On the Properties of Materials

[GundamPharmacist]

Hi everyone, first non-intro post here. I'm currently RPing a seasoned crafter/gatherer who tends to specialize in refining the raw materials from out in the world (ore, plants, sands, skins, etc.) into crafting materials (leather, lumber, ingots/nuggets, thread and cloth among others) to sell to others. An RP session got me wondering if there's more lore information on the materials we find in the world. A lot of the ARR crafting and gathering quests tell us quite a bit about some of their properties, like silver being especially conductive to aether, or velveteen being a wonderful balance between comfort and durability if I recall correctly.

 

But... we don't have - or at least I haven't found information on other minerals, like gold or molybdenum or Hingan flax or other materials like that. Some I can extrapolate from other franchises or general fantasy conventions, such as mythril being remarkably light for its strength or adamantium being nigh indestructible, and others I can surmise through basic metallurgy (hardsilver ingots requiring multiple, non-hardsilver materials to make suggesting it being an alloy), but others I'm completely lost on. Any idea what some materials do in the setting, or why some are better than others (other than game mechanics)? Any ideas on how to work around things you don't know entirely? Thanks!

[Unnamed Mercenary]

You may be interested in Botanica Eorzea, a compilation of all the plants in game. (source: Tinolqa on tumblr).

 

Some of these are touched on in the Miner quests as well, albeit from a miner who is calling out the character for not knowing the difference in what things do, even if the player character is extremely good at gathering it. Soft metals in general (gold, silver, etc) are all seen as being very aether-conductive materials. As are bones and gemstones. It's also a well known fact that Garlean armor and things like cermet are purposely -not- aether conductive leading to better armor for a people who cannot [generally outside of very rare individuals] manipulate aether.

 

Otherwise, most people tend to base their RP by assuming the in-game items have similar properties to their real-world counterparts, within reason given the technical skills of the people within the setting. (IE: Silicon-based transistors to make a computer would probably be a stretch when Eorzea still doesn't have electricity or combustable engines or telephones, etc). Part of what makes this setting interesting is that there are a lot of blended up technologies from various points in time, combined with the magic system. We can have a clockwork doll that appears to handle its functions and possibly even think (GSM quests) but there are still fire-lit lamp posts and a lack of running water in other areas.