The following section examines those material components that appear in many different spells. They are the fundamental ingredients of arcane magic. Mages will stock up on these products at botanicas (see Chapter 4, Buying and Selling Components) and gather them where they can. Although many of these ingredients are deemed to be of ‘negligible cost’ in the SRD, we shall find that there is good money to be made from them.
The quantity of material needed for any one spell may be of negligible cost, but it must be borne in mind that a supply of any one material will certainly not be of negligible cost. For example, several spells call for a drop of mercury but mercury is sold by the phial, not by the drop. Trying to acquire a drop of mercury would be like walking into a grocery store and asking for ‘a pinch of salt’. We look at the costs of suitable spell components and the outlets that stock them in Chapter 4.
Miniatures and Models
It is common for tiny representations of a thing to be used in arcane magic. This goes back to the old principle that the image of a thing or person, when charged with a suitable amount of arcane energy, is the person. Changes wrought upon the small have a parallel effect on the large. Miniatures are therefore usually linkage components, used to make a magical link between something the spellcaster can easily control and something he could not control without magic. Sometimes, miniatures are mythic resonance components, in which a given power or idea is expressed in symbolic form. For example, a tiny silver ear trumpet could be used to represent ‘hearing’.
Miniatures are usually considered to be ‘of negligible cost’ but this takes no account of the time and trouble that goes into making them. Anyone who thinks that (for example) a tiny silver ear trumpet should be available for free has clearly never tried to make one.
Metals
Metals have fascinated magicians for thousands of years. They have seen them as an allegory of the obstinacy of matter, resisting the magician’s will to change the world. The quest to transform base metals into gold was, for many years, the magical objective par excellence. The quantities of metal used in arcane magic are typically very small. Usually, a pinch of filings or a tiny length is enough.
Each metal is supposed to have its own nature, character and correspondences. Mages of the past have assigned each metal a ‘sympathy’ based upon its planetary nature. In your game world, you need not abide by the conventional attributions, especially since the solar system of Earth does not exist in most campaigns. However, should you wish to allocate the various metals to planets or Gods in your campaign, you can use the historical symbolism as a guideline.
Iron
The magnetic qualities of iron make it the perfect metal to represent the forces of crude arcane magic. It is simultaneously strong, hard and mundane, yet its magnetic attributes convey the idea of an invisible power surrounding it. Iron is used in enlarge and reduce spells as an essence component and is employed in hold person spells in the same way. Iron, like lead, can also be used as a deadening metal. It is employed as such as an essence component in the creation of an antimagic field. This quality of iron explains why many Fey creatures have an antipathy toward it.
In the conventional attribution, iron is the metal of Mars, representing the most direct and practical application of magic.
Copper
Copper is pre-eminently the metal of conductivity, transmission and sending. It is employed as a linkage component or as a focus in many spells to do with passing information from person to person, such as detect thoughts, sending and message.
Copper is traditionally attributed to Venus, the planet of love and binding, which is why it serves so well as a linking agent.
Mercury
Mercury, or quicksilver as it is sometimes called, is symbolically associated with writing, with mutability and with swiftness. It is the basis of the mixed substance used to inscribe a symbol, with the other major constituent being phosphorous, for which see below. The fluid qualities of mercury make it the perfect transference component to use in a polymorph any object spell. Philosopher’s mercury is a much rarer form, requiring exacting alchemical work to produce. The DC to make it is 20 and untreated mercury must be supplied as a raw material; it sells for 30 gold pieces per flask. It may be recognised by its bluish tinge and the way that it glows faintly in the dark. Its primary use is as a reagent in other alchemical work, though it can be used in some spells. Some alchemists believe it to be a step on the way to the legendary philosopher’s stone, which has the power to transmute base metals to gold and prepare the elixir of life.
Mercury is called after the planet of the same name, said to be the messenger of the Gods, sovereign over writing.
Silver
Silver dust is the single most common component used in divine magic. Symbolically, silver stands for purity, though this is not necessarily a ‘good’ quality; silver dust is used to create unholy water as well as the holy version. Silver is usually used as a magical fixative, a form of permanent linkage component. For example, the spell chain lightning involves the use of silver pins, each one used to ‘lock’ the arcs to a target.
When used in powdered form, as it so often is, silver binds the energy of a spell into a substance, a thing or an area. For example, a large quantity of silver dust is used in the consecrate spell. If a caster needs powdered silver in a hurry, 50 silver pieces may be ground down into one pound of silver dust, if the proper tools are to hand. For more information on tools for component preparation, see Chapter 4.
Silver is said to be the lunar metal. The moon has connotations of virginity, purity and constancy; though she changes, she is ever the same.
Gold
Gold is not often used in magic, except as a component in foci. When it is used in dust form, it is a fixative much like silver dust, with a particular sympathy for locks, wards and barriers. It is most commonly used as an essence component. It takes the equivalent of 50 gold coins, ground down, to produce a pound of gold dust.
Gold is, in the conventional symbolism, the metal of the sun. As such, gold is a ready source of positive energy for those who know how to tap it. It is a curious fact of life that the holy symbols of good religions are often made from gold.
Lead
Lead is practically never used in magic. Its heavy, sluggish nature makes it the very antithesis of magical force. It is therefore used as a blocking agent. It is mentioned here because of its use as a barrier to magic, most particularly detection spells such as detect magic or detect secret doors. It takes only a thin sheet of lead to scupper such magical forces completely. The one and only use of lead as a material component is in the illusory script spell, in which lead-based ink is used. In this case, the lead serves to block the attempts of the reader to perceive the true writing under the illusory script.
Lead is ascribed to the planet Saturn, traditionally believed to be the outmost planet, the setter of boundaries, the one beyond which it is impossible to pass. This contributes to the idea of lead as a blocker.
Minerals
Most minerals have to be produced by alchemists. They are rarely found in their natural state and must be extracted from mineral salts or other substances such as bones, shells and urine. A spellcaster wishing to buy a supply must therefore negotiate with a botanica or an alchemical supplier. One cannot simply dig mercury out of the ground, or chip sulphur from rocks. Mineral extraction is often a tedious, exacting process, requiring many hours of distillation and refinement to produce the end result. For this reason, minerals are certainly not ‘of negligible cost’.
Alum
Alum is an astringent. It is alleged to make a person’s face screw up, as if in disgust, if it is placed in the mouth. Together with vinegar, which also causes the face to grimace, it forms a mythic resonance component for the antipathy spell; the provocation of a disgusted expression causes the necessary sensations of revulsion to arise.
Crystal and Glass
Crystal is most commonly used as a linkage component. Its transparency and its regular structure make it an ideal analogue for invisible or transparent magical forces. Shapes fashioned in crystal are used as the basis for forms cast from magical energy, especially in evocations of the force variety. A good example is tiny hut, which is derived from a crystal bead. The sphere is patterned on the bead, which is destroyed when the spell ends, not when it is first cast. The various sphere spells work on a similar basis.
Both glass and crystal are cool to the touch and resemble ice, so they are used as essence components or foci for spells that involve the production of cold, with cone of cold being the classic example. They may also be used to generate static electricity, a crucial part of electrical spells like lightning bolt and chain lightning.
The other important attribute of crystal is its ability to refract light. The division of clear light into a spectrum is what powers such spells as hypnotic pattern and rainbow pattern. This splitting up and analysis of light is used as in accordance with the principle of mythic resonance to analyse arcane text, by means of the read magic spell. Arcane hieroglyphs are viewed through a crystal prism, which breaks them down into comprehensible language.
The crystalline matrix within any single piece of crystal may be used to contain energies or spirits, as it is orderly, labyrinthine and rigid. Mere crystal is too weak a substance to act as an effective prison; it can however be used as a focus in a magic jar spell when properly prepared. True gemstones are much better for this purpose.
Mica
Mica is a form of silicate, transparent, extremely bright and brittle. It is like a kind of naturally occurring glass. The brittleness of mica makes it useful as a transference component in shatter spells; the friability of mica is momentarily transferred to the objects in question and as the chip is broken, the objects also break, assuming of course that they fail their saving throws. Ground mica is a scintillating powder, explaining its use in the glitterdust spell.
Phosphorous
Phosphorous is usually found as a whitish substance that glows in the dark and burns fiercely when ignited. The light given off by a lump of phosphorous is minimal. It is enough to see the object but not bright enough to read by. It is used to create luminous paint and has been involved in the creation of fake ghosts that seem to glow spectrally through the trees, an old smuggler’s trick. ‘Phosphor’ is sometimes used as a second term for phosphorous but can also refer to any glowing substance.
The fiery sympathies of phosphorous mean that its essence is used in fire spells that involve steady burning over a space of time. For this reason it is employed in such spells as fire shield and wall of fire. The power of phosphorous is also employed in symbol spells; it is the element that makes the completed symbol glow faintly and keeps it supplied with energy. When used in the rainbow pattern spell, the glow of the phosphor piece becomes the basis of the psychedelic traces left in the eyes of the victim.
Phosphorous is toxic, making it dangerous to handle, but is nonetheless used in many alchemical preparations such as alchemist’s fire and tindertwigs. If ingested, phosphorous acts as a poison equivalent to arsenic, for which see the SRD.
Pitch
Pitch (which includes bitumen) is a viscous black tar, sticky and flammable. In the mundane world it is used as a waterproofing and surfacing agent. In magic, it is most commonly a transference component. The stickiness of pitch lends itself to the caster’s hands and feet in the spider climb spell, while its famed blackness (as in the phrase ‘pitch black’) is tapped for the darkness spell.
Lime
Lime is a corrosive powder that can be extracted from certain salts or produced by burning oyster shells. It is used in mundane crafts for making glass and mortar. In arcane magic, it is used as a transference component, because of its role in mortar-making; the quality of the lime that sets the mortar hard is drawn upon in such spells as transmute mud to rock, statue and transmute stone to flesh, all spells which involve the transmutation of a soft substance into a hard stony one.
The use of lime in building is also recalled in secure shelter, in which it is the essence component that provides the mortar to bind the magically produced bricks together. Its only other use is in the greater magic weapon spell, in which it is used as a transference component, lending its fierce corrosiveness to the weapon and thus enhancing its damage.
Sulphur
Sulphur is a bright yellow and quite brittle substance that burns easily and gives off stinking fumes. It is also known by the name of ‘brimstone’ and many older spell texts refer to it by that title. It is universally associated with fire, particularly with the fires of the Nine Hells, which are frequently described as sulphurous; some accounts even mention a lake of boiling sulphur in which the damned are tormented.
Sulphur is the characteristic essence component of destructive fire spells, the most famous of all being fireball. It is usually consumed as an essence component, though there is at least one instance of it being used in accordance with mythic resonance principle; sulphur being associated with fire, its use in the halt undead spell recalls the vulnerability of some powerful undead creatures to fire and draws upon that. The garlic that serves as the second material component in the spell works in exactly the same way, tapping the vulnerabilities of a potent undead creature.
Earth, Rock, Stone and Clay
One can obtain ordinary earth simply by scooping it up from the ground. It is used as a linkage component in the move earth spell and as a transference component in stone to flesh. Clay is used to represent earth becoming fluid as water is added to it, an obvious transference component for rock to mud.
Graveyard dirt is a very common component of dark magic. The theory of innate transference holds that a substance that has been in proximity to a creature acquires some of the essence of the creature. So, the dirt from a graveyard can be used in the detect undead spell, because it is sympathetic to corpses. The dirt from a ghoul’s grave can similarly be used in the ghoul touch spell.
Gemstones
Were it not for the need to use precious gems in so many high-level spells, there would be a lot more dangerous magic in the world. As it is, the requirement for gems places a limit on the casting of some of the more potent spells, which is generally felt to be a good thing by many who are not themselves spellcasters. The number of gems in the world is not infinite and their consumption in magic only adds to their value. A precious diamond is rare enough as it is; the crushing of diamonds by wizards and sorcerers only serves to lessen the numbers and thus push the price up even further.
Diamond
Diamonds are a rich source of arcane energy; save perhaps the energy extracted from a willing sacrificial victim, there is no energy richer. When used as foci, they are always used intact, as the robust crystalline structure of the diamond acts as an anchor for the arcane forces. When used as a component, they are used in powder form. When used in arcane magic, powdered diamond is always an essence component, with the single exception of the stoneskin spell, in which it is a transference component.
Diamond is used when a lot of energy needs to be bound into a small space, as in the case of the symbol and glyph spells. This is analogous to the diamond itself, which stores a wealth of value and resilience in a small, glorious form. When used in divine magic such as raise dead and restoration, the diamond or diamond dust used is a sacrifice component.
Ruby
The deep red of the ruby stone is associated with ‘force and fire’, also having connotations of blood and the heart. It is used as an essence component in some high-level spells such as temporal stasis (along with other gems) but is more commonly used as a transference component in continuous flame spells, when the fires dancing in the ruby’s heart are transferred to the recipient of the spell. In the simulacrum spell, the ruby dust is used as a mythic resonance component, symbolising the coursing of fresh red blood into the effigy of snow and ice, bringing it to life.
Onyx
There are several varieties of onyx, with the most popular variety in arcane magic being the black kind. This is a glossy stone the colour of a starless night, often used in funerary jewellery and tomb ornamentation. It has a powerful association with necromancy (as do most black gems) and with the energies of the negative plane.
Black onyx is used as an essence component in the creation of undead, whether this is achieved by animate dead or create undead spells. The onyx provides the energy that animates the dead body and holds it to a coherent form. Magic items that involve the creation or control of undead will always have a black onyx component.
Ivory
Though animal in origin, ivory is here listed because of its value. Ivory is associated with memory, because it comes from the tusks of elephants, whose powers of recall are supposed to be tremendous. It is thus used as a transference component in spells that deal with recalling the past, such as legend lore, or those that enhance one’s own powers of memory, such as Rary’s mnemonic enhancer. The most ingenious use of ivory in a spell is in contingency, in which the statuette of the caster is carven from ivory, so that it will ‘remember’ the trigger event that causes it to activate the spell. The ivory here is thus both a linkage component and a transference component.
As ivory is easier to work than stone, it may also be used as a simple sculpture medium when making foci, such as those used in find the path or magnificent mansion.
Pearl
Pearl is notable for its solubility in alcohol (at least in the realms of fantasy!) making it the essence component of choice in an identify spell; it is much easier to drink an infusion of dissolved gems than to release the energy from the whole stone. Black pearl, like black sapphire and black onyx, is a necromantic spell component, with its most notable use being in the circle of death spell.
Jacinth
Jacinth is a red, transparent gemstone. In arcane magic, jacinth is used only in the astral projection spell; the energy of the decomposing gemstone provides the necessary surge of energy to constitute the astral body and propel it forth. It is also used in other magical pursuits involving the astral plane, which we will examine in later chapters.
Amber
Amber is associated with electricity (the old Greek word for amber, elektros, is in fact the origin of the word) and thus with those things that arc from one point to another. It is thus used to provide the essence component for electrical spells such as lightning bolt and at least one teleportation spell, namely teleportation circle. Amber dust costs 25 gp per pound, so a very large quantity is needed to create a teleportation circle – far more than can fit into the average mage’s spell pouch.
Opal
Opals, precious stones with prismatic and variegated interiors, are used as a powerful magical preservative. Its uses include such magics as the binding spell, in the majority of variants of which the subject is kept from aging. It is also used in the carefully engraved version of the symbol spells, in which the essence of opals serves to fix and preserve the symbol’s potent magic without allowing it to leak away or be discharged prematurely.
Jade
Jade is a greenish translucent stone, said to be the fossilized spilth of dragons. Owing perhaps to a confusion of language, as the word ‘jade’ means a worn-out horse or a disreputable woman, jade is said in some folklore to be a stone of ill omen, with nothing but falsity in it. It is also supposed to have the property of encouraging deceit and altering the semblance of things. Whatever the truth of the matter may be, jade is an excellent essence component for spells of illusion and transmutation. When used as a focus, it is a catalyst for altering the reality of things, not just their appearances, which accounts for its use in the shape change spell.
Sapphire
Sapphire is a deep blue stone, with symbolic associations of open sky and sea and therefore of travel. A highly spiritual stone, it has the innate magical potential to look beyond the material part of things to higher levels of being. It is thus used as a linkage component in instant summons, which conjures an item to hand irrespective of physical barriers and as a focus component in analyse dweomer, which studies an item’s magical fields.
Black sapphire, a far more rare variant, exceeds the ordinary trans-physical refinement of sapphires and is able to penetrate to the inmost soul. This makes it the finest of all stones for necromancy. It is thus used to extract and store the soul of a victim of the soul bind spell; the stone is induced to draw out their life force, while leaving the unwanted flesh behind.
Optional Rules: Gem Dust
It is worth pointing out that individual diamonds are valued by multiple features, such as clarity, brilliance and the skill with which they have been cut, while powdered substance is valued by weight alone, as it has become homogenous. This is a vitally important consideration for any spellcaster who is out of diamond dust and needs to grind down some diamonds in order to make more.
The spellbooks are rather ambiguous sometimes on whether ‘500 gold pieces’ worth of diamond dust’ or ‘the dust of a diamond worth 500 gold pieces’ is required. Although it complicates the game, it is fair to point out that grinding a 5,000 gp diamond into powder does not create 5,000 gp worth of diamond dust, because the essence of the diamond’s value is that it is in one piece. A single large diamond is worth much more than multiple small ones that total the same weight, because large diamonds are rare and therefore worth more. It is therefore difficult to give precise rules whereby a gem in a player’s possession may be ground down into a given value of dust. The easiest way is to rule that a gem of a certain value may be ground down into dust of the same value for the purposes of that spell alone and to let the players do their own gem-crushing.
A more realistic proposal would be to state that the diamond dust that is sold in botanicas for use as a spell component is mostly made from the crudest, roughest diamonds available, a source of great glee to the dwarven miners who dig them up, as they would be difficult to sell to any other purchaser. The other source of powdered diamond and other ground-down gems is the gem cutting industry. When a jeweller is grinding away at a gem, smoothing off its facets, he is careful to keep the powder that falls away, as he knows he can sell it to the nearest magical supply shop. There are, after all, precious few other uses for powdered gem. Some jewellers use the dust from gem-grinding to make reconstituted jewels (a form of fake jewellery in which the powdered gem is bound back into a gem-like shape with clear cement) but the arcane magic industry is a far more profitable one in which to sell one’s by-products.
Incenses
Incense is a much more common component in divine magic than in arcane magic. It is used as a sacrifice component and to draw the attention of the deity concerned. When used in divination, it is a form of linkage component, the smoke rising from heaven to earth symbolising the current flowing from the earthbound petitioner to the higher powers who will answer the question. This is why it is used in divination, legend lore and commune spells.
Incense is also used as a means of imbuing a creature or a thing with holiness, or purging the taint of unholiness from it. The smoke that permeates all parts of an area is representative of the power of the deity, cleansing and consecrating whatever it touches. The process called ‘suffumigation’ consists in the application of incense smoke to a creature or thing in order to purge it in the deity’s name. This is the use of incense in such spells as hallow and unhallow and especially in the atonement spell, in which the fumes of the incense are supposed to cleanse and purify the recipient of his sin.
The use of incense in arcane magic is much more limited. It is used as an essence component in guards and wards, with the smoking incense forming the basis of the magical fog that fills all the corridors. The glowing tip of an incense stick is used to trace a hypnotic pattern; the incense itself is less relevant. Incense is however extremely valuable when performing a binding, so long as it is the right kind of incense.
Incense usually comes in the form of a powder or resinous chunks. Sticks of incense, such as we know today, are also found though they are less satisfactory for ritual use. Incenses are burned on a bed of hot charcoal within a brazier (a freestanding tripod containing a fire-burning receptacle) or a censer. A censer is a special container for burning incense, usually made from metal and hung from chains; most have short legs, so that they can be set down on a surface.
Many spells make reference to ‘costly’ or ‘rare’ incenses; a selection of these is listed below. Each one costs from 10 to 100 gold pieces per pound, depending on where the retailer is located.
Frankincense
Frankincense, or olibanum, is the most frequently used incense in spellcasting. It is the favourite incense of most good-aligned deities and is used in works of positive divine magic. It is a granular resin, whitish-orange in colour, which produces a smoke whose odour is reminiscent of hot summer days or consecrated chapels. The fragrance of frankincense is often described as rich, regal and solar.
Myrrh
Myrrh is an altogether darker incense, again a granular resin but a deeper brown colour. The scent of burning myrrh is sombre, dusky and funereal, with a bitterness to it that suggests autumn evenings and imminent loss. It is particularly suited to the workings of necromancy and of negative divine magic, such as unhallow.
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is a gentle, sweet-smelling incense produced from aromatic tree bark. It is used in devotional rites, being a popular incense to burn in front of images of one’s God. It lends clarity to divinations.
Asafoetida
Asafoetida is a stinking resin sometimes called ‘devil’s dung’. When burned, it produces a pungent aroma like sulphur or rotting onions. It is used in works of penitent magic, being the incense of choice for atonement spells. According to the Lesser Clavicle of King Belshegor, lawful evil Outsiders are especially repelled by asafoetida, which makes it a suitable ingredient to use in banishment spells directed against them.
Ambergris
Ambergris is a strange waxy substance said to be produced in the bellies of whales. On its own it is mostly flavourless but when combined with other incenses it has the effect of bringing out their best qualities, much as salt brings out the flavour of food. Ambergris is one of the most expensive of all incenses.
Patchouli
Patchouli is a heady, sensual incense. It is usually found in the form of shredded leaves. The smell of patchouli is instantly reminiscent of seduction, dissipation and vice. It is a common addition to love potions and similar herbal charms.
Gum Arabic
Gum Arabic is a transparent, gluey resin, produced from the sap of acacia trees. It is sometimes used as an incense but is mostly used as a water soluble glue. In magic, its function is to bind or encase, a role appropriate to its ‘gluey’ nature. For example, the invisibility spell uses an eyelash trapped in a lump of gum arabic as its material component; the principle of mythic resonance thus ‘binds the eye’ of those who would otherwise perceive the invisible person. Its use in sequester is much the same, with a certain elegant poetry to it. By encasing a basilisk’s eyelash in gum arabic, the caster is effectively saying ‘even the most potent gaze shall be bound by my spell’.
When used in the sphere spells, it is the ingredient that traps and encases the victims within the sphere and in such cases it operates as a transference component. An unusual use is found in polymorph any object, in which gum arabic, mercury and smoke are used to represent magically significant forms of the three states of matter; solid, liquid and gas.
Animal and Monster Parts
Pieces of creatures alive or dead are mostly used as transference components. Some are so plentiful you can literally pick them up in the street. Others require considerable risk of life and limb to get, further giving the lie to the notion that components other than those with a set value in gp are of ‘negligible cost’. Nobody who has gone out to slaughter a basilisk and bring back its eyelashes so that wizards can use them for spell components is doing so simply out of charity! The cost of such rare ingredients is addressed in Chapter 4.
Animal Hoof
Hooves are used to make glue. In the acid fog spell, they are used as a transference component to make the fog thick and tenacious.
Blood
Blood is either used to symbolise a living organic creature (in the case of the stone to flesh spell) or to tap the powers of the creature the blood came from, as in the case of the umber hulk’s blood in the guards and wards spell, this blood being the component that powers the confusion effect. Black dragon blood is used in mnemonic enhancer as an essence component, simply because the rich energy of the blood and its black colour make it ideally suited for use as magical ink.
Fur, Hair and Dung
The use of bat fur in the arcane eye spell is again as a transference component, recalling the bat’s sonar ability. Cat fur and bull hair or dung are used as simple transference components in cat’s grace and bull’s strength spells. (When fur is used to produce static electricity in such spells as lightning bolt, it does not matter what kind of fur it is.) Bat guano is used in fireball because of its high phosphorous content.
Feathers
Feathers are usually used as transference components, passing on their powers of flight to the caster, as in the case of a fly spell. They are also sometimes used as mythic resonance components, depending on the symbolic associations of the bird or the feather in question. For example, an owl feather is used in the identify spell because of the association of the owl with wisdom and learning, while a white feather is a possible component of the fear spell because of its association with cowardice. A striking use of mythic resonance is found in the foresight spell, in which the feather of a hummingbird is used to recall the phrase ‘a little bird told me’.
Eggshell
The eggshell used in the crushing hand spell is a transference component; it transfers its fragility to the targets of the spell as the magician crushes it with the glove that represents the hand. In the telepathic bond spell, it plays a quite different role, signifying that just as diverse species have certain things in common, such as the laying of eggs, so too can separate minds be interlinked.
Unicorn Horn – The Universal Panacea
As the entry on unicorns in the SRD states, the horn of a unicorn may be used as a spell component in healing spells. This has baffled some researchers, as healing spells do not have material components. Nonetheless, it is true. Any spellcaster casting a healing spell who uses a piece of powdered unicorn horn as a material component may maximise the result. For example, a cure light wounds spell automatically cures 8 points of damage plus one point per caster level. One horn can supply enough powder for 1d6+10 applications. The same amount of powder is used, irrespective of the level of healing spell used. Casters who have the Brew Potion feat may also prepare maximised healing potions using unicorn horn.
Using unicorn horn to augment a healing spell is not in and of itself an evil act. It is conceivable that a dying unicorn would wish its horn to be used to heal those who had been its friends in life. However, hunting a unicorn for its horn is definitely an evil act, while plundering the horns of dead unicorns solely for gain is unscrupulous to say the least and possibly verging on evil, at the Games Master’s discretion.
