Revision as of 08:05, 5 April 2010

The Five Magical Materials and Beyond

I like all Five Magical Materials of Exalted, but there are so many things that could be done to make them a bit more interesting and add variety. And there are a ton of cool materials in other books and stories that work great in Exalted, so I'm complining a list of sub-types of the FiveMagicalMaterials and Minor Materials.

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FiveMagicalMaterials

• Jade
  • Black Jade
  • Blue Jade
  • Green Jade
  • Red Jade
  • White Jade
  • Yellow Jade - The only type of Jade found in conjunction with Orichalcum, Yellow Jade is thought to be a derivitive of White Jade that has been so exposed to the power of the Sun that it has absorbed some of the properties of Orichalcum. Most commonly found in Orichalcum mines or White Jade shafts left exposed to sunlight for decades or centuries, Yellow Jade is quite rare in the Second Age and considered unlucky due to its connection with the Anathema. When forged at all, Artifacts of Yellow Jade typically have properties related to light or electricity. Yellow Jade is considered elementally neutral as it is aspected to neither Earth or Air and does not even resonate truely with Solar essence. It can be attuned with equal ease by Terrestrial and Solar Exalted, though few know this in the modern day.
  • Purple Jade - Rare considering its highly conflicting components, Purple Jade forms where Water and Fire meet and mix, hotsprings and gysers are the most common sources. Often its powers deal with steam, smoke and boiling. Generally Dynasts ignore the magical properties of Purple Jade and instead use it for personal adornment due to its stunning amethyst colors.
• Moonsilver
  • Murksilver - Though Lunars would like to think that only they have the goddess-given right to forge Moonsilver, that is not so. In the First Age, certain Eclipses learned the secrets of working Moonsilver from their mates and in the Second, at least on Deathknight has tortured the secrets from a captive Lunar. When worked by the Moonshadow Exalted, Moonsilver takes on a dark and tainted quality, becoming dull and possessing oily inclusions. Often, weapons of Murksilver lash out violently to drink their fill.
• Orichalcum
  • Blood Gold - Most Orichalcum is mined from the ground in natural deposits or forged from gold with pure sunlight. Rarely, however, the Sun is masked by other influences and his face changes as he looks upon Creation. Blood Gold is rare because it is Orichalcum forged by the light of the Sun when Mars is eclipsing his light, turning the sunlight a bloody red. Blood Gold has a ruddy hue to it and tends to have martial powers far more focused then normal Orichalcum. Blood Gold is often favored by Dawn Castes and Shieldbearers and used in weapons of great destruction. The Crimson Bow was made from Blood Gold, as were many of the most potent weapons of devestation in the First Age.
  • Waterlight - A type of Orichalcum unheard of since the end of the First Age, formed only during complete Solar Eclipses. The filmy silver that emerges from behind Luna as she masks the Sun's full glory from scorching Creation has immense power. Metal forged by this light takes on a silvery quality, appearing much like mortal electrum. Waterlight flows and shifts almost like Moonsilver and is highly prized for gifts between Solars and Lunars, especially Wedding Bands. The powers of Waterlight are based in trickery and deception, favored by the Night Caste and the Waning Moons.
• Soulsteel
  • Sellsteel - It was common practice for Exalted sorcerers in the First Age to bargain away their worthless Lower Souls to ghosts and demons for further power and tutelage in the ways of Sorcery. These lower souls were potent entities, swelled with the power of Exaltation and mightier then any other ghost of the era. The demons that were lucky enough to gain an Exalt's lower soul often had it forged into Soulsteel artifacts. These artifacts came to be refered to as Sellsteel for the manner in which the materials were procured. Sellsteel howls incoherantly with rage and often shimmers with the Caste color of the Exalt who's soul forms its base. Sometimes Sellsteel gains properties similar to the Magical Material of the Exalt's chosen type, but generally it is simply mindlessly ravenous and horrifically potent. Few Sellsteel items are less then greastest masterworks considering the age and rarity of the souls required to make it.
• Starmetal
  • Hex Steel - A rare form of reddish Starmetal gathered from Shadowlands, Hex Steel has strange properties. Instead of guiding the fate of the Artifact it is used in to benefit the user, Hex Steel will guide the fate of others astray. Often considered tainted and dangerous, the few deposits of Hex Steel known are left fallow except for the rare deviant. Black Ice Shadow and Voren Lost Keeper are both known to possess at least one item of Hex Steel.

Minor Materials

• Adamant
• Black Iron
• Glass
• Malfean Steel
• Binding Clay - A great Eclipse Solar, betrayed by his Dragon-Blooded entourage in a battle during the Primordial War, left behind a legacy to further Exalted to guard against betrayal. The Earth and Water summoned by his treacherous servants to slay him mixed with his bones and Essence, forming the only deposit of Binding Clay in Creation. This clay, when formed into objects, binds those who write a promise or agreement into the wet clay to follow it to the letter. This agreement is sealed when the clay is fired.

Comments =

I've written something like this regarding Soulsteel, at Balthasar/TheForgingOfSoulsteel, if you'd like to snag the prose and summarize :-) Balthasar

I linked that on the big FMM page. This one's just my new stuff. - Telgar

So, you ever gonna do up altered stats - if there are any - for your 5MM "derivatives"? - Ashande

I probably won't make any specific new effects. They're just flavor, really. It gets confusing when you have to decide the FMM bonus for Hex Steel and Murksilver and Purple Jade. - Telgar

I would also include FeatherSteel and IronWood in the list. Also, it would be really great with a summary of all the existent materials and their boni. -Clebo

Whilst Sellsteel sounds nifty, it seems to me that if someone's lower soul was removed while they were alive, their body would stop functioning and they would die. It's like the brainstem - not elegant, but neccesary, and people have two souls for a reason. - Fade

Abyssals says that lower souls were often sold to demons for power. They could easily say "when I die, you can have this." and not give it away right then. - Telgar

I'd allow my players to sell their lower souls all they want, but they would experience a feeling of detachment from the world as the seat of their passion and drive left them, and I'd double limit point gains. Also, their lower soul would act as a potent arcane link, doubling sorcery successes against them. After all, power comes with a price, and demons don't want your lower soul just for eatin' - Alaron