Coraden naturally appears as a cloudy, greyish crystal, similar to Grey Sapphire. In this state, it will glow faintly with one of several colors when held or touched by any creature with a soul. When worked at a forge by a crystalsmith, it retains its greyish color but loses its cloudiness. Forged coraden may be attuned to an individual, forming a bond so that it will luminesce within a short distance of its master at all times. This luminescence is bright enough to provide illumination as though touched by the light cantrip. Without this attunement, a held weapon's crystalline components are not in contact with its master and as such do not luminesce, but the weapon retains its effectiveness otherwise.
The color a coraden crystal shines will differ depending on who holds it or is attuned to it, as a coraden crystal emits the color of an individual's soul. This is commonly referred to as a soul light. A person's soul light color will never change, and is said to express the truth of a person's soul. The purpose of a person's soul light is always expressed during an individual's lifetime, and it may take some time for someone to accept or recognize the meaning of their color. For others, it will be obvious to them and feel natural from the start. A cowardly person who wants to be seen as a hero might wield a red coraden weapon, even if they haven't acted bravely yet. Likewise, a scholar that has dedicated their life towards knowing everything there is to know about the history of their nation would certainly have a purple coraden crystal sitting on their desk.
Below are the different colors of soul light and what value they're generally interpreted as representing, as well as an example of a gemstone of that color to help visualize the differences between each.
Red, like Ruby: courage
Orange, like Spessartite: compassion
Yellow, like Citrine: expertise
Lime, like Peridot: vanity
Green, like Emerald: discipline
Cyan, like Aquamarine: sincerity
Blue, like Sapphire: understanding
Purple, like Amethyst: insightfulness
Pink, like Pink Spinel: individuality
Silver, like White Topaz: subtlety
Attunement
Forged coraden can be attuned to its master via a ritual, allowing it to shine with the color of its master's soul light whenever the weapon is within 20ft of its master. Only one piece of coraden may be attuned to an individual at a time, and an individual will forever be attuned to a piece of coraden crystal once the ritual has been completed. The attunement to a particular piece of coraden ends upon the death of its master.
The participant must spend time meditating and working with the crystal in order to bond it to their soul. An attunement ritual usually takes a full day to complete with an amount of coraden the size of a typical longsword's blade, but may take longer for larger quantities of crystal. An attunement ritual will never take less than 1 day. Once the attunement has been completed, the blade will emit a faint light from its center while within 20ft of its master, and after an hour will glow as though enchanted with the lightcantrip.
Coraden attunement can be transferred between crystals by repeating this ritual, but requires the original crystal that had been attuned as well as a new, unattuned crystal. If an attuned crystal is lost, then it is impossible to attune to a new crystal until the original has been located. Any piece of attuned coraden will persistently luminesce while within 20ft of its master, but this light can be covered or hidden via the use of a thick material cover such as a heavy blanket, a leather cloak, or a scabbard.
Any piece of coraden will glow with an individual's soul light if touched, except for attuned coraden. Once attuned, a piece of coraden will only luminesce for its master. If an individual has been attuned to a piece of coraden, then they will only be able to cause a new piece of coraden to luminesce if they touch the new piece while at least 20ft away from their attuned crystal.
Weapons
Any Simple Weapon or Martial Weapon that would normally be crafted with metallic components can likewise be crafted from coraden. These weapons are identical to their metallic counterparts, but gain the Coraden Crystal special property. As they no longer contain metallic components, these items may be wielded by druids. Any object used as an Improvised Weapon that is made of coraden likewise has this special property.
Special: Coraden Crystal
This item is forged from coraden crystal, and emits a persistent lighteffect if attuned to a master.
Whenever a player attacks with a coraden weapon and rolls a natural 1 on the attack roll, the weapon has a chance of chipping. If a weapon is thrown as a part of a ranged attack, then the weapon will always chip when it lands, and will always shatter if the player rolls a natural 1 on their attack roll. If used to create arrows or other ammunition, these items will always shatter once fired or thrown.
The player must roll a d20 to determine if the weapon is chipped; on a roll of 10 or less, it is. If a weapon is chipped 3 times, then it shatters. Shattered coraden cannot be repaired, and a weapon that shatters provides no additional benefit or opportunities for damage. Chips can be smoothed away by using the mending cantrip.
Below is a list of items that can be crafted using coraden crystal, and the component of the item that is most commonly chosen for attunement. This list may be expanded at your Dungeon Master's discretion.
Coraden crystal may also be incorporated into armor or clothing for ornamental use, or be used to create mundane objects. These items are often expensive due to the increased complexity of working with crystal, and often require the expertise of a crystalsmith to forge correctly due to how uncommon a request for something other than a blade or maul head would be. Any metallic item not outlined above may instead be created using coraden at twice its usual cost.
Coraden is most commonly used to create weapons. Outside of this, work with your Dungeon Master to determine how coraden will be used in your game.
Armor
Coraden proves to be a poor material for most armors and shields, and cannot be woven as a fabric. However, individual crystals may be worked into these items and materials as ornamental components, such as the central gem on a crown or helmet. When struck, such crystals have a chance to instantly shatter. Roll a d20 with disadvantage whenever you fail to block an attack. If you roll lower than a 10, then the coraden crystal is shattered.
Items
Rings, amulets, brooches, and bracelets are common choices for attunement when a weapon or similar tool isn't chosen. In some regions couples will attune to each others' wedding rings as a part of their wedding ceremony, and proudly wear the light of their spouse's soul on their fingers. In other instances, a favorite mug might glow with a drunkard's emerald light in contrast to their habit. Some clergy use attuned coraden for their holy symbols, as their soul light proves their affinity to their respective choice of devotion.
Magical Items
Coraden can be used as a component of any magical item that would otherwise require a metallic component. An individual can still attune to this coraden, and this will cause no other secondary effect to the item beyond the normal effects of attunement outlined above. Creating a magical item with coraden costs five times as much as the original item's cost due to the added care required in working the crystal material.
I wanted to add this to my homebrew collection but it seems as though I can't homebrew weapon or item properties, so I'll just drop this here instead. Enjoy.
Some notes:
I intentionally left the meaning of each of the colors pretty vague, as well as the attunement ritual, so that you can tailor it into your own games. I tried to more or less theme the meaning of each color off of the 6 base stats and 4 non-neutral alignments without outright calling them those things as a means of helping you guide players towards a specific color based off of either what they describe to you or how they play the game. I'm going to continue to leave it as vague as that since I'm hoping that it isn't used as some new alignment check in your game, as the purpose is to add a ton of flavor into your world, not weird meta-crunch.
I also intended for these to be used as weapons, predominantly swords, in most cases. In the world I created this for, there is an order of knights that wield crystalline swords that shine with a green light when drawn. It's meant to be an iconic thing that instantly makes the character known to the players, similar to the Jedi and Sith lightsabers in Star Wars, the white cloaks of the Children of the Light in The Wheel of Time, or the cube ships of the Borg in Star Trek. I wanted an NPC to show up and draw a green longsword and for my players to have an "uh oh I need to pay attention, this guy is serious business," moment. I wanted some heroic-seeming item to make my players go, "oh man I want one of those," and came up with coraden crystal.
I didn't want to create some new material that would be used in everything, and so I tried to limit it in ways that felt in-theme for what I had made. If someone wants to try to create some ornamental armor and take the risk of wasting a ton of gold in a single attack, then yeah sure go for it, but I'd generally advise against it. I wanted to make it possible, but clearly not practical.
I wanted to create something that players could play recklessly with, but that would require care after combat. Mending requires 10 rounds of combat to use, which isn't super practical... but again not impossible. The idea was to make the weapon feel special, but also give the player a reason to grow attached to it beyond stats. It's something to be taken care of, or you'll lose it. Yes, rolling 3 natural 1's is unlikely to happen in a single combat, but it's still something to make the player sweat a little bit every time they do fail a roll. Further, if the player is unlucky and the weapon does shatter, then it opens up new roleplay opportunities for the group as they seek someone able to perform the attunement ritual and create a new blade.
I dunno, I hope people like it. I had a lot of fun thinking about it and creating it.
Coraden Crystals & Soul Light
Coraden naturally appears as a cloudy, greyish crystal, similar to Grey Sapphire. In this state, it will glow faintly with one of several colors when held or touched by any creature with a soul. When worked at a forge by a crystalsmith, it retains its greyish color but loses its cloudiness. Forged coraden may be attuned to an individual, forming a bond so that it will luminesce within a short distance of its master at all times. This luminescence is bright enough to provide illumination as though touched by the light cantrip. Without this attunement, a held weapon's crystalline components are not in contact with its master and as such do not luminesce, but the weapon retains its effectiveness otherwise.
The color a coraden crystal shines will differ depending on who holds it or is attuned to it, as a coraden crystal emits the color of an individual's soul. This is commonly referred to as a soul light. A person's soul light color will never change, and is said to express the truth of a person's soul. The purpose of a person's soul light is always expressed during an individual's lifetime, and it may take some time for someone to accept or recognize the meaning of their color. For others, it will be obvious to them and feel natural from the start. A cowardly person who wants to be seen as a hero might wield a red coraden weapon, even if they haven't acted bravely yet. Likewise, a scholar that has dedicated their life towards knowing everything there is to know about the history of their nation would certainly have a purple coraden crystal sitting on their desk.
Below are the different colors of soul light and what value they're generally interpreted as representing, as well as an example of a gemstone of that color to help visualize the differences between each.
Attunement
Forged coraden can be attuned to its master via a ritual, allowing it to shine with the color of its master's soul light whenever the weapon is within 20ft of its master. Only one piece of coraden may be attuned to an individual at a time, and an individual will forever be attuned to a piece of coraden crystal once the ritual has been completed. The attunement to a particular piece of coraden ends upon the death of its master.
The participant must spend time meditating and working with the crystal in order to bond it to their soul. An attunement ritual usually takes a full day to complete with an amount of coraden the size of a typical longsword's blade, but may take longer for larger quantities of crystal. An attunement ritual will never take less than 1 day. Once the attunement has been completed, the blade will emit a faint light from its center while within 20ft of its master, and after an hour will glow as though enchanted with the light cantrip.
Coraden attunement can be transferred between crystals by repeating this ritual, but requires the original crystal that had been attuned as well as a new, unattuned crystal. If an attuned crystal is lost, then it is impossible to attune to a new crystal until the original has been located. Any piece of attuned coraden will persistently luminesce while within 20ft of its master, but this light can be covered or hidden via the use of a thick material cover such as a heavy blanket, a leather cloak, or a scabbard.
Any piece of coraden will glow with an individual's soul light if touched, except for attuned coraden. Once attuned, a piece of coraden will only luminesce for its master. If an individual has been attuned to a piece of coraden, then they will only be able to cause a new piece of coraden to luminesce if they touch the new piece while at least 20ft away from their attuned crystal.
Weapons
Any Simple Weapon or Martial Weapon that would normally be crafted with metallic components can likewise be crafted from coraden. These weapons are identical to their metallic counterparts, but gain the Coraden Crystal special property. As they no longer contain metallic components, these items may be wielded by druids. Any object used as an Improvised Weapon that is made of coraden likewise has this special property.Below is a list of items that can be crafted using coraden crystal, and the component of the item that is most commonly chosen for attunement. This list may be expanded at your Dungeon Master's discretion.
Simple Weapons:
Martial Weapons:
Ammunition:
Other Uses
Coraden crystal may also be incorporated into armor or clothing for ornamental use, or be used to create mundane objects. These items are often expensive due to the increased complexity of working with crystal, and often require the expertise of a crystalsmith to forge correctly due to how uncommon a request for something other than a blade or maul head would be. Any metallic item not outlined above may instead be created using coraden at twice its usual cost.
Coraden is most commonly used to create weapons. Outside of this, work with your Dungeon Master to determine how coraden will be used in your game.
Armor
Coraden proves to be a poor material for most armors and shields, and cannot be woven as a fabric. However, individual crystals may be worked into these items and materials as ornamental components, such as the central gem on a crown or helmet. When struck, such crystals have a chance to instantly shatter. Roll a d20 with disadvantage whenever you fail to block an attack. If you roll lower than a 10, then the coraden crystal is shattered.
Items
Rings, amulets, brooches, and bracelets are common choices for attunement when a weapon or similar tool isn't chosen. In some regions couples will attune to each others' wedding rings as a part of their wedding ceremony, and proudly wear the light of their spouse's soul on their fingers. In other instances, a favorite mug might glow with a drunkard's emerald light in contrast to their habit. Some clergy use attuned coraden for their holy symbols, as their soul light proves their affinity to their respective choice of devotion.
Magical Items
Coraden can be used as a component of any magical item that would otherwise require a metallic component. An individual can still attune to this coraden, and this will cause no other secondary effect to the item beyond the normal effects of attunement outlined above. Creating a magical item with coraden costs five times as much as the original item's cost due to the added care required in working the crystal material.
I wanted to add this to my homebrew collection but it seems as though I can't homebrew weapon or item properties, so I'll just drop this here instead. Enjoy.
Some notes:
I intentionally left the meaning of each of the colors pretty vague, as well as the attunement ritual, so that you can tailor it into your own games. I tried to more or less theme the meaning of each color off of the 6 base stats and 4 non-neutral alignments without outright calling them those things as a means of helping you guide players towards a specific color based off of either what they describe to you or how they play the game. I'm going to continue to leave it as vague as that since I'm hoping that it isn't used as some new alignment check in your game, as the purpose is to add a ton of flavor into your world, not weird meta-crunch.
I also intended for these to be used as weapons, predominantly swords, in most cases. In the world I created this for, there is an order of knights that wield crystalline swords that shine with a green light when drawn. It's meant to be an iconic thing that instantly makes the character known to the players, similar to the Jedi and Sith lightsabers in Star Wars, the white cloaks of the Children of the Light in The Wheel of Time, or the cube ships of the Borg in Star Trek. I wanted an NPC to show up and draw a green longsword and for my players to have an "uh oh I need to pay attention, this guy is serious business," moment. I wanted some heroic-seeming item to make my players go, "oh man I want one of those," and came up with coraden crystal.
I didn't want to create some new material that would be used in everything, and so I tried to limit it in ways that felt in-theme for what I had made. If someone wants to try to create some ornamental armor and take the risk of wasting a ton of gold in a single attack, then yeah sure go for it, but I'd generally advise against it. I wanted to make it possible, but clearly not practical.
I wanted to create something that players could play recklessly with, but that would require care after combat. Mending requires 10 rounds of combat to use, which isn't super practical... but again not impossible. The idea was to make the weapon feel special, but also give the player a reason to grow attached to it beyond stats. It's something to be taken care of, or you'll lose it. Yes, rolling 3 natural 1's is unlikely to happen in a single combat, but it's still something to make the player sweat a little bit every time they do fail a roll. Further, if the player is unlucky and the weapon does shatter, then it opens up new roleplay opportunities for the group as they seek someone able to perform the attunement ritual and create a new blade.
I dunno, I hope people like it. I had a lot of fun thinking about it and creating it.