[Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition] Supernal Materials

Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen

Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition

Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum

Supernal Materials

Perfected Metallurgy

 My comments are in yellow and are regarding my reviews of the system and my own personal and Storyteller's perspective recommendations for use in our Chronicle. 

Sources: The following text, as written in grey, is straight out of the Mage: The Awakening 2nd edition open development for Signs of Sorcery.  The original design of our Perfected substances was created by Mathew Hagen & Korri Smith.

Additional explanation is in this font, when it helps drive the concepts home.

Part II: More Perfected Materials

Supernal Alloys

The Perfected metals are inert and do not react or alloy with other metals or elements without magical assistance, except in the case of hermium, which can alloy with any of the other Perfected metals to create amalgams. After experimenting with hermium, ancient mages developed spells to artificially alloy the Perfected metals as well, although these alloys are distinct from hermium-based amalgams. Magical alloys of Perfected metals have distinct properties and lose the base properties of the metals that go into creating them. 

New Spell: Forge Thaumium (Matter ••••) 

Practice: Patterning 

Primary Factor: Duration
Cost: 1 Mana
Suggested Rote Skills: Crafts, Occult, Survival

This spell combines Perfected metals into a single metal which is resistant to magic. Called “thaumium” (from the Greek word for “wonder” or “marvel”), this material is forged from an alloy of orichalcum, lunargent and hermium. The object created by this spell is Durability 1 and has the ability to hold one point of Mana, which it spends to shield against magic. Potency may be allocated, one for one, to increasing Durability or Mana capacity. For purposes of the spell’s Scale factor, the alloy has the same Size as the three component metals combined. 

+2 Reach: The spell’s effect is Lasting.

Benefit: As long as a thaumium item has Mana stored in it, it protects its wielder from Supernal magic. Any spell cast at the wielder provokes a Clash of Wills, unless the wielder chooses to allow the spell. The dice pool for the Clash of Wills is equal to the item’s creator’s Gnosis + Matter at the time of casting this spell. Whenever used to Clash, the object expends 1 Mana. Mages can refill the item’s Mana supply using the Prime spell “Channel Mana.”

Add Any Other Arcanum ••: The thaumium object can protect against other kinds of magic, provided they fall under the Arcanum’s purview: For example, Death can protect against ghostly Numina and Manifestations.

New Spell: Forge Sophis (Matter ••••) 

Practice: Patterning
Primary Factor: Duration
Cost: 1 Mana
Suggested Rote Skills: Crafts, Occult, Science

This spell combines Perfected metals into a single metal which scavenges Mana. Called “sophis” (from the Greek word for “wisdom”), this material is forged from an alloy of apeiron, brontium and hermium. The object created by this spell is Durability 1 and has the ability to hold one point of Mana. Potency may be allocated, one for one, to increasing Durability or Mana capacity. For purposes of the spell’s Scale factor, the alloy has the same Size as the three component metals combined. 

+2 Reach: The spell’s effect is Lasting.

Benefit: The first time someone holding the object forged with sophis spends Mana in a scene, the item absorbs one point of spent Mana. This does not change Mana costs, but instead scavenges the spent Mana before it dissipates. Mages can absorb the item’s Mana supply using the Prime spell “Channel Mana.”


New Spell: Forge Dumanium (Matter ••••) 

Practice: Patterning
Primary Factor: Duration
Cost: 1 Mana
Suggested Rote Skills: Crafts, Expression, Persuasion

This spell combines Perfected metals into a single metal which scavenges Mana. Called “dumanium” (from the Greek word for “power” or “strength”), this material is forged from an alloy of kassiterum and siderite. The object created by this spell is Durability 1, and has the ability to hold one point of Mana. Potency may be allocated, one for one, to increasing Durability, Mana capacity, or equipment bonus (to a maximum of +5). For purposes of the spell’s Scale factor, the alloy has the same Size as the three component metals combined. 

+2 Reach: The spell’s effect is Lasting.

Benefit: If the dumanium object is a weapon, the wielder can use the item’s stored Mana to make the weapon’s damage aggravated for a single attack. This is a reflexive action requiring one Mana from the dumanium weapon’s stores. Dumanium must be Size 3 or more to act as effective armor. The mage can allocate Potency into armor made this way for 1/1 armor, instead of equipment bonus (to a maximum of 5/5). Mages can absorb the item’s Mana supply using the Prime spell “Channel Mana.”

Electrum Magicum
Said to require all seven Perfected Metals, no information is available on its arcana requirements or magical properties.
Amalgams
Hermium is capable of forming an amalgam with any of the other perfected metals. The resulting amalgams retain the Supernal properties of both of the combined metals. As the amalgam forms, the metal transitions to a liquid state, then hardens into a firm state. Softer metals, such as orichalcum and apeiron become harder than normal when formed into an amalgam with hermium. In many cases, these amalgams are formed for the sole purpose of shaping one or both of the metals into a specific shape. 

Other Perfected Materials
Of all the Perfected materials, the Orders hold the most lore about the seven classical metals and their Perfected forms, but these are not the only semi-Supernal substances the Awakened have attempted to create. Despite many attempts, attempting to Perfect an alloy fails without a subject mostly composed of one of the seven metals, and then the process simply yields that one metals’ Perfected form. Centuries of research have revealed that other compounds associated with the different Supernal Realms have their own Perfected forms, but are harder to create. These Perfected materials are better than their mundane counterparts similar to the Perfected metals, but they do not carry the same benefits to enchanting, though they also give the 9-again quality to spellcasting when used as a Path Tool.

The following are only a few examples of Perfected materials. The Storyteller should feel free to invent others:

Perfected Acid

Perfected acid is completely corrosive. Mundane containers cannot contain it in aqueous form, as its protons dissociate even the most stable substances. A single drop of perfected acid can create explosive effects with normally reactive substances. 

Pure Fire

Perfected fire is pure white in color and super-heated, though the size of the fire does not increase with perfecting. This intense fire burns oxygen rapidly, and burns for under a minute when in an enclosed space, removing all oxygen from the area, then going out. If touched, the fire deals aggravated damage that ignores armor, and counts as a fire of twice its actual size.




Perfected Gemstones

Certain perfected gemstones look no different than the mundane variety. Most contain a perfect color and clarity not found in nature. The stones are harder than their mundane counterparts. 

Adamant (Perfected Glass)

Perfected glass, or “Adamant,” is perfectly translucent and does not refract light passing through it at all, making it nearly impossible to see. It is extremely hard and resistant to impact. Weapons made of mundane materials do not even scratch the surface. Diamonds can cut it, and so can many of the perfected metals. 

Rumors persist of a special Supernal material called True Adamant, the unbreakable substance of lore, supposedly made from Archmastery, Soulstones, or other sorcery.

Perfected Leather

Perfected leather is soft and pliable, but extremely sturdy. Items made of the material absorb shock perfectly granting immunity to crushing or bashing blows. The material can be punctured with enough force from say a bullet, though. 

Perfected Mirrors

A perfected mirror reflects images perfectly without distorting the image or the color. 

Pure Earth (Stone)
Stone Perfected stone is more durable and dense than mundane stone. Structures built of perfected stone have a +1 Durability. 

Alkahest (Water)

Water Perfected water, or “Alkahest” serves as a true universal solvent, able to dissolve any other substance, except other perfected materials. 

Perfected Wood

Perfected Wood is both supple enough to carve easily and hard enough to prevent breakage or scratching from most mundane weapons. It does not burn easily, requires extremely high temperatures to combust. 

Sulvarium (Perfected Sulfur)

Sulvarium is an agent of limited but potent use in a number of alchemical formulae. It takes its name from the Sanskrit word sulvari, meaning sulfur.  In its basic form, sulvarium is a translucent yellow crystal. It is often believed that sulvarium glows in the dark, but this is not strictly accurate; the substance will reflect and refract any oncoming light to the point where even a faint hint of luminescence produces a strong glow within the crystal. The crystals thus glow in any light with a bright yellow hue. Contrary to popular expectation, sulvarium doesn’t have any smell.  Sulvarium by itself does not have any known magical properties. Centuries of painstaking research have revealed only that pure sulvarium is unhelpful in any one of thousands of magical practices applied to it. Sulvarium compounds, however, are another matter, and two such compounds are reasonably well known to Forge Masters and alchemists who study perfected matter.

Sulvaric acid is a clear liquid with an incredibly sharp and potent smell. It is made, as with its mundane counterpart, sulfuric acid, with hydrogen, oxygen, and sulvarium; scientifically minded mages give it the formula H2SuO4. Sulvaric acid is extremely potent, far more so than sulfuric acid. Storage of such acid requires magically treated glass, and great care must be taken in handling it, as it will burn a hole through the whole of a person’s limb in under a second. Even the odour of sulvaric acid is harmful; the smell does considerable damage to the olfactory organs and anyone who takes a deep sniff of the stuff may not be able to smell properly for days. The substance has some alchemical uses, and is also very handy for destroying dangerous or incriminating things such as Abyssal daimonomica, items used in crimes, and even whole corpses.

Phaethon powder is a mixture of sulvarium, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It is a fine, sand-like powder, but is completely black, barely even reflecting the strongest light. Phaethon powder was discovered by a Viennese mystagogue in the Renaissance, and is famous for destroying the same mage’s entire sanctum and apprentice (the latter was tinkering in the mystagogue’s lab while he was away on Consilium business). Even the slightest pinch of phaethon powder explodes in a manner comparable to a hand grenade, and most mages are afraid to test the exact potency of larger quantities of powder. Again, phaethon powder is useful in a few alchemic reactions. Some Arrow mages use it in impromptu grenades. Rumours persist of a phaethon powder cannon or musket; however, such a thing would probably have to be made of another perfected substance like siderite to prevent the reaction from simply blasting the firearm apart.

Other uses are known to exist, but they are not as widely known as the above two. A number of Awakened laboratories are believed to use sulvarium-based detergents to clean up after their experiments. It's occasionally seen used in sulfur lamps. At least one mage claims it makes a highly effective pesticide, potent even against lesser Abyssal manifestations. Mysterium and Free Council studies into the nature of sulvarium continue, but most sulvarium compounds are a little unstable and are thus quite difficult to work with. Most experiments require the crystals be smashed into fine powder before usage, but even this is a risky proposition. At least one mage has been killed in this manner when a crystal exploded upon being struck in the wrong place. Mages advise experimenting on sulvarium powder in cool conditions and where there is no possibility of a spark. Other mages simply say experimenting on sulvarium isn't worth the risk and effort. 

Perfected Living Materials

The concept of using a physical piece of a person in spellcasting is one from ancient times. The best way to establish a sympathetic link to someone is to use magic like “Borrow Threads” to take that of a physical representation, such as some of their blood or a piece of their body. Physical forms hold power for many reasons, and not just because of the sympathetic ties involved. Blood, bone, and flesh have more than a sympathetic tie to their donors, and have long been incorporated into ritual castings, usually in the form of sacrifice. 

Once an organic material has been separated from the body, it is no longer a part of the person, but its own substance. A tooth is no more the person it came from than a strip of leather is the cow. Yet, somehow the tooth of a human carries more significance in a magical ritual than that of a canine. Scholars believe that because the human mind is sensitive to the Lie and feels the pull of the Supernal that it carries more magical weight than any other creature. It could simply be a matter of higher intelligence; the truth is inconsequential to the outcome. 

The most potent organic substances are those imminently separated from the host. A spell or ritual is more likely to call for a blood sacrifice, a burned body, or a ritual dismemberment than a long dead bone. This kind of magic is gruesome and not for the faint of heart. It is often relegated to Left Handed groups, the work of the Mad or liches. Despite the taboo of ritual sacrifice, mages have a large body of research on the various uses of organic materials. Experiments on substances after death, or donated for research have led to a few discoveries, mostly reinforcing the idea that the use of these materials should be shunned. 

Organics have a tie to the Supernal giving them a potent quality on their own, but they can also be Perfected much like other materials. The problem lies in the fact that the substance cannot be separated from a person for more than a few minutes before they become dead, symbolically speaking, and the Perfecting spell results in Perfected bone, leather, or wood. Other substances such as hair and blood don’t have a Perfected form at all once dead — or at least, not one known outside specialist Legacies. The only way to get perfected blood or flesh is to cast Hone the Perfected Form at the exact time of separation of these substances from a living host which is an act of hubris against Falling Wisdom. For this reason, the use of Perfected living materials in crafting is limited. Few mages are comfortable knowing the imbued item they are using required someone to be flayed alive to make. Even fewer are willing to do the deed necessary to make the item.

Benefit: Despite the gruesome implications, Perfected living materials hold a wealth of uses in the crafting of magical items. Perfected living material offer a +1 tool Yantra on spells to enhance or imbue themselves, and if incorporated into Yantras grant the 9-again quality on the spellcasting roll. More importantly, the material does not die unless reverted to its mundane form; a grimoire bound in Perfected skin registers as alive to Life spells and Mage Sight. All items crafted with a Perfected living material gain a +1 to the Durability, regardless if it holds any magical enchantments. Ritual casting times for rotes cast from Grimoires written in Perfected blood, or recorded on Perfected flesh, are normal instead of doubled. Despite the best efforts of many liches, whole life forms (including mages) cannot be turned into Perfected flesh, only parts carefully excised.

Perfected Bone:

Bone as a material is connected to Stygia, and does not follow the same rules as the other organics. It is the only organic material which can be Perfected well after the death of the donor. For that matter, there is no need for the bone to be of human origin. Old or non-human bone has properties more akin to other materials with connections to the Supernal Realms and is not inherently magical. It is harder than normal bone, and holds an edge much like steel. 

Perfected Banes

Many supernatural beings — including all ephemeral, Supernal, and Abyssal entities — have weaknesses to substances or forces. From a ghost unwilling to touch salt, to a high-Rank spirit of corruption that may be slain by a consecrated, silver dagger, to vampires’ legendary allergy to sunlight, mages have long experience of using materials, sometimes formed with magic, to fend off monsters while pursuing the Mysteries. And sooner or later, every young mage dealing with a werewolf wonders what a lunargent weapon would do. The result is both more and less than most apprentices imagine. 

Benefit: Perfected materials count as their mundane counterparts with regard to if a creature counts them as its bane. They don’t do extra damage or have any other greater effect beyond any special rules for the material, but they do discard all other qualifiers a bane might have. If a spirit is only vulnerable to a consecrated, silver, dagger, any lunargent object will affect it as a bane. This extends beyond simple weaknesses of monsters, too — if an artifact can only be melted in dragon’s fire, Perfected flame will do the trick.