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View Full Version : 3.P - Fun and RAW with Spell Component Pouches!



MaxiDuRaritry
2020-01-22, 12:38 AM
Meet 3.5's and Pathfinder's simple, unassuming spell component pouch. It costs 5 gp and holds entire worlds full of random items. It's assumed that any material or focus component that costs less than 1 gp or otherwise has no listed cost can be found within it (so long as it fits). So if you had a very literal DM that plays it as it lies, what would or could you do if you had one?

Well, first of all, we all know about the fact that the Book of Vile Darkness has a spell that uses a bona fide artifact as a material component (which was errata'd to be a focus, but guess what! Spell component pouches hold those, too!). If you need to pull out an artifact that's much too large to fit into a standard Small/Medium pouch, just get yourself a larger pouch! Note that decks of many things are artifacts, as is the annulus, as are the eye and hand and head of Vecna! Lots of useful things, here!

Secondly, if you want a large pouch to be even larger, start combining magic items to turn your spell component pouch into an extradimensional space (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?177889-Brainstorm-for-Psionic-Tricks-Tactics-and-Combos-Handbook&p=23285432&viewfull=1#post23285432). Note that combo'ing an extradimensional pouch with a glove of the master strategist will shrink anything of 20 lbs or less that fits within your hand and stores it at 1/8 its original size.

Thirdly, (greater) fabricate uses the targeted material as a material component. It can target anything nonmagical and nonliving, so feel free to pull out an infinite number of shards or dollops of everything from diamond to thinaun to FOOF to neutronium. Just make sure each shard is worth 9.9 silver pieces or less, but feel free to pull out a few thousand of them before fabricating them together. 99% of a gold piece x10,000 is entirely fair game, as well. Technically.

Fourthly, this one isn't as crazy, but it's still useful. Any unarmored or lightly armored corporeal character I play always has at least one spell component pouch on his person whenever possible, whether I play a mundane martial character, psion (who doesn't use spell components), or even a wizard or sorcerer with Eschew Materials. Not only can I pull enough miniature tarts out of it to feed myself in an emergency (or even not an emergency, because cinnamon-peach tarts are yummy) due to Tasha's hideous laughter, but any attempt to sunder my very obvious spell component pouch is an attack that isn't shaving off my hit points. And not losing 50 hp due to that attack is definitely worth the cost of a 5 gp component pouch. And I usually have 10 or 20 of them tucked away as backup, just in case. Those things are extremely cheap and very useful!

And fifthly, go read up on the commoner flaw Infested With Chickens. Pulling stuff out of a component pouch is a free action. Chickens are worth 2 cp each and count as actual currency for all purposes. Do the math. You can also drown your foes in chickens or tarts or whatever by pulling out enough to fill the room.

Know of any obscure (or not so obscure) items that are tucked away in your spell component pouch that you can pull out a nigh infinite amount of any time you want? Or possibly other uses for these things? I mean, they're airtight, waterproof, and have a nigh infinite amount of virtual storage space you can pull stuff out of as a free action.

Fun times!

legomaster00156
2020-01-22, 12:42 AM
It also features an unlimited number of spiders thanks to Spider Climb. Do with that what you will.

RatElemental
2020-01-22, 03:37 AM
The BoVD has a bunch of spells with very colorful components with no listed cost, including severed hands of good aligned clerics and preserved samples of humanoid brains.

Unavenger
2020-01-22, 07:50 AM
Ambient Song (Song and Silence) requires a small bit of anything that makes any sound you can think of as a material component. That should, roughly speaking, cover most things.

EDIT:

Some spells, such as Curse of Arrow Attraction (PH2), have material components but don't specify what those components are

Acid Breath (SpC) for fire ants, dead or alive. Analyse portal (SpC) gives you a crystal lens and small mirror. Animal Messenger gives you some food that any Animal likes, Animalistic Power (PH2) for fur/feathers/skin of anything, Auspicious Odds (UA) gives you a copper piece but has the drawback that it requires a variant rule to be a thing, Awaken Construct (SpC) requires specifically the brain of a humanoid that has been dead for less than 8 hours which is an... interesting concept given how SCPs work. Banish dragonmark (Drm) requires dragonshard dust, but I have no idea what that is. Thought I'd mention it.

Bedevil (CoR) requires a personal article belonging to anyone. Blessing of the Snake Mother (Ghost) requires a few drops of the mixture that yuan-ti use to create tainted ones, Bonerattle (Ghost) requires a tiny bell carved from bone, Brain Spider (XPH) takes Spider Climb up to 12: a spider of ANY SIZE OR KIND. Apparently, drawing a CR 11 colossal creature from your pouch is okay? But then, there's no reason why the spider would like you... anyway, Burial Blessing (DotF) works for holy symbols.

Candlelight (Ghost) requires a small candle, Chain Dispel (PH2) requires two long bronze nails, Cloud of Knives (PH2) requires a knife, Curse of Lycanthropy (SpC) requires a pint of animal blood - lovely.

Might go through the rest at some point, but here's a small taste.