How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

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Nox
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How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by Nox »

I just came across a problem.
I have a wizard in my group, and 'till now i did not ask for any particular spell component. We just stated that whenever they reach a city he looks for components and that's it.
Yesterday we had a problem during our session. He used alter self and none of us did know that he must change in a creature of the same Type as the base creature. Today i was looking at the spell and I saw the error, thus this lead me to develop a retcon about that event, and i also noted that as component he would need a part of the creature that he wants to change into. For example if he want to become an halfling, he need halfling hair, or halfling ear, or something else.
Said that, i'd like to know how do you manage the components. Expecially those particular components like part of some creature, rare materials, etc.
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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by Dark Angel »

Nox wrote:I just came across a problem.
I have a wizard in my group, and 'till now i did not ask for any particular spell component. We just stated that whenever they reach a city he looks for components and that's it.
Yesterday we had a problem during our session. He used alter self and none of us did know that he must change in a creature of the same Type as the base creature. Today i was looking at the spell and I saw the error, thus this lead me to develop a retcon about that event, and i also noted that as component he would need a part of the creature that he wants to change into. For example if he want to become an halfling, he need halfling hair, or halfling ear, or something else.
Said that, i'd like to know how do you manage the components. Expecially those particular components like part of some creature, rare materials, etc.
In my campaign (as the other ones my friends and I played over the years), we never strictly enforced components. I always mandate the components themselves are minor and incidental items and objects without specifically saying 'this spell needs 3 ounces of this and 2 springs of that plant's leaf' and so on. I made that a thing since it would require a lot of bookkeeping, a lot of side quests, and more head aches than not.

I really changed this policy when one of my former, more difficult players tried to take advantage of the old system when they were in Azalin's castle in one of his many dedicated school of magic rooms (you know, filled with all the spell components for that particular school's spells) and said that he was going to take these 5,000 gp gems, these pounds of diamond dust, etc. I am fairly sure he was a spell caster in the first place and I commented that those weren't the spell components. He mentioned the player's handbook said otherwise and I said, "Ok show me where on your sheet you have been keeping all your own components that have allowed you to cast your spells." He pretty much dropped the issue there.

Now, I do mandate special components (very specifically tailored) for new spell creation, potion making, scroll creation, or magic item creation. As it is Ravenloft, these items are more rare. Besides, the spell components that rely on fantasy creatures or specific regions of another world would be impossible to get (not a bad thing as that spell cannot be cast here, limiting it's spread to other worlds and making those spells more special). If your players are very, very detail oriented then go for strict component use and make them monitor it. If it is more hassle than it's worth, then say they need little things (like bird feathers, the leg of an insect, the tears of a injured soldier) and just leave it at that. I would recommend not losing the spell component angle entirely as they then seem like psionicists or sorcerers.
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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by ewancummins »

In my 3E Ravenloft game, I do use material components, but because play has mostly been based in a large city, actually getting components usually isn't too difficult.
It amounts to background color.

In my 'Povero' 2E game, I let the players vote. "No material components" won. Spellcasters need their hands free and need to be able to speak.
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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Very simple:

They have access without any problem to all mundane spell components. That to avoid boring time spend on this, and long / boring accounting.

Rare or costly (more than 25 gp) items needs to be counted.

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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by Mistmaster »

Nox, in my hopinion, you shouldn't have retconned; you made an error with the rules, point it out, but changing what happened in a whole session look unjustified to me. Acqua passata non macina più. (Past water can't move the grind stone, anymore, for the not italian speaking)
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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by Nox »

Mistmaster wrote:Nox, in my hopinion, you shouldn't have retconned; you made an error with the rules, point it out, but changing what happened in a whole session look unjustified to me. Acqua passata non macina più. (Past water can't move the grind stone, anymore, for the not italian speaking)
Thank you, but the retcon is very small. The error was about alter self, we did not remember that the caster can only change into a creature of the same type. He changed into a bird and fly through the desert.
We worked on it together and we decided that since he could share alter self with Familiar, we decided that he alter his character to an halfling and his familiar to a winged medium creature. This way he can be transported (checked also the strenght for carry capacity). That's all.
Maybe retcon is not even a proper term :mrgreen:
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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by Mistmaster »

Ah, Ok, as long the outcome was not altered, allright.
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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by Vorcoth »

It depends on the DM and the players.

From a positive perspective, tracking spell components can really add a level of detail that greatly enhance the feeling of immersion for you and your players.

It also opens the door to fun things like Alchemy and Herbalism.

From the negative perspective, you'll need to slot time in many of your individual game sessions to allow for the wizard(s) to go component gathering. This means that you'll also need to plan specific things for the other players to do during that time so that they don't get bored or feel left out. This means less time for the actual story events/adventure/game session that you had planned.

It also means needing to know the details of every spell yourself, inside out. If you're not aware that Spell X requires specific amounts of Components Y and Z, then the player(s) may feel like you don't really care, which can really take the wind out of their sails. It could also lead to the player(s) taking advantage of your lack of awareness and cheating.

Tracking spell components requires quite a bit of micro-management and can be very time-intensive. It's an all-or-nothing element. If you or your player(s) aren't willing to go that granular, it's not worth doing half-assed.
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Re: How do you handle spell component in your campaign?

Post by brilliantlight »

I ignore it entirely. I feel its boring and wastes precious time in keeping track of it. if the spell component is expensive they simply have to pay it in cash and they had it there all along.
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