Maker's Matrix

The old tale always goes something like this:

A Maker, a Weaver, and a Vance climb a hill. They see a river they need to cross. The Vance says, “I have a spell within my mind that will get me across,” and she casts it, flinging herself up into the air and over the river.

The Weaver says, “I can weave threads of magic to give me wings to fly across,” and then does exactly as he describes.

The Maker says nothing. She picks up a stone from the riverbank and goes back home.

Later, the Maker catches up with the other two as they stand on the bank of yet another river.

“I’ve cast my last spell for today,” the Vance says.

“I’ve exhausted my power,” the Weaver says.

“We’ll never be troubled by barriers like this again,” the Maker says, as she takes out the stone, now inscribed with arcane symbols. The stone grows into a bridge, and the three cross the river. The bridge returns to its form as a stone. The Maker picks it up, puts it in her pocket, and the three continue on.

Makers make. It’s what they do. The process is costly in terms of time and money, but the results are extraordinary. The Maker’s Matrix is the name given to the system for determining how a Maker creates a magical item. It’s used whenever a Maker wishes to make anything magical.

TIME REQUIRED

Assuming that a Maker has all the materials, ingredients, and so on at hand, the process takes two days per item level, plus one day for every challenge failed during the process. If at any point the Maker does not have a needed component (a stabilizer, perhaps, if things start to go really wrong), they have about six hours to procure it before the entire process becomes a mishap. This extra time is added to the total time needed for the creation.

A Maker can attempt to speed up the process, but for every day shaved off the total, all challenges involved are 1 level higher.

THE PROCESS

The Maker starts by identifying the magical item they want to make. The effect dictates the level required, as found on the Effects by Level table.

This is then modified by the kind of item being made—specifically, how often it can be used before the magic depletes (minimum, level 1).

Crafting Modifiers

The final level is the amount of Sorcery the Maker invests in the process. For the duration of the process, the Maker’s Sorcery pool faces this deduction. Thus, once the Maker starts making something, their Sorcery pool is lower than normal until it is completed.

Next, the Maker takes material appropriate to the item (metal for a knife, leather for shoes, and so on) that is also of a level equal to the desired effect.

Then comes the first of many challenges, always starting at level 1. The Maker can use Intellect bene to increase their venture, and they can add any applicable skill (woodworking, metalworking, and the like, as appropriate to the item). Makers cannot use Sortilege while crafting items.

Success on the first challenge means that the Maker adds a level 2 ingredient and then attempts another challenge, this time level 2. If successful, they add a level 3 ingredient and attempt a level 3 challenge. And so on. This process continues until the Maker succeeds at a challenge equal to the level of the desired effect. At this point, the Maker then adds a power source equal to the effect level of the item and attempts one last challenge at 1 level higher than the desired level of the item. Success means that the item is created.

That’s what happens when all the challenges involved are successful. Failures lead down a different path, where catalysts or even stabilizers must be added to continue the process. Failures also increase the levels of future challenges involved in the process, meaning that a Maker might end up facing much more difficult challenges than they originally planned for. At any point in the process, the Maker can opt to quit. If they do so after successfully adding an ingredient, they get an item with a random effect. If the Maker quits at any other time in the process, a mishap occurs.

MATERIALS, INGREDIENTS, CATALYSTS, STABILIZERS, AND POWER SOURCES

Examples of various materials, ingredients, and so on can be found in the goods lists, but many more such substances exist. Makers should be discovering new substances for their work all the time. Prices for each level should remain the same as those in the lists, however. A sharp-eyed vislae will notice that the goods lists don’t have examples or prices for crafting materials over level 10. That’s because such materials should be extraordinary, even in the context of the other things on the list. Rather than being something a Maker can purchase, each required substance that is above level 10 should be a unique discovery—an incredible find or the object of an entire expedition to a remote locale. This means that crafting items above level 10 is a momentous undertaking, and that’s as it should be.

SIDE EFFECTS

Side effects are undesired secondary effects or requirements accidentally worked into an item due to an error in the process. This could be a flaw in a material, a mistake by the Maker, or simply bad fortune. Side effects can affect the final value of an item (almost certainly lowering it), but they do not change its final level.

The side effects presented here are quite specific. The GM is encouraged to alter the details, using the lists as examples.

MINOR SIDE EFFECTS

• Item glows blue when used

• Item whispers unintelligibly when used

• Random nearby being gets a minor, non-damaging jolt when item is used

• User feels a bit nauseated when using item

• User recalls unpleasant memory when using item

• User must say mother’s name to use item

• User must say “I am up to no good” to use item

• User must mentally name all thirteen Soul Guardians to use item

• Item becomes invisible at random times

• Item does not function for ten minutes at a specific time each day

• User must whistle to use item

• Item functions normally but looks awful (broken, very poor quality, unseemly, etc.)

• Item grows hot or cold to the touch when used (unpleasant but non-damaging)

• Item works only in the hands of someone wearing at least one red garment

• User must make a series of complex gestures to use item

• With each use, lights twirl around user’s head

• User’s flesh turns green for one round when item is used

• In the night following each use, user has mild insomnia

• User must say their own name out loud to use item

• User’s hair grows about a week’s worth with each use

• User hiccups with each use

• Item must be kept very warm or very cool while not in use

• Item must be kept in the dark while not in use

• User experiences minor magical flux with each use

MAJOR SIDE EFFECTS

• Item inflicts 1 point of damage per level on user each time it is used

• Item drains nearby ephemera when used

• Item puts a scourge on the Perception pool of anyone possessing it, impossible to remove unless item is dropped

• Item puts a scourge on the Accuracy pool of anyone possessing it, impossible to remove unless item is dropped

• Item puts a scourge on the Interaction pool of anyone possessing it, impossible to remove unless item is dropped

• Item puts a scourge on the Sorcery pool of anyone possessing it, Impossible to remove unless item is dropped

• Item puts a scourge on the Movement pool of anyone possessing it, impossible to remove unless item is dropped

• Item puts a scourge on the Intellect pool of anyone possessing It, impossible to remove unless item is dropped

• Anyone possessing the item cannot speak

• Item works only at night

• Item works only during the day

• Item must be bathed in blood once a day to function

• Item can be used only for altruistic purposes (user must justify each use)

• Item must be fitted with a new diamond (worth 30 crystal orbs) once each week to function

• User falls prone with each use of item

• User turns translucent for one minute after each use

• None of user’s magical possessions function for one minute after use of this item

• User must solve a new riddle each day for item to function

• Item functions normally but will eventually fade away forever at a random moment

• when item is used, all glass nearby becomes ebony black with filaments of clear crystal

• Each use produces the sound of a baby crying

• User is struck deaf until next sunrise

• With each use, user’s teeth immediately and painlessly fall out. A new, perfect set grows in the next ten hours.

• After use, user has an aura of unease and gains 3 vex in Interaction

• Each use produces a large quantity of ice in the air around user, which falls to the ground and shatters

• Each use produces the sound of a terrible shriek

• Temperature in any room the item occupies for more than a minute drops below freezing

• User loses one childhood memory with each use

• User is disoriented after each use and cannot take an action for one round

• User experiences major magical flux with each use

MISHAPS

Mishaps are when things go terribly, terribly wrong. A mishap ruins the item and probably inflicts some kind of malady or ill effect on the Maker.

Many of the mishap effects here are quite specific. The GM is encouraged to alter the details, using the lists as examples. Rather than the Maker’s hand being burned, for example, it could be their leg, making it impossible to walk for a week.

MISHAPS

• Process explodes, inflicting damage equal to the desired item level on all nearby

• Location where mishap occurs is seriously damaged, requiring ten weeks of repair costing 500 crystal orbs.

• Item gains intelligence and deep hatred for maker. It teleports away, vowing vengeance.

• Nearest magical item is drained permanently

• Maker becomes disfigured and unsightly

• Maker gains the attention of a powerful entity

• Maker loses all connection to their secret soul and their soul name changes

• Maker must attempt to resist possession by a level 6 demon

• Portal to the Dark opens

• Maker is cursed with a random curse spell effect

• Maker’s hand is burned and cannot be used for one week afterward

• Maker is struck blind for one week

• Item functions exactly as originally desired, but becomes a possession of the maker’s worst enemy

• Item is possessed by a level 8 demon that attempts to corrupt its use

• Angel appears and demands possession of the item

• Three angry level 5 ghosts appear and attack maker

• Maker is afflicted with a debilitating disease that gives a scourge in a random stat pool that remains until the disease is magically cured

• Someone the Maker knows and likes dies

• Maker is hurled to another world or realm

• Maker’s Testament of Suns (or vertula kada) is destroyed