Psylite - The OTHER side of crystals

[Talon Starblade]

OK, I posted this in the Dimension Books forum, but realized this might be more effective here.

Of all the things I find interesting about the Phaseworld books, Psylite (the psychically resonant form of Quartz crystal, is one of the most perplexing. Talked about in Dimension Book 2, page 127, they talk about its rarity and value as a resource and ISP storage even in its natural form, but other than its use in the Nuros’ tech, it’s not really defined at all.

This presents me with some questions for clarification:

What is the credit cost by carat value of Psylite?

What is the ISP storage capacity by carat? (for example: according to RUE Technowizard construction rules, p. 131, Emeralds can hold 10ppe/carat, and Diamonds 20ppe/carat)

Given the nature of quartz formation, can Psylite be synthesized with lots of psychic energies present, or can it only form naturally, possibly where large amounts of PPE are present?

Does Psylite grow in all dimensions in some form, only a few dimensions, or just in the Three Galaxies dimension? (This one’s likely up to the individual GM)

Now, the book (old that it is at this point) says that Psylite grows in one millionth of quartz deposits. This may seem like a little, but actually you’d be surprised. Quartz is one of the most common chemical elements in the universe, being comprised of Oxygen and Silicon atoms. It’s found everywhere, and on Earth, comprises approximately 20% of the Earth’s crust. So if you could literally strip-mine the planet, you’d be collecting a little over 3.6 billion cubic kilometers of Quartz, of which approximately 3600 cubic kilometers would be Psylite. The trick, unfortunately is finding it where it is.

So has anyone really come up with functional information? Has official rulings been laid down? Or is this just one more thing for GM’s to figure out? I’ve actually been meaning to start this thread for years, and don’t know if anyone’s done it before.

[Damian Magecraft]

OK, I posted this in the Dimension Books forum, but realized this might be more effective here.

Of all the things I find interesting about the Phaseworld books, Psylite (the psychically resonant form of Quartz crystal, is one of the most perplexing. Talked about in Dimension Book 2, page 127, they talk about its rarity and value as a resource and ISP storage even in its natural form, but other than its use in the Nuros’ tech, it’s not really defined at all.

This presents me with some questions for clarification:

What is the credit cost by carat value of Psylite?

What is the ISP storage capacity by carat? (for example: according to RUE Technowizard construction rules, p. 131, Emeralds can hold 10ppe/carat, and Diamonds 20ppe/carat)

Given the nature of quartz formation, can Psylite be synthesized with lots of psychic energies present, or can it only form naturally, possibly where large amounts of PPE are present?

Does Psylite grow in all dimensions in some form, only a few dimensions, or just in the Three Galaxies dimension? (This one’s likely up to the individual GM)

Now, the book (old that it is at this point) says that Psylite grows in one millionth of quartz deposits. This may seem like a little, but actually you’d be surprised. Quartz is one of the most common chemical elements in the universe, being comprised of Oxygen and Silicon atoms. It’s found everywhere, and on Earth, comprises approximately 20% of the Earth’s crust. So if you could literally strip-mine the planet, you’d be collecting a little over 3.6 billion cubic kilometers of Quartz, of which approximately 3600 cubic kilometers would be Psylite. The trick, unfortunately is finding it where it is.

So has anyone really come up with functional information? Has official rulings been laid down? Or is this just one more thing for GM’s to figure out? I’ve actually been meaning to start this thread for years, and don’t know if anyone’s done it before.

well we know from BTS1 that 1 PPE = 2 ISP. so at this point I would look at the PPE capacity of Quartz crystal as listed in RUE...

[Talon Starblade]

By RUE, there's a hole in that thought... Only Emeralds and Diamonds are listed as having the ability to store PPE (apparently raw).

It was a nice idea though. Don't let this stop you or anybody. Keep the ideas coming, please.

BTW, if you would, what page (BSN1=1st ED?). They're not books I regularly look at and would love to see the info.

[drewkitty ~..~]

well we know from BTS1 that 1 PPE = 2 ISP. so at this point I would look at the PPE capacity of Quartz crystal as listed in RUE...

It is known the 1 PPE ≈ 2 ISP from the text about powering TW items.

[Talon Starblade]

So no one's got additional ideas?

I'm half tempted to just equate psylite to diamonds for value and capacity, but to be honest, the evidence so far hasn't born that out. Just look at the cost of the magazines for Nuro Crystal weapons... 4000 creds for one, but the storage cpacity can range upwards to 100 to 160 ISP, depending on the weapon.

A raw Diamond costs 16,000 cred and can store 20ppe per carat.

Psylite is stated as being both rare and precious (apparently though still less valuable than Diamonds). The description of Psylite doesn't mention any ability ot actually store PPE, but even working with the idea of a 2:1 ratio of energy conversion, you're still looking at a 5 to 8 carat load of crystals per mag.

The only other thing I can think of is that the matrix design in the mag interior makes the crystals more efficient for storage. I don't know, what's all your takes on this?