Stones and Crystals
This guide is to help you in designing your esk's stone and mineral nature features, with tips and examples on how to keep them distinct from crystals. Crystals are reserved as Transformation Rewards, and in order to help keep these as special gifts, mineral and stone nature features must appear as visually distinct from them as possible.
What qualifies as a crystal for TWWM purposes often has more to do with appearance than geological classification; minerals and stones that are highly polished, in typical crystalline shapes, carved, highly saturated, and/or transparent tend to fall into the crystal category. Nature features, on the other hand, should appear as rough, raw, and natural as possible, having duller colors than they would if they were cleaned or polished.
The examples below show different types of crystals and nature features drawn in different styles to help illustrate what they might look like. As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to us by group note if you have questions about your esk's nature features or would like help or input on them!
More information can be found on the Transformation Reward and Nature Feature pages of this guide as well.
What qualifies as a crystal for TWWM purposes often has more to do with appearance than geological classification; minerals and stones that are highly polished, in typical crystalline shapes, carved, highly saturated, and/or transparent tend to fall into the crystal category. Nature features, on the other hand, should appear as rough, raw, and natural as possible, having duller colors than they would if they were cleaned or polished.
The examples below show different types of crystals and nature features drawn in different styles to help illustrate what they might look like. As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to us by group note if you have questions about your esk's nature features or would like help or input on them!
More information can be found on the Transformation Reward and Nature Feature pages of this guide as well.
Crystals
Crystal Transformation Rewards can be in typical crystal shapes, carved unnatural shapes, highly glossy, and/or transparent. Below are some examples of crystals in different styles to illustrate what they might look like.
- Top row - a typical crystal shape with high gloss facets.
- Middle row - a highly polished and saturated purple crystal shaped unnaturally as a cabochon.
- Bottom row - rough in shape, but transparent and with shiny edges causing it to count as a crystal.
Nature Features
Mineral and stone nature features must be distinct from crystals. They should not be polished, transparent, processed, or unnaturally shaped, and instead should look as rough, dull, and raw as possible. Below are some examples of nature features in different styles to help illustrate what they might look like.
- Top row - raw halite; it is not crystalline in shape but instead appears rough, has no highlights or high-gloss areas, and has grey mottling.
- Second row - vague rough stone; it has some sharp edges and color variation but without highlights or polish.
- Third row - tumbled quartz; it is not polished, transparent, or highly saturated and instead appears soft, dull, and imperfect in shape, as if naturally tumbled by a river.
- Bottom row - a jagged rock; it is slightly faceted and has sharp edges but still appears dull and naturally shaped, and is not easily confused with a crystal.
Artwork credit (columns from left to right) - fiachmara, dinstraction, fiachmara, kaijuromance, dinstraction