D20 Mechanic: Materia

A special form of mox, materia is condensed from the atmosphere of a region that is drenched in a particular Force. As powerful individuals versed in a Force gather, they eventually warp the world around them to better suit that Force's ideology: from time to time, this warping manifests itself physically as vaguely crystalline condensation, which can be gathered and shaped into materia. Unlike mox, materia is significantly less pure, and while it does not enhance the wielder's connection to its related Force, it can serve as a powerful conduit for Force abilities, and materia is often used as a means to imbue powers into items.

However, such enhancement does not come without a price. Items must be specifically constructed to be able to channel the powers of materia properly, and the materia itself draws energy from the wielder of the item in order to sustain itself.

Unworked materia eventually evaporates, much like normal condensation; even worked materia will eventually sublimate back into the world, unless it is given power. The metaphysical nature of materia is such that only the energy exuded by individuals of strength can sustain it; otherwise, it will weaken and disappear over time.

While materia can continue to function even in areas highly saturated with Forces opposed to it, unattended and unpowered materia in such areas will disintegrate even faster than normal. A sufficient amount of materia of a given Force can temporarily negate an area's Force alignment, but the effect is short-lived.

Economics of Materia

Materia Costs
	Value
	kp	gp	dp
Common =	---	2000	---
Uncommon =	---	(8000)	8
Rare =	---	---	16
Mythic =	---	---	32
Artifact =	---	---	(50)
(X) Can only be sold in the listed economy as though it had X value.

While not Force items themselves, materia is still a valuable resource. While it can be harvested, the intentional production of materia is a rather hit-or-miss proposition, and requires significant infrastructure and political control, as materia only appears in response to heavy concentrations of a specific Force.

Some forms of materia are more common than others; the more intricate and involved the specific manifestation of a Force within the materia is, the less likely that materia is to appear. Materia attuned to elements are among the most common, despite having even more specific requirements for formation than other types: it is theorized that these materia may be the "default" form of materia, with more specific applications appearing in response to fluctuations in the parent Force or other phenomena.

Materia have no place in the koku economy and almost everyone operating in that economy will flat-out refuse to take materia as currency or trade good. In the event that an individual can be convinced to do so, a given materia's value in kp is variable and dependent upon the situation, but in general can be traded for 20000 kp worth of goods (regardless of rarity).

Common materia can be purchased for the price of 2000 gp, and can be purchased through the gold economy. Common materia, while still being materia, is sufficiently "farmable" that the few materia farms that exist can reliably produce these materia in small quantities. However, fluctuations in Forces or even populations can cause these farms to lay dormant for long periods of time, or have a sudden surge of production; as such, the price point of common materia can fluctuate by as much as 50%, dependent on various factors. Common materia have no value in the mox economy.

Uncommon materia cannot be purchased in the gold economy, but can sometimes be sold in it, treated as though it were worth 8000 gp on average; the price point of uncommon mox in the gold economy varies by as much as 25%, depending upon circumstances. A particularly dry materia season will see uncommon mox's price in the gold economy as much as double, while a particularly heavy materia season may see its price drop by as much as half. Uncomoon materia have a base value of 8 dp in the mox economy.

Rare materia cannot be purchased in the gold economy whatsoever, being of such rarity and significant power that their trade can simply not be found through normal channels. Individuals who are not operating in the mox economy will generally simply refuse to exchange any currency outside that economy for a rare materia, with the hassle of having such an item simply being more than its worth. However, there is generally enough of a "mox market" in most larger urban areas that can support the sale or trade of rare materia. Rare materia have a base value of 16 dp in the mox economy.

Mythic materia cannot be purchased in the gold economy whatsoever, being unique in nature. Unlike lower rarities of materia, mythic materia is never naturally occurring: it must be desynthesized from an item that, for whatever reason, was unique, and the resulting materia contains the power of the item, allowing it to be imbued into other items. As such, to trade or sell such a materia you will need to specifically find an individual who wants that specific materia, or a general purveyor of materia - of which there are very, very few.

Artifact materia cannot be purchased in any economy whatsoever. Unique and indestructible, artifact materia have terrible powers and are capable of completely changing the nature of the item they are slotted into. Most people are of the belief that artifact materia is just a fairy tale, and that none actually exist; still others claim that there are precisely nine, or even ten, hidden in the dark places of the world.

Mechanics

Materia Slot Costs
	Cost				Cost
Slot #	kp	gp	dp	Slot #	kp	gp	dp
1st	---	1000	---	6th	---	---	20
2nd	---	2000	---	7th	---	---	24
3rd	---	4000	---	8th	---	---	32
4th	---	8000	---	9th	---	---	40
5th	---	---	16	10th	---	---	50

Any item that can provide an enhancement bonus can be constructed to have any number of materia slots, though generally most items do not exceed nine. Working materia slots into an item is expensive, regardless of whether it is done when the item is first being furnished or after the item is completed. Materia slots do not weaken the structural integrity of an item in any meaningful way. The initial series of slots are not actually Force-aligned themselves, and thus do not carry a heavy cost; after a certain point, however, to house the materia and properly channel the energy of the wielder, the channels must be inlaid with mox, which significantly increases the cost and moves the process completely into the mox economy.

Adding or removing a materia from an item's materia slot is a standard action. However, once inserted, materia requires some time to "warm up" before it is functional; effectively, a new materia slotted into an item takes effect 5 minutes after being inserted.

Every materia has an attunement cost associated with it. When being used, an item that is providing an enhancement bonus has that bonus reduced by an amount equal to the total attunement cost of all materia slotted into it. An item whose effective enhancement bonus would be reduced to lower than +0 is insufficiently powered for that much materia, and none of the materia in the item functions (and the item is treated as though it had an enhancement bonus of +0, though retains its Force alignment).

Two materia slots can be connected to each other in a junction. Junctioned slots allow the materia in one slot to impact the effect of the other. A given materia's description will explain its effects when junctioned with another materia.

Some materia is only effective in certain types of equipment. These restrictions are noted on the table below.

Not all Forces can produce materia with a given effect. The table below indicates if a Force can produce materia of that type.

An item cannot accept materia of a Force alignment to which it is opposed, nor can it accept materia of a Force alignment to which any previously-slotted materia are opposed.

Materia List

Materia
Name	Type	Effect	Att. Cost	Rarity	Magic	Psionics	Tech	Divine	Void	Nature	Time	Chaos	Blue
HP +	Independent	Your max HP increases by 2/level.	1	Common
MP +	Independent	Your max MP increases by 1/caster level.	1	Uncommon
PP +	Independent	Your max PP increases by 1/manifester level.	1	Uncommon
Water	Elemental	When junctioned with Eater, Enhancer, Proof, Strike, or Ward, that materia's element is water. Otherwise, has no effect.	0	Common
Strike	Support	Weapon Only: When junctioned with an Elemental materia, when you deal damage with this weapon, half the damage dealt is energy damage of the type indicated by the junctioned materia. When junctioned with a Status materia, when you successfully hit with this weapon, the junctioned materia's effect occurs.	2	Uncommon
Enhancer	Support	When junctioned with an Elemental materia, whenever you use an ability with that materia's element as a descriptor, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; target up to two additional creatures; or increase the saving throw DC by your attunement bonus.	1	Rare
Confusion	Status	Weapon Only: When junctioned with Strike (Will / -5) or Touch (Will / -10), successful attacks may also cause confused. Armor/Accessory Only: When junctioned with Proof or Ward (+5), the wearer is resistant or immune to confused.	2	Uncommon
Recovery	Independent	Increase your maximum number of healing surges by 1.	1	Common
Auto	Support	Armor/Accessory Only: When junctioned with a Status materia, you gain that materia's associated status boon with the innate tag.	3	Rare
SOS	Support	Armor/Accessory Only: When junctioned with a Status materia, you gain that materia's associated status boon for 5 rounds when you gain the critical status.	1	Uncommon
Ward	Support	Armor/Accessory Only: When junctioned with a Status materia, you gain the materia's listed bonus to saving throws against that status; when junctioned with an Elemental materia, you gain barrier against that element.	2	Common
Proof	Support	Armor/Accessory Only: When junctioned with a Status materia, you gain immunity to that materia's associated status; when junctioned with an Elemental materia, you gain immunity to that element.	4	Uncommon

 

Descriptions

More complete descriptions of each type of materia. Materia types are color coded here for ease of reference; these colors should not be taken as indications of any particular Force alignment.

 

CONFUSION (Status)
A materia imbued with the power of confusion.
Attunement Cost: 2
WEAPON EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
Junction (Strike): When you successfully hit with this weapon, the target has a chance to be confused; use your attack roll -5 and compare to your target's Will Defense. If you hit, the target becomes confused for a number of rounds equal to your attunement bonus.
Junction (Touch): When you successfully hit with this weapon, the target has a chance to be confused; use your attack roll -10 and compare to your target's Will Defense. If you hit, the target becomes confused for a number of rounds equal to your attunement bonus.
ARMOR EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
Junction (Proof): You gain immunity to confusion.
Junction (Ward): You gain your attunement bonus as an enhancement bonus to saving throws against confusion.
ACCESSORY EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
Junction (Proof): You gain immunity to confusion.
Junction (Ward): You gain your attunement bonus as an enhancement bonus to saving throws against confusion.

 

ENHANCER (Support)
A materia that improves the user's ability to manipulate elements.
Attunement Cost: 1
WEAPON EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
Junction (Elemental): Whenever you use an ability with the junctioned materia's element as a descriptor, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; target up to two additional creatures; double its area; or increase the saving throw DC by your attunement bonus.
Junction (Recovery): Whenever you use an ability that heals hit points, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; double its area; or target up to two additional creatures.
ARMOR EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
Junction (Elemental): Whenever you use an ability with the junctioned materia's element as a descriptor, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; target up to two additional creatures; double its area; or increase the saving throw DC by your attunement bonus.
Junction (Recovery): Whenever you use an ability that heals hit points, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; double its area; or target up to two additional creatures.
ACCESSORY EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
Junction (Elemental): Whenever you use an ability with the junctioned materia's element as a descriptor, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; target up to two additional creatures; double its area; or increase the saving throw DC by your attunement bonus.
Junction (Recovery): Whenever you use an ability that heals hit points, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; double its area; or target up to two additional creatures.

 

HP + (Independent)
A materia infused with life energy.
Attunement Cost: 1
WEAPON EFFECTS
Base Effect: Your maximum hit points increases by 2 per level.
ARMOR EFFECTS
Base Effect: Your maximum hit points increases by 2 per level.
ACCESSORY EFFECTS
Base Effect: Your maximum hit points increases by 2 per level.

 

STRIKE (Support)
A materia that imbues the power of another materia into a weapon.
Attunement Cost: 1
WEAPON EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
Junction (Elemental): When you deal damage with this weapon, half the damage dealt is energy damage of the type of the junctioned materia.
Junction (Status): When you successfully hit with this weapon, the junctioned materia's effect occurs.
ARMOR EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.
ACCESSORY EFFECTS
Base Effect: None.

 

WATER (Elemental)
A materia satured with elemental water.
Attunement Cost: 0
WEAPON EFFECTS
Base Effect: This materia's element is water.
Junction (Enhancer): Whenever you use an ability with the [water] descriptor, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; target up to two additional creatures; double its area; or increase the saving throw DC by your attunement bonus.
Junction (Strike): When you deal damage with this weapon, half the damage dealt is water damage.
ARMOR EFFECTS
Base Effect: This materia's element is water.
Junction (Eater): You gain water absorb equal to your level.
Junction (Enhancer): Whenever you use an ability with the [water] descriptor, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; target up to two additional creatures; double its area; or increase the saving throw DC by your attunement bonus.
Junction (Proof): You gain immunity to water damage.
Junction (Ward): You gain barrier (water).
ACCESSORY EFFECTS
Base Effect: This materia's element is water.
Junction (Eater): You gain water absorb equal to your level.
Junction (Enhancer): Whenever you use an ability with the [water] descriptor, choose one - increase the effect's potency by 1; double its duration; target up to two additional creatures; double its area; or increase the saving throw DC by your attunement bonus.
Junction (Proof): You gain immunity to water damage.
Junction (Ward): You gain barrier (water).