Reuel Havelock's Cantrip Compendium: Master Edition

Expand the Magic

Not every challenge is overcome with fire and lightning. Some require patience, ingenuity, careful observation...or simply the right spell at the right moment.

Reuel Havelock’s Cantrip Compendium began with a simple idea: minor magic deserves more attention. Cantrips may be the smallest spells a caster learns, but they are also the spells most likely to become part of everyday life. They unravel mysteries, solve practical problems, support professions, aid companions, and occasionally find uses no one had in mind when the spell was first created.

The Compendium is presented as an in-world collection assembled over more than fifty years by the renowned archmage Reuel Havelock. Alongside the spells themselves are Havelock’s observations, correspondence, field reports, historical accounts, and comments from some of the scholars, soldiers, clergy, adventurers, and former students whose paths crossed his own. These entries do not change how the spells work. Instead, they show how people within the world actually use, understand, debate, and sometimes misunderstand minor magic.

At its heart, this is still a practical Fifth Edition supplement, compatible with both the 2014 and 2024 rules. The already completed Core Edition contains 50 original cantrips, with optional higher-level scaling for almost all of them, together with 17 spell catalysts that offer new ways to enhance compatible magic. The goal of this project is to expand that completed Core Edition into the Master Edition, with new artwork, more spells, catalysts, and other options for exploring just how much can be done with the smallest forms of magic.

Want to See More Before You Back?

Pages from Reuel Havelock’s Cantrip Compendium is a free preview supplement with sample content from the project, including cantrips, catalysts and examples of the stretch goals.

Cantrips

The mix of cantrips in the Core Edition is deliberately lopsided: 29 utility spells, 13 encounter spells, and only eight primarily intended for combat. So yes, there are spells for making enemies regret standing where they are, but most of the collection is aimed at everything else adventurers do. That means magic for investigation, crafting, exploration, social encounters, and practical problem-solving. The sort of spells that make you look at an awkward situation and think, 'Wait. I have something for this.'

Almost every cantrip also includes higher-level scaling at 5th, 11th, and 17th level. Even the combat cantrips do not just add additional damage, but instead improve in ways that keep the cantrip’s base identity in mind. Utility and encounter spells improve too, whether through greater range or duration, additional effects, stronger effects, or other increases appropriate to what the spell actually does.

The Core Edition contains 50 cantrips, and I already have another 50 ready to be added to the Master Edition through the stretch goals.

Catalysts

The second section of the book is devoted to arcane catalysts. Catalysts are unusual natural or magical materials that can be used during casting to temporarily enhance compatible spells. Their effects vary widely, from making a spell reach farther or affect a larger area to helping it overcome defenses it might normally struggle against.

The Core Edition includes 17 catalysts, each tied to a specific creature, plant, mineral, or other source within the world. They are meant to be things characters can discover, collect, trade, and deliberately seek out, adding another layer of choice to spellcasting without changing how the underlying spells work. There are another 23 catalysts prepared and ready to be added to the Master Edition through stretch goals.

Why Kickstarter?

The Core Edition of Reuel Havelock’s Cantrip Compendium is already complete and will not be revised as part of this campaign. In fact, the proofs have already been received, as shown below. Please note that the proofs reflect an earlier version that used a blue parchment background. The current version is identical in content and layout but now has a cream background.

The primary purpose of this Kickstarter is to raise the money needed to commission original artwork for the Master Edition. I can write, edit, and lay out the material, but original fantasy art is one part of the process I cannot simply manufacture at my desk. I am no graphic artist; I can modify stock images, create composites, and otherwise adapt existing artwork, but my skill set does not extend to devising something from scratch.

The more the campaign raises, the more artwork I can commission. Any new artwork or other improvements funded through the Kickstarter may build on material that first appeared in the Core Edition, but those changes will appear only in the Master Edition. The goal is simple: take a completed core book and use the campaign to build a more fully illustrated and expanded master edition around it.

Rewards

I decided to keep the reward tiers simple. Rather than making you choose between digital and softcover versions when you pledge, any reward or add-on that includes a print-on-demand title also includes the softcover POD code as well. You can decide later whether you want a printed copy or whether the PDF is all you need. If you do order a printed copy, you will pay DriveThruRPG directly for the cost of printing and shipping.

That leaves just three reward tiers. The already completed Core Edition and my previously released titles are also available as add-ons.

$1 - Thanks!

• Havelock’s Correspondents PDF

Use this tier to mix-and-match with my add-ons if you don't want the Master Edition.

$13 - Master Edition

• RHCC Master Edition PDF
• RHCC Core Edition PDF
• Havelock’s Correspondents PDF
• Softcover POD code for the Master Edition

$19 - All-In

• RHCC Master Edition PDF
• RHCC Core Edition PDF
• Cantrips Reimagined PDF
• Mastery Progression for Utility Cantrips PDF
• Havelock’s Correspondents PDF
• Softcover POD codes for the RHCC Master Edition
• Softcover POD codes for the RHCC Core Edition
• Softcover POD codes for Cantrips Reimagined

Why No Hardcover?

I originally planned to offer hardcover versions of both the Core Edition and the Master Edition, but after reviewing physical proofs for each I decided the additional cost did not provide enough benefit to justify the higher price to my backers. The hardcover uses the same interior printing as the softcover while costing more than twice as much to manufacture, and the softcover also opens more comfortably. Therefore, I have chosen to offer only the softcover version at this time.

However, if there is enough positive feedback from backers for a hardcover version, I may reconsider. If I do, the corresponding hardcover POD code will be added at no additional pledge cost; backers would pay only the applicable DriveThruRPG printing cost and shipping when ordering their copy.

Add-ons

Discover the Magic Beyond the Battlefield

Not every challenge is overcome with fire and lightning. Some require patience, ingenuity, careful observation...or simply the right spell at the right moment.
For more than fifty years, Archmage Reuel Havelock gathered the practical magic adventurers rely upon long after the battle has ended. Whether unraveling mysteries, crafting solutions, aiding companions, or exploring forgotten places, these spells offer new possibilities for everyday magic.

Inside you'll find:

• 50 original cantrips compatible with the 2014 and 2024 Fifth Edition rules.
• Cantrips for investigation, crafting, exploration, social encounters, and combat.
• Higher-level scaling for every spell.
• In-world commentary, illustrations, and historical notes that bring the collection to life.

Note: This is the already completed 50-cantrip Core Edition, not the Master Edition for this project.

In 5E, cantrips rarely change once chosen. How many times has a player wished they had a different utility cantrip for the situation at hand?

This supplement introduces Readied Cantrips – temporary cantrips maintained through study, practice, prayer, experimentation, or meditation. Spellcasters gain the flexibility to prepare different utility magic over time without replacing the permanent cantrips that define their characters.

Rather than replacing the official rules, these options build upon them, giving Dungeon Masters complete control over how much flexibility they wish to introduce.

This supplement introduces a simple optional system that allows utility cantrips to grow alongside the characters who wield them. Rather than increasing damage, these enhancements represent deeper understanding, greater versatility, and refined magical techniques developed through years of practice.

Inside you'll find enhanced progression options for classic utility cantrips from the 2014 and 2024 Player's Handbook, along with selections from Xanathar's Guide to Everything. As characters reach higher levels, their magic gains new applications and capabilities while remaining true to the spirit of the original spells.

With the rewards and add-ons out of the way, here’s where the campaign starts to grow.

Stretch Goals

The stretch goals below expand the Master Edition with additional cantrips, catalysts, and more. All stretch goal game content is already complete, so these goals determine what is included in the Master Edition, not whether the content can be created.

Additional content available through stretch goals includes

• Spell Fusions combine the effects of two or more related cantrips into new leveled spells, creating broader or more versatile tools than the individual cantrips provide on their own.
• Cantrip and Caster Feats provide new options for characters to improve their cantrips, specialize in particular kinds of magic, or use their spells more effectively.
• Cantrip-based Magic Items either help characters learn or improve cantrips, or put simple magical effects into useful objects.

An example of each of these new features may be seen in the Pages from Reuel Havelock’s Cantrip Compendiumsupplement.

Once all 15 stretch goals have been unlocked, the Master Edition will have become the Grandmaster Edition and will have grown to include:

• 100 cantrips
• 40 catalysts
• 9 spell fusions
• 10 feats
• 17 magic items (one specifically for catalyst users!)

And if the campaign keeps going, the GrandMaster Edition will become the Archmage Edition and continue to grow! For every additional $500 raised beyond the final stretch goal, I’ll poll backers on what they’d most like to see added next – more cantrips, catalysts, spell fusions, magic items or perhaps even something new. More feats will be the one exception; there are only so many useful caster-focused feats I can add without treading too heavily on ground other designers have already covered.

Fulfillment

All rewards and add-ons will be fulfilled through DriveThruRPG. Backers will receive codes for the digital titles included with their pledge, along with any applicable print-on-demand codes.

Rewards that include POD access will provide the code for the softcover edition, allowing you to decide later whether you want a printed copy.

Printing and shipping costs are not included in your pledge. If you order a physical copy, those costs will be paid directly to DriveThruRPG when the POD code is redeemed.

Estimated Delivery

Mastery Progression for Utility Cantrips: November 2026

Cantrips Reimagined: November 2026

RHCC Core Edition: November 2026

RHCC Master Edition: April 2027

The first three titles are already complete and the codes will be delivered as soon as Kickstarter processing and DriveThruRPG fulfillment allow. The final Master/Grandmaster/Archmage Edition requires additional commissioned artwork, final layout, proofreading, print preparation, and proof approval, so it is scheduled for April 2027.

Human-Created Content

No AI-generated content or artwork is used in Reuel Havelock’s Cantrip Compendium or the other products offered through this campaign. Existing illustrations use licensed stock artwork, photographs, and other human-created sources that I have modified or composited for the books.

Funds raised through this Kickstarter will allow me to replace or supplement more of that material with original artwork commissioned from human artists.