Upcoming DnD book ‘Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk’ introduces Mind Crystals, a new class of consumable DnD magic items that grants all the magic-using DnD classes access to the Sorcerer’s metamagic abilities. Seven classes of Mind Crystal were revealed on Tuesday in a preview article on DnD Beyond.
Metamagic alters a spell’s properties, messing with its range, duration, power level, or some other actor. Each Mind Crystal is a one-use magic item that allows a spellcaster to modify one spell with a specific form of metamagic.
Here are the seven types of Mind Crystal, and the effect they have:
| Mind Crystal | Effect |
| Careful | Up to three creatures caught within the area of effect of a spell that allows a saving throw automatically pass. |
| Distant | Adds 100’ feet range to a ranged spell, or gives a touch spell 30’ range |
| Empowered | Reroll up to three damage dice |
| Extended | Double the duration of a spell with a duration of at least one minute, up to a maximum of 24 hours |
| Heightened | An enemy has disadvantage on its first saving throw against your spell |
| Quickened | Reduce a spell’s casting time from an action to a bonus action |
| Subtle | Removes the somatic and verbal components of a spell |
The article notes that the crystals do have some limitations. They can only be used on spells with a casting time of one action, so they won’t work on rituals.
Only one Mind Crystal can be applied to a spell at a time, and they don’t stack with Sorcerer metamagic. Should you use a Mind Crystal to cast a spell that fails, the crystal is still consumed – though it is still a shiny rock worth 50gp afterwards.
Phandelver and Below is shaping up to be a really interesting return to a classic DnD starter adventure. The new book is three times the length of the original adventure, tinkers with the gender balance of characters to make it more inclusive, and adds the terrifying Illithid Baddies from Baldur’s Gate 3 alongside other cosmic horror monsters. Not to mention that the cover for the special edition is metal as hell.