Rána - Magical materials and their mechanics

 

I am working on an adventure or a mini-setting on the northern island of Rána. Rána is inspired by Slavic, Baltic and Finnish mythologies and by the mythological world of Runequest. I want this setting to be as system-neutral as possible; I plan to test it with OSE, Cairn and perhaps Dragonbane, so I will try to reflect it in any mechanics.

I want to make a place where magic and the gods and spirits are living in the world, and magic is something visible, tangible, yet powerful, and to be respected. One of the ways I want to do it is by assigning magical properties to different materials.

So far, I have identified six materials considered somehow magical in Rána. Each material has assigned different qualities, if it is made into a weapon, armor or a trinket. The property descriptions are broad, partially to make the mechanic system neutral, leave space for interpretation, and differentiate levels of magical properties.

Sooo, I came up with this chart.

Material	Weapon property	Armor property	Trinket property
Bronze	Advantage vs. Evil	Magic Resist	Charisma Vitality
Gold	Solar damage Light Heat	Light Protection vs Death / Poison	Diplomacy Persuasion Wealth
Iron	Advantage vs Fey Advantage vs Undead	Protection vs. Earth Protection vs. Fey	Luck Protection vs. Negative plane Protection vs. Magic
Obsidian	Advantage vs. magical beings Advantage vs. Unarmored opponents	Regeneration Improve Endurance Resist fatigue	Healing Clarity of the mind Protection vs. Poison
Silver	Advantage vs. Undead Increased power under the moonlight	Protection vs. Undead Protection vs. Dissease / Infection	Psychic protection Repel Undead
Steel	Durable Penetrates armor	Durable Intimidating	Increases strenght Strenghten resistances Increases Constitution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how would it work? Let’s take a Bronze weapon, Silver armor and an Iron trinket.

Bronze weapons give an advantage vs. evil monsters and opponents. Mechanically, this could mean an increased modifier or a roll advantage to hit and/or damage rolls.

Silver armor protects against undead, diseases and infections. Mechanically, it can be an increase in save rolls, a damage reduction, or a percentual chance to resist diseases.

Iron trinkets grant luck and protect against negative planes and magic. Mechanically, this can grant the wearer an occasional re-roll or increase the Luck score (if you are running DCC) to protect against abilities that drain levels, stats, or a percentual magic reduction.

The actual value of the boon granted by the material would depend on the amount of the material used, the skill of the artisan making it and any other GM considerations. A weapon with bronze mixed into its alloy might only give +1 to hit or damage vs evil opponents, while a weapon made dominantly out of bronze might give an advantage or +5 on to-hit rolls while also granting a damage bonus. The armour with a few silver scales or rings here or there might protect against some common diseases, but one made by a skilful blacksmith and has enough silver might increase AC vs Undead and protect against all diseases. Finally, a brittle iron necklace might let a player re-roll one throw once per session or long rest, while a torque or set of Iron jewellery can protect against a negative plane and offer 10% magic resistance.

I’m only making all of this up on the fly; the final decision should come from a discussion between the players and the GM.

Feel free to use this table as an inspiration or the whole mechanic. I would be happy if someone took it, tested it, and gave me some feedback. You might get to play it sooner than I will…

There might be other materials I will add in the future, and I will share one or two more mechanics or prep from Rána.