Prima Materia

Basic Information

An alchemical term for the formless basic substance from which all matter comes. Essentially a synonym for Iliaster.

Game and Story Use

• In a fantasy setting, manipulation of prima materia would be an interesting form of magic, and could be very powerful. Possible effects could involve dissolving things or creatures into prima materia, creating objects from the primal substance, transmuting one substance into another (by dissolving it and re-forming it from the prima materia), etc.
• In a more modern setting, prima materia could be tied to the fundamental particles of matter like quarks.
  • An alien (or alternate-history or other-dimensional or whatever) culture could be doing quite advanced particle-physics stuff, but using a terminology and mental/intellectual framework that sounded 'magical'.