Gemstones
by John HareI was just wondering who uses magical gemstones (i.e. natural properties) such as Sunstone, Moonstone, Skygems (he he Bruce) and all.
Sunstones were used in one of the old Master level module (M5 Talons of Night) and basically shot out concentrated sunlight doing 4d10 damage. Now does anyone actually use other sizes of sunstones? (I'm assuming that the sunstone in the module is a large and perfectly formed one)
I would assume that only the most perfect sunstones would be able to store solar energy, but even imperfect ones could increase light and fire effects if used as a focus. Perhaps +1 to +2 points extra damage for fireballs, double or tripe area of effects for continual light spells cast on the sunstone.
Moonstones, one of the nasty things our DM threw at use to discover were creatures (not cool when one of the PCs was :) but basically would force a were creature to make a save or change if in the area affect. Which was the gold piece value divided by 10 equalling the area effect in feet.
Thus 100gp moonstone equalled a 10' radius around the stone. Of course the larger stones were helpful to lycanthropes in that they caused regeneration. 1000gp stones would cause 1pt a round to regenerate. They would also give a bonus to saves vs. wolfsbane. But mainly the threat of being exposed generally kept most were creatures from wanting to keep them.
>>Asterius, Immortal of Merchants & Thieves has his symbol as the moon. Perhaps some moonstones instead of affecting lycanthropes instead affect thieves... either improving their skills and abilities or hampering them depending on whether it is the thief aspect or the merchant one. <<
Hey, this is a neat idea. Perhaps their thieving skills are augmented during a full moon. (+1 level on a full moon, as long as the moon is up in the sky; -1 level with a new moon from dusk to dawn; no effect otherwise). Nice touch. :o)
Hmmm, that wasn't quite what I had in mind, but it does cover the effect better. And now for the Merchants... For 2 days before & after a new moon their Bargaining skills get +1. For 2 days before & after a full moon their bargaining skills suffer -1. This way the full moon supports thieves & the new moon supports merchants.
Skygems just some thoughts on what
Bruce has posted in regards to them. Mainly dealing as the focus of
movement spells (i.e. telekinesis, levitate, fly and even teleport).
The less than perfect gems used as a focus merely increase either
the duration or the range of the spell. Mostly by .5 factors per
100gp value, up to 500gp. After that the gems are much more focused
and effect the weight to be moved by .5 up to 1000gp. Those which
are affected by Vanya's artifact however become attuned to it. This
allows them to be the focus of the artifact's very large lifting
capability (i.e. fly) most of these skygems that are used in the
warbirds are of much higher value (say 5000gp worth). Since these
large stones are so rare (one would suffice to lift a warbird)
generally several smaller groups of gems are used to get a similar
effect. However the more gems used the more exact the proper
placement in the ship. Mainly to keep things balanced so one side
of the ship doesn't try and rise before the other half. Currently
the Heldannic Citadel in Davania is the only (semi) known source of
these gems. Of course with out experimentation these special
properties are not generally known.