Use of Building Materials (sage study)

Materials must be wrested from the earth

Building materials is a sage study in the field of Architecture, providing extensive knowledge into the use of materials to improve stresses and strains on structures, through advanced mathematics, the understanding of chemistry and engineering and the properties of materials such as their yield strength or plasticity. This understanding allows the architect to give greater strength and aesthetics to an architectural design, while reducing the amount of materials needed.

In terms of game-play, the study provides basic abilities in choosing materials and towards increases in the other three architectural studies, aesthetics, construction and fortification. DMs and players with practical knowledge in the subject may wish to enhance the study in novel ways; here, only a simple approach to the subject is employed.

Sage Abilities

The sage abilities below are those acquired by a character through the study, according to status.

Amateur Status

• Material Tradecraft: granting one ability to the architect, gained through interacting with building sites. The character chooses from masonry, pottering, prospecting, puddling or stonecutting.
• Strengthen Material: so that stress on the material is reduced, allowing the need for less overall material to be employed in making the structure, thus saving on costs and time required to build while achieving the same overall results.

Authority

• Insulate: improving the comfort of interior spaces against extremes of heat or cold through the use of natural or growing materials, enabling a thermal equilibrium of pleasant temperatures.
• Lighting: improving the manner in which exterior light is allowed to reflect and spread through the interior of a building, by means of reflective material. The technique increases work flow and reducing the overall amount of artificial light and associated costs thereof.

See Bard Sage Abilities