Being a list of flasks, boxes, beads, vials, tubes, and bags containing a bevy of knick knacks of interest only to those with arcane insight.
To get a random result, either use the standard d100 to get an even chance of any result or roll 11d10 (getting between 11 and 110) and take 10 from the result.
On average this will move the result to the middle of the table where spell components for cantrips, then Level 1 spells, then Level 2 and final Level 3 are situated. This second method makes it more likely that low-level components are found when a wizard is searched. Note: these components are intended to be found on low-level arcane casters.
1. A small wooden box with four short strands of fine copper wire held tightly in separate cradles. If you make air move against them, they vibrate and the sound seems amplified in your head.
2. Several glass vials in a padded cloth roll, each a different color, holding small amounts of good-quality alcohol or distilled spirits. If sipped, they all taste wonderful but dangerously strong, as if large amounts would quickly incapacitate the drinker.
3. A bundle of half-a-dozen stalks from various wetland grasses: water reed, canary-grass, papyrus and the like. They are as thick as a human thumb, about six inches long, and tied with a long thin leaf. If blown through, each stalk produces a different note, but all sound like water flowing gently in some way
4. Three crystal beads about the size of a small bird’s egg, each one shaped like a teardrop with a flat base, sit in a small, soft card box. Mostly opaque on the outside, each has four tiny smoothed circles that allow someone to look to the center of the perfectly clear bead.
5. Four speckled eggs from what must be quite a large bird rest in a thick wad of wool, each one in its own section. The wool smells unpleasant, mildly fetid almost, as if something is off
6. A clay “hour glass” that looks like it can be snapped into two rough spheres. They are cold to the touch and film of condensation forms on them if they are held in the palm of your hand. When shaken, each one sounds like it holds a few drops of liquid; if opened, the liquid is very cold water.
7. A rod of translucent yellowish crystal, about eight inches long and wrapped in a square of thin velvet. If studied closely, the rod has a darker vein running in a meandering line from one end to the other, although it doesn’t touch the sides.
8. A hexagonal glass rod, as long as a medium humanoids hand, with protective rubber tips and bands along its length. The glass is very light blue with a cobalt line running straight from one end to the other.
9. A spiraled rod of amber with indentations for a thumb and finger at one end rests in a tube made of blue dragon hide. The rod gives off a barely perceptible crackling sound if brought near water.
10. A five-inch crystal vial, about an inch in diameter, half full of thick, greenish-lemon sap. If the vial is shaken, the sap becomes lucent oil filling the entire length, while swirling bubbles trace strange paths through the thinned liquid.
11. A two-inch cube of ironwood with a small lock in one face turns out to be split in two with each section hold roughly-powdered diamond worth approximately 200 gold pieces. One powder is quite gritty, the other more like dust, and they are easily told apart.
12. A sheet of very fine gauze, 12 inches square and smoky gray colored, that is perforated so it can be torn into nine equal pieces. The material feels extremely light, as if it would float away on the wind.
13. Two well-made glass spheres, each with a shaded spot resembling a pupil, rest in a bone case shaped like an hour glass. It feels like the shaded spots shift towards you slightly if you move the open case in front of you.
14. A small, thin lidded tray made out of yew has sixteen sections inside it. Each one holds an unmoving miniature pyramid of bone-white dust, perfectly shaped to be removed between a thumb and index finger.
15. A thin tube of copper, which has been flattened shut at each end as well as five times along its length, sounds like it contains some kind of liquid. If a section is opened, it’s found to hold a single drop of thick, dark blood.
16. A wooden cube made of relatively fresh ash, about two inches square per side, holds powdered iron so fine it is like dust. If anything even the slightest bit magnetic is held about the open box, the iron begins to rise slowly.
17. A small silver flask, engraved with a gynosphinx on one side and a rakshasa on the other, holds about one fluid ounce of sunshine-yellow oil which is deliciously sweet if tasted.
18. A two-pint glass jar, with raffia around it, which is a miniature terrarium housing three spiders and several flies. How the owner carried this around without damaging it is difficult to imagine, but it is unmarked in any way.
19. A small box with a hinged lid made of tin. Inside is a lump of muscovite. If the tin is shaken vigorously, thin, flat chips of mica flake off of it. They are colorless, but sparkly in even candlelight.
20. A five-foot length of robust, one-inch-wide parchment, plus two half-twisted loops of the same material. Each loop is six inches long and formed so it has only one side and one edge. The ends held together by starchy yellow substance.
21. A small pine box the size and shape of a human thumb bears coarse jade dust worth about 30 gp and a small tin scoop that can hold about 10 gps-worth of the powdered gemstone.
22. A y-shaped brass container that holds two forked twigs, one of ash and one of birch. Both are about eight inches long and have the “single” end whittled to the form of a spearhead. In addition, the ash twig has the dwarven symbol for “metal” carved into it, while the birch one has the elven for “precious stone” on the long shaft.
23. Several small loops of leather are tied around an unflanged oak bobbin that’s about 13 inches long. If checked, the hides come from a variety of creatures such as a wyvern, a bat, a hippogriff, a stirge, and even a dust mephit.
24. Loose in an inner hip-level pocket are what might initially be mistaken for three, two-inch long nails. If they are looked at, they are found to be even more basic than that, simply being small, straight pieces of iron without a proper sharp point for penetration or head to be hammered.
25. A hinged coconut shell holds a yellowy-greenish ball of foul-smelling stone that looks like it has been subjected to intense heat on many occasions. If held for a minute, it even feels a little warmer than might be expected whilst the aroma of rotten eggs becomes more apparent.
26. An agate about the size of two humanoid thumbs, one on top of the other. It is either a cold-water agate, or cloud agate, and has traces of limestone still attached from its marine origin. It isn’t very colorful, but does have bands comprising different tones of grey and white chalcedony.
27. Several clumps of jet black or extremely deep red hair that isn’t particularly soft. Someone who has any knowledge of nocturnal creatures will recognize it as bat fur.
28. A vial made from black opal that holds enough pitch to produce four or five thick, heavy drops. If someone gets it on their hands, it seems to flow into their pores and hide any creases or wrinkles.
29. Seven small squares of diaphanous silk, one of each color of the rainbow. At four inches per side, they are too small to be of much use it seems, so their purpose is unclear.
30. A silver box, split in half along its length and lightly tarnished on the inside. One side holds an eight-inch-long membranous bag, stitched shut at one end and giving off a faint aroma of bile. The remains of three similar materials are attached. Anyone with a basic knowledge of wild animals recognizes it as a reptilian stomach; more specifically experienced folk identify traces of lung, liver and air sac still in place. The other side is empty.
31. A pocketful of copper pieces contains one that is clearly not as big as the rest. It’s noticeable because it seems to have been trimmed to be the size of the smallest allowable coin in the realm. It makes you wonder why just one has been treated this way.
32. A box made out of several layers of thick paper holds six electrum thimbles, each of which contains a pinch of powdered silver. The powder is quite fine, and a single pinch floats downwards slowly if it is sprinkled in the air or over an item.
33. An orb made out of cactus (minus the spines) contains extremely fine sand, less coarse even than dust and more like talcum powder. Taking a pinch of it and letting it drop back into the orb produces a soft sibilance that momentarily mesmerizes the person so doing.
34. A cylindrical green oak box, about five inches long and three inches in diameter, has a soft chirping coming from it. Inside are ten crickets, two of which are making the sound. The others are eating on what are also within it: pieces of flowers; fruit; leaves; the shoots of young plants; and a couple of dozen aphids.
35. A hide bag, made from a giraffe’s thigh skin, holds about four ounces of dirt. There are several colors and consistencies in evidence in the mix – sand, loam and clay for example – but if even a pinch is taken from the bag, it seems it’s impossible to remove just one type.
36. A thickly-glazed pottery flask, capable of holding a pint of liquid if full, has just a quarter of a pint of near-black fluid in it. The liquid is almost gelid it is so cold and slow moving, plus it feels much heavier than should. As it moves, colors seem to appear in it, but nobody can quite say which. Analysis proves it to be lead-based and worth about 30 gp.
37. A soft wool bag kept tightly shut by a clasp made from a clam shell holds three odd-shaped stones inside it. These prove to be unrounded pearls, possibly from one larger stone that has been cut up several times. Each of the pearls is worth about 100 gp in its current condition. If inspected closely, all of them have an arcane symbol for divination magic lightly carved into them.
38. A cube of thick card, about two inches per side and tied with a red-and-black ribbon, smells invitingly of somehow still-warm baked goods. Inside it are eight tiny tarts – four strawberry and four blackberry – neatly stacked on each other with a thin sheet of shiny vellum between them. The fruits on top of them all look like chins beneath grinning mouths.
39. A wooden box made of silver birch contains four thick lumps of pork rind. The rinds have almost no meat on them; instead, they are coated thickly with greasy fat that somehow hasn’t quite congealed fully. If tasted, they are delicious. To an expert, the texture suggests the rind is from the legs or trotters of the donor swine.
40. A fist-sized, rough silk sack produces a pungent but pleasant aroma when opened. It contains half-a-dozen smaller hessian bags, each one holding a mixture of six high-grade herbs worth about 10 gp. If studied closely, each bag features one particular herb more prominently than the others, although the bags all contain the same selection: coriander, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme.
41. An odd bag made of bark and stitched together using water reed and cow sinew holds several pieces of charcoal. If checked, there is one each of six distinct types: avian bone, crab carapace, oak, coconut shell, sugar, and a variety of cereal stalks forming a compressed mixed sawdust briquette.
42. A sphere made of balsa twists in half to open. Inside, a dozen small feathers float gently to the bottom of whichever is the lower hemisphere. If investigated the feathers all come from the chests of birds that can hover, such a hummingbirds or kestrels.
43. A cube made of yew and about three inches per side reveals what looks like nine identical two-inch tall pieces of wood when opened. At first, they look like equipment for skittles or nine pins, but close inspection reveals that each one is very roughly carved to represent a stylized humanoid.
44. A humanoid fist-sized bag made of magmin skin, tied with nightmare mane hair and embroidered with symbols from a wide variety of languages, holds about an ounce or so of very fine soot. There are six or seven pinches of the soot in the bag.
45. A bag made of red, yellow and blue leather holds about two ounces of fine white powder. If a pinch of the powder is removed from the bag, it takes on the three colors. If the powder is emptied from the bag in any other way, it remains white. The two ounces should produce about ten good pinches.
46. A square box of ash, just one inch per side, half-an-inch deep, and lined with gray velvet, has four tiny bells inside, one each of gold, electrum, copper and bronze. Although extremely small, each one makes a distinct note of exceptional clarity, all of them a sound that couldn’t be ignored.
47. A small, flat box made of tin is found to contain five short pieces of cheap copper wire. Three of them are about two inches long, while the others look worn through use and are just over an inch in length.
48. A birch box, roughly made but sized to fit in the palm of a humanoid hand, holds a mass of glowing moss when the lid is removed. The moss looks like it is attached to the bark which lines every wall of the box.
49. A leather pouch made from squirrel hide holds three unusual pieces of wood. They are formed of material from five deciduous trees – ash, chestnut, elm, plane and yew – and the pieces are twisted together tightly enough to be inseparable. Each type of wood is a distinct hue, making them straightforward to identify.
50. An ebony cube, just an inch on each side and with a sliding lid, opens to reveal four bits of glowing material. Three of them, colored white, red and violet are waxy, while a black one is metallic. They can be picked up as they are tacky, but leave a slight trace of their color in the friction ridges of the fingers used to so do.
51. A glass jar, large enough to hold about two pints of liquid, houses a dozen larvae-like creatures that give off a variety of bioluminescence. Colors include green, yellow and orange, while the light is emitted in several ways, from short flashes, long pulses, to constant glows. The creatures feed on mulch on the base of the jar.
52. A pale amber tube, about an inch in diameter and eight inches long, has five fireflies in it. Each one gives off a different color including yellow, light green dark green, light red and what looks like a blueish-white hue. The inside of the tube is coated with pollen and nectar, which the fireflies eat.
53. A dark gray cotton bag holds two flat disks of magnetite, each about two inches in diameter, which are attached to each other. Each one has five indentations around its edge, suitable for fingertips. They can be turned until the relatively weak attraction becomes repulsion and they come apart.
54. A woolen bag, big enough to cover two clenched humanoid fists, has several small balls of unworked fleece in it. At least four types can be identified: alpaca, goat, llama and sheep
55. A small bundle of three silver wires, each one about eight inches long and drawn to be extremely fine. Each one is bent to have a small hook on the end from which to hang something. A fourth with is coiled around the bundle to hold it together.
56. A circular jar of white glass, about two inches in diameter and an inch deep, holds red, yellow and blue sands. The sands each take up a clearly delineated third of the jar, but can’t be made to mix whilst in it. However, if a thumb, index finger and middle finger are used to take a pinch of the sands from the jar, they quickly combine.
57. A clear glass cube, about an inch or so per side, feels much more fragile than it turns out to be. Within it are nine rose petals carefully stacked upon each other. The first five are ordered white, pink, red, orange and yellow, then there are two more each of white and pink petals.
58. Four glass vials in a padded cloth roll, each a different color, holding small amounts of poor-quality alcohol or distilled spirits. If sipped, they all taste invigoratingly strong but quite ghastly, with flavors that range from foul medicine to burnt brandy.
59. A small bag made of ostrich skin and secured by a gossamer-fine piece of cotton holds about a dozen down feathers from a variety of birds, many of which are found to be waterfowl if checked.
60. A clay box inscribed with a flame holds six identical small sticks of incense. Anyone with the appropriate skill realizes that they are each worth 10 gp, almost certainly not a copper coin more or less. Two sticks have a tiny celestial symbol on them, two a fiendish motif, and two a fey emblem.
61. A thick, dark gray two-inch opaque glass tube, stoppered with a plug of iron pyrite, holds a viscose silver liquid – quicksilver! If tipped onto a smooth flat surface, the liquidy metal flows smoothly into a dozen similarly-sized distinct drops, although they can be pushed together to form one large, flatish disc.
62. A small leather bag, cool to the touch, holds an eight-ounce slab of hard butter marked in such a way that 16 individual pats can be cut from it. A low-grade silver knife with a rounded end to the blade is also in the bag.
63. A misshapen box, 12 inches long and formed from a single piece of oak branch, contains three feathers. Anyone suitable aware of birds will identify them as coming from a barn owl, an eagle owl and a tawny owl.
64. A tiny square of very fine parchment, folded in half four times to make 16 squares, has a grasshopper hind leg carefully stuck to nine of the sections. They are perfect, seemingly from very healthy specimens, and still have a slight flex to them if removed from the parchment.
65. Five octagons of cured leather, each about three inches per side, are strung together on a piece of stout cord. The octagons are curved slightly, with the outer, convex side noticeable tougher than the inner, concave surface. They fit comfortably as a skull cap if so worn.
66. A simple brass ring, stamped with a sigil representing conjuration magic, has eleven pieces of string tied to it, each one about six inches long. The strings are tied so they appear to have a head, two arms and two legs; if untied, they are just over 10 inches long.
67. A small electrum box engraved with images of the sea has a grid of balsa dividers in it forming a dozen sections, each of which holds a sizeable pinch of salt. Overall, there is a large spoonful of the seasoning.
68. The hollow tusk of a narwhal holds about a pound-and-a-half of roughly powdered iron. Some of the contents are very slightly oxidized and have a red hue.
69. A cloth bag, rough on the outside but smoother on the inside and with a triple tie to its opening. Within is something like two-to-three ounces of a rough powder made from a green leaf; there are still a few larger pieces as well, which are pleasantly tart if tasted. Unfortunately, if a medium humanoid consumes all the powder, it will kill them as it is rhubarb; someone suitably knowledgeable can identify it as such.
70. A one-inch square teak box divided into nine small sections. Five of them contain fine golden dust, worth about 25 gp per section. If someone blows on the dust, or even breathes too heavily over it, it floats away.
71. A burnished copper tin, irregularly shaped, that catches any light and makes it seem to dance. Inside is a generous amount of ruby dust, perhaps worth around 50 gp or so. It is fairly coarse, and much like the container, seems to take hold of light and give it life of its own.
72. A small hessian bag with three pieces of coal. None of them sparkle or shine in the least, instead seeming to absorb the light around them.
73. A simple wooden box holding: a desiccated carrot with about an inch missing off the end; a small, one-inch square grater; and three or four pinches of grated dried carrot.
74. A wrap formed of waterproofed minotaur hide holds a slab of beef fat about four inches square. There are also traces of mutton grease in some of the folds.
75. A hollow bone, capped at one end with a piece of dried and hardened lily stem, rattles quietly when shaken. Inside are several sets of two copper pieces, each pair stuck together with a tacky resin. He coins come apart quite easily, but the resin doesn’t lose its stickiness for around 10 days.
76. A hessian bag, perhaps large enough to carry 10 gold pieces, actually contains a dozen individual seeds, including a runner bean, a soybean, two peas in half a pod, three chickpeas, two peanuts and three lentils. Although dry, they are all fresh-seeming, even edible if someone chose to so do.
77. A small locket is made of two separate hemispheres, one of brass and the other silver. Each half has a thumb-tip sized blob of solidified acacia sap – gum arabic – that is colored light pink and limpid. If studied, both contain an eyelash. If these are removed and studied, they appear to come from a large catlike creature.
78. Two flat pieces of elm, each about four inches square and tied together, prove to have a thin length of wire pressed between them. The wire is made of very pure gold and is shaped like a cup, although its long shank handle makes it appear more like a ladle.
79. A small box made of beech and carved to resemble a pair of lips holds a still-moist piece of honeycomb that has a few small bits missing from the edges.
80. A sheet of animal stomach lining tied tightly into a crude bag. Inside is a yellow powder from a cereal crop that proves to be corn if tasted.
81. A piece of soapstone, carved to resemble a flask and with a cork stopper, contains affine, soft mineral powder that is a light pearly gray color and has a slight aroma of fresh corn. If even the smallest amount is placed on skin, it has a cooling, drying effect.
82. Half-a-dozen skate egg cases that each contain a good-sized drop of bitumen. The tacky tar doesn’t adhere to the case somehow, but instantly becomes stickier when it touches anything else, such as humanoid skin.
83. A small, square box cast out of high-grade silver holds several pieces of long muscle-like material that have two distinct tines at one end. It doesn’t take a lot to recognize the material as tongue and that the pieces come from snakes, although it takes a druid or someone fairly familiar with reptiles to recognize each species.
84. A bag made of ettercap skin contains a slightly misshapen sphere of fairly thick sticky strands. If a single thread is pulled gently from the ball, it draws others with it, forming a web about eight inches in diameter before it breaks free from the main mass.
85. A fine mesh sack, in places laced with cheap silver thread, has a dozen odd-shaped pieces of meat in it. If checked, they turn out to be orc, goblin, ogre, dwarf, human and halfling flesh, about one pound in weight of each. A short, thin blade of surgical sharpness is buried in one of the slabs of ogre flesh.
86. A stout cord tied around the body’s waist has a 15-inch-long sheep horn attached. The horn, which has a double twist, is quite thin but very strong, has had the tip removed so the end can fit into a medium humanoid’s ear, and has been studded with a number of low-grade jewels. It is worth 100 gp or so.
87. A small tin box, about two inches by one and perhaps half-an-inch deep, has twenty tiny balls of feces in it. They are all surprisingly soft and are easily reshaped between a thumb and index finger. If investigated, they are bat guano.
88. A small copper tube, barely the diameter of a child’s little finger but seven inches long, has twenty tiny balls of pungent sulfur in it. They are dull yellow, more orange in truth, and soft enough to reshape between a thumb and index finger.
89. A box made of thin pine sheets, about three inches by one inch by half-an-inch, has nine small, thin tindersticks in it. Each one has just enough combustible material to produce a small puff of smoke. There is an abrasive patch on the base of the box that ignites the tindersticks’ flammable tips.
90. A bundle of five-inch-long plant roots that have a sweet, aromatic flavor and smell a lot like fennel. A small paring knife is in the middle of the bundle. If a shaving of this root is eaten it seems to stimulate the muscles, but more than this and the taster quickly suffers tiredness and leg cramps. Anyone with knowledge of plants or cooking quickly recognizes the plant as licorice.
91. A simple cloth bag that holds a number of balls of different mammalian fur. There is a range of colors, but the samples are uniformly soft. If any of the fur is rubbed even in the slightest, a static charge forms that leaves it clinging to other material or skin.
92. A piece of parchment something like 12 inches square has been folded in a manner similar to origami so it makes a small, flat envelope that self-seals. It holds about three ounces of course dust which is quite gritty and surprisingly cold for a dry material as it.
93. A spherical metal flask made of bronze, some four inches in diameter, is one-third full of molasses. A small scoop can be prised from the flask’s outer shell. The scoop will provide a decent drop of molasses if used to get the substance from the flask.
94. A pungent, medium-sized sack with just four large leaves in it: one that isn’t too malodorous and is 12 inches long; one dried leaf roughly 30 inches long and folded in half that smells lightly of an irritated skunk; one 16-inch square leaf that is particularly fetid; and one that is about 24 inches long but just eight inches wide and has little aroma. However, this last leaf is extremely poisonous if more than a thumbnail’s worth is eaten in an hour.
95. A small model of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories. The model is made out of clay, a rich red in color. There are three stories, each half-an-inch deep and (from the base) three-inches, two-inches and one-inch square. It is inscribed with the first letter of the alphabet from a whole range of languages.
96. A bamboo tube, about an inch in diameter and three inches long, holds five short lengths of straw, one each of barley, oat, rice, rye and wheat. Each piece has a different symbol written on it signifying a particular body of water such as lakes, streams and lagoons. The bamboo is puncture with many small holes so air circulates through it and keeps the straws dry.
97. A long, narrow box carved from a single piece of sequoia reveals a variety of single feathers if opened. Anyone with specialist knowledge finds they are from the wings of a variety of birds, including those that soar, travel quickly or long distances, have great maneuverability, and hover.
98. A cube-shaped box made of yew, roughly two inches per side, contains powdered silver worth about 100 gp. In addition, a tiny lump of silver (worth about the same as the powder) and a small square of electrum that has been forged to be a stiff grater are under the powder.
99. A thin mahogany box, just half-an-inch square but 10 inches long, contains three sticks of incense. Each one looks like it could burn for about an hour before it is completely used up.
100. A flat pad of rough black hessian, roughly three inches square, that is folded in three. If opened, has a dozen slim “pockets” sewn on its inner face, half of which have narrow, two-inch long sticks of incense that glow softly. The sticks cycle through the colors of the rainbow.
d100 Spell Components for Low-Level Arcane Casters is just the latest in our long line of d100 random tables. Get in the comments and let us know if you use them!
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