Spell Component Pouch of Holding

A spell component pouch contains an infinite number of live spiders.

"Huh? You're just going to say that and leave us hanging in suspense?" I'm serious, though. Spell components are kind of an odd feature of D&D spellcasting. A number of spells require material components to cast them successfully - some require an intrinsically valuable component, meaning they cost you money every time you cast them, as a sort of balancing factor for powerful magic. Others require non-costly components... mostly for flavour reasons, I suppose. Requiring a player to somehow source bat guano for every casting of fireball might make for an interesting possible sidequest (and balancing factor!) for those mighty wizards, but alas this whole fiddly process is single-handedly swept aside by the terrifying and fascinating spell component pouch. For a modest, one-time fee of 5 gp, this innocuous item turns every non-costly material component into so much flavour text. Its description reads as follows: "A spellcaster with a spell component pouch is assumed to have all the material components and focuses needed for spellcasting, except for those components that have a specific cost, divine focuses, and focuses that wouldn’t fit in a pouch." So unless it is the type of component that will cost you with every casting, you're allowed to handwave having something so obscure as grasshopper legs, crystal marbles or an eyelash encased in a bit of gum arabic.

Now here's the other thing about spell components - you can't just reuse the same ones every time you cast a spell that needs them. They are used up in the casting, as made perfectly clear by the entry on material spell components (while also reiterating the first point): "A material component is one or more physical substances or objects that are annihilated by the spell energies in the casting process. Unless a cost is given for a material component, the cost is negligible. Don’t bother to keep track of material components with negligible cost. Assume you have all you need as long as you have your spell component pouch." See the conundrum here? The material components are eliminated every time you cast a spell, but you always have the necessary components so long as you have your pouch. But what if you cast a particular spell three times per day, every day? What if you're a 6000-year-old lich who's running the same spell component pouch he's had since wizard school? Presumably there's just an infinite amount of every non-costly component inside these things.

While you're still wrapping your head around that, look at the material components for the classic spell spider climb. Bitumen and a live spider. So no matter where you go, no matter the environmental conditions, no matter how long you've had it, you can reach into this pouch and pull out a live spider. Bottom of the ocean, elemental plane of fire, greater consumptive field... nothing will stop you from finding that spider, turning it into a snack, and being able to reach in and find another.

Not weird enough? Thanks to sunburst, every spell component pouch also contains fire. Just... endlessly burning, fuelless fire. Never fiddle with flint and steel again; just ask your wizard buddy to give you a light.


Component Arts

Okay, weird is good, but if the spell component pouch is technically an endless fount of certain materials, what can we actually make use of?

Well, for one thing, your unassuming spell component pouch contains loads of food. An infinite supply of cheese, all the high-grade sushi you can eat, delicious steak tips, cornmeal and butter for cornbread, olive oil for cooking, honeycomb, molasses, salt, garlic and sesame for flavor, and some distilled liquor to wash it down. Plus, all the firewood and charcoal you'd need to cook it. You can make a damn fine meal with a spell component pouch, but the question rises, what about pots and pans for cooking and utensils for eating? Well, for the canny wizard-factory, you've got unlimited supplies of iron, leather, copper, brass, silver, and cotton - great for your Fabrication needs. If you want to get esoteric, you've also got a LOT of magnets. Of course, if you don't feel like cooking, you can always just reach in and pull out a snack.

Venturing outside of the core spells always gives a player plenty of exciting new options - and the same is true for anyone just eyeing spell components. Thanks to scent from the Spell Compendium, any aspiring chef also has access to mustard and pepper. Low-light vision from Unapproachable East requires a small candle - though why you wouldn't just light one of your infinite candles rather than cast the spell, I couldn't tell you. Ice assassin is especially funky, since it suggests you have the hair or toenail clippings of every single life form, even deities, all in your pouch.

In the realm of the truly morbid, the Book of Vile Darkness has a number of spells with ooky-spooky spell components that of course don't come with a price tag. Abyssal might calls for "the heart of a dwarf child," boneblast requires "the bone of a small child that still lives," and crushing fist of spite ensures you have "a severed hand from a good-aligned human cleric." Dip over to Heroes of Horror and chain of sorrow guarantees you a lifetime supply of "the umbilical cord of a stillborn child." Just think, exalted spellcasters have to fumble past all this stuff every time they reach for spell components.

What's the absolute top shelf? The infamous apocalypse from the sky calls for an artifact. And remember - technically, they have no market price! Yes, there is a Sphere of Annihilation inside every spell component pouch. Only pull it out if you really need it.