d60 Mundane Magical Bindings

A list of everyday household things that might be incorporated into magic circles, bindings, and wards.

Some of the items on the list are traditionally associated with magic, like chalk and mirrors, but most aren't. The idea is that all the items listed could reasonably be found inside an average modern household or be obtained without any raised eyebrows from the neighbors or local authorities. What the DIY mage does with them will probably need to be hidden, or at least camouflaged, but they're not trying to get questionable or illicit magical materials on Craigslist.

The resulting wards/circles/bindings/whatnot also have the potential to be delightfully creepy.

Imagine walking into a room lined floor to ceiling with dolls, their eyes all fixed on the center of the floor where a hopscotch grid is drawn in brightly-colored sidewalk chalk. Each of the grid's cells is labeled with a scrawled prime number and contains a shot glass full of something opaque and unidentifiable. The middle cell's glass contains a single hand-forged nail wrapped in thin copper wire and dark green silk thread.

What does this binding do? Don't know, don't want to. Get the hell out and forget you saw it.


It's a d60 list because the d60 is a shamefully unloved and underused die. If you don't have a d60, roll a d30 and a d6. If the d6 is odd, take the result of the d30 as usual. If the d6 is even, add 30 to the d30's value.

If you don't have a d30, maybe you should.

Roll as many times as you like.


(Note: I wrote this to use with modern settings, mostly Hunter, but over 2/3 of the stuff could probably fit in just about any time period where the concept of a household exists. Like bricks. Bricks are old. If you use it for a different time period and roll an anachronism, follow your heart.)


d60 Mundane Magical Bindings

1) Twist ties
2) A doll set on guard (1 more than one, 2 non-doll classic toy (teddy bear, rocking horse, toy soldier, sprung jack-in-the-box), 3 modern toy (Barbie, ninja turtle, transformer, troll doll), 4 is pristine, 5 is dirty, broken, or mutilated, 6 has ritual markings or strange parts)
3) Non-figure toy (1 marbles, 2 jacks, 3 dice, 4 dominoes, 5 pogs, 6 trading cards, 7 cars, 8 plastic animals)
4) Tacky Souvenirs (1 somewhere you've been, 2 somewhere you've not been, 3 somewhere famous (ex: Vegas), 4 somewhere obscure (ex: Pope Lick, TN))
5) Lawn ornaments
6) VHS tapes ( 1 intact, 2 unspooled, 3 cassette tape, 4 Betamax)
7) Buttons
8) Old clothes (1 rags, 2 casual, 3 formal, 4 vintage, 5 kids, 6 national costume)
9) Old electronics (1 last model, 2 last year's model, 3-4 decades old, 5 retro/vintage, 6 antique)
10) Outdated electronic cords and charge cables
11) Books (1 children's, 2 novels, 3 biographies, 4 repair manuals, 5 text books, 6 cook books, 7 field guides, 8 holy)
12) Bubble Wrap
13) Keys
14) Plastic bags
15) DVDs/CDs
16) Magazines (1 tabloid, 2 popular-vapid, 3 popular-educational, 4 trade publication, 5 scholarly journal, 6 kid's)
17) Broken components (1 appliance, 2 vehicle, 3 computer, 4 other electronic, 5 scientific, 6 industrial)
18) Holiday decorations (1 garlands, 2 ornaments, 3 jack-o-lanterns, 4 decorated eggs, 5 bead necklaces, 6 buntings/swags, 7 nutcracker, 8 fake webbing)
19) Paperweights
20) Confetti
21) Newspapers
22) Film canisters
23) Sheets
24) Light fixtures (1 floor lamp, 2 stained lass shade, 3 night light, 4 desk lamp, 5 goose neck, 6 vintage, 7 tacky, 8 lava lamp)
25) Cans (1 soup, 2 pop, 3 other food, 4 open, 5 sealed, 6 empty)
26) Eating utensils
27) Dishes/china (1 intact, 2 chipped, 3 dirty, 4 bowl(s) full of something)
28) Pots and Pans
29) Bottles (1 full, 2 empty, 3 colored/opaque glass, 4 hanging, 5 tiny, 6 holds something odd/alive)
30) Salt and pepper shakers (1 ornate/valuable material, 2 industrial, 3 kitschy, 4 mismatched, 5 spilled, 6 full of something else)
31) Glassware (1 shot glass, 2 tumbler, 3 goblet/wineglass, 4 stein, 5 colored-matching, 6 colored-eclectic, 7 full of something, 8 novelty shape)
32) Nails (1 pounded in a pattern, 2 laying loose, scattered or arranged, 3 rusty, 4 giant/railroad spikes, 5 hand forged, 6 securing… something)
33) Random hardware (1 screws, 2 eye bolts, 3 hooks, 4 hinges, 5 doorknobs, 6 drawer pulls)
34) Pipe (1 lead, 2 copper, 3 PVC, 4 aluminum, 5 steel, 6 garden hose)
35) Bricks
36) Cinder blocks
37) Bathroom tiles (1 square, 2 rectangle, 3 hexagon, 4 octagon, 5 tiny, 6 large)
38) Sharpie/paint pen (1 mundane text, 2 arcane text, 3 warnings, 4 complex diagrams, 5 crudely-done drawings, 6 nauseating patterns, 7 repeating shapes, 8 tally marks, 9 some kind of code…, 10 roll 2d10 and use both)
39) Paint (Roll on the sharpie (38) sub-table plus: 11 one wall a solid color with evidence of being painted again and again, 12 an incredible mural)
40) Crayon (Roll on the sharpie (38) sub-table plus: 11 children's drawings, 12 piles of melted crayons)
41) Chalk (Roll on the sharpie (38) sub-table plus: 11 a brightly-colored hopscotch court with only prime numbers, 1 a loosely-sketched labyrinth)
42) String (1 circle, 2 staked between points (in shapes, lines, figures, at different heights), 3 wrapped around objects, 4 in knots, 5 hanging loose or draped around, 6 soaked in glue and formed into 3D shapes, 7 wound into balls, 8 hanging with weights or supporting random junk)
43) Rope (1 natural fiber, 2 synthetic, 3 twist, 4 braided)
44) Chain (1 fine, 2 medium, 3 heavy-duty, 4 rusty, 5 unusual material, 6 covered in locks)
45) Thread (Roll on the string (42) sub-table plus: 9 looped into a web, 10 silk, 11 difficult to see, 12 in 1d30 different colors)
46) Tape (1 scotch, 2 masking, 3 painter's, 4 duct, 5 electrical, 6 packing, 7 surgical, 8 old and brittle)
47) Wire (1 thin gauge, 2 heavy gauge, 3 copper, 4 silver, 5 steel, 6 bare, 7 coated, 8 multi-strand, 9 anodized, 10 kinked and twisted)
48) Bungee cords
49) Mirrors
50) Wood (1 sticks, 2 logs, 3 split firewood, 4 untreated lumber, 5 furniture fragments, 6 whole dead sapling)
51) Shells (1 clam, 2 snail, 3 zebra mussel/razor clam, 4 tropical/saltwater shell)
52) Piles of small objects (1 beans, 2 beads, 3 rice, 4 hex nuts, 5 bottle caps, 6 chicken bones)
53) Rocks
54) Meat
55) Broken glass (1 from bottles/glassware, 2 safety glass cubes, 3 long shards, 4 colored/stained)
56) Shredded paper (1 hand-torn, 2 strips, 3 cross-cut, 4 could be pieced back together)
57) Sawdust (1 common wood, 2 exotic wood, 3 from a local tree, 4 fresh)
58) Tea (1 loose leaves, 2 bagged, 3 in containers, 4 the brewed drink)
59) Coffee (1 whole bean, 2 fresh ground, 3 used grounds, 4 instant crystals)
60) Cardboard (1 tubes, 2 boxes, 3 large sheets, 4 made into something structural)