Echoes & Notes

We are living through a modern-day rennaissance of magic. We are watching the lost arts and techniques of long forgotten societies emerge from the annals of history and entwine themselves with the great people of today, both hero and villain alike. It matters not your moral compass; it only matters you have the Spark.
There's no questioning that magic is alive. It changes, it grows, it evolves, and while it may not always be present in ways we can observe, it's there. Alive, and wishing to be free. To be part of the story. Perhaps that's why this magic is coming back now, taking the shape of Echoes and Notes. Items capable of becoming just as powerful as the legends of yore, even the mythical artifacts that once inspired entire empires to war. Is this a good thing? Is it a bad thing? I don't know, but I fear as they continue to spread we'll finally gain some insight into what happened the last time magic became so potently widespread.
-Aumani Field Log, Unknown Author

In the worlds of the Chromanexus, magic is drawn from the stories and experiences our characters experience and share. As much as this is a metaphor for us in our world, it's also an indisputable truth in the realms our characters live in: every story has a little magic in it, and that magic is capable of doing great things. The more stories we tell, the more magic we make until we have something that is wholly and truly our own. Just like our stories, Echoes and Notes live and grow alongside us, reflections of the memories our characters make with one another through quests, events, and community rewards.
In layman terms, Echoes and Notes are "custom" magic items, at least in the sense that you won't find the finished products in any D&D handbook. To create one of these items, you typically need a craftsman or a ruby tear, something personal (whether that be a trinket, equipment, a magical item, etc), and a story to give it. The key difference between Echoes and Notes is that all Echoes require attunement, and Notes do not.

Quick Steps

1. Choose an item you wish to customize (any item will do, as long as it's an item, including but not limited to other magic items).
2. Find a master craftsman or obtain a Ruby Tear.
3. Let the craftsman do their job (spend 10x Chromatite of matching rarity per attempt). Alternatively, use a Ruby Tear to automatically succeed the crafting process, whether you're a craftsman or not.
   1. If you're making a Note, choose properties from the given lists or request customizations from blame-a-gan. Once the Note is made, you're done. (Crafting a Note)
   2. If you're making an Echo, you may continue to tune your Echo with Chromatite and magic items you've collected. (Crafting an Echo)
4. If you haven't already, make a post in the Chamber of Echoes (located under Grimoire), referring to post guidelines for submission formatting.
5. Max your Echo's frequency and use Pure Chromatite to add artifact properties (up to 3 minor and 2 major).
6. ???
7. Profit.

Preparation

As previously noted, you need to gather a few things before you can make an Echo or a Note.

Something Personal

In addition to the previous references, you need something personal. This can take the form of any item: a trinket or mundane memento, a weapon, a magic item, even Vehicle Stations count (but not the vehicle itself) as individual items that may be modified to function as an Echo or a Note. The only exception to this rule is that you cannot pick an existing Echo to start with, nor can you choose a Hoard Item, a Stellar Armament, or a Completely Restricted Item.
Like many legendary items and the artifacts of yore, the idea is that your item - whatever it may be - will become a part of your character's story and consequently, gain its own story. It will be a part of who your character was, is, and will be, and will have its own legacy long after your character is gone (if ever). The item itself may even preserve your character's name for generations to come - take the Eye and Hand of Vecna, for example, each being artifacts belonging to the infamous lich Vecna who may or may not exist within a given setting. The point is less that Vecna exists; the point is more that the items persist even in the character's absence, have a story that defines what they are and shapes their abilities, and have become proper legends as a result.

A Craftsman or a Ruby Tear

To forge an Echo or a Note, one needs one of two things to begin: a craftsman, or a Ruby Tear. Your choice essentially effects your Echo or Note's personality and basic properties, before you've given it any other magical effects.
A craftsman is any player character who owns a shop in the Bazaar channel. You'll want a craftsman whose skills align with whatever it is you're trying to make (a jeweler for an amulet, a blacksmith for a sword, etc). Use your best discretion, and don't hesitate to ask in blame-a-gan if you're not sure. The craftsman uses Chromatite to forge the item, binding it with the power and potential to become something unique.
A ruby tear can simplify the process, negating the immediate need for a craftsman in the making of the item. In addition to this convenient boon, using a ruby tear in the crafting process adds unique traits to the resulting item that would otherwise only be obtained through the assistance of a Master Craftsman: Resonance properties, and the ability to function as a spellcasting focus while held. Notes always require a craftsman to be made, whether you provide a ruby tear or not.

A Story to Give It

You've gone so far as to gather the materials to create something of greatness, you may as well give it it's own story to tell. There's no hard and fast rule for this, and you can ultimately do as you please with your items, but always recommend putting together some flavor text telling the rest of the world about the origins of your item and how it was intended to be used. In the worlds of the Chromanexus, the Orb of Dragonkind was created as a crystallization of the dragonsong, the hymn that all dragons hear and sing to help shape the primordial elements of the material realms. What about your item? What do you want it to be? It doesn't have to be some legendary purpose; it can even be as simple as "I wanted a personal memento of this experience I shared with my friends that could help me on my adventures". It's up to you.

The Actual Instructions

You've got whatever you want to turn into an Echo. You've got yourself a ruby tear, however you managed to get one, or you've found yourself a master craftsman to make the item for you.
Begin by going over to The Chamber of Echoes (located under Grimoire) and creating a new post for your item. Give it a name, give it a little description and a backstory. For proper formatting, you'll need to refer to the post guidelines in the channel (tap the little book icon next to the post button). Once you've got the post in place, you can use this to keep track of your item's notes, abilities, and log its improvements or even if/when it changes hands to another player or character.
After this, see either Crafting an Echo or Crafting a Note for the nitty gritty steps, including if and when to add your Resonance properties.
Wow. Would you look at that. You're already done! Now take your shit and have fun!

Staff Note: D&D has hundreds of items available to players. Most items are novel, but what really makes them stand out in our memory is usually not the item itself, but how the character came to possess that item and how they end up using it to save the day or contribute to the greater story we're all sharing together. This sentiment created the Echoes & Notes system as we know it.
In a place like the Chromanexus, it's not only acceptable for a player to get their hands on several magic items through loot and crafting that they probably wouldn't at another table, but both expected and inevitable. The earliest versions of the system emerged because players were more and more frequently finding themselves forced to choose between either abandoning cool loot in favor of an item that was personal or had the "flavor" that character desired, or choosing an item that had new, cool, or neat features and abandoning something sentimental. Echoes made it possible to let players to not only pick both, but take those new, cool, or neat features and combine them with a personal item and in turn make something that was greater than either item alone would have been. We've been through a few iterations since, but this sentiment has remained a core thread of the system since its inception.
We say all this to highlight that neither Echoes nor Notes were designed with the intent to let players "min-max" (a type of power gaming where you intentionally pursue strong features with drawbacks you don't expect to use, if any, to make a character that's stronger than anything the game can reasonably expect). Some degree of min-maxing is expected (whether intentional or not), especially as that's fun for some people, but it's important not to let your super crunchy hyper-specific item overshadow or wash out everyone else's contributions to the game. We trust you guys to play nicely together, whether staff is immediately involved in your RP or not.