The Materia system in Final Fantasy VII was one of the best aspects of the game, as it reworked the abilities and spells from the previous entries into a format that all🧸owed for new levels of customization. Materia has since appeared in different forms throughout the series, and it can be used as a series of magic items in .
Materia allows a character to use class abilities that they normally wouldn't have access to. As such, they should be given out sparingly by the DM. We intend to fully flesh out the Materia list from Final Fantasy VII in future articles, and 💯this one will e🐼xplain the basics of using Materia and giving stats for a few basic ones to use in a campaign.
What Is Materia?
In the lore of Final Fantasy VII, Materia is a crystallized form of Mako that is said to contain the memories and powers of those who have returned to the Lifestream. Those who learn how to use Materia will⛎ be able to use their power to cast spells.
In mechanical terms, Materia was the substitute for the job system from earlier Final Fantasy titles. In Final Fantasy VII, the🍎 player could customize their characters by assig⛄ning and linking Materia to them, offering tons of potential builds.
How Does It Work In Dungeons & Dragons?
In Final Fantasy VII, Materia is intended to be used by all party members and they each have an MP meter to accommodate the casting of spells. Dungeons & Dragons isn't like that, as some classes have spell slots, and others don't. The Materia we have created will have different costs of us🐽e, depending on the class of the user.
In order to function, a character needs to attune to Materia🎉 and it requires special equipment ♛in order to work. Any suit of armor or large accessory (like gloves) should be big enough to house multiple Materia, though it will cost the players extra to have them made (or for existing armor to be altered to accommodate them). Linked slots are more costly to develop and they can only combine the effects of two Materia. The fact that a player can only attune to three items at a time (except under special circumstances) means that there shouldn't be too many opportunities for abuse.
The powers granted by each Materia are dependent on the level of the attuned user. Each power offered by the Materia can only be used once per day, with spent uses returning at d𒊎awn. The exception to this Summon Materia, as each character can only cast one summon per week. Each power offered by a Materia has an equivalent spell level mentioned in its description. In order to use this ability, a spellcaster must burn an existing spell slot of the same level. Any check that requires a stat (such as a spell save) will use the stat mentioned in the Materia's description. (player's choice if there are multiple available). The wielder uses their Proficiency bonus on any check that requires it.
A user without spell levels must sacrifice hit points equal to 1/2 of their maximum possible hit dice they had at the spell level (not taking modifiers into account). Spellcasters can also choose to burn hit points instead of using a spell slot, though this will be riskier for them. Multiclass characters use different numbers for each of their hit dice. Cantrips cost nothing to cast, but 🍸they can still only be used once per day. A wielder can use a higher-level spell slot to use the Materia, but the spell itself will only be cast as the level mentioned in its description. The user cannot spend hit points to activate a Materia effect if doing so will drop them to zero hit points (or below) unless stated otherwise in the Materia's description. We'll use a Fire Materia to demonstrate the rules in action.
Fire Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Ability Check - CHA or INT.
Character Level 1/Spell Level 1 - burning hands.
Character Level 5/Spell Level 3 - fireball.
Character Level 13/Spell Level 7 - firestorm.
If a level five cleric attunes to the Fire Materia, then they can cast burning hands and fireball once per day. In order to cast these, they must burn a cleric spell slot of the same level, or spend hit points. The hit dice for the cleric class is 1d🎃8 and half of ൲eight is 4, so the cleric needs to spend 4 hit points x spell level to use a Materia spell.
If a level six barbarian attunes to the Fire Materia, then they can cast burning hands once per day at the cost of 6 hit points (half of 1d12 = 6), and fireball at the cost of 30 hit points. Materia use is intended to be costly for non-spellcasters, as it offers them powerful abilities from other classes that they normally wouldn't have access to, so there should be a risk involved. Once the barbarian reaches level 13, they will gain the ability to cast firestorm once per day at the cost of 78 hit points.
The Different Types Of Materia
In Final Fantasy VII, there are five types of Materia. Here is how they work in Dungeons & Dragons.
Magic - These allow the player to cast spells at the cost of existing🐟 spell slots or hit points.
Command - These alter𝕴 the properties of actions already 🧜possessed by players (such as Attack).
Support - These connect the properties of different types of Materia to actions, items, or circu💎mstances.
Independent - These o💎ffer passive buffs and enhance existing actions.
Summon - These let the player temporarily summon a creature from the Monster Manual, usually with a unique move.
There will be future articles that detail the properties of all of the Materia in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake, but we'll stat ܫout a handful of them now demonstrate how they will all work.
Magic Materia
Ice Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Ability Check - CHA or INT.
Character Level 1/Spell Level 1 - ray of frost
Character Level 7/Spell Level 4 - ice storm.
Character Level 9/Spell Level 5 - cone of cold.
Lightning Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Ability Check - CHA or INT.
Character Level 1/Spell Level 1 - thunderwave.
Character Level 9/Spell Level 5 - lightning bolt.
Character Level 11/Spell Level 6 - chain lightning.
Restore Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Ability Check - CHA or WIS.
Character Level 1/Spell Level 1 - cure wounds.
Character Level 9/Spell Level 5 - mass cure wounds.
Character Level 11/Spell Level 6 - heal.
Command Materia
Double Spell Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, the character can change the casting time of a spell to 1 bonus action.
Double Item Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, the character can perform the Use Object action as a bonus action.
Sense
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, as an action, the character can concentrate on one enemy that they can see. The player can learn either one resistance or one immunity possessed by the enemy.
Support Materia
Counter Magic Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, the character can use their reaction to cast an unused spell from a Materia that is linked to Counter Magic Materia against an enemy that has attacked them this turn. The character still needs to expend a spell slot/spend HP to use the Materia and the spell cannot be used again if already cast that day.
Final Attack Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, the character can cast an unused spell from a Materia that is linked to Final Attack Materia once they drop to zero hit points or below. The spell can either target the enemy that caused them to lost hit points, or the spell can target the character. If the spell has a hit point cost, then the player can fail a death save to cast the spell.
Sneak Attack
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, if the character is surprised by the enemy, they can roll initiative and take a single action on their turn (but they cannot move or perform a bonus action).
Independent Materia
Counter Attack Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, the character can use their reaction to perform a single melee attack action against an enemy that has hit them.
Cover Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, the character can use their reaction to take an attack aimed at an ally within 5 feet.
Powerful Spell Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Once per day, the character can roll an additional damage dice when striking an enemy with a spell (such as empowering Melf's acid arrow so that it deals 5d4 instead of 4d4 damage). This bonus does not apply to additional damage dealt after the spell first hits (like the acid damage caused by Melf's acid arrow on the next turn).
Summon Materia
A character can only use one Summon Materia per week in total. This means that if they summon Titan, then they cannot use any other Summon Materia for another seven days. Once a monster has been summoned using Summon Materia, no other monster can be summoned using a different Summon Materia within 200 feet until the first monster 🀅has vanished. These are meant to be incredibly powerful spells and are best saved for tough battles.
Titan Materia
Wondrous item, legendary rarity (requires attunement).
Character Level 9/Spell Level 5
Level 9 - Once per week, the user can cast a specialized version of conjure elemental. The spell only has a casting time of one action and it doesn't require concentration to maintain. The summoned monster only stays on the field for four rounds before vanishing. The summoned monster vanishes if it drops to 0 hit points.
This Materia summons a single earth elemental called Titan, which uses the stats for the Earth Elemental from the Monster Manual. Titan has the ability to use a special attack, listed below.
Anger of the Land - Titan attacks all creatures within a 20 feet radius (centered on Titan) by causing a localized earthquake. Melee Weapon Attack +8 to hit, Hit 14 (2d8+5) bludgeoning damage. Titan vanishes immediately after using Anger of the Land. This attack doesn't enemies that are floating more than 5 feet off the ground.