Alchemical Symbols

     Its really easy to use symbols to better describe an object or method. Alchemical Symbols like these provide a way to bridge the gap to some basic things you might find with D&D. A Recipe might use this way of writing it down instead of a standard way, giving your players another way to look at the situation, or even providing an extra layer of challenge.

   Using symbols in your campaign is very easy, and can help put emphasis on a particular aspect, or allow your players to better find themselves as their characters. Having a special way to communicate has a lasting effect, and can be the detail you need to make a moment.

     By being able to quantify in symbols, and some examples of what different things mean, you can make your own key or legend: Allowing symbols to be manipulated by the players gives a chance for them to become their character momentarily.

     You are free to develop your own symbols and meanings, making them situation specific or character specific. Allowing a player to build on the current narrative and develop their own method of symbol usage can benefit everyone.

     For the picture of the canvas, I used common alchemic symbols and their most associated meaning. It was super easy to measure a grid and keep the size of the symbols the same. I used a 12x48 Inch Black Canvas, and measured Eighteen 4x4 inch squares to draw in. I painted on an easel, but in hindsight should have done it on a flat surface to avoid the dripping. I used Titanium White Acrylic Paint.

Here is a key to the symbols in the picture, and what they are suppose to mean. I had just Googled each of their definitions, and copied here.

Pound - Weight 16 Ounces, 1 Pint	- Saltpeter - a white crystalline salt, occurring naturally and produced synthetically, used in fertilizer, as a meat preservative, and as a constituent of gunpowder.	Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride, a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts.
Pint - Volume 16 Ounces, 1 Pound	Sulfur is a bright yellow, crystalline solid at room temperature.	Gold a yellow precious metal, the chemical element of atomic number 79, used especially in jewelry and decoration and to guarantee the value of currencies.
Ounce – Weight 1/16 Pound	Lead is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point.	Copper is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity.
Dram - Weight 1/8 Ounce	Tin is a silvery metal that characteristically has a faint yellow hue. Tin, like indium, is soft enough to be cut without much force.	Copper Acetate appears as a blue-green crystalline solid. The hydrated derivative, which contains one molecule of water for each Cu atom.
Scruple - Weight 1/3 Dram	Phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element.	Iron is a mineral that our bodies need for many functions. It is by mass the most common element.
Pinch - Weight 1/4 Scruple	Sulfuric Acid is a colorless, odorless, and syrupy liquid that is soluble in water and is synthesized in reactions that are highly exothermic.	Quick Silver is a heavy, silvery-white liquid metal. Compared to other metals, it is a poor conductor of heat, but a fair conductor of electricity.

Special Materials

     Every item in D&D can be tied to some sort of metal work, stone work, etc. A charm, to accents, and just plain being made of something special. The color, kind, and rarity of its composition could play a big role in the value of the item, its functions, or perhaps contain an arcane secret. Here are 5 types of crafting materials you can use to help make your descriptions and rarity stick out.

Blue Mithril

     A natural blend of Mithril Ore enriched by Arcana, the color of a bright silver with a sheen of light blue gives it away. Its infusion allows it to have an arcane super-conductor like quality along with a self-healing ability, making this a rare and sought after material of any caster.
     Working with the metal is extremely difficult and requires an extraordinary amount of care, otherwise its quality can be destroyed. It can be enchanted by up to 12 circles of spells, and can statically reshape itself to best fit a tight space.
     Examples of items that could benefit from Blue Mithril:
          - Giving a blade the edge of Blue Mithril may allow it to never need sharpening, as once crafted into an edge, it will heal itself and reshape to razor sharp.
          - Making a key, and allowing the metal to reshape into the lock and open it for you. This would be the master of all keys.
          - Creating a complex magic item, being able to put multiple enchantments, or just a few complex spells rolled into one.

Deep Mithril

     By taking Mithril and repeatedly melting it by dragon fire, its color will turn from bright silver to a glass polished grey black (Gunmetal in color). This will cause the mithril to be extremely light, and turn into an arcane super-magnet.

     Working with the material is difficult as even with it is in liquid form, it is light enough to be inherently brittle. If you wish to make something of this, it requires a mold to be made, and then poured.

     Deep Mithril when exposed will draw in static arcana like a sponge. The process of drawing in the energy causes the metal to decay back to normal mithril, unless the energy has a place to go immediately. This makes Deep Mithril hard to come by outside of a dragon's influence, as it is extremely difficult to expend the arcana fast enough to prevent this from decaying back to normal.

     Examples of items that could benefit from Deep Mithril:

          - If enough of it is in contact with a caster, they can draw from the metal rather than their own spell point pool.

          - Create an item that can store the arcana for later use.

          - Create a generator of sorts, by making a machine that expends the energy right away for something magic or mechanical.

Bealfyre Stone

     A lightweight stone that is native to the lower planes, it has a flat black color with a porous texture. The stone is extremely brittle, and will crumble to a powder if pressure is applied. Its soot-like nature makes it stain easy, and leaves behind a black that can't be removed. Other names for this stone include Soul Ash, Black Powder, and Devil Dust.

     Making anything from Bealfyre is almost impossible, but can be done. Always brought down to its powder form, it has been used as a polish, an explosive, and an ink. Primarily used in alchemy, it is a difficult material to acquire even within larger laboratories. Using it as an ink has been thought to better bind its scribe to what they are writing, although it doesn't have any arcane influence.

     Bealfyre is used mainly for its heat generating, as only a small bit of friction is needed to make this material light on fire. If directly lit with flame, it will flash bright and hot for a moment, and be expended into nothing. If polishing a weapon, it will light the edge with fire that is thought to help it maintain an edge.

Fae Switch

     These twigs, no bigger than a foot in length and the thickness of a thumb have a strange orange colored bark that looks like it is naturally etched into the wood. The hexagram pattern of the bark is extremely small, but forms a tight web around the wood. The wood is not wet or slimy, but is slippery when held. How the wood is created is still a mystery, as each end comes to a point, and no other knots can been seen in the wood.

     The wood, being it is naturally already worked into its final shape, is able to retain spell circles, 1 circle per inch of wood. It is a highly sought after wand material, as well as being a collector's item. Altering the wood will cause it to lose all of its magical property, and will diminish the value of the item. This wood will attract Fae in the area, as it is a prized delicacy, and is consumed by them for its healing properties. 

 Yellow Dragon's Foot

     An herb of a true legendary quality, it is said it can restore life to a recently deceased, it can heal all wounds, and will restore the vigor of its consumer. A root that is rumored to be found on mountains and the forests nearby them. Its bright yellow color root accompanied by red thorns that look like reptilian digits, can be found in clusters up to 3, but rarely do they get the opportunity to grow that long, as once they are dug up, they only have a limit of 3 months to be used before the magical healing property of the root no longer works.

     This root can keep a party member from death, it can also be divided into 6 portions, making up to 6 Potions of Greater Healing. Finding this root is truly lucky, as it is considered the most rare of roots to find.

     Yellow Dragon's Foot will glow with detect magic as the school of Divine Magic, and the Sphere of Healing. As long as it has the glow, it will heal with its full magical property. If the glow is gone, so is its wondrous healing.