Don't Ignore Spell Components - Here's Why
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
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Spell components are a resource that many groups under-utilize, misuse, or in many cases completely ignore. Today we're diving into how they work and some ways to use them to enhance your campaigns.
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The best thing for me about less than a GP components is just how many are little jokes (Fireball is essentially gunpowder, especially if you go back and read it had to be rubbed between the fingers thus adding the carbon, a LOT of illusion spells involve a bit of wool, you know to pull over somebody's eyes, sending using copper wire to transmit a message over long distances like a telephone, or my favorite, detect thought having you use a copper piece... you know, a penny...} it's almost as much fun as when some people realize the implications of Cloud of Chlorine... I mean Cloudkill.
Remember to use the components for the Alarm spell to set up a tripwire with a bell if you spent all spell slots already :)
One of my DMs had an enemy sorcerer cast Chromatic Orb against us, so after the fight I asked to loot the diamond worth at least 50gp. The GM tried to say he doesn’t have one, but I reminded him that the sorcerer wouldn’t have been able to cast Chromatic Orb without it. This frustrated the DM, but I ended up one diamond richer after that.
Wizards attacking each other to steal rare components had never occurred to me.
Nobody gets any gemstones that a wizard is afraid of being used as components in spells that could harm him.
Suddenly having a jewel encrusted dagger is like having a bandolier of grenades!!
Yep, campaigns can turn fast and the trading store away seems to be full when we leave
Aren't components generally consumed in the casting?
@@cloud5buster Only if the spell specifies that the components are consumed. Chromatic Orb does not say that the diamond is consumed during the casting, so the same diamond can be used over and over again.
@@redstoneraptor8101 Thanks!
I am a huge fan of spell components from a storytelling and immersion perspective, but as a GM I don't demand them of my players as I usually steer them towards arcane foci since they aren't as immersive role-players. There is something very satisfying about, instead of saying "I raise my wand and cast fireball", saying "I get a bit of a gleam in my eye, and quickly dart a hand into a pocket, pulling out a bit of bat guano and sulfur, and raise it up as I watch fearful recognition growing in my opponents eyes before all I can see are the flames."
Keep in mind that "spell components" and "material components" are not interchangeable. An arcane focus doesn't cover all the bases, they still need to chant and gesticulate with the focus.
In case it's not clear, I'm saying this because your comment made it sound like an arcane focus replaces _all_ of that. Apologies if I got the wrong impression.
If you want your party to be better prepared for going up against a high level caster, you can give them a peak at their spell list by letting them discover what spell components they stockpile or routinely buy. That can also serve as a warning. First level party exploring a wizard's lair finds jar of octopus tentacles and on a successful arcana check nopes right out of there.
This is brilliant!! Thank you
As a dm, I've always kinda hand waved components. If the caster uses a focus, they don't even care about them, and in the phb, the component pouch that casters get sorta makes me feel like as long as a character is "preparing" their spells, they are loading their pouch with whatever they need.
I think that verbal components on stealth missions are probably the thing forgotten about the most.
I've always reminded people that sneaky casting isn't a thing unless you find a method to hide it.
But it might be forgotten indeed.
There's always Subtle Spell.
Available via 3 levels of sorcerer or the meta magic adept feat.
Pretty huge investment.
There should be a magic item or a consumable that let's you get the same effect.
@@DanaTheLateBloomingFruitLoop there is, it has a common rarity and one use
@@shadehealerI feel like if you aren't being directly observed, you can still whisper it. It's not completely quiet, people will still know if they're very close to you, but you don't have to speak at a super audible volume.
@@ArvelDrethEvery GM can run it however they feel is right, so you can definitely do it like that. I personally have ruled it that it has to be clear speech, as if talking normally, and the words are clearly not any normal language, so it'll be clear that it's casting. I think otherwise Subtle Spell becomes rather useless, and Charm spells are too good etc.
But, again, we all aim for the most fun, and I think my way is a lot of fun. It might not be, and it's definitely frustrating if you can't use Thaumaturgy subtly, but it also saves my players' butts if they see the fireball coming instead of getting surprised by it.
I'm a big fan of spellcasters being able to use replacement components (ie: wool to replace silk, peat moss to replace guano, well-made glass ball to replace pearl) if they make sense, and they pass an arcana check.
I’m a first time GM, and I am allowing the Artificer to have the Fireball components + saltpeter to make “Blasting Vials” for crossbow bolts and arrowheads. The damage would be nonmagical, but since the party is 1st Level (and lacks Sorcerers/ Wizards), I think it’s a good way to use the components, but in a way that forces the players to keep track of the components as they would now be expended through use.
Why did Beverly have to goof that god, man? What a great start to his family arc ❤️
Lol that young toegold was wild as all hell. Goof'n gods, collecting teeth...ah Cadwell you are entertaining.
I really appreciate Video. As a dungeon master who has been criticized for being a stickler about Spell components I love your take here! I even once had a Player ask if they could cast using dexterity because they were a mute wizard and had to use sign language for the verbal component. I said yes but then they would need one hand free for the verbal And one hand for the material component. I think they were hoping I wouldn't say that. If they even got grappled or were holding anything they couldn't cast. But that was one of the most fun characters ever and we had a great time. They actually thanked me for requiring compliments after the campaign
I wouldn't allow that. That's a massive advantage for a caster being able to cast silently, and the spells explicitly require speaking the words aloud
The problem with gm going "A-ha! You didn't mention you pack up a weeks worth of bat poop! no fireball for you!" is the old adage of "my character is generally a competent adventurer and wouldn't forget to take essential tools to be competent". There is no in-story reason normally for my character NOT to pack enough sulfur and crap for his needs.
On the other hand, i do like to mention my componens when im playing a wizard. Talking about throwing gemstones or waving a figurine around really adds to the "kooky, mysterious wizard aesthetic", but i can see how a 'cooler' character might seem out of place waving copper wires around. I mostly come up with my own components if i find the default ones lame, as long as the cost remains the same. Why do i NEED specifically fleece to cast minor illusion.
One cool things i did was narrate the spell component cost for find familliar during a rest as my dude meticulously carving runes into a crystal jar for an hour, then suddenly throwing the jar at a rock as hard as he can, making a tiny fairy come out of it. That gave my dude a lot more character than just going "ye i cast find familliar"
tl;dr Mention them to the players and suggest it might be cool to use them in narration, but forcing people to track them mechanically its dumb outside of prison break scenarios.
True, one should be able to assume that your character has the components for their spells. But if, say, you pick up a new spell mid-adventure, asking 'so do you actually have all those components with you?' is a perfectly reasonable complication for your DM to throw at you.
@@macdjord Overall, levelling up mid adventure often brings this type of weird quirks. Some abilities you get are quite drastic and make no sense to just be picked up overnight in the middle of a dungeon delve. New spells aren't even the stupidest thing your PC suddenly found himself able to do. But yes good point.
also your character prob has an arcane focus anyways which removes the use of it
You don't need a new ball of guano each time you cast a fireball. Spells will say when they consume a component, like with the magic mouth spell. Bat guano and sulfur is a one-and-done purchase, you don't need to treat it like tracking food.
I don't understand why ppl like this comment. The component pouch text EXPLICITLY makes clear you don't need to track em and that it contains all of them provided they don't cost money
I always make sure my players know that verbal components are LOUD, everyone in the room can hear you casting a verbal spell and knows that you are casting a spell, even if they don't know which spell in particular. You can't "stealth" cast a spell.
Similarly, somatic components are OBVIOUS. They are large sweeping gestures, grand arm movements, hip thrusts and jumping jacks. Everyone in the room knows you are casting a spell.
For material components, all my players usually pick a focus and tend to have it in hand as a consequence of being a caster. For materials with a cost I ask if players want to have to stock the items ahead of time or hand wave and subtract the gold cost from their funds at the time of casting. I haven't seen a problem either way. Some parties like to shop, others don't.
I mean, I sort of agree... But vocal components aren't yelling, just a strong voice. So, again, there is no stealth casting, but they might get away with it if the area is already noisy and people aren't paying attention.
And then somatic components I think are once again taken too far... It's more about precision or force than large motions. Once again, if there is a lot going on in a scene you might miss the wizard thrusting an item forward unless you are looking for it.
Although, there is another option: This I sort of disagree with but I remember an FAQ with Paizo (creators of Pathfinder) where someone asked if they had Still Spell, Silent Spell, and Eschew Materials (feats that remove either somatic, verbal, or material components, respectively) if they still triggered attacks of opportunity... According to them, yes. Their reason given? They claim when you cast a spell there is still a magical effect like flashing lights to indicate that you are casting a spell... This could be used as a rationale for no stealth casting ever without forcing your party wizard to break it down sexual style while screaming at the top of his lungs.
But, as I said, I disagree with that approach. Well, on certain spells... I think really it should be a case by case basis. Like if your hands sparked as you made the motions for wall of fire, that's pretty cool... But I would rather sleep merely be flicking a pinch of sand and suddenly your foes start to feel a bit drowsy... A big lightshow just for that just feels like overkill.
Also, not a big fan of the magical expenditure for costly material components... To me, that feels like asking "Do you want to keep track of arrows or not?" To an archer... Not exactly the same, but to me a similar notion. Worrying about whether you have the right supplies almost immerses you in the world further. A wizard in the game is not going to just assume he doesn't need to actually buy anything he will fret that he might not have bought all that he needs... And it could be a while until they return to town, maybe even longer until they return to a town that specifically has a magic shop.
I just use a focus and deal with the costly bits. The spell component pouch just seems like a 90s movie magazine for an action movie gun. They load it once and shoot 900 rounds, the focus just seems less silly.
I do love to read the spell components though. They are really interesting.
My Great Old One Warlock’s focus is an ancient, little, headless Mother Earth statue with tentacles coming out of the various stubs.
I think the problem with trying to make spell components relevant to a campaign is that the rules entirely bypass the no-cost ones by default. Like, the idea of breaking out of prison using a feather pulled from a passing bird is cool, but I doubt most players would think of it, considering they never had to know what components their spells used before. And if they did think of it, they'd need to derail the session for 15 minutes doing research to figure out what spells they might be able to cast if they scavenge the components.
Not to mention trying to get the bird and falling into failure theater when your idea doesn't work.
6:46 NADDPOD, I wasn't even sure it was a reference untill you asked for people to say if they got it
Love this. I've recently thought spell components were a neglected opportunity for interest and fun, but it seems like it requires very careful handling by the DM.
Current stance: The fact that arcane foci replace the need for (costless) spell components means that most campaigns I participate in find components absolutely useless - that said, I find that finding a 100gp pearl for Identify is a pretty valuable part of most new parties getting their footing in the world.
Edit: For some reason I tunnel visioned on material components - as both player and DM I've spent many a time going through spell lists figuring out what's castable through Silence, so verbal components have played a big part in that sense.
But the component pouch also does that, its the same thing
@@DimT670 Mechanically, sure, but when it comes to the storytelling aspect and describing your actions there's a huge difference. You still have to pull bat guano out of the component pouch to cast Fireball and pull a small bell with fine wire out to cast Alarm, but if you're using a wand instead they're both "I wave my wand and cast ."
my first wizard was a focus user (ORB) but now i almost exclusively run wizards as material component casters. Sigils and Foci seem more Clerical domains to me, unless its a really low magic setting then its mats for clerics too. Druids = mats, warlocs = foci, sorcerers - ither way depending on origin. Bard, their instrument is the foci. and i think that covers the gamut. if its religious or extra terrestrial in origin, the caster can use a focus, if they draw from nature, or are not innately magical (like a wizard learning spells through study rather than a sorcerers genetics) then its material components for those characters.
At the end of the day i like the roleplay value i can have if i am a crazy vagabond with a bag of bat shit, a few volcanic rocks, some feathers, various powders etc... its just cool and fun and descriptive
I'd love to hear your thoughts on these deeper dives into the basics of D&D 5e. Share your thoughts and related ideas here in the comments and let me know what you'd like to see next!
Spell components are NOT the most slept on mechanic in 5th edition. They are they most slept on mechanic in 5th, 4th, 3rd, my beloved 2nd AND mentioned in 1st. Also pre-1st Eldridge Wizardry
I don't get the need of verbal components. Speaking is just vibrating air caused by vibrating tissue. The actuall words and intend comes from the mind and can be formed without speaking.
@@PadanGedowitch Sounds like a YOU problem. I don't get the need of your textual diarea
I love the idea that they can find their material components “on the fly”
Whether as a DM or a player, I absolutely love spell components. I have a coastal Druid, who enchanted a mithril scimitar that can serve as a material component for any spell that requires the use of water so that I could cast nearly all of my water-based spells thru my sword. It also has the added effect of dealing vulnerability damage to any creatures that are vulnerable to cold damage. I feel like a lot of flavor is lost at any table that ignores material components, especially. And casting can honestly be a little boring without them. As much as this might be a spicy hot take, I actually prefer to play my casters without using items like a component pouch, ruby of war mage or sometimes even without a spell focus if it doesn’t match the theme I’m going for.
In one of the campaigns I am in, while the party was adventuring, my Wizard actually had his spell foci shatter from channeling a spell stronger than he would have been able to normally cast. He achieved the short-term need of "get this spell to work", but now he has suddenly lost access to A LOT of his spells. So he was scrounging and foraging and looting bodies to assemble what he could for components until we all got back to our base city. Then he spent a chunk of downtime having a new spell foci crafted.
Excellent stuff! Exactly this! My rule of thumb for components ever since AD&D 2e has been "Narrative Device". Finally 5e has made that easier and it's one of the things I appreciate. Details like component pouch are super. Thanks for great video!
I think of material components like spell bags or jars constructed by many practitioners of modern witchcraft. You're not necessarily waving these materials around - you just have to have them on you in a tidy, spell-specific packet. And that's what prep time is. Shuffling and rearranging your baggies of materials and deciding which ones will take up the limited physical space in your pockets, which is part of the reason there's a limit on how many spells you can have prepared.
Unless you're a warlock, in which case your pockets are just chaos, and you're constantly trailing serpent tongues and weird moss.
I have yet to DM a game where we used them. I would love to as it was one of my fav parts of playing when I was growing up. Taking time to forage and collect led to some of the best role-play experiences.
commenting at 1:33 to say I have yet to play in a game in which a caster's components were being kept track of if they were cheaper then 500gp, and have yet to run a game with an arcane caster who even used material components (playing 3.5, playing/running 5th and path 1). That being said, I'd love to run or even play a game with survival elements where the wizard has to keep track of which components they have access to. It'd also be cool to end up in an escape scenario where you have to throw components together based on what you can find (having your stuff taken away earlier). Verbal components, on the other hand, always come up when trying to be sneaky, and somatic components when being observed.
Guess: Fireball?
Edit: Yes, nice!
Last time I made a wizard I was looking for RP inspiration and noticed how interesting the listed spell components could be. I started reading them all and found that a surprising number of spell components for low level spells are edible. Thus, my eccentric wizard with combination snack/spell component pouch was born.
I'm a DM. I love the idea of spell components and would lean into it heavily if I ever get to play a character. However, all of my players were first timers when we started 4 years ago and nobody wanted the headache and went with component pouches and foci. They seem down with the idea of components playing a bigger role in a future campaign, but as it stands, not one caster has brought up any of the components while casting. I did insist that they found or purchased any of the valued components, but thats as far as it's gone.
I love the idea of a section where my wizard character lossing their arcane focus (the classic example is being in prison) and now they need to get used to material components, try to find them in creative ways and try to eventually regain their arcane focus.
Another interesting way to use this is with the components pouch specifically. Importantly, it is something that the DM should talk about with the player first before implementing it. What if you are trying to cast a spell but you ran out of the spesific component in your pouch? Preferably for plot reasons rather than just to challenge or control your players.
What if they are about to be kidnapped by the bad guys so they cast fireball but they ran out of sulfur, so when they try to cast it they realise with horror they ran out just before being taken.
It also adds flavour to it. Weaving your hands or writing runs in the air, reciting ancient incantations and combining materials just makes it more magical than rising your staff or wand and a fireball shoots out of it.
I've run grognard-style hexcrawl games using pre-1e-based retroclone rules complete with tracking rations, xp for gold, frequently replaced characters, and, yes, material components. And I've run things in more of the common modern style, with even level-one PCs being big damn heroes. This is the first time I've considered putting material components into that style. Thanks!
As a Critical Role enjoyer, I was all set to describe how my newly minted Spelljamming Irish Dwarven War Wizard dug into his spell components, just like Uncle Liam, until I remembered that I like rope and knots, and realized a space-sailor mage could totally use knotting rope as a spell focus AND somatic requirements.
Current stance: I like that silence disables verbal component spells (which is most, but not all, of them), I like using whether a spell has verbal/somatic components to help determine what kind of check is necessary to hide them (even though that's not RAW), and I like characters needing to either take war caster or keep a hand free to cast spells with S/M components. My only complaint is that a hand holding a focus can also supply the somatic components of a spell... but only if it has material components, so a character wielding a shield and staff can cast VSM spells but... not VS spells without putting the staff away. That just feels weird and bad, so I usually let a hand holding a spellcasting focus just supply the somatic components to any spell (which doubly makes sense if you're using a wand or something like that, and lets Clerics and Paladins go sword & board without having to take a feat since they can emblazon their shield)
I ran a campaign where we made every spell have some sort of component or focus (which meant adding them to some that don't) and the party were the ones who had to go out and gather components for a large Wizarding tower. Low-level spells are one thing, but what are you going to do when the Archmage wants a piece of metal ripped out of an iron golem? A scale from a green dragon? The hides of no less than six displacer beasts?? Please have them back by next month.
I had my Party fight a kraken underwater. They had water breathing from an NPC so they could cast spells just fine at the beginning. But when they angered said NPC, they lost water breathing. So they could cast but would be suffocating after casting a spell with verbal components. They realised that they suddenly couldn't heal eachother with spells. The horror on their faces was incredible. The artificerer figuerd out that they could use the bag of holding to gain some air mid fight and thus cast spells again. Which turned the fight in their favour again. At the end everyone agreed that this was obe of the most intense but fun fights in a while. Manly because of the breathing restriction.
i love playing spell casters and the idea of having to find components and keeping track of water/rations is something my annoying survival game mode brain loves that i find most other players and DMs do not want to focus on as part of the game. i generally like to make my own little spellbook zine that has everything about the spell written down with maybe some silly esoteric doodles to go with, and i like to announce what components I'm using or try to come up with the specific verbal and somatic my caster uses.
I like to flavor my characters’ spellcasting foci as having magically subsumed the material components. My Druid had a living branch wreath woven into his hair. Every time he learned a new spell, he would hold the components required up to the branch, which would send out little leafy tendrils and seal the component within. A bard can drop the material component inside the body of his mandolin, play a song, and then the instrument (the spellcasting focus) is imbued with the power of the component as it dissolves into pure magical essence.
I always forget to check tge spell components but in my most recent session I finally remembered to flavor my level 1 Wizard's Grease spell as him reluctantly biting down on a stale pork rind which squirts 10 cubic feet of grease onto the floor next to him. Its his least favorite spell to use.
I probably wouldn't use descriptions of them for every single casting of a spell so as not to drag too much time away from other players who might not care about flavor as much, but especially for first castings of a spell or big dramatic or comedic moments they're great.
I'm pretty consistent with asking what components are needed to cast spells because I want there to be some internal logic. Caster without the War Caster feat can drop their weapon as a free action to cast with somatic components, but bonus action to pick it back up.
Hard rule is spending gold to cast spells that require material components with a monetary cost. Identify = -100g and add a pearl to your inventory, no cost after that. Revivify = -300g to cast.
I like the flavor spell components add to a campaign, but tend to just go with the generic has a spell component pouch and then just don't have to worry about it. I remember I once played a goblin wizard using the naming conventions from the Iron Kingdoms book, all of the goblin names had a double meaning, the one I took meant both powerful and horrible smelling... perfect for a gobo wizard wielding the power of bat poo to drive his foes before him... from the fire not the lack of hygiene, I don't know who has been spreading those rumors about me!!!!
Edit: and to be clear when I say flavor I mean the sense of the mystical not the taste of bat poop.
start-of-video comment: we tend to ignore the cheap/common spell components, but require having the rare/expensive ones.
need a bit of fleece for minor illusion? whatevs, kevs.
but you don't get to cast resurrection without that 1,000 gp-valued diamond.
end-of-video: yeah, we pretty m7ch act as if everyone has an arcane focus 😅
i really like the immersive element of requiring all components, but it does require a rather in-depth knowledge of spellcasting and stuff. and then you'd almost need to have mini-sidequests for the casters to go on to collect uncommon components while the non-casters just twiddle their thumbs back home. idk, i think it might take a special group of players to make that work. i think almost everyone i know who plays would find the compinent requirements to be more annoying than fun.
but i do like the immersion of it!
I use spell components a lot! Many supposedly "broken" spells do not work if you actually read the spell components. Casting time and duration aren't components as such, but they are also frequently ignored. For example, if someone's actively knocking on the door and you want to use Clairvoyance to see who it is, they're probably going to leave instead of waiting ten minutes while you cast. If you use it to spy on a lengthy meeting, you'll only get information in ten minute chunks, and you'll miss every other chunk. If you cast Command on a creature and give it the order to "betray", then that command only works for a single round. Also, _who_ is it betraying? You're the last person to give it a command, so maybe it considers you to be its leader. So it betrays you! Well done playing yourself. Maybe next time, you should go with "grovel". The "up to one hour" duration doesn't apply to that royal inquisitor badge you created with Prestidigitation. It's going to vanish after one round. You'd better be quick about flashing it and be good at bluffing! Hope the guard doesn't insist on looking at it carefully. That trick might work once against an untrained group that doesn't know about simple wizard cantrips, but a prepared or trained group is going to have countermeasures.
I do have quite a bit of leniency when it comes to material components, though. We have a houserule which lets everyone do their shopping retroactively. This house rule once took the form of a magic bag, but everyone liked it well enough that we just kept it. So, suppose they need a piece of chalk to sketch something in-character, or they need a bit of cloth, a wood pipe, a flask, some fishing tackle, flint and steel, ink, quill, a whistle, nails, a collapsible pole, a stone, a belt-basically any non-magical item that's readily available and not too expensive (as determined by DM)? If they have enough space for it in their bags, then they can just pull it out of the empty space and claim that they bought it earlier or picked it up from somewhere. The cost of the item is deducted. The item is there, and is assumed to have always been there. It only works if they're carrying a bag or pack of some kind, so it wouldn't work if their gear is seized or goes missing.
This house rule works for spell components. So if they want to cast Stoneskin, they can just pull 100gp worth of diamond dust out of their robe pockets, and they'll immediately become 100gp poorer. Stoneskin consumes the spell component, so they'd need to do it again in order to cast again. If they want to cast something like Identify, they can pull a 100gp pearl out of their bag. That spell doesn't consume the component, so the pearl stays in the bag after they're done. These same rules apply to NPC spellcasters! So any NPC which casts a spell that requires a particular component will have that component among their belongings. Furthermore, I always ensure that NPCs have what they need. If you can peek inside a wizard's spell components pouch, you can work out which spells they might have prepared. However, the ultimate use for spell components is in foreshadowing and otherwise making your players nervous! Here's some examples from some campaigns I've run:
The party rogue finds several figurines among the possessions of an ally. Each are carved in the likeness of your party members. Alongside them are some rare herbs which have been separated and bound into bundles. There's a pile of herbs for each member of your party. Appraisal reveals that each bundle is worth several thousand gold. The rogue's snooping is interrupted. So, they claim to have gotten a bit lost when they were wandering around, and they are unable to take anything. If you were to betray this person, what spell should you prepare to defend against?
You interrupt a conversation between a wizard and a noble. The wizard is doing something with a small bit of honeycomb and some jade dust. What spell is the wizard in the middle of casting? Well, you rolled fairly low on your arcana check. You only remember that honeycomb is a component for a Suggestion spell. But is that _really_ the spell being casted? Should you warn the person? Attack the wizard? What if you're wrong? How long do you have until the spell is complete?
You've been invited to the palace. A barber offers to cut and style your hair for free so that your merry band ~~of murderhobos~~ will look presentable in front of Her Majesty the Queen. As he goes around from person to person, he meticulously sweeps your hair into tidy piles. Maybe he just likes a clean shop? When he's finished, he pulls out an expensive-looking silver mirror to show you your new hairstyle. Well, his clients are usually the wealthy elite, and he wants to use this as an opportunity to advertise his business. Are there any important plot points lurking in these descriptions, or it is all extra fluff?
This paranoid old wizard always keeps talcum powder about her person. What might she be trying to guard against?
You've been given a quest by a noblewoman to obtain a very specific-and expensive!-sapphire. She insists that no other sapphire will do, and will reward you handsomely upon its return. Your party decides to just buy a cheap sapphire and keep the more expensive one. Or, maybe you try, but you fail to get that exact sapphire. So, you buy one of similar value in hopes that you can pass it off as the original. Perhaps you even pay a bit extra to have the sapphire meticulously cut so that it resembles the original exactly. The reward she offers is worth more than the sapphire, so you'd still come out ahead. Upon your return, the noblewoman hands the sapphire to her wizard retainer, who says the word "will " while tightly gripping the sapphire. Suddenly, the noblewoman proclaims that you've tried to swindle her. Now her guards have their weapons all up in your face. How did the noblewoman know instantly that your party tried to cheat her? What is so special about that _exact_ sapphire?
I remember the one game where the thief character, it turned out, got sea sick _super easy_ and wanted me (Sorcerer) to cast sleep on them. They just chose to fail, but the GM still would not allow it because she had too many HP. My response to that was, "Sorry, we're not fantasy Alabama enough for me to beat you until the spell will work."
We laughed, we groaned, the table groaned, we stabbed the mimic.
Bad jokes all around!
I like the way my current DM does it. Any spell component that costs less than a couple gold is just assumed to be part of a restock run to a merchant. Anything above that actually requires the player to purchase the specific item from a vendor that would likely sell it. I like it because it reduces the excessive inventory management for casters, while also allowing powerful spells to be impactful and gives the casters more to hunt for.
So... rules as written?
This is something I enjoy about playing a Scribes Wizard, who, very logically, use their spellbook as their focus. I don’t understand why this wasn’t a base Wizard feature from the getgo, it seems just so basic to literally hold the tome in one hand and fire the spell with the other. I particularly enjoy doing little flavor bits like “to change the spell damage, I briefly alter the spell formula on one page using part of another spell formula”, or using a language like Draconic for certain spells like Dragon’s Breath.
Personally I feel like a good way to keep track of cheap material components is to simply make the spellcaster make a conscious decision during downtime to set aside part of his funds as "material components". Let's say 50 gold pieces. Whenever the spellcaster casts a spell we substract the component's value from the fund and once it gets low he can replenish it during shopping. More costly components would be of course tracked. Hand waving resurrection costs is a bit too much.
All of said components would be in a "component pouch" of sorts that can be separated from them depending on plot reasons.
I feel like keeping track of individual pieces of bat guano and what have you would be way too tedious and annoying. Party walks through a forest and passes a cave. Wizard demands they make a detour to gather bat guano. Party rolls for how much bat guano they manage to find. All of this for half of components for fireball. It may be immersive however it may quickly get annoying.
If I am thinking about how the components would've worked outside of a game, then I am pretty sure that most travelling wizards would not bother with carrying too many types of components. As such their repertoire of spells would've been much more limited.
Start of video comment: I use the hell out of spell components and try to teach my new players about this. I stash material components in weird places so if they take my focus I can pull the lightning struck branch out of my sock. This is also what makes power word spells even better. Only one component necessary and can be used while bound as long as you can speak. Finally, perform some movements that look like a spell even when you're out of spell slots to make them THINK you have big spells left. Put them skills to work charisma casters, you've got the right attributes for it. Casting is all about lateral thinking and creative use of spells, so why not creative use of every aspect including the components?
Honestly I think not using spell components is the reason so many casters are overpowered compared to martial ones. They can offer your party ways to spend the loot they aquire and opportunities in order to find certain components, turning it into a mini side adventure which the game lacks when everyone hand waves them.
I was going to be playing a bard for the first time and was super excited to use spell components. I'd played a cleric, briefly, that had a holy symbol to cast her spells, but all my other previous characters had been martials who didn't use magic. I researched what components all the spells I wanted to cast would need..only for my DM to ignore the mechanic because I was a bard and my violin was my focus. I still insisted on giving my character wire framed glasses and touching the copper wire of her glasses every time I cast sending though. DM mocked me for it, but I did it for me.
We just learned this as a group for 5e. A lot of us are old school players so still learning a ton of new ways to play.
I enjoyed a short campaign that the GM allowed mages to make Willpower checks (2nd Ed. Game btw) to ignore spell components for any spell 1 level casting lower than current. It allowed the brain to remake spells that it knew.
My favorite example is Matthew Colville as Morag where a old female witch (played by Colville) stuffed some gauze into a pipe, inhaled it, and turned into a gaseous form lol
Take something usually ignored and make it the focus (😉) of any spellcasters roleplaying. Genius.😃
I love using spell components as a player, but mostly just as flavor. As a DM, I let the players approach it as they want. It's a fun mechanic that I don't want to force on anyone.
1:33 I'm all about the verbal and somatic components (in previous editions, I've played with groups that actually tracked the verbal components their casters knew, coming up with at least three 'magical' words for each spell the first time it was cast. You literally had to say the words as a player as you cast it. It didn't matter if you came up with something different from the last time you cast that spell, as long as you already hadn't used that particular incantation for a different spell. If you re-used an incantation, that was the spell you tried to cast- this could lead to spells fizzling because you didn't have the right material components to hand. Given that the DM (who was keeping track) treated upcast spells as different to the base, this meant even if you were meticulous about keeping track of the magic words you'd used (effectively creating your own spellbook), you might end up not casting at as high a level as you wanted, as you'd forgotten to note down the spell level).
Material components, however, I have mixed feelings about. I've played in campaigns where they're really important (and even generally split between catalysts, which aren't consumed by the spell, and reagents, which are), and in campaigns where even costed components were handwaved. Sure, there's some excellent roleplay potential with them- there's some real-life folklore that wizards aren't allowed to haggle for items they use for magic (okay, traditionally that's just for items they are going to enchant, but it could, and sometimes was extended for all spell ingredients and tools), so if you wanted to you could also soak magic users for expenses on their reagents. I've played and run campaigns where wizards are famous for being lousy hagglers as a result.
There's also the idea that an item's value (in the case of costed spell ingredients) is what you pay for it, so you might have a wizard who constantly haggles to raise the price when buying stuff so they don't have to carry as much (or a wizard's apprentice who haggled down and got a good deal on diamond dust, so they get sent back to buy more).
Conversely, the item's value might be what it sells for (which is normally half its listed price that you buy it for, potentially increased by haggling/Persuade/Intimidate checks), so you might find you have to buy twice as much as you thought.
D&D 5e: over 500+ spells that no one will look at, and many that require consumables, some verbal some not, and some with bypasses by certain classes. Some that can only be used by a 1 level dip in certain classes, different ranges, different durations, different resistances based other ability scores, Game breaking spells that remove any sense of wonder, discover, or exploration from the game ...
My Game: Any kind of attack or effect the player wants, Including Fighter man, only limited by the number of spell scrolls they have access too, and their own imagination.
A ten minute video about a mechanic that literally doesnt matter 99% of the time, component pouch gives me everything I need except the diamond for revivify; casters have no weaknesses
I always do "If no monetary value, Arcane focus do the work. else, you need the actual component"
I pay close attention to spell components as a player but I also tend to trust my players to handle it themselves when I run things.
I have personally used Misty Step to teleport out of magically animated chains that were binding my character, because the restrained condition doesn't impede verbal components and Misty Step _only_ has verbal components. Moreover, I have casted Shield in magical silence because Shield _only_ has somatic components.
The devil's in the details, folks.
I got that reference! I'm currently running that campaign and just finished the first part.
I've always understood components fairly well. I always kind of just blow aside material components that don't have a price behind it. Unless you're using it as part of the story (which, would likely put the spotlight on someone, for good and/or bad.) it's something that every spell caster and their mother has the answer to on them just about all the time.
It's one of those mechanics that often gets overlooked, that can easily be a plot hook, or campaign idea, but if it's not important to the story, it probably should just go unnoticed. The character might know more than the player and all. The character would know not to leave their focus at home
I largely delete component requirements. When spells that allow revival come into play, I will incorporate something for them if abused, but generally I prefer games that allow players to have fun without absurd restrictions. The Martial Classes don't have to worry about durability, and Archers basically never have an issue with ammunition. It just creates situations where the Wizard has to hold up combat while I make sure he has the testicle of a Southern Baptist mule before he can cast Create Applesauce.
I use spell components when it matters (ie, when there is a labeled GP cost but the caster is using a focus), or if the caster loses their focus (which has only ever happened once in a campaign I've been a part of. And it was MY character, as I was not DMing that one). But as a DM, I do make use of spell components, but arcane foci basically make the vast majority of them irrelevant.
In the game I'm playing with my friends right now everyone started as some flavor of magical. Cleric/Wizard, Bard, Druid, and me an Arcane Trickster. All those guys got a focus and I got... nothing. I didn't realize this issue and picked spells I could not cast and it was pretty lame. The area we were in was a desert, so not much in the way of components. I eventually got a focus when we cleared our first dungeon, but it was a little too late. I was using my rogue skills more then my magical spells and at this point I'm going through some story hoops to just change to a non-magical class. Arcane Trickster is a lot more interesting on paper then in practice it seems.
At my table, verbal and somatic components matter on a common sense basis (no somatic components when your hands are tied, or verbal while under the effect of silence) as for material. So long as it does not have a clue it is assumed
I'm running an epic campaign and there's a lot of other complications going on so I basically only deal with specific gold cost components. However, I did make a few components more strict. For example, due to setting there's some big ramifications to true resurrection as every country would love to spam it if they could. Instead of 25k worth of diamonds, I changed it to a diamond "worth" 25k. And by 25k, that means functionally millions of gold because a diamond worth 24.9k gold is just worth 24.9k but one worth 25k is any country's ticket to bringing back a dead hero or giving the king an insurance plan.
Paused Response:❌ @1:28 Spell components are in my game but only serve as a small inconvenience to the players when they get new spells. Its a cumbersome mechanic that gets in the way of more fun aspects of the game. The last thing my players need/want is another distraction to shop for in towns or hunt down in the wild. Both my players and I would rather focus on the Story plots rather than a mechanical speedbump. I did have a player that went hardcore on components once but it was an RP decision and ended up with him experimenting and substituting nearly every component, and by the end of the campaign just forgetting about it all together.
End Response: ✅ Having Spell components drive a quest is a Great Idea. You look around for your idea and find that I have taken it. I disappear into the comment section below, lost in a sea of comments that boost your videos circulation algorithm.
2 days ago, I made a suggestion to my players. In order to make some use from material components info, I introduced the following rule (applies only to material components replaceable by focus):
- casting a spell with material component: casted as normal
- casting a spell with focus: casted as normal
- casting a spell with focus and material component: component is used up by the spell, 1d4 added to hit/dc of the spell
This rule will obviously have flaws, but I will handle them as they appear.
To be honest, 5Eis a superhero game and as such, enjoyable as it is most players… Almost all players want to do as little as possible mechanically possible. The material component is either wholly unnecessary in most games or a private mini game between that player and the DM. it’s not material components don’t exist, it’s just nobody wants to deal with it anymore than they generally want to deal with encumbrance rules or how much space gold takes up, feeding their mounts servants, etc. Throw some silver at it if necessary and let’s move on with the game.
A resource of driven game is awesome and has so many background and plot possibilities that it’s stunning, but not to most people. And these are the same people who were given the choice between a weeks worth of groceries from a supermarket versus spending the same amount of money at CrapDonald’s because it’s easier and somewhat faster will always choose the fast food route.
Also, you usually only have one player in a party dependent upon a particular resource. A ranger needs arrows, a cleric needs a holy symbol and arcane caster needs spell components. Of which maybe you have one in the game. singling out that player to be monumentally penalized. When it spell component pouch goes missing is the equivalent of saying you can’t play today. Thanks for bringing pizza. They need to be OK with this in session 0.
Know your players to know your game.
For my players they only need to worry about components that cost gold. With somatic I told them at session 0 that the hand motions are like Dr. Strange and you can't hide them without subtle spell.
I think all Ritual cast spells should require a material component that gets consumed because anything stronger than a cantrip should cost something.
This is especially true for highly abusable spells like Tiny Hut.
I also add a consumed material component to Goodberry and Create Food and Water spells so that a survival scenario is possible…
Personally as a DM, I think the materials component is for the most part unnecessarily complications for players who already have a large amount of spells to learn and to manage during a game. Especially when I play with newer players where just being a spellcaster by itself can be slightly overwhelming.
That being said, I have two exceptions to this. The first is simply players voluntarily buys into the system as part of their roleplaying.
The other is the exact case you mention, where the lack of resources is part of a puzzle, like escaping from a prison where your arcane focus has been taken or similar circumstances.
I think components are a great way to balance the OP nature of magic. They can be stolen, dmaged, interfered-with....
I like the idea of a mage needing time and space to cast, lest a lowly brawler smack the sulfer from their hand before they compete the incantation.
I dont use spell components at all, but there's ways to do pretty much all of these things with just about any other mcguffin... "Spells don't work in the prison because the warden has a spell blocking artifact in place" shit so now we have to go find that artifact so we can use feather fall to escape. You can still put rules on spells within the context of your world without having to keep track of what's in your spellcaster's pockets.
yeah but then you have players asking questions like "are these artefacts common? who makes them, why arent they at X place, can you break them? can you throw them like an antimagic grenade? its better to keep plot mcguffins to a minimum
I use components as a DM and as a player (when playing a magic user) to lessen the martial/caster divide. But, then again, I also track ammunition and other consumables, so I'm probably just too much of a stickler for the rules.
Me at the beginning of the video: "spell components are a pain in the butt to implement, what a waste of time and energy"
Me by the end of the video: "I'm totally implementing spell components in my game because they're an easy way to make the game much more interesting!"
adding spell materials would be a cool idea as a game mechanic if you dont use it. Years ago i dabbled in that concept as a young dm but quickly decided it was to much work for my friends and I. (Of course now, I think it would be a cool idea to have in a campain)
I tend to use arcane focus for the cheaper components and only make spell casters worry about components with a listed cost
Bat poop can tell you which statue was moved or how long the room has been sealed. Bat poop can feed an army by fertilizing crop lands and it can warn your party that they’re about to be attacked from above.
Spell components are as important as spell ranges and durations.
For certain spells, especially ones that have the highest potential for abuse and over-use, I do require spell components.
I know about spell components to the extent that I want to research it at some point, and use a component pouch as a bag of useful items.
Sure, everybody knows their component pouch contains some string, different feathers, dusts and minerals. However where you aware that every Wizard is lugging around an entire brass brazier (those fire holding thingies). I wonder what else is in there.
Also, there is a final thing, components with no cost can be consumed by the spell. If this is the case, the components also cannot be faked with an focus (take the optional blood for summon lesser demons as an example)
Finally, as the game is now, I do think that "burning ones arcane focus" to create spellslots is very cheap, and would not be all that last resort.
You give the example of teleportation, however lets stick with fireball, a classic. A scroll costs about 250 gold, dependent on what pricing you use. A spellfocus, maybe with a DC 10-20 arcana check attached (which is easy for wizards), costs 5 gold,
Assuming gold has any value, having a 5 gold fireball with a 90-35% success rate is way better than a 250 gold fireball, and sounds very spammable once the party has uncovered at least one big hoard.
Just found your channel. The sound effects are a bit too loud; I hope you can reduce the volume -- especially for the click sound effect.
See, material components can be a great way to provide limits to casting in 5th edition, but keeping track of them is so tedious for so little mechanical impact that nobody really does and handwaves all their component rules. As a result, a lot of tables worsen that martial-caster divide everyone knows all too well.
I wish there was more of a way to limit magic that made more mechanical and narritive sense rather than just something that's often handwaved by component pouches and foci. Something requiring you to have just the right combination of ingredients, maybe even allowing you to string together new combinations for different or modified spell effects with DM purview.
But that's just my two cents.
6:42 a broken spellcasting focus, sure, but also broken walkin' sticks!
For the sake of Pete, Beverly!
I generally gloss over how the magic is performed since it takes so long to select a spell after the guy before me in combat kills my target or moves into the AOE zone. I do try to get consumed material components if there's a town in the setting (Dungeon of the Mad Mage has been frustrating as far as spending loot is concerned). My celestial warlock did have a crystal focus in the form of Ilmater's bound hands.
Could you make that constant mouse clicking sound a bit quieter please (or remove it completely)? It's very distracting.
My favourite magic system is the one in Whitehack, where you describe an effect and negotiate a HP cost at the time of casting. Adding a material component is optional, but as it reduces the cost it actively encourages you to think about and include them.
I don't play 5E.
That being said, I do use components. With the caveat that I like to play with a home-brew rule that consumable components do not in fact need to be the expensive or high end stuff we see in the DMG.
My logic works like this.
All sorts of races and tech levels cast spells, they cannot all have had the ability to produce a finely crafted pocket watch in infernal bronze. And the item is going to disappear anyway, so what is the difference between a diamond and 50 grams of carbon, like graphite, or common charcoal. it's all carbon anyway right?
Whats the point of using a $120,000 gun and $200 custom tooled rounds to kill someone if a $200 gun with off the shelf ammo will work just as well?
I balance this by adding side effects to the use of particular components, like reducing the range or damage of a spell, so using the right components still has a reason to be a thing in the world.
Every campaign I have ran my players hated spell components. They told me things like "I don't want to track that." or "I'm not here to manage my inventory" and the like. I am in favor of using spell components, but have never had the opportunity as a DM to run a game where they are used. It annoys me a bit, but over time I came to see components as part of the game which is fairly optional. Just like carry weight or tracking the number of arrows used some players will find these things fun and rewarding, while others will find it to dampen their fun. I would argue it gives reason to adventure and RP more than not using them, but what do I know... I am just a forever DM...
EDIT: Opinion is more or less unchanged. I think they can be great additions to the game, but my players have never wanted to even consider using them.
I don't like the material component rules too much.
It mostly serves as a wait to tell that a spell need a free hand to cast, and to limit the use of some spell. So most of the time it can be ignored by me and the players.
If the game had a more robust rules about the spell components (individual cost, weight, means to acquire), it could be a really cool way to use as an alternative to spell slots.
It is my understanding that a spellcasting focus is a substitute for the material component, where you need EITHER the materials OR a focus. Even if this is wrong, I will probably maintain this stance.
In CRPGs, I would like spell components to be added depending on the difficulty. Owlcat Games Unfair should include not only insane stat blocks on enemies but a constant hunt for shit and sulphur as well.
At the tabletop, I would love to be in a group where the DM meticulously enforces component rules and severely punishes players who do not follow. However, I think in the modern environment of instant gratification and golden fish attention span, such groups are impossible to find.
My DM hasn't even explained what I would put in my component pouch lol
typically the rule i go with for material components is that if it has a gold requirement, or the spell says the material is consumed, i make my players find the component. if not, a focus will act as a stand in for the material, meaning my sorcerers can't cast fireball in prison when all of their wands and crystals and staffs have been taken away
thats literaly the base rules
Im playing a wizard who has a deck of cards as her spellbook and her arcane focus is a crystal that was fashioned into a monocle, which she used to cheat at cards
For spell components with GP values, how does that influence that economy? Is the pearl worth 100gp because it can be used to cast identify, or can it cast identify because it was valued at 100gp? Do people have to evaluate the aether within gemstones and things?
I TRY to use the spell components, but sadly we always forget about it during the game
Spell components are the exact reason why I run characters like sorcerers who are innately magical I hate having to constantly reequip spell components it’s annoying. It’s shitty and it’s stupid.
I use spell components but I recognize the ruling with component pouches and spellcasting focuses and I allow my player to just spend gold equal to the cost on spells where the components are absorbed
Current. I use spell components when it is a costly component. I have played with a spell component list in the past and it feels too much like accounting and sucks fun from the game. After- I can see where you could use things like discussed in your game, but you can in other ways anyway. I will continue ignoring mundane components.