In the new UA packet, the Create Spell spell requires expensive material components that are consumed on use: an arcane focus worth 1000 gp per level of the spell you’re creating.

In my breakdown article on it, I pondered what a 9,000-gp arcane focus even looks like, if you’re not just gluing on more diamonds or whatever. (See also the general question of 1,000-gp bowls for Heroes’ Feast.) Which brings me to this post.

I think you could allow a huge range of art objects to be treated as arcane focuses for the specific purpose of this spell, with some clever justification. For example, if you’re making an Enchantment, Illusion, or Transmutation spell, a painted portrait is easy to justify. I think there’s something wonderful, and obliquely Unknown Armies-ish, about sacrificing this right here to make a new 9^th-level spell.

It’s the plot of The Picture of Dorian Gray, too.

Anyway. I’m going to try to present a few examples of art/rare objects and arcane focuses worth 1,000 gp per spell level for each school of magic. Let’s see what happens.

Abjuration

1. Gold armillary sphere; 12-inch diameter shield-boss from the splintered shield that Iskémun carried into battle against a white dragon
2. Adamantine forge-hammer tempered in fires of the City of Dis, quenched in the River Styx; steel war helm owned by the aasimar knight Dame Cille In-Belene
3. Platinum censer with a ring of pearls, five centuries old; shepherd’s crook made from a yew-tree in the Queen of Air and Darkness’s grove
4. Unpublished manuscript on armorsmithing, penned by the duergar Surgoz Bloodforge; mithral candelabra from the long-lost Temple of Amaunator, stolen from a noble’s collection over six centuries ago
5. A shard of Graz’zt’s crown, which Iggwilv broke off in an argument following the birth of Iuz; intricate warding mandala of powdered amber and garnet, created on the sand and washed away by the sea (credit for this idea goes to Greg Stolze)
6. The Keystone of the Gate of Seven Honors, from the Temple of Torm in the city of Tantras, ruined in the Time of Troubles; irreparably broken forcefield generator, taken from a modron septon during the Great Modron March
7. Ever-burning red dragon scales, which Klauth claimed in battle against his sire, and which Klauth regards as one of his greatest treasures; bracer cut from solid amethyst, now devoid of magic, worn by a planetar on a sortie into Malbolge
8. Ice sculpture depicting the archdevil Geryon, made of unmelting ice from Levistus’s prison; an amulet made of silver, set with diamonds, and worn by Laeral Silverhand on her wedding-day
9. The Srinshee’s incomplete notes on how to create a new mythal, with corrections; the surviving half of a Netherese staff of power that was broken in a retributive strike and recovered from the Astral Plane

Making up valuable items is the easy part. Ranking them by material, historical, and rarity value, and splitting them into exactly nine steps, is hard. You don’t have to agree with any of my rankings – just use this as a collection of stuff and alter the values to suit your own tastes.

Conjuration

1. Adamantine stylus that survived the fall of Netheril; an everbright brass door-knocker depicting a phaerimm, “liberated” from Sememmon’s Zhentil Keep townhouse
2. Flask made of steel, inlaid with platinum, which still contains three drops of water from the River Styx; an original vellum map of unknown lands, drawn by Bowgentle
3. A silver fife handed down since the time of Phalorm, and used by countless armies across the centuries; a tome of 779 powerful names, many of them now slain or banished into the outer regions, no more than vestiges
4. A golden orrery of the Torilian solar system, incredibly precise and holding several secrets; a copper torc, its ends fashioned as the two heads of Demogorgon, with rubies for its four eyes
5. A painting 10 ft x 8 ft, 350 years old, depicting the Blood War with over 2500 individually painted fiends (it’s Hieronymous Bosch, y’all); a highly polished copper mirror dating back to the height of Narfell
6. A free-standing wrought-iron doorway, inlaid with tiger’s-eye; an oil-burning lantern, made of bronze, dating back to the dwarven realm of Old Shanatar
7. An invitation, engraved on vellum, to a dinner-party where Karsus’s new attainment would be unveiled; a wand made of antler shed by the guardinal Blaze-of-Ivory, set with opals
8. Sheaf of handwritten notes and diagrams by Sabass, once the Thayan zulkir of Conjuration; a fabulously woven rug made in Halruaa, which long decorated the personal workshop of the Netyarch
9. The last, lost copy of the Decree of Nessus, a testament of Infernal authority and book of law (duplicating it steeply reduces its value as an arcane focus); a coffer sealed with the sign of the Queen of Air and Darkness, from which a man’s weeping can be heard (opening the coffer releases a sorrowful spirit and destroys its value as an arcane focus)

I probably don’t need to mention this – my readers are a clever and industrious lot! – but these items are also a chance to seed setting lore. That might be things you plan to put on-camera or just things you want to name-check to create a sense of depth. The best of all worlds is mentioning something that intrigues players enough that they carry out research in-game to learn more, then make it relevant to a later storyline.

Divination

1. A perfectly ground magnifying lens, set into a scrimshaw frame and handle; a scroll of predictions about the malevolent stars Acamar and Gibbeth, made from the skin of a humanoid
2. A sphere of clear polished crystal with a blue-green eye-like inclusion in its center; a painting 4 in x 3 in, depicting a dragon-prowed ship sailing across the sky, by Teles Avhoste of Candlekeep
3. Dice made from the bones of the cloud giant Ingavalt, who sacrificed his right hand for a glimpse of the oracular insight of storm giants; a diamond-studded brooch owned by the dwarven high priestess Cynruthe Deepvine
4. Wooden block carved to depict an incredibly complicated labyrinth, a map of a lost island in the Astral Sea; runesticks made from branches that fell from the trees of Evermeet, touched by Sehanine
5. Gilt tarot deck, its cards haunted by the uncanny deaths that befell several previous owners; preserved head of an androsphinx
6. Silver astrolabe in the elven style, modified for use aboard a spelljamming helm; a bracer made of scales voluntarily shed by the crystal dragon Qindaliit
7. The lost copy of a tome purporting to be the true version of three hundred of Alaundo’s prophecies; a stained-glass window, 8 ft x 14 ft, saved from the ruin of a secret temple to Savras
8. Pendant on a mithral chain, with a sapphire of notable size and clarity, owned by a noble of Evereska; shards of a shattered mirror, made from the scales of an adult mercury dragon, taken from Lich Queen Vlaakith LXVII
9. Eyeless mask made of thick adamantine, used in orcish divination rituals and handed down from mother to daughter for twelve centuries; a cracked seeing-stone, its power spent, taken from the dark elf kingdom of Miyeritar, over 15,000 years ago

Make it fully explicit that rarity is itself a source of value and power in the sacrifice needed to create a spell. The powers of magic draw a distinction between sacrificing the last of something and making a new copy of something so that the sacrifice has no lasting cost. Each item represents three possibilities: a huge amount of money, creating a new spell, or an irreplaceable primary source for researching a question in Arcana, History, or Religion. (Nature? Investigation? Maybe those too.)

Enchantment

1. A fey nightbloom rose made of hammered gold, with a concealed perfume reservoir; a silver locket with an amethyst stone and a picture of the Cassalanters
2. Circlet of silver, set with five lapis lazuli stones, once owned by Paulina of Everlund, a merchant with delusions of grandeur; a set of crystal cordial glasses, made 270 years ago in Caer Calidyrr
3. A rare first edition of Songs of Truth and Desire, a book of legendary love poems; a scarf of finest silk, made from fey materials by Shou weavers and depicting the arrival of the Nine Great Dragons
4. Papier-mâché carnival mask depicting the face of Dispater, made famous for being worn just once a year on Liar’s Night in Waterdeep; a quiver of blunted arrows, made from the wood of Arvandor and the feathers of avoral guardians
5. Harp with strings of silver and gold, long owned and played by Storm Silverhand; a wand made of a single piece of shadowglass by Nintra Siotta, with viciously sharp thorns along much of its length
6. Antique dining-table made of blueleaf wood, taken from Elturel after surviving the trip back from Avernus; a ring of three keys (one lead, one silver, one glass) said to unlock long-forgotten prison cells in the depths of Carceri
7. Quart of honey made by the bees of the realm of Mercuria on Mount Celestia, who took only the pollen of the Divine Lotus, which has passed from hand to hand as a gift, never for money; a carved carnelian depicting the corruption of the goddess Tyche by Moander’s rose
8. Author’s copy, with addenda, of A Springe for Woodcocks: Be thy Wits Ensnared by Xan of Evereska; a ring of twisted orichalcum bands, each with a name of a succubus or incubus etched into it
9. Lock of bright red hair, granted by an avatar of Sune Firehair during the Avatar Crisis; a crown, once worn by the Queen of the Summer Court, given as a boon to a mortal lover upon their parting

Making every single one of the Enchantment items fey-related is a temptation I narrowly avoided. Also, remembering that Enchantment has other themes than the various flavors of charms.

Evocation

1. Carved stone battering-ram head, in the shape of a satyr’s head; set of three silver rings, each with a softly glowing stone: garnet, aquamarine, and amber
2. Smoking ember taken from the ruins of a fire that consumed a whole city; a staff made from oak struck by lightning, capped with an iron claw holding a fist-sized chunk of brimstone
3. Fragments of a detonated petard, used to bring down a postern gate and end a siege; figurine of an ancient gold wyrm, made by a Chessentan goldsmith over 800 years ago
4. Glass globe, 2 ft diameter, with a miniature blizzard forever raging inside from a captured fragment of Auril’s power; a surviving third edition of Hornblade Dialogues, a series of transcribed conversations between Taern Hornblade and his scribe on channeling (and surviving) powerful evocations
5. Large piece of bismuth in cube of crystal, kept on display in Citadel Adbar for 250 years; a curved piece of adamantine, once part of an archway that contained a stable portal to the Plane of Fire
6. A rod 2.5 ft long, made from thunder sealed inside a customized forcecage spell by Khelben Arunsun; a phoenix’s unhatched egg (it hatches when you use it as a component, releasing a phoenix who remembers you)
7. Bronze brazier that has been kept lit continually since the end of the Time of Troubles, signifying the restoration of Kossuth’s power; a blackthorn staff, capped with sunstone, that has survived exposure to solar winds
8. Sculpture of an open, upright hand, 3 feet tall and made of lapis lazuli, with gold inlays for jewelry and fingernails; a partial surviving copy of The Pride of Youth, an account of Karsus’s apprenticeship written by special revelation from the first avatar of a re-formed Mystra to her priestess
9. A forge set with three tiny astral diamonds taken from the bodies of dead sun gods; a dragon’s heart, bathed for 100 years in the Elemental Chaos

Illusion

1. A huge, false diamond that was a diplomatic gift from the Amnian trade syndicate to the Crown of Tethyr; an impossibly elaborate vase made by Master Vurtingblast of the Waterdhavian Guild of Glassblowers, Glaziers, and Spectacle-makers
2. Wand made of flaky red-brown felsul branches woven together, holding a seed made of solid gold; painted hand-fan owned by Queen Filfaeril of Cormyr until her death 102 years ago
3. Portrait of Mirt the Moneylender, made in his youth somewhere over 150 years ago, in a style now long out of date; a butterfly made of gemstones, made for the Pasha of Calimshan
4. Six acres of tulips, each acre a different hue; steel lantern with colored glass panels, made by Izmhina Fey-Branche, a female drow artisan of Menzoberranzan
5. Face-concealing helm of hammered silver, once worn by a Masked Lord of Waterdeep but now disenchanted; a signed, unredacted copy of Volo’s Guide to Illusions and Phantasms, illegal to own in some jurisdictions
6. Fey ship’s lateen mainsail, intricately embroidered with images of frolicking naiads and oceanids; a veil made of coalesced smoke by the efreeti of the City of Brass
7. A lock made entirely of stone, once used to seal the prison of the demonic Prince of Deception, Fraz-Urb’luu; ten pinfeathers shed by the couatl Atzi and freely given
8. A hand-penned, illuminated copy of Warfare and Unfair by Valkebar of the Host Tower of the Arcane, a text on illusions and misdirection in warfare; the last unbroken mirror from a hall of mirrors in Zhentil Keep, dating back over 300 years
9. The vitrified heart of a glabrezu demon, now slowed to one beat per hour; a long coat made entirely of gold, silver, and platinum coins joined by tiny steel rings

Necromancy

1. Human skull etched with arcane runes, each inlaid with gold; a charcoal rubbing of a dwarven monolith honoring Obould Many-Arrows for his prowess in war and his wisdom in peacetime
2. Gilded plates with a collection of names of powerful ghosts; amber-eyed poppet made of grasses and husks grown in old graveyards
3. One hundred candles, made from the fat of a man hanged on the walls of Baldur’s Gate; a fiddle with flawless sound, strung with halfling intestines
4. A flintlock pistol buried in a grave for 17 years, but still able to fire; tattoo cut off of the back of the famous gladiator Khadija and preserved in salt
5. Annotated copy of The Seven Ontic States by Vangerdahast Aeiulvana, Royal Magician of Cormyr; pouch of soil and bone meal from Thanatos, the 333^rd layer of the Abyss
6. Bleached wood skull-mask used as a focus in many previous necromantic rites to create skull lords; the spine of a slain lich, re-formed into a bow
7. A crystal decanter holding funereal oils sacred to Labelas Enoreth; gold crown set with rubies that was once worn by the kings of the now-extinct Stornanter line of Illusk
8. One among the many raven-feathers that the Raven Queen has used to inscribe names in her ledgers; a curse-scroll, made from lead, declaring that the dead of Waterdeep shall never know rest in their City of the Dead (lifting the curse is 50% likely to destroy the curse-scroll)
9. The original manuscript of The Legacy of Pale Night, written by Halaster Blackcloak before he was joined with Undermountain; five bricks from the Wall of the Faithless, which Kelemvor would prefer to destroy now that he has demolished the Wall

I’m not gonna lie, Necromancy was probably the easiest of these so far.

“We do bones, motherf*cker.” – Gideon Nav, from Gideon the Ninth by the (immortal, unholy) Tamsyn Muir

Transmutation

1. Wand made of braided lead, silver, and gold; the hammer that Dame Brenna ferch Bran of Gwynneth used to beat her swords into plowshares
2. One of the few remaining copies of We Stood Against the Night Parade by Myrmeen Lhal; a half-ton of wool, spun into yarn, from the sheep of Halruaa
3. Copper statues of all of Waterdeep’s walking statues, 1 ft high by 13 ft long in full display; black and scarlet hanfu made in Shou Lung, dating back to before the Tuigan War
4. Loom made from Dalelands pine, used to weave three separate robes of the Archmagi; staff made of glassteel, etched with the names of several djinn nobles
5. Sunsong orchids, grown in the Feywild and nurtured by a sisterhood of dryads; tiny gold statue of a frog, which is actually a polymorphed, petrified, and gilded hezrou
6. Alchemist’s supplies that have been used to research, develop, and create a philosopher’s stone, restoring the youth of the gnomish artificer Priya Thorasin of Gond; body of an ancient homunculus, preserved in honey, that once belonged to Sulavin the Mistcaller, Imaskari archmage
7. Bag of dead rats, chewed on by Karan, the Xaositect factol, which reveal a complicated message of conflict between Sigil and Pandemonium; golden choker with a moonstone pendant, which glows faintly when the wearer dreams
8. 500-gallon vat of undulating slime, secreted by the passing of Juiblex; anonymous author’s copies (with marginalia) of Fair and Foul and Betwixt, a definitive three-volume work on the Alter Self spell
9. The full body of Netheril’s first attempt at an owlbear, preserved in salt; a collection of frozen slaadi eggs, ten for each kind of slaad

I hope you’ve enjoyed this long, weird post, and that you’ll think of it when you need to hand out strange treasure (err, “treasure”) to your PCs. Also, when you need odd components for them to chase down as part of a story-based magical working, or when you’re wondering what powerful NPCs spend absurd fortunes collecting and storing in vaults that will someday become new dungeons. (That’s basically the ecology of dungeons in a nutshell.)

If you enjoy my blogging, please consider backing my Patreon! For as little as $1 a month you can get early access to all of my writing this this blog.

---

You can now buy Under the Seas of Vodari in PDF!

Under the Seas of Vodari is a 300-page book that provides 5E/Fifth Edition material for both gamemasters and players to dive into a world full of action and adventure set beneath the waves of Vodari or your own campaign world. This book is a follow-up to The Seas of Vodari, a setting book filled with swashbuckling action and magical adventure. Dive into your first adventure today!