This month I’m hosting the RPG Blog Carnival. Each month, a TTRPG blogger hosts the carnival, picks a topic, and collects writings from other bloggers about the topic. It’s a chance for bloggers to connect and build dialogue each month around a central theme.
Magic Rocks
This month, I want to talk about magic rocks — stones, crystals, weird metals. Fantasy and science fiction is full of them — the fabled Elfstones of Shannara and the Silmarils of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the Orb of Aldur from David Edding’s Belgariad cycle, any number of interpretations of the Philosopher’s Stone from historical alchemy. In some versions of Arthurian legend, the Holy Grail is a magic gemstone.
In science fiction, they appear as the lightsaber-powering Kyber Crystals of Star Wars, or the warp-drive enabling dilithium of Star Trek.
They show up videogames: in the Final Fantasy video game series as magicite or materia that teaches the use of magic; in Borderlands as eridium, a powerful fuel source; as elemental gems and magic runestones in the Diablo games.
In superhero comics, magic stones show up as Superman’s weakness, kryptonite or the super metals adamantium and vibranium from Marvel comics.
Even Disney has the Heart of Te Fiti.
In Dungeons and Dragon‘s Forgotten Realms setting, there’s an entire subset of magic related to unlocking the powers of real-world gemstones like tiger’s eye, hematite, and onyx. Even if you toss that out, diamonds are an iconic spell component for the coveted resurrection spells that adventurers with death-wishes often find themselves in need of.
As you think about your posts for this month’s carnival, here are some prompts:
- What unique mechanics or properties can be incorporated into your TTRPG of choice using harvestable gems?
- What is the lore behind a unique or magical relic or artifact that takes the form of a stone or crystal in your world?
- What conflicts arise from the mining or creation of unique materials, such as factions or nations vying for resources?
- How does the discovery of a new material with powerful properties disrupt the status quo?
How to participate in the September RPG Blog Carnival:
To participate, just write a blog post about the topic: magic rocks. You can interpret that however you like, using the examples above as inspiration.
- Your blog post can be any length.
- Don’t have a blog? Write a post on your Ko-fi, Patreon, or other platform.
- Finish your post by September 30th, 2025.
- Send me a link to it: you can reach me on Bluesky, Discord, or send me an email at wobblerocketgames [at] gmail [dot] com.
I’ll publish a round-up post at the end of the month linking to every entry.
Check out some community Kickstarters
While you’re here, check out some of the Kickstarters launching this month from the Wobblerocket community:
- Stonehome Games has launched their Kickstarter for Kindred, a comic set in their D&D campaign setting of Dromaria. With beautiful artwork from Kati Drinkwine, you won’t want to miss this. Check out the Kickstarter here.
- Horror TTRPG Number Station from LU2D Games should be launching any day now. This game uses a custom app called The Radio as a soundboard and gameplay element. Check it out here.
- The Welsh DM is launching a Kickstarter soon for Wondrous Environments, a collection of locations for Daggerheart. Here’s the prelaunch page.
- Mörk Billy is an upcoming game from Mosey and DM Dave L. This game reimagines Mork Borg with hillbillies and rednecks for twisted hilarious fun. Launching soon.
- Viktor “Navypink” Sych is launching a Kickstarter in October for The Crown of Jarajakti, a naval horror adventure for D&D 5e. Check it out.