Knowstones: Which gems for which schools of magic?

[Erik the Green]

Just a little fluff question here for the Playground, if anyone is interested.
Obviously, Knowstones need to be made out of the right kind of gemstone for any particular school, but what for which?
So far, I've got a partial list of ideas:
Abjuration - Amethyst, for it's long standing mystical association with protection.
Conjuration - ?
Divination - Catseye, or Chrysoberyl, for it's obvious powers of Similarity
Enchantment - Emerald, because green = Fey and Fey = enchantment. Also, watch the beginning of Topkapi, and you'll see what I mean.
Evocation - Fire Opal?
Illusion - ?
Necromancy - Onyx &/or Black Sapphire, maybe depending on what level the spell is?
Transmutation - Tourmaline, more specifically the so-called watermelon Tourmaline. Look it up, it's pretty cool to see a good specimen, as it blends from green to red (even purple) in the same crystal. Some really rare examples have even more colors than that in the mix.

[Thurbane]

Pages 26-27 of the 1E DMG had a table of "Reputed Magical Properties of Gems" that might provide some inspiration.


Agate: Restful and safe sleep
Alexandrite: Good omens
Amber: Wards off diseases
Amethyst: Prevents drunkenness or drugging
Beryl: Wards off foes
Bloodstone: Weather control
Carbuncle: Powers of dragon’s sight
Carnelian: Protection from evil
Cats’ eye agate: Protection from spirits
Chalcedony: Wards off undead
Chrysoberyl: Protection from possession
Chrysolite: Wards off spells
Chrysoprase: Invisibility
Coral: Calms weather, safety in river crossing, cures madness, staunches bleeding
Diamond: Invulnerability vs. undead
Hematite: Aids fighters, heals wounds
Jacinth: Luck travelling, wards off plague, protection from fire
Jade: Skill at music and musical instruments
Jasper: Protection from venom
Jet: Soul object material
Lapis lazuli: Raises morale, courage
Malachite: Protection from falling, wards off spells, evil spirits, and poisons
Moonstone: Causes lycanthropy
Olivine: Protection from spells
Onyx: Causes discord amongst enemies
Peridot: Wards off enchantments
Ruby: Gives good luck
Sapphire: Aids understanding of problems, kills spiders, boosts magical abilities
Sapphire, star: Protection from magic
Sard: Benefits wisdom
Serpentine: Adds to wile and cunning
Sunstone: Wards off spells, evil spirits, and poisons
Topaz: Wards off evil spells
Turquoise: Aids horses in all ways

Black: The earth, darkness, and negation
Blue: The heavens, truth, and spirituality
Clear: The sun - luck
Green: Reproduction, sight and resurrection
Red: Hemorrhaging control, heat
White: The moon - enigmatic
Yellow: Secrecy, homeopathy and jaundice

[Erik the Green]

Thanks, Thurbane. That's pretty cool. I'm going to have to see if I can dig out my copy from storage, if I can remember what box it is in. Looking at that list I can see that maybe I need to consider some changes and subdivisions, like Sunstone for Abjuration, Amethyst for Conjuration (Healing), Diamond for Conjuration (Summoning), and etc.

[Kurald Galain]

Pages 26-27 of the 1E DMG had a table of "Reputed Magical Properties of Gems" that might provide some inspiration.

I wonder if they made that up or if it matches traditional real-world gem lore?

[Vaern]

I wonder if they made that up or if it matches traditional real-world gem lore?

I'm guessing it's based on real world gem lore. I recall looking up amethyst some time ago and it was supposedly actually believed to protect against drunkenness and alcohol poisoning, to the point that goblets would have amethysts set in them.

As for the game, I'd go diamonds for conjuration if for no other reason than all healing spells are conjuration and the resurrection spell line uses large amounts of diamonds. And for evocation, it's a lot more than fire so I might consider a different gem for the school itself and perhaps individual stones for spells of specific energy descriptors.

[Aotrs Commander]

I had a go at someting simial,r coming up with reagents for item creation. The stuff for relevant schools (I also did it for elements, disciplines and martial schools) is thusly; maybe in concert with Thurbane's list, it might give you some more ideas?

(As I recall, I did pull some of the ideas from looking up stuff on gemstones.)

Abjuration:
Rowan (Faint), Oak (Faint), Jet (Strong),
Conjuration (Calling or Summoning):
Outsider creature parts of matching type or subtype (By HD)
Conjuration (Creation):
???
Conjuration (Healing):
Powdered Unicorn Horn (By HD), Alamandine (Faint), Hematite (Moderate), Amber (Moderate), Amethyst (Strong), Diamond (Strong)
Conjuration (Teleportation):
Amber dust (Moderate), Amber (Strong)
Divination:
Pearl (Faint), Yew (Faint), Diamond dust (Moderate), Pink Sappahire dust (Moderate), Diamond (Strong), Pink Sappahire (Strong)
Enchantment:
Nymph Heart (By HD), Morganite dust (Moderate), Morganite (Strong), Padmaraga dust (Strong), Padmaraga (Overwhelming)
Evocation:
Corundum dust (Moderate), Corundum (Strong)
Illusion: (Glamour):
Maxixe dust (Faint), Maxixe (Moderate), Opal (Strong)
Necromancy:
Schorl (Faint), Jet (Moderate), Onyx (Strong), Ivory (Strong), Opal (Strong), intelligent Undead creature parts (By HD),
Transmutation:
Jade (Faint), Diamond dust (Moderate), Maxixe dust (Moderate), Alexandrite (Strong), Diamond (Strong), Maxixe (Strong)

Universal:
Any gemstones or gemstone dust (Weak), Diamond Dust (Faint), Diamond (Moderate), Dragon creature parts (By HD, but reduce strength by one step, i.e. Moderate to Faint), Pure Mana (see below)

[Erik the Green]

Thanks, Aotrs. Those sound like some cool suggestions, many of which I am going to have to look up-E

[Telonius]

For Transmutation, I'd go with Spessartine. It's found with metamorphic rocks (so it has the "change" theme going).

[Malphegor]

Dunno if this has any bearing on things but the following gems have been converted into ioun stones historically in afaik AD&D and some 5e stuff lately: "Amethyst, Chrysoberyl, Chrysoprase, Greenstone (chlorastrolite), Hematite, Iol (iolite, cordierite), Laeral's Tears (rare fancy stone, possibly Toril-only), Obsidian, Onyx, Sardonyx (AD&D2, Volo's Guide to All Things Magical)."

source- 1d4chan, not sure if accurate.

if you can find out which gem was used to make what ioun stone you can maybe guesstimate features related to that stone's appearence that make it suit a school of magic?

[Erik the Green]

For Transmutation, I'd go with Spessartine. It's found with metamorphic rocks (so it has the "change" theme going).

That looks like a very nice rock, and it kind of has the red hot heat of change thing going on. Thank you-E

[Erik the Green]

Dunno if this has any bearing on things but the following gems have been converted into ioun stones historically in afaik AD&D and some 5e stuff lately: "Amethyst, Chrysoberyl, Chrysoprase, Greenstone (chlorastrolite), Hematite, Iol (iolite, cordierite), Laeral's Tears (rare fancy stone, possibly Toril-only), Obsidian, Onyx, Sardonyx (AD&D2, Volo's Guide to All Things Magical)."

source- 1d4chan, not sure if accurate.

if you can find out which gem was used to make what ioun stone you can maybe guesstimate features related to that stone's appearence that make it suit a school of magic?

Malphegor, I hadn't thought of looking at 5th edition sources, but they are bringing some good fluff at least. Thanks, E