What an arcane focus can be is listed in the Player's Handbook. If we say the player has a blue jewel and this is his arcane focus and the player put this jewel on a simple rod (not magic - any branch from a tree as example) will this combined thing be a valid arcane focus, or not?
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2 Answers
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Strictly speaking, the caster has to hold the arcane focus.
The spellcasting focus rules say (emphasis mine):
A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components — or to hold a spellcasting focus — but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.
Hence, if the jewel is put on the top of a rod and the latter is held by the caster, the jewel cannot work as an arcane focus.
The DM may (and should?) rule otherwise
Honestly, I do not see any issues coming from still treating the jewel as a working arcane focus: the hand of the caster is still occupied as requested by the rules.
Another way is to rule that the rod with the jewel works as an arcane focus: this depends on the player, if they desire that the jewel (and not the rod) is the arcane focus.
As a DM, I would allow it since I consider this as a nice touch of personalization of the character.
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2\$\begingroup\$ "if the jewel is put on the top of a rod and the latter is held by the caster, the jewel cannot work as an arcane focus". What if the jewel is placed on a glove, and the caster is holding the glove? I'd argue the caster is holding the jewel in both cases, albeit not directly. \$\endgroup\$– VaelusCommented Dec 13, 2023 at 4:45
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\$\begingroup\$ @Vaelus it depends if the jewel is on the palm of the glove (i.e. between the fingers) or not (on the back of the hand). \$\endgroup\$– EddymageCommented Dec 13, 2023 at 6:59
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Vaelus wait a minute: wearing or holding the glove? \$\endgroup\$– EddymageCommented Dec 13, 2023 at 13:36
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2\$\begingroup\$ @Vaelus no, that's different. In case of wearing, the above comment of mine answers to your observation, in case of holding it depends: if you're holding the glove by a finger, you're not holding the jewel, if you're holding the whole glove and the jewel is between your fingers, then you're holding also the focus. \$\endgroup\$– EddymageCommented Dec 13, 2023 at 13:49
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4\$\begingroup\$ @Vaelus The problem with interpreting "wearing" as "holding" for this rule applied to a glove with mounted focus, is you get to use the focus and have a free hand, which would appear to be trying to find a loophole in the rules. It would diminish the relative benefits of caster/warrior types who get to have weapons or shields as spell foci. Perhaps worth a separate question, as the whole "how are you juggling your equipment to do X?" is important to some tables, and a drag at others. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Dec 13, 2023 at 15:43
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The DM can and should make decisions like this, but there seems to be no reason to deny it. An arcane focus can be "an orb, a crystal, a rod, a specially constructed staff, a wand-like length of wood, or some similar item". The only real rule is that you have to have a hand free to manipulate the focus when casting with it.
I guess my question would be: Why not? Sticking a crystal on top of a stick to make it a rod doesn't really change anything about the focus or its use. Is it giving the player an advantage of some kind, or is it just a bit of descriptive text? If it's the latter, what's the point of litigating it?
It might be worth a crafting check or some such thing, but this sounds a lot like "I decided I want my character to look like this instead of that", which really should not be something the DM is trying to prevent.
answered Dec 12, 2023 at 19:24
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\$\begingroup\$ ... especially since a rod is one of the allowed alternatives for a spellcasting focus anyway. The rod with a crystal stuck on the end might not be the same focus as the crystal itself, but I see no particular reason why it shouldn't be allowed as a focus. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Dec 14, 2023 at 14:47