold their breath while using the
ring, if they need to breath, meaning they can only wear the item for
a limited time. Each system has its own rules for suffocation and
breath holding, it is recommended that the GM rigorously apply these
rules in order to stem the incredible level of power this ring
grants.
Talisman/Amulet:
These
items grant the wearer protection from supernatural or physical harm.
The level of protection provided by the item depends upon the amount
of Materia Obscura used in its creation. Accordingly, the objects
come with the categories of lesser, intermediate, and greater, with
the level of protection increasing with the category. While it is
unknown as to why this phenomena occurs, talismans and amulets that
protect against supernatural harm will not function if they are worn
at the same time as ones that protect against physical harm.
Game
Mechanics: Talismans/Amulets
that protect against supernatural harm grant a level magic resistance
based on the category of the amulet. Lesser:
gain magic resistance equal to character level/hit-dice plus 25%.
Intermediate:
gain magic resistance equal to character level plus 50%. Greater:
gain magic resistance equal to character level plus 75%.
Talismans/Amulets
that protect against physical harm grant a level damage reduction
based on the category of the amulet. Lesser:
damage reduction of 2. Intermediate:
damage reduction of 4. Greater:
damage reduction of 8.
Virge:
These
items grant the user the ability to break or undo enchantments or
spells that are encountered. A wizard or priest is the only
individuals who can use this item, to all others the wand is simply a
mundane length of material.
Game
Mechanics: This
item grants the priest or wizard using it the ability to cast Dispel
Magic at will. Additionally, the user may sacrifice a spell memorized
for that day of equal or greater level of the magical effect to
automatically dispel it.
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| Visualization of Negative Mass |
Negative
Mass / Contra Ponda:
Negative Mass is a theoretical form of mass that would function very
strangely when viewed against the normal functions of positive mass,
the values for such mass would be listed as normal mass would be with
a negative symbol before it. This type of mass should not be confused
with anti-matter which is theorized to have positive mass, due to the
fact that only individual atoms are created by CERN it is difficult
to determine for sure if those atoms are exhibiting aspects of
negative or positive mass. The model used for this post is the
General Relativity model, which holds that negative mass is repulsed
by other negative mass, and attracted as well as repulsed by positive
mass. The result of this attraction and repulsion to normal mass is
that when negative and positive masses are paired with equal values,
it can cause runaway/self acceleration. This means that given no
other impediments, an object consisting of equal amounts of negative
and positive mass would eventually accelerate to near the speed of
light (or possibly beyond, depending on the model of physics used).
Due to the amount of higher level of mathematics needed to completely
prove the next concept, I am unsure as to its validity. The write-ups
for this material will assume that unequal amounts of mass will not
spontaneous accelerate, but items used and worn with unequal amounts
will assist acceleration.
Fantasy/Game
Explanation: Contra
Ponda is not a material in of itself, rather, it is a state that can
be imbued on a piece of material by Kinetomancer or another form of
miracle worker who can manipulate the powers of the universe. The
creation of such materials requires a great expenditures of time
moving the material in various ways to remove its mass to create a
deficit within the material.
Sword/Weapon:
Such weapons allow the user to strike with greater amount of force
than they would normally be capable of. The drawback to such weapons
is that they are difficult to redirect when put into motion, due to
their propensity to accelerate into the direction they are first
pushed.
Game
Mechanics:
Weapons are always made with an imbalance of masses to avoid the
weapons flying off on their own accord. Arrows can be especially
dangerous, since even unbalanced ones can fly for incredible
distances if they are not impeded by an obstacle. Weapons made using
various amounts of negative mass grant a bonus to damage, but a
negative to-hit after a certain point. For every +3 points of bonus
damage the weapon provides, it also gives a -1 penalty to hit. The
penalty comes from the weapon becoming difficult to redirect after it
is put into motion.
Ring:
Creating a ring in the normal sense provides no real benefit to the
user, however, forming the negative mass material into bands for the
legs or ankles does. These bands allow the user to run faster and
jump higher than they normally would.
Game
Mechanics: These
bands grant the user a 50% increase to their base movement, and
doubles their jumping distance. They also grant a +1 bonus to AC and
their Breath save from being able to move faster to avoid dangers.
The unfortunate side effect of the bands, is that they must be
completely crafted of a material that has negative mass. When not
worn, the bands must be kept in a container since they will
accelerate away from normal matter, making it appear as if the items
are jumping around on their own.
Talisman/Amulet:
These
items made of substances, which include those with negative mass,
protect the individual from physical harm that stem from being struck
by objects. Negative mass talismans/amulets create a weak field of
negation and repulsion around the wearer, reducing the amount of
force being used against them.
Game
Mechanics: Whenever
the wearer is damaged by a kinetic force (e.g. being hit by a weapon
or falling) that damage is reduced by 1D3 – 1. When not worn the
talisman/amulet must
be kept in a container with restraints, otherwise it will accelerate
away from user (slowly at first) until it reaches near light speed or
encounters an obstacle. It is very easy to lose these items, since
they do move away from where they are set on their own.
Virge:
A
virge made using negative mass materials allows a user to create a
shield or field of protection by focusing their minds. Those who are
within the field are granted a level of protection from weapon
strikes as well as objects fired at them.
Game
Mechanics:
The user of this virge cannot do anything during the rounds it is
active, outside of defending themselves. Instead they must
concentrate their entire mind on creating a field of protection
around themselves. The character must roll under one of their mental
stats (Int, Wis, or Cha), using 1D20, the choice of which stat is up
to the character. If the user succeeds, everyone within a 15 ft
diameter sphere centered on the user gets a damage reduction equal to
3 + the stat modifier used to activate the virge. A failed roll means
that they are unable to focus their mind enough to activate the
ability. The user only needs to roll once to activate the ability,
but the ability ends the moment the user does anything but
concentrate or defends themselves.
