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The purpose of adding mana crystals to a D&D game is almost entirely for adding some depth to a setting. Secondary reasons are to cause more variety in magical items, and as a tool for the DM, and players, to make some spellcasting as well as making of magical items easier. Lastly it adds some options to spell casters wanting to boost their spells.
Setting: Mana crystals are naturally occurring growths of raw magical power. They can occur anywhere and are generally in locations related to their essence, but not always. They are highly sought by those who wish to manufacture magical items, and this a high value commodity. Even to those to have no ability in magic, the natural beauty and constantly shifting coloration of the crystals make them a highly prized gemstone. It is not uncommon for some lord or lady to have a stone on their jewelry and know nothing about it's magical potential. Mana crystals can be found of 5 general categories, listed here from most to least common: Elemental (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), Energy (Positive, Negative), Immuninated (Light, Shadow), Para-elemental(smoke, ooze, ice, magma), & Neutral(also called Pure).
Among those who can use magic, mana crystals are almost never found in their natural form. Due to the power held withing the crystal, it is powered before use to make it easier to control measurements. In order to make transporation easier, powered mana crystals are mixed with common sand that has been colored depending on the type of mana crystals to be added and then has had all traces of magic removed from the sand. Mana crystals are extremely hard, making them difficult to very difficult to harvest, and impossible to render into a powder without magic. The name of the sand/mana crystal mixture varies greatly from region to region, but it's nature can divined with the most basic magic. A Detect Magic spell will reveal the type of mana crystals present on the 4th round of concentration and amount on the 5th round. Visual inspection of raw mana crystals is all that is needed to determine it's nature, and casting Detect Magic on raw mana crystal can be dangerous, as an individual mana crystal equaling 100 carats in weight is strong while a crystal 200 carats or more in weight is considered overwhelming to the Detect Magic spell.
The process for making the sand, powder, & mixture are:
Sand: Common sand is harvest from the ground, cleaned, and ground to the right consistancy using entirely manual methods with water, cloth, and a mortal & pestel. The clean sand is given the desired color using the Prestidigitation spell. This entire process often a task assigned for young apprentences who are working to learn magic. The sand is made magically inhert by using a minor variation of the Magic Aura spell.
Powdered Mana Crystal: Making powered mana crystal is entirely a magical process that required a skilled enough caster. It required taking a mana crystal and casting the spell "Powder Mana Crystal" upon it. Details on the spell are below. The sand is transported without physical contact to be mixed using Mage Hand.
Mixture: The colored sand and mana cystal powder are placed in a glass container and then mixed over several days using either glass rods, or the prestidigitation spell. Detect Magic is ised to test the consistancy, and if not evenly mixed, it is further mixed until it is. The mixture is then ready for sale.
Due to the commodity value of mana crystals, it is not uncommon for communities, or even cities to be built around naturally occuring deposits of mana crystals, with conflicts between wizards, clerical orders, and others being quite common. Due to their rare nature, mana crystals are almost always found by accident. Magic has been learned to search for mana crystals, but it is very difficult and costly to cast. The spell "Divine Mana Crystals" will be detailed below. Due to rarity and social values on some types of mana crystals, many types of mana crystals have different values for each carat. Unlike gemstones, their values is based entirely on weight, not size.
Mana crystals can be added to any treasure in place of any gemstones found. Place as desired or toll on tables 1 & 2 for random placement. Table 1 Also lists the average price per carat for a crystal.
Mana Cystal Use: Mana crystals have two primary uses. The first use is as a spell component. Specifically mana crystals can be used to replace a costly spell component for any spell related to their nature. 1 carat of mana crystals can replace 25gp in value for the costly component. Which type of crystal is required can generally be found from the type descriptors for the spells. (otherwise just wing-it for an appropriate type, i.e. Earth mana crystal for a stoneskin spell). This ise is the primary reason a spellcaster may carry around the sand/mana mixture. Making sure to use the right amount of powered mana crystal is difficult and required a DC 15 spellcraft check to get it correct.
The primary use for mana crystals is in the manufacture of magical items, from simple scrolls to mighty swords. In a setting where mana crystals are used, 1/2 of the cost of manufacturing a magical items is in mana crystals. 1 carat of mana crystals is needed for every 25gp in cost for making the magic item. Mana crystals being used must be of the appropriate type for the magical item being made. A wand of fireballs would require fire cystals while a healing potion would requite positive crystals. For items of multiple properties, multiple types of crystals are required. A staff that could both cast Fireball and ice storm would require fire & water(or ice) crystals. If there is any question about the type of crystals required, the DM can use his best guess.
For magic items of no specific type, any type of mana crystals can be used, but they often imbue the qualities of their type onto the magic item being created. This most most prevailant in the manufacture of magical weapons and armor. When used to enchant weapons, the additional damage caused the weapon will be of the type related to the element. The to-hit bonus is unchanged. (See Tabe 3 for details). This makes weapons manufactured from most mana crystals have strength and weaknessed against different foes while rarer mana crystals are more popular for the additional effects they provide. Only Neutral mana crystals provide an untyped bonus for magical weapons, thus increasing their popularity in magical item creation. It is so popular for weapon manufacture that DM can assume neutral mana was used in manufacture unless the specifically want another mana type for the weapon. Some magical effects on weapons still need mana specific to the effect generated, such as fire crystals needed for a flaming sword. With armor, Neutral is the only type off mana that provides bonuses to armor class, while other types of mana provides different bonuses. This again makes neutral mana the most popular for item enchantment and DM should made same assumption with armor as with weapons. (See table 4 for armor bonuses)
OPTIONAL: It is up to the DM, but excluding potions from the requirement for mana crystals might be beneficial to game flow, and even seem appropriate for some classes. This means that churches won't require a constant flow of positive energy mana to make healing potions, for example.
The last use of Mana crystal is to augment a casted spell, in order to increase it's effect. This is also the most dangerous use of mana crystals, as it is possible their use may backfire and cause harm. In order to be effectice, one carat of powered crystal is required per spell level of the spell being cast. This requireds a spellcraft check vs DC 15+the spells level. Failure, or use of a type of crystal not related to the spell, with this check causes the caster to roll on table 5 (below). Even after successfully using the correct amount of mana crystals, their result isn't guaranteed. Roll on table 6 to see the results of the use of mana crystal to augment a spell.
TABLE 1:
Mana Crystal Random Placement Chart, either natural or powdered: Roll 1d100
The common retail value per carat listed after the mana type
1-15: Earth Mana (25 gp)
16-30: Air Mana (25 gp)
31-45: Fire Mana (25 gp)
46-60: Water Mana (25 gp)
61-70: Positive Energy Mana (35gp)
71-80: Negtive Energy Mana (20gp in black market)
81-85: Light Mana (40 gp)
96-90: Shadow Mana (40 gp)
91-92: Smoke Mana (50 gp)
93-94: Ooze Mana (50 gp)
95-96: Ice Mana (50 gp)
97-98: Magma Mana (50 gp)
99-100: Neutral Mana (100 gp)
Table 2:
Base Random Natural Crystal Value: Roll 1d100
Below is the amount of the crystal found in carats.
-10 from die roll for Neutral mana crystals with values <1 = 1 ct
1-33: 2 ct
34-54: 5 ct
55-69: 10 ct
70-79: 20 ct
80-89: 30 ct
90-94: 50 ct
95-99: 100 ct
100: 200 ct
Table 3:
Related Weapon & Failure Damage Types:
Earth= Acid,
Air=Electric,
Fire=Fire,
Water= Cold,
Positive=Positive,
Negative=Negative,
Light=Light*
Shadow=Light**
Ooze= Acid***
Smoke=Poison****
Magma=Fire***
Ice=Cold*****
Neutral=Pure Magic
*-Must also make Fort save DC 10+(magic bonus/spell level) or be dazzled for 1 round
**-Must also make Fort save DC 10+(magic bonus)/spell level or be partially blinded for 1 round (everything gains concealment = 10% per + of the magic bonus/spell level)
***-Must also make Fort save DC 10+(magic bonus/spell level) or have AC reduced by 1 per + of magic bonus for 1 round as armor(& natural armor) is weakened
****-Must also make Fort save DC 10+(magic bonus/spell level) or be sickened for 1 round
*****-Must also make Fort save DC 10+(magic bonus/spell level) or have movement reduced by 5' per + of magic bonus from numbing cold
Table 4:
Related Armor bonuses:
Earth= 5 Acid resistance / plus,
Air= 5 Electric resistance / plus,
Fire= 5 Fire resistance / plus,
Water= 5 Cold resistance / plus,
Positive= +1 save vs negative energy effects / plus,
Negative= +1 save vs positive energy effects / plus,
Light= Illuminates 10' radius area / plus in bright immumination, and an equal amount further in shadowy illumination
Shadow= +2 bonus to all stealth checks / plus
Ooze= +2 bonus fo CMD to resist grappling / plus
Smoke= Creatures biting wearer of armor must make DC 10+(2/plus) Fort save or be sickened for 1d6 rounds
& Creature swallowing wearer must make DC 10+(2/plus) Fort save each round or be nauseated (vomiting up wearer)
Magma=Any creature attacking wearer with natural weapons will take the bonus value in fire damage
Ice=Any creature attacking wearer with natural weapons will take the bonus value in cold damage
Table 5:
Uncorrect Measuring table, Roll 1d20 if he character failed the spellcraft DC to use the proper amount of mana crystals when casting a spell.
1-12 -- No effect, crystal wasted.
13-18 -- Fizzle: Mana crystal ignite and consume the energy of the spell in a harmless display of their nature. Spell is lost.
19-20 -- Overload: Crystals ignite at the target of the spell and cause 1d6/spell level damage of the related energy. (see table 3)
Table 6:
Augmented spell effect (roll 1d20):
1-6: Power Spell - +2 Caster level
7-12: Tenatious Spell - +2 spell DC & vs attempts to dispell the magic
12-15: Strengthened Spell - +1 Caster level & +1 spell DC & vs attempts to dispell the magic
16: Massive Spell: +2 Caster level & +2 spell DC & vs attempts to dispell the magic
17-19: Mana Flare - Mana crystals ignite causing all within 60' of the midpoint between caster and target to make a DC 11+Spell level Fort save or or suffer from a state equivilent to dazzled for 2d6 rounds. (See Related Damage types, as some creatures may be immune to the effects of some mana crystals)
20: Backblast - Caster takes 1d4/spell level points of damage from the energy type related to the mana, no save, ignores all immunities. (See table 3)
| InfoStorm |
Powder Mana Crystals
School: Transmutation
Level cleric 4; Wizard/Sorcerer 3
CASTING
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Components: V, S
EFFECT
Range: Touch
Target: Raw Mana Crystal
Duration: Instantanious
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: No
DESCRIPTION
The spell renders a raw mana crystal into a pile of powder, ready to be mixed with sand for sale or used in magic item creation.
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Divine Mana Crystals
School: Divination
Level cleric 9; Wizard/Sorcerer 9
CASTING
Casting Time: 1 hour
Components: V, S, M
EFFECT
Range: 1 Mile
Target: Raw Mana Crystal
Duration: Instantanious
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: No
DESCRIPTION
During the casting of the spell, the caster must toss 1 carat's worth of mana crystal dust into the air and magically monitors the motions of the powder for the next hour to divine the location of natural mana crystals. This spell will allow him to sence the presence of mana crystals within 1 mile radius. The major drawback of the spell is that he can only sense the presence of mana crystals of the same type as the powder that was cast into the air.
Krome
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When I ran games set in Mystara I handed out mana/power crystals to my PCs. They could power spells and items with them, and all kinds of cool uses...
Were they ever so surprised to learn that the Shadow Elves believed that all mana/power crystals were the embodiment of their deceased ancestors! Funny how the Shadow Elves kept popping up on occasion to steal the crystals and "punish" the despicable PCs!