Every month I ask certain tiers of my Patreon supporters what cool ideas they have that they’d like to see me turn into new rules for 5e. After I collect the ideas, I ask for supporters to vote on the one they like best and I make that the next monthly exclusive. This month there was an idea submitted that was so interesting (in terms of design space) and simple to execute I knew I had to write it even if it didn’t win the vote.



Well, it didn’t. So I decided instead of making it a Patreon exclusive, I’d open it up for everyone to check out!

This new idea is called spell catalysts. Spell catalysts are consumable magic items that can be used to alter the way a spell works when used to cast the spell. For example, a dragon scale can be used to grant resistance to nonmagical damage when it is consumed as part of casting the mage armor spell. In this early draft of the concept I’ve included 20 spell catalysts from a range of rarities. In the future, I’d like to add mechanics for harvesting these spell catalysts using tool proficiencies.

Spell Catalysts

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