Manacrystals
In Requerm , all living creatures (as well as certain undead, constructs, etc) are granted sentience through biological arcane power, manifesting via material known by scholars as manacrystals. It is believed by many that these manacrystals are the physical representations of a soul, its strength having a direct correlation with the life one chooses to lead. In more “scholarly” terms, as the crystal is enriched with the vessel’s experiences, it grows in power, granting the vessel more strength and durability. In many ways, this is like the Automatic Bonus Progression set of rules from Paizo, but there are enough key differences that a full description must be provided here. When in doubt, refer to this page instead of the official Paizo page.
As characters gain exp and level up, their manacrystals provide additional benefits to their bodies, replacing the need for many of the more common magical items in Pathfinder. These are known mechanically as Manacrystal Powers. Unless otherwise stated, these are spell-like effects with a caster level equal to the vessel’s character level, and can therefore be dispelled. If an effect is dispelled, the manacrystal requires recharging in order for it to once more replicate the effect. After 8 hours of rest, the effect comes back at its full strength.
Resistance: At 3rd level, the character gains a +1 resistance bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases to +2 at 8th level, to +3 at 10th level, to +4 at 13th level, and to +5 at 14th level.
Armor Attunement: The character can attune herself to one suit of armor or one shield in her possession; she can change that attunement once per day. If she selects a normal set of clothing as her armor, it counts as having a starting enhancement bonus of +0. The attuned suit of armor gains a +1 enhancement bonus at 4th level.
At 8th level, she can split her attunement between a suit of armor and a shield, granting each a +1 enhancement bonus.
At 9th level, she can grant a suit of armor or a shield a +2 enhancement bonus (instead of granting each a +1 enhancement bonus).
At 14th level, she can either grant a suit of armor or a shield a +3 enhancement bonus or grant each a +2 enhancement bonus.
At 15th level, she can either grant a suit of armor or a shield a +4 enhancement bonus or grant both a +3 enhancement bonus.
At 17th level, she can either grant a suit of armor or a shield a +5 enhancement bonus or grant one a +4 enhancement bonus and the other a +3 enhancement bonus.
Weapon Attunement: The character can attune herself to any one weapon in her possession, and can change that attunement once per day. The attuned weapon gains a +1 enhancement bonus at 4th level.
At 8th level, the character can split her attunement between two weapons, granting each a +1 enhancement bonus.
At 9th level, she can grant a single weapon a +2 enhancement bonus instead of granting two weapons a +1 enhancement bonus each.
At 14th level, she can either grant a single weapon a +3 enhancement bonus or grant two weapons a +2 enhancement bonus each.
At 15th level, she can either grant a single weapon a +4 enhancement bonus or grant two weapons a +3 enhancement bonus each.
At 17th level, she can either grant a single weapon a +5 enhancement bonus or grant one weapon a +4 enhancement bonus and another weapon a +3 enhancement bonus.
Deflection: The character gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC at 5th level; this bonus increases to +2 at 10th level, to +3 at 16th level, to +4 at 17th level, and to +5 at 18th level.
Mental Prowess: At 6th level, the character chooses one mental ability score (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma) to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 11th level, this bonus increases to +4. At 13th level, the character chooses a second mental ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 15th level, the character increases the second enhancement bonuses by 2. At 17th level, she chooses a third mental ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus.
Physical Prowess: At 7th level, the character chooses one physical ability score (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution) to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 12th level, this bonus increases to +4. At 13th level, the character chooses a second physical ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 16th level, the character increases the second enhancement bonuses by 2. At 17th level, she chooses a third physical ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus.
Toughening: At 8th level, the character gains a +1 enhancement bonus to natural armor. This bonus increases to +2 at 13th level, to +3 at 16th level, to +4 at 17th level, and to +5 at 18th level.
Legendary Boosts: Legendary boosts are additional bonuses that manacrystals obtain through experience as well as mythic ascension. A character can only receive legendary boosts if they are mythic. At 19th level, the character gains three Legendary Boosts, and at 20th level, the character gains five additional legendary boosts. In addition, the character gains an additional legendary boost every time they gain a new mythic tier. Legendary boosts are used for the following effects:
Legendary Ability: Gain a +1 inherent bonus to any ability score. You can select this legendary boost multiple times, and it stacks up to +5 in any one ability score. For each ability score, you can select this legendary boost a second time at tier 3, a third time at tier 5, a fourth time at tier 7, and a fifth time at tier 9. This effect cannot be dispelled.
Legendary Armor: Your enhancement bonus from armor attunement increases by 2. If you are attuned to a suit of armor and a shield, you can either increase both bonuses by 1 or increase one bonus by 2. The enhancement bonus on a single attuned item can’t exceed +5, but you can use the excess to add special abilities to the armor or shield (see Magic Weapons and Armor). You can select this legendary boost multiple times; it stacks up to +10 on any one suit of armor or shield.
Legendary Body: Gain an additional +4 enhancement bonus that you can split between your three physical ability scores, up to a maximum +6 to each individual ability score. You can take this Legendary Boost a second time. You can only take this legendary boost the first time at tier 4, and the second time at tier 8.
Legendary Hide: Half (rounded down, minimum 1) of the enhancement bonus from your natural armor applies to touch AC. You can take this Legendary Boost a second time. When you do, the entire enhancement bonus is applied instead. You can only take this legendary boost a second time at tier 5.
Legendary Mind: Gain an additional +4 enhancement bonus that you can split between your three mental ability scores, up to a maximum +6 to each individual ability score. You can take this Legendary Boost a second time. You can only take this legendary boost the first time at tier 4, and the second time at tier 8.
Legendary Weapon: Your enhancement bonus from weapon attunement increases by 1. If you are attuned to more than one weapon, you can increase only one weapon’s enhancement bonus in this way. The enhancement bonus on a single weapon can’t exceed +5, but you can use the excess to add magic abilities to weapons (see Magic Weapons and Armor, below). You can select this legendary boost multiple times, and it stacks up to +10 for any one weapon.
Legendary Permanency: You gain the effects of a single spell that can be made permanent, as per the Permanency spell. The spell is chosen upon taking this legendary boost, and cannot be changed unless retrained. You must choose a spell from either the "Self Only" table or the "Self, Others, or Objects" table. Your character level must be at least the minimum caster level according to the table, and the effect of the spell itself treats your character level as if it were the effective caster level of the spell being made permanent (i.e. you must be at least 11th level to pick Greater Magic Fang. Picking it at 11th level will give you a +2 enhancement bonus, which will then increase to +3 at 12th level, +4 at 16th level, and +5 at 20th level).
Magic Weapons and Armor: In this system, magic weapons, armor, and shields never have enhancement bonuses of their own; those bonuses are granted only through attunement. Any weapon, armor, or shield special abilities on attuned items count against a character’s enhancement bonus from attunement. To determine an attuned magic item’s enhancement bonus, subtract the cost of its special ability from the enhancement bonus granted by attunement. (This applies only to special abilities whose cost is equivalent to an enhancement bonus, not to those that cost a flat amount of gold pieces.) For example, if a character with a +3 enhancement bonus from weapon attunement wields a keen scimitar, she subtracts 1 point of her enhancement bonus (for the cost of keen), leaving her with a +2 keen scimitar. If a character doesn’t have enough of an enhancement bonus to afford the special ability (such as a 4th-level character with a vorpal longsword), she can still use the weapon’s power on its own, but the weapon gains no enhancement bonus.
In this system, adding bonus-equivalent special abilities to items costs significantly less because you are paying only for the special ability, not for a base enhancement bonus (see the table below). To determine the price of specific weapons and armor, remove the flat enhancement bonus and reduce the item’s cost by the amount listed on the table below. For example, a flame tongue is normally worth 20,715 gp, but under this system, it would lose its +1 enhancement bonus and its price would be reduced to 18,715 gp. Specific weapons and armor can be attuned; they then grant the character’s enhancement bonuses from weapon attunement and armor attunement as normal.
Extracting a Manacrystal: For a couple reasons mentioned below, there may be a time when a character may wish to extract a manacrystal from another living being. Successfully doing so while that living being is still alive will, in fact, kill that creature (If that creature is some variation of undead or construct, it will cease to function). If a character wishes to safely extract a manacrystal, they must roll a heal or survival check (or in the case of a construct, a knowledge engineering check) (DC=10+the CR of the creature) and spend 1 minute safely extracting the manacrystal. If the creature is still alive, it must be helpless, and remain helpless for the entire duration of this action. This process can be sped up to 6 rounds instead by increasing the DC by 10. After the action is completed and the roll successful, the manacrystal is safely extracted. On a failed roll, the manacrystal is permanently damaged, but can still be extracted with another roll. If the roll failed by 5 or more, however, the manacrystal is permanently destroyed. Note that this will always kill the creature, regardless of the result. If your goal was to kill something slowly and painfully, this will still technically be considered a success. Some creatures may be immune to this action, despite being helpless. A creature wearing armor cannot be the target of this action until that armor is removed and/or destroyed. A creature only dies from this action if it is completed. If the action is interrupted, no damage is done to the body, even if there is less than a round left. If the action is interrupted on a corpse, however, the roll is always treated as if it failed, permanently damaging the manacrystal regardless of the roll.
Great Beast Crystals: The mighty great beasts of Requerm have manacrystals with special qualities to them that can be used for a variety of purposes, from improving quality of life, to granting very specific abilities to the wielder. As such, crafters in Krakonia City value these crystals highly, paying lots of gp to any adventurers talented enough to acquire them and offering discounts to those wishing to use them for gear. The stronger the Great Beast, the more valuable the crystal. Characters looking for information about known great beast crystals can head to The Hunters Guild of Krakonia and players themselves can find this information in each individual great beast's article on World Anvil.
Manacrystals and Resurrection: An intact manacrystal by itself can be used instead of a corpse when attempting to bring life back from the dead. Manacrystals do decay naturally over time, but the process is generally much longer than it would be for a corpse. The reason why one can't typically find manacrystals out in nature is simply because other creatures will ingest them for sustenance long before any humanoids come by to find them. With this said, manacrystals are also quite fragile. If a creature dies either to significantly excessive damage (over half of their max HP in a single hit), or to any effect that would otherwise mangle their corpse beyond recognition (i.e. Disintegrate), their manacrystal cannot be recovered. Even when a manacrystal is successfully extracted, one must take precautions to prevent it from breaking prematurely. A manacrystal outside of its original host essentially has the durability of a lightbulb, and once destroyed, the energy within dissipates immediately, making it useless. It is for these reasons that manacrystals of mortals are often kept in extremely durable containers located within catacombs for safekeeping in the event that one eventually wishes to resurrect them.
Identifying Manacrystals: The lifeforce of a manacrystal is as unique as a set of fingerprints, and can be used to identify specific people in a pinch. Certain spells allow for this identification, and are generally recorded for safety reasons in Krakonia's government. Anyone wishing to have a role in any of Krakonia's guilds, military, or other government positions must have their manacrystal identified and recorded. Citizens usually have their manacrystals identified as well as part of the process of becoming citizens. This naturally extends to any and all registered adventurers, namely the player characters. The tradeoff for this is it becomes much easier to identify bodies. Anyone wishing to turn in a bounty need only turn over the registered manacrystal. Anyone attempting to figure out who a dead body belongs to need only check the manacrystal registry. Anyone trying to figure out who the imposter is need only detect the manacrystal and identify its unique components. It's essentially one of those conveniences where people are okay with giving up some of their freedoms in exchange for it.
The process of identifying a manacrystal is as follows: First it must be detected via Detect Magic, the same process as identifying a spell or other magic effect. Once Detect Magic has identified the manacrystal, the caster must make a DC15 knowledge arcana check to identify the magical components of the manacrystal and a DC15 knowledge nature check to identify the natural components of the manacrystal. Only by succeeding on both checks can an individual identify the specific, unique "fingerprint" of the manacrystal, which can then be recorded and compared to anything already recorded on the registry, similar to how scientists in the real world compare dna strands. The process of recording a manacrystal's unique properties takes about five minutes. Once written down, the information can only be read via the effects of Read Magic or another, similar effect. The process of locating a specific manacrystal's properties can be an arduous task for the bookkeeper, but this process can be sped up on an individual level by memorizing a specific manacrystal's properties ahead of time. This can be done with a simple memorize check using the new Memory Skill .
There are those, naturally, who do not want people to be able to identify their manacrystal whenever they please. For those individuals, they can obscure their manacrystal aura the same way as any other aura with an effect such as Nondetection. Alternatively, that character can make an Autohypnosis check. For as long as that character is concentrating on the autohypnosis check, no one can detect their manacrystal's aura unless they roll an opposing spellcraft check.
As characters gain exp and level up, their manacrystals provide additional benefits to their bodies, replacing the need for many of the more common magical items in Pathfinder. These are known mechanically as Manacrystal Powers. Unless otherwise stated, these are spell-like effects with a caster level equal to the vessel’s character level, and can therefore be dispelled. If an effect is dispelled, the manacrystal requires recharging in order for it to once more replicate the effect. After 8 hours of rest, the effect comes back at its full strength.
| LV | Resistance | Armor Attunement | Weapon Attunement | Deflection | Mental Prowess | Physical Prowess | Toughening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 |
| 2 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 |
| 3 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 |
| 4 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 |
| 5 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +0 |
| 6 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 |
| 7 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +0 |
| 8 | +2 | +1/+1 | +1/+1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +1 |
| 9 | +2 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +1 |
| 10 | +3 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 |
| 11 | +3 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 | +4 | +2 | +1 |
| 12 | +3 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 | +4 | +4 | +1 |
| 13 | +3 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 OR +1/+1 | +2 | +4/+2 | +4/+2 | +2 |
| 14 | +4 | +3 OR +2/+2 | +3 OR +2/+2 | +2 | +4/+2 | +4/+2 | +2 |
| 15 | +5 | +4 OR +3/+3 | +4 OR +3/+3 | +2 | +4/+4 | +4/+2 | +2 |
| 16 | +5 | +4 OR +3/+3 | +4 OR +3/+3 | +3 | +4/+4 | +4/+4 | +3 |
| 17 | +5 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +4 | +4/+4/+2 | +4/+4/+2 | +4 |
| 18 | +5 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +5 | +4/+4/+2 | +4/+4/+2 | +5 |
| 19 | +5 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +5 | +4/+4/+2 | +4/+4/+2 | +5 |
| 20 | +5 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +5 OR +4/+3 | +5 | +4/+4/+2 | +4/+4/+2 | +5 |
Resistance: At 3rd level, the character gains a +1 resistance bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases to +2 at 8th level, to +3 at 10th level, to +4 at 13th level, and to +5 at 14th level.
Armor Attunement: The character can attune herself to one suit of armor or one shield in her possession; she can change that attunement once per day. If she selects a normal set of clothing as her armor, it counts as having a starting enhancement bonus of +0. The attuned suit of armor gains a +1 enhancement bonus at 4th level.
At 8th level, she can split her attunement between a suit of armor and a shield, granting each a +1 enhancement bonus.
At 9th level, she can grant a suit of armor or a shield a +2 enhancement bonus (instead of granting each a +1 enhancement bonus).
At 14th level, she can either grant a suit of armor or a shield a +3 enhancement bonus or grant each a +2 enhancement bonus.
At 15th level, she can either grant a suit of armor or a shield a +4 enhancement bonus or grant both a +3 enhancement bonus.
At 17th level, she can either grant a suit of armor or a shield a +5 enhancement bonus or grant one a +4 enhancement bonus and the other a +3 enhancement bonus.
Weapon Attunement: The character can attune herself to any one weapon in her possession, and can change that attunement once per day. The attuned weapon gains a +1 enhancement bonus at 4th level.
At 8th level, the character can split her attunement between two weapons, granting each a +1 enhancement bonus.
At 9th level, she can grant a single weapon a +2 enhancement bonus instead of granting two weapons a +1 enhancement bonus each.
At 14th level, she can either grant a single weapon a +3 enhancement bonus or grant two weapons a +2 enhancement bonus each.
At 15th level, she can either grant a single weapon a +4 enhancement bonus or grant two weapons a +3 enhancement bonus each.
At 17th level, she can either grant a single weapon a +5 enhancement bonus or grant one weapon a +4 enhancement bonus and another weapon a +3 enhancement bonus.
Deflection: The character gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC at 5th level; this bonus increases to +2 at 10th level, to +3 at 16th level, to +4 at 17th level, and to +5 at 18th level.
Mental Prowess: At 6th level, the character chooses one mental ability score (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma) to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 11th level, this bonus increases to +4. At 13th level, the character chooses a second mental ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 15th level, the character increases the second enhancement bonuses by 2. At 17th level, she chooses a third mental ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus.
Physical Prowess: At 7th level, the character chooses one physical ability score (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution) to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 12th level, this bonus increases to +4. At 13th level, the character chooses a second physical ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus. At 16th level, the character increases the second enhancement bonuses by 2. At 17th level, she chooses a third physical ability score to gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus.
Toughening: At 8th level, the character gains a +1 enhancement bonus to natural armor. This bonus increases to +2 at 13th level, to +3 at 16th level, to +4 at 17th level, and to +5 at 18th level.
Legendary Boosts: Legendary boosts are additional bonuses that manacrystals obtain through experience as well as mythic ascension. A character can only receive legendary boosts if they are mythic. At 19th level, the character gains three Legendary Boosts, and at 20th level, the character gains five additional legendary boosts. In addition, the character gains an additional legendary boost every time they gain a new mythic tier. Legendary boosts are used for the following effects:
Legendary Ability: Gain a +1 inherent bonus to any ability score. You can select this legendary boost multiple times, and it stacks up to +5 in any one ability score. For each ability score, you can select this legendary boost a second time at tier 3, a third time at tier 5, a fourth time at tier 7, and a fifth time at tier 9. This effect cannot be dispelled.
Legendary Armor: Your enhancement bonus from armor attunement increases by 2. If you are attuned to a suit of armor and a shield, you can either increase both bonuses by 1 or increase one bonus by 2. The enhancement bonus on a single attuned item can’t exceed +5, but you can use the excess to add special abilities to the armor or shield (see Magic Weapons and Armor). You can select this legendary boost multiple times; it stacks up to +10 on any one suit of armor or shield.
Legendary Body: Gain an additional +4 enhancement bonus that you can split between your three physical ability scores, up to a maximum +6 to each individual ability score. You can take this Legendary Boost a second time. You can only take this legendary boost the first time at tier 4, and the second time at tier 8.
Legendary Hide: Half (rounded down, minimum 1) of the enhancement bonus from your natural armor applies to touch AC. You can take this Legendary Boost a second time. When you do, the entire enhancement bonus is applied instead. You can only take this legendary boost a second time at tier 5.
Legendary Mind: Gain an additional +4 enhancement bonus that you can split between your three mental ability scores, up to a maximum +6 to each individual ability score. You can take this Legendary Boost a second time. You can only take this legendary boost the first time at tier 4, and the second time at tier 8.
Legendary Weapon: Your enhancement bonus from weapon attunement increases by 1. If you are attuned to more than one weapon, you can increase only one weapon’s enhancement bonus in this way. The enhancement bonus on a single weapon can’t exceed +5, but you can use the excess to add magic abilities to weapons (see Magic Weapons and Armor, below). You can select this legendary boost multiple times, and it stacks up to +10 for any one weapon.
Legendary Permanency: You gain the effects of a single spell that can be made permanent, as per the Permanency spell. The spell is chosen upon taking this legendary boost, and cannot be changed unless retrained. You must choose a spell from either the "Self Only" table or the "Self, Others, or Objects" table. Your character level must be at least the minimum caster level according to the table, and the effect of the spell itself treats your character level as if it were the effective caster level of the spell being made permanent (i.e. you must be at least 11th level to pick Greater Magic Fang. Picking it at 11th level will give you a +2 enhancement bonus, which will then increase to +3 at 12th level, +4 at 16th level, and +5 at 20th level).
Magic Weapons and Armor: In this system, magic weapons, armor, and shields never have enhancement bonuses of their own; those bonuses are granted only through attunement. Any weapon, armor, or shield special abilities on attuned items count against a character’s enhancement bonus from attunement. To determine an attuned magic item’s enhancement bonus, subtract the cost of its special ability from the enhancement bonus granted by attunement. (This applies only to special abilities whose cost is equivalent to an enhancement bonus, not to those that cost a flat amount of gold pieces.) For example, if a character with a +3 enhancement bonus from weapon attunement wields a keen scimitar, she subtracts 1 point of her enhancement bonus (for the cost of keen), leaving her with a +2 keen scimitar. If a character doesn’t have enough of an enhancement bonus to afford the special ability (such as a 4th-level character with a vorpal longsword), she can still use the weapon’s power on its own, but the weapon gains no enhancement bonus.
In this system, adding bonus-equivalent special abilities to items costs significantly less because you are paying only for the special ability, not for a base enhancement bonus (see the table below). To determine the price of specific weapons and armor, remove the flat enhancement bonus and reduce the item’s cost by the amount listed on the table below. For example, a flame tongue is normally worth 20,715 gp, but under this system, it would lose its +1 enhancement bonus and its price would be reduced to 18,715 gp. Specific weapons and armor can be attuned; they then grant the character’s enhancement bonuses from weapon attunement and armor attunement as normal.
| Base Price Modifier | Weapon Cost | Armor/Shield Cost |
|---|---|---|
| +1 | 2,000gp | 1,000gp |
| +2 | 8,000gp | 4,000gp |
| +3 | 18,000gp | 9,000gp |
| +4 | 32,000gp | 16,000gp |
| +5 | 50,000gp | 25,000gp |
Extracting a Manacrystal: For a couple reasons mentioned below, there may be a time when a character may wish to extract a manacrystal from another living being. Successfully doing so while that living being is still alive will, in fact, kill that creature (If that creature is some variation of undead or construct, it will cease to function). If a character wishes to safely extract a manacrystal, they must roll a heal or survival check (or in the case of a construct, a knowledge engineering check) (DC=10+the CR of the creature) and spend 1 minute safely extracting the manacrystal. If the creature is still alive, it must be helpless, and remain helpless for the entire duration of this action. This process can be sped up to 6 rounds instead by increasing the DC by 10. After the action is completed and the roll successful, the manacrystal is safely extracted. On a failed roll, the manacrystal is permanently damaged, but can still be extracted with another roll. If the roll failed by 5 or more, however, the manacrystal is permanently destroyed. Note that this will always kill the creature, regardless of the result. If your goal was to kill something slowly and painfully, this will still technically be considered a success. Some creatures may be immune to this action, despite being helpless. A creature wearing armor cannot be the target of this action until that armor is removed and/or destroyed. A creature only dies from this action if it is completed. If the action is interrupted, no damage is done to the body, even if there is less than a round left. If the action is interrupted on a corpse, however, the roll is always treated as if it failed, permanently damaging the manacrystal regardless of the roll.
Great Beast Crystals: The mighty great beasts of Requerm have manacrystals with special qualities to them that can be used for a variety of purposes, from improving quality of life, to granting very specific abilities to the wielder. As such, crafters in Krakonia City value these crystals highly, paying lots of gp to any adventurers talented enough to acquire them and offering discounts to those wishing to use them for gear. The stronger the Great Beast, the more valuable the crystal. Characters looking for information about known great beast crystals can head to The Hunters Guild of Krakonia and players themselves can find this information in each individual great beast's article on World Anvil.
Manacrystals and Resurrection: An intact manacrystal by itself can be used instead of a corpse when attempting to bring life back from the dead. Manacrystals do decay naturally over time, but the process is generally much longer than it would be for a corpse. The reason why one can't typically find manacrystals out in nature is simply because other creatures will ingest them for sustenance long before any humanoids come by to find them. With this said, manacrystals are also quite fragile. If a creature dies either to significantly excessive damage (over half of their max HP in a single hit), or to any effect that would otherwise mangle their corpse beyond recognition (i.e. Disintegrate), their manacrystal cannot be recovered. Even when a manacrystal is successfully extracted, one must take precautions to prevent it from breaking prematurely. A manacrystal outside of its original host essentially has the durability of a lightbulb, and once destroyed, the energy within dissipates immediately, making it useless. It is for these reasons that manacrystals of mortals are often kept in extremely durable containers located within catacombs for safekeeping in the event that one eventually wishes to resurrect them.
Identifying Manacrystals: The lifeforce of a manacrystal is as unique as a set of fingerprints, and can be used to identify specific people in a pinch. Certain spells allow for this identification, and are generally recorded for safety reasons in Krakonia's government. Anyone wishing to have a role in any of Krakonia's guilds, military, or other government positions must have their manacrystal identified and recorded. Citizens usually have their manacrystals identified as well as part of the process of becoming citizens. This naturally extends to any and all registered adventurers, namely the player characters. The tradeoff for this is it becomes much easier to identify bodies. Anyone wishing to turn in a bounty need only turn over the registered manacrystal. Anyone attempting to figure out who a dead body belongs to need only check the manacrystal registry. Anyone trying to figure out who the imposter is need only detect the manacrystal and identify its unique components. It's essentially one of those conveniences where people are okay with giving up some of their freedoms in exchange for it.
The process of identifying a manacrystal is as follows: First it must be detected via Detect Magic, the same process as identifying a spell or other magic effect. Once Detect Magic has identified the manacrystal, the caster must make a DC15 knowledge arcana check to identify the magical components of the manacrystal and a DC15 knowledge nature check to identify the natural components of the manacrystal. Only by succeeding on both checks can an individual identify the specific, unique "fingerprint" of the manacrystal, which can then be recorded and compared to anything already recorded on the registry, similar to how scientists in the real world compare dna strands. The process of recording a manacrystal's unique properties takes about five minutes. Once written down, the information can only be read via the effects of Read Magic or another, similar effect. The process of locating a specific manacrystal's properties can be an arduous task for the bookkeeper, but this process can be sped up on an individual level by memorizing a specific manacrystal's properties ahead of time. This can be done with a simple memorize check using the new Memory Skill .
There are those, naturally, who do not want people to be able to identify their manacrystal whenever they please. For those individuals, they can obscure their manacrystal aura the same way as any other aura with an effect such as Nondetection. Alternatively, that character can make an Autohypnosis check. For as long as that character is concentrating on the autohypnosis check, no one can detect their manacrystal's aura unless they roll an opposing spellcraft check.
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