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Xar Zarath
Senior Scribe
Malaysia
552 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Nov 2013 : 13:39:34
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(1)There are many ways to avoid using material components in spells mainly the Eschew Materials and Ignore Material Components feat. With such feats, there is less book-keeping to maintain.
However that is the in-game way of explaining it.
In terms of lore, how would you describe the fact that some spellcasters require little to no material components to cast/use their magic?
(2)A thread I started ages ago talked about scrying and how some wizards as described in Ed Greenwood's novels, had not used tools like mirrors and such to cast their scrying spell. Rather they just did and the spell created a sort of "energy" sphere from which they could observe their targets.
Later, some scribes like Markustay suggested rather that such spells could benefit from a "enhancement" or "circumstance" boosts of sorts from the magical tools that wizards could use, such as the use of really expensive and enchanted mirrors to boosts scrying spells.
My question is, how could such a "system" be further applicable to all the spells that require material components?
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Everything ends where it begins. Period.
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2013 : 15:05:55
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That's a toughie. Replacing components with focuses has been an idea that's been around for years but only certain spells have ever been given as examples. Doing it for every spell that requires material components would be a project in itself unless you had one expensive focus per spell descriptor or something.
Personally, I don't mind the system used already in 3.5/Pathfinder. When I play spellcasters I note which spells have expensive material components and just assume everything is good as long as I have a spell component pouch or the eschew materials feat. So far no DM has ever taken away my pouch - they don't want the hassle. |
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Kyrel
Learned Scribe
151 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2013 : 21:09:56
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1) There are more than one way to cast a spell, and if you are clever enough, you can bypass some (if not all) material components.
2) I see three ways on that one. A) You either just ignore or switch out material components and change the description of how the effect looks on the fly. B) You can undertake a rather significant job of going through a few thousand spells, adding additional rules that modify the effect of a particular spell, if it is cast using a particular component or focus. Or C) You make up a bunch of generic uncommon/rare/expensive components/foci and make rules for how they affect various kinds of spells in some more or less generic fashion (i.e. X extends the duration of the spell by Y period, or increases the range by some amount, or can pierce some particular form of warding etc.) |
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Xar Zarath
Senior Scribe
Malaysia
552 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2013 : 05:06:00
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| Thanks for the replies! |
Everything ends where it begins. Period.
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muir
Acolyte
Canada
41 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2013 : 19:36:19
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1) You realize that the need for some components is a mental crutch, and have the strength of mind to go without it.
That said, far from a hassle, I find enforcing the use of some components leads to a more fun game, as the standard component pouch only includes the basics, or what a wizard can make themselves. (So long as they had the time.) Some items, though not expensive, might be rarer in certain locales. This can lead to 'hunt the component' adventures, sometimes with literal hunting.
Also, the use of certain materials might enhance certain spells. I find Volo's Guide to All Things Magical, and to a lesser extent, Complete Mage, as well as books of folklore, good resources. |
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Xar Zarath
Senior Scribe
Malaysia
552 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2013 : 05:22:13
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| I like the term mental crutch, though sometimes I see it as the mage using such components and items because it may make them feel more confident of the results of their spells. For example, even though you don't need to carry around a staff for casting, a wizard still does so because he/she thinks it evokes a more dramatic and wizardly feel. |
Everything ends where it begins. Period.
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2013 : 07:58:59
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| The way to explain material components is very simple. They were added to give the game an additional level of complication and to make casting powerful spells more costly to mages. Want a meteor swarm, well you need to have the right expensive/hard to acquire stuff to do it. Since the day it was suggested there have been those who love role playing spell components, and those who hate it. As others have pointed out, they can lead to a more interesting game but they can also lead to people feeling 'hassled'. For this reason they were always an optional rule - use them or don't in your campaign. Those feats just seem to me to be a way to give players a way to make that choice without a DM eliminating all components from the campaign - and they have a price (take this feat and not that one). |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7971 Posts |
Posted - 08 Nov 2013 : 23:55:51
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For the most part, as a DM, I generally ignored material components unless they were costly or exotic. If a PC simply stated “I want to load up on spell components“, I would basically just charge him a few gold pieces now and then and assume his wizardly cunning would keep the game moving without excessive paperwork. Unless he intended to cast spells which need, say, a 100GP pinch of diamond dust or 50GP black pearl or cracked crystal ball or a sphere of annihilation, etc. Or unless I felt like being a bastard, or I needed to remind him that his goblin captors confiscated all the junk in his pockets.
2E PO: Spells & Magic presented a comprehensive list of spell components, along with their availabilities and costs, if you prefer some rules. |
[/Ayrik] |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 09 Nov 2013 : 04:39:24
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| There were 4 or 5 articles about spell components circa 1st edition as well. |
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The Madmage
Acolyte
26 Posts |
Posted - 10 Nov 2013 : 22:40:53
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| I house ruled that all sorcerors start with the Eschew Materials feat because their power comes from a preternatural affinity to the weave as opposed to studying magical formula. |
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Material Components in Spells
