Philip Reed seems to be a name people just are not as familiar with as they should. He’s a writer of amazing creativity and his 101 line of books (101 Divine Components, 101 Mundane Treasures, etc) is a great showcase of his creativity. I have read through many of his pdfs and they never cease surprising me with a wow factor and trying to figure a way of using them in my game.
101 Arcane Spell Components is actually 127 spell components that can be used my Wizards, Sorcerers, and Bards to enhance their own magic. This 27 page color PDF is filled with different components arcane users can use. The book has some great art in it by Christopher Shy. He does the art in most if not all of Phil Reed’s books giving them a consistent style and feel. His art is forever linked the Reed’s words in my mind and makes it very easy to identify a PDF by this duo.
The PDF is a little over 4 megs in size and is fully book marked making it very easy to find things with a click of the mouse. The components are grouped together by descriptors like acid, fear, mind effecting etc. There are 18 different descriptors one of them being a miscellaneous category.
The components are mostly objects to be found to enhance spells like used hangman’s rope or a black candle. Some are more time related like casting under a full moon. And still others are more reactionary like getting damaged by acid. Each component has an Arcane Knowledge DC to learn, but they are better served if used as rewards for a quest or after a period of research. Some of them make casting the spell take a few rounds longer or in other ways alter the way the spell is cast.
Some of the components may prove to be a little strong for a campaign, so the DM should go over them first and decide if any of them should be disallowed. For instance a Wizard’s Staff can be used to double all variables of a spell. Most of the components though are not nearly so strong.
This is a very good PDF for DM’s that wish to add more flavor and variability to arcane components. It gives the PC Wizard more things to collect and keep track up, but it also gives him more options and a creativity.
Product Link: http://www.roninarts.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_10_21&products_id=12
