Marithel — PF2e Materials, Formulas, Items, and Character Access

The material section establishes setting facts.

Pathfinder Second Edition mechanics belong to defined objects, actions, projects, hazards, and character options.

Marithel uses Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster.

Crafting standard

Ordinary Remaster Crafting is the default procedure.

A character must meet the requirements of the specific item being created or repaired. That can include:

• proficiency;
• tools and workshop;
• formula access where required;
• appropriate materials;
• item level;
• rarity access;
• time;
• cost;
• and a specific institutional, religious, regional, or legal permission.

Complex Crafting is not the default.

Story-Based Crafting may be used for a named campaign-scale project such as rebuilding a beacon-engine, restoring a historic lens, stabilizing a unique Sapphire Reef find, or reconstructing a damaged ward-light.

Relevant skills

Crafting covers manufacture, Repair, technical examination, material processing, fitting, and determining whether a component is suitable for a specific object.

Arcana can apply to arcane calibration, magical optics, spell-cut components, and some beacon systems.

Nature can apply to living coral, reef ecology, natural weather instruments, and primal material behavior.

Occultism can apply to resonance, memory, strange reflection, witness phenomena, and anomalous material behavior.

Religion can apply to blessed oils, sacred glass, grave material, temple custody, and recognized rite.

Society can apply to markets, certificates, institutions, contracts, provenance, and public access.

Relevant Lore skills include:

• Glassworking Lore;
• Lighthouse Lore;
• Engineering Lore;
• Salvage Lore;
• Diving Lore;
• Reef Lore;
• Mercantile Lore;
• Legal Lore;
• Heraldry Lore;
• Sailing Lore;
• Weather Lore;
• Art Lore;
• and regional Lore.

The best skill depends on the task.

Rarity and access

Common, uncommon, rare, and unique rarity remain mechanically meaningful.

• Common material or items can be obtained through ordinary setting access where supply exists.
• Uncommon options require a plausible source of regional, institutional, faction, professional, or character access.
• Rare options require explicit campaign approval and a specific explanation.
• Unique materials and objects are not normal inventory.

A Maritheli connection can satisfy access only when it matches the material.

Training at Lanternhold may justify some oil, rescue, signal, or weather access. It does not grant every Lenswright secret. Reefcourt permission may justify a specific Bellcoral project. It does not grant a general right to harvest the Drowned Reefs.

Materials and mechanics

This page establishes setting access, custody, source, and procedure.

It does not give every Saltglass lens, coral fragment, bell, oil, shell, or powder a universal mechanical effect.

A mechanical benefit must belong to:

• a specific official item;
• an adapted official item;
• a campaign-defined item with level, price, traits, rarity, activation, and effect;
• a formula;
• a ritual;
• a spell;
• a hazard;
• a relic gift;
• an archetype or feat;
• or a named Story-Based Crafting project.

Salvage

The rare Deconstruct downtime activity applies only to eligible items and does not replace salvage law.

Before a character deconstructs an eligible recovered item, the group must still know whether the character has lawful custody and whether the object is evidence, sacred material, grave property, protected ecology, or another person’s claim.

Material hazards

A material hazard should define:

• level;
• traits;
• detection;
• onset or trigger;
• defenses or countermeasures;
• effect;
• duration;
• reset or persistence;
• and consequence of failed handling.

Examples include unstable ward-light oil, cracked witness glass, contaminated powder, uncontrolled living coral, false beacon components, and planar material that reacts to mirrors or water.

No hazard is created merely by calling an object rare.

Character Connections

A character may have learned these materials through work rather than formal magical study.

Possible backgrounds include:

• Whiteglass lens apprentice;
• Pearlglass shell cutter;
• lighthouse glasshand;
• Beacon House oilhand;
• Lanternhold Oil and Glass student;
• Rainwise instrument keeper;
• witness-burn clerk;
• salvage witness assistant;
• Bell-Diver trainee;
• reef ancestor claim aide;
• Powderwright runner;
• Wreckscale component appraiser;
• shipboard artificer;
• storm-tower repairer;
• or courier assigned to sealed optical cargo.

A good character connection answers:

• Who taught you?
• What material can you identify?
• What process are you permitted to perform?
• What record or mark do you recognize?
• What work are you forbidden to copy?
• Who would challenge your authority?
• What failure have you witnessed?
• What material do you owe someone?
• What did you handle that should never have reached the market?

Material Disputes in Play

Unique materials produce conflicts because several claims can all be reasonable.

• A lighthouse needs a Saltglass plate before storm season, but the only available one is evidence in a wreck inquiry.
• Highwatch requests blessed oil while a refugee harbor needs the same base supply for ordinary lamps.
• A Pearlglass certificate declares coral lawful, while Sulara Bellcoral identifies it as grave growth.
• A bell recovered from the Ninefold Wreck Field carries a registration that would reopen an inheritance case.
• A witness burn proves a ship passed the tower but not who controlled it.
• A Powderwright batch is seized as military supply while a rescue crew needs its signal charges.
• A Sapphire Reef shell could complete a rare formula, but no claimant can prove how it was acquired.
• A repaired beacon lens works in clear weather and distorts only when the storm turns green.
• A deconstructable magic item belongs to a family who considers it a memorial rather than raw material.
• A ward-light component is genuine, functional, and illegal for the buyer to possess.

The most useful material question is rarely:

How much is it worth?

It is:

What has to be true before anyone should use it?

Item Development Standard

A complete Maritheli item entry requires:

• name;
• level;
• price;
• traits;
• rarity;
• usage;
• bulk;
• activation;
• effect;
• frequency;
• duration;
• Craft requirements;
• formula source;
• access;
• and any legal, sacred, ecological, or operational limit that matters in play.

A narrative material is not a finished item.

Material-Based Item Families

The following item families are appropriate for separate audited development.

Item family	Setting source	Likely access
Saltglass signal lens	Whiteglass, Pearlglass, Beacon Houses	uncommon regional or institutional
Saltglass storm prism	Shard craft, Rainwise, lighthouse work	uncommon specialist
witness slate	registered beacon or court system	uncommon institutional
witness-burn plate	Beacon House and archive custody	rare or restricted
Highwatch blessed beacon oil	Highwatch, Marcolini, accepted religious practice	uncommon or rare sacred
reef-reveal plate	lighthouse and reef route work	uncommon institutional
sky-sign screen	recognized beacon-engine	rare operational
Thalara stormglass	Temple of Thalara and recognized craft	uncommon or rare sacred
Bellcoral memorial token	Reefcourt or community gift	rare story access
drowned-bell resonance shard	lawful recovery and witness custody	rare
Sapphire Reef gem-crab component	expedition, court, or patron	rare story access
Dreaming Grove blossom preparation	caretaker and healing purpose	rare story access
Powderwright signal charge	Corsair Powderwright or authorized ship service	uncommon
powderproof shipboard case	Powderwright, military, convoy, shipyard	uncommon specialist
pressure-safe sample vessel	Sirenward or deepwater specialist	rare restricted
reef-safe repair compound	reef builder or canton-approved worker	uncommon regional
emergency hull sealant	shipyard, rescue, or naval supplier	common or uncommon by effect
Southwatch long-burn wick	Southpoint lighthouse supply	uncommon regional
Lanternhold weather kit	Lanternhold school or satellite	uncommon institutional

The exact mechanics are not assigned here.

Skill Guidance

Crafting

Use Crafting for:

• Craft;
• Repair;
• technical material examination;
• fitting;
• processing;
• batch evaluation;
• identifying workmanship;
• and determining whether a component is suitable for a defined item.

Crafting does not automatically establish lawful source.

Arcana

Use Arcana for:

• arcane calibration;
• magical optics;
• spell-cut components;
• planar glass;
• and arcane beacon systems.

Nature

Use Nature for:

• living coral;
• reef ecology;
• natural weather response;
• marine materials;
• and primal behavior.

Occultism

Use Occultism for:

• resonance;
• witness phenomena;
• memory traces;
• anomalous reflection;
• dream-linked material;
• and strange deepwater responses.

Religion

Use Religion for:

• blessed oils;
• sacred glass;
• Dreaming Grove custody;
• temple stormglass;
• relic material;
• funeral material;
• and recognized rite.

Society

Use Society for:

• certificates;
• markets;
• institutions;
• custody;
• recognized trade;
• public records;
• and settlement access.

Lore

Useful Lore skills include:

• Glassworking Lore;
• Lighthouse Lore;
• Engineering Lore;
• Salvage Lore;
• Diving Lore;
• Reef Lore;
• Mercantile Lore;
• Legal Lore;
• Weather Lore;
• Sailing Lore;
• Art Lore;
• Heraldry Lore;
• Temple Lore;
• Sirenward Lore;
• and regional Lore.

Deconstruct

Deconstruct applies only to an eligible item under its PF2e requirements.

It does not override:

• evidence hold;
• ownership;
• sacred custody;
• grave law;
• reef restriction;
• quarantine;
• military requisition;
• or archive duty.

A character may be mechanically capable of deconstructing an item and legally forbidden to do so.

Story-Based Crafting

Story-Based Crafting is appropriate for named campaign projects such as:

• rebuilding a beacon-engine;
• restoring a historic Saltglass lens;
• stabilizing a unique Sapphire Reef find;
• making a lawful Bellcoral memorial;
• preparing a Dreaming Grove blossom for a specific healing;
• reconstructing a drowned witness system;
• building a pressure-safe sample case;
• or replacing a ward-light component during a regional crisis.

A project defines:

• goal;
• participating NPCs and institutions;
• source material;
• formula or design;
• workshop;
• phases;
• checks;
• failure;
• time;
• cost;
• and consequences.

Material Hazards

A material hazard defines:

• level;
• traits;
• detection;
• trigger;
• defenses;
• effect;
• duration;
• persistence or reset;
• and failed-handling consequence.

Appropriate hazards include:

• cracked witness glass;
• unstable ward oil;
• false beacon plate;
• contaminated powder;
• uncontrolled living coral;
• pressure-reactive sample;
• cursed kraken ink;
• and planar glass that reacts to mirror or water.

Character Backgrounds and Connections

A character may be:

• Whiteglass lens apprentice;
• Pearlglass shell cutter;
• lighthouse glasshand;
• Beacon House oilhand;
• Lanternhold Oil and Glass student;
• Rainwise instrument keeper;
• witness-burn clerk;
• Bell-Diver trainee;
• reef ancestor claim aide;
• Powderwright runner;
• Wreckscale appraiser;
• shipboard artificer;
• storm-tower repairer;
• quarantine packer;
• Dreaming Grove courier;
• Sirenward archive assistant;
• registry-ink maker;
• or long-voyage provisioner.

A useful connection answers:

• who trained the character;
• what they can identify;
• what they may legally perform;
• what formula or mark they recognize;
• who challenges their standing;
• what failure they witnessed;
• and what material obligation follows them.

Access Examples

• A Whiteglass origin can justify access to some Saltglass options, not every Beacon House secret.
• Lanternhold training can justify oil, rescue, weather, and signal equipment connected to that school.
• Reefcourt permission can justify one Bellcoral project without granting general harvest rights.
• Tidebound service can justify a Powderwright option tied to the character’s actual training.
• Sirenward employment can justify restricted equipment while imposing possession and reporting duties.
• Temple service can justify Thalara stormglass or sacred oil when the character’s role matches the use.
• A rare item still requires GM approval even when the setting connection is excellent.