Magic is volatile. Trying to hold a complex spell in your mind is like trying to hold a handful of water while running through a minefield. Spell Gems are the solution: precise, crystallized matrices of Rift-energy or hard-light code that act as "batteries" for a single magical effect.
Manufacturing: Most legal gems are "printed" by the Archivists or corporate labs like Fabrico. These are sleek, geometric polyhedrons encased in stabilizing plastic. You snap the seal, channel your intent, and the gem dissolves into the spell structure.
Rift-Glass: On the Frontier, "wild" gems are mined directly from Rift-scarred geodes. These are jagged, unstable, and often hurt to hold. They don't dissolve gracefully; they shatter with a bang, often leaving the caster's hand numb or smoking.
"Burners": Using a gem is visceral. It feels like plugging a live wire into your nervous system. "Burners" are casters who rely too heavily on them, their fingertips permanently stained with gem-dust and their nerves frayed from the constant surges of external mana.
Spell Gems are consumable magic items that function similarly to scrolls. They allow a spellcaster to cast a specific spell without expending a spell slot.
Usage: You must hold the gem in one hand.
Activation: Use the Cast a Spell activity. The number of actions matches the spell's normal casting time (usually 2 actions).
Requirements: To use a Spell Gem, the spell contained within must be on your class's spell list (e.g., a Mystic can use a gem of Healing, but a Technomancer cannot, unless it is also on their list).
Effect: The spell is cast at the gem's specific rank. Once the spell is cast, the gem is destroyed (crumbled to dust or burned out).
Spell Gem Magic Item 1+
Source Player Core pg. 286
Bulk L; Hands 1;
These latticed gemstones are suspended in a silicon casing and encoded with the magical script necessary to cast a single, specific spell. Casting a spell from a spell gem requires holding the gem in one hand and activating it with a Cast a Spell activity using the normal number of actions for that spell. The spell must appear on your spell list. Because you're the one Casting the Spell, use your spell attack modifier and spell DC. The spell must be of your spellcasting tradition. The spell in a spell gem can be cast only once, and the spell gem is destroyed as part of the casting. Spell gems can't contain cantrips or rituals. The traits for this item vary based on the spell it contains.
Non-Combat Applications
Emergency Ops: Med-teams carry bandoliers of Heal gems. They don't need to be high-level clerics; they just need the basic training to trigger the crystal and slap it on a wound.
Courier Work: Longstrider or Jump gems are standard issue for high-speed couriers in the megacities, allowing them to traverse vertical sprawls without slowing down.
Industrial Repair: Engineers use Mending gems to quick-fix hull breaches during combat or hazardous environmental leaks when a proper toolkit would take too long.
Societal Impact
The "Pay-to-Win" Magic Economy: Spell Gems have democratized magic for the wealthy. A rich merchant doesn't need to study for years to protect himself; he just buys a crate of Invisibility gems and hires a hedge-wizard bodyguard to trigger them.
Black Market Codes: Illegal gems—containing banned necromancy or mind-control spells—are a major commodity for the Ebon Syndicate. These "Dark Shards" are often flawed, prone to wild magic surges that can mutate the user.
Adventure Hooks
The Glass Caravan: A shipment of raw, unrefined Rift-crystals (potential high-level gems) has crashed in the Badlands. The players must secure it before the local scavengers start accidentally setting off nuclear-level magical explosions.
The Dud Batch: A popular line of discount defense gems (Mage Armor) is failing across the sector. The players are hired to trace the supply chain back to a sweatshop where overworked technicians are cutting corners on the mana-stabilization process.
The Echo: A player finds a Spell Gem that talks. It claims to contain not a spell, but the consciousness of an ancient AI trapped in a crystal prison. Using it might free it—or delete it.
Spell Gems represent the commodification of the arcane in Starfall—fast, dirty, and disposable power that can save your life, provided you can afford the bill.
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