Material Spell Components Even without a laboratory or a consecrated altar, priests and wizards often find themselves in need of unusual or hard-to-find items for material components in their spells. While many DMs do not require players to keep track of their characters' stocks of spell components, this can be a great test of a PC's resourcefulness and the source of many adventures. After all, merely finding a diamond worth 1,000 gp is quite an event for a low-level character, but then the player has to decide whether to grind it into worthless powder for use in a critical spell!
Spell Components: Yes or No?[]
Spell Components: Yes or No?
One of the optional rules presented in the Player's Handbook is the use of spell components. You are free to decide to use or ignore components in your own campaign; as long as the NPCs abide by the same rules and restrictions the players do, the game works equally well in either case. The real crux of this issue are material components, and whether or not players should have to keep track of their stocks of spell reagents.
There are some very good reasons why you shouldn't use material components in play; it requires a great attention to detail and some honesty on the part of the players, and may create obstacles or difficulties that take away from the DM's plot. After all, if the party's wizard has to drop out of the epic adventure in mid-stride to track down the ingredients for his next fireball spell, all concerned may feel a little frustrated or annoyed.
On the other hand, using spell components and requiring an account of what the wizard has on his person and what he has stockpiled in his laboratory or home base can add another dimension of detail and pseudo-realism to the game. If spell components aren't used, who cares if a wizard is down to his last three coppers? More than any other class, a wizard can operate with no concern for material wealth— unless he has to worry about whether or not he can afford to buy the materials he'll need to be able to cast his spells. In addition, the use of spell components requires players to spend some time and effort thinking about situations their characters would certainly be dealing with and can enhance role-playing if it isn't taken to extremes.
Generally, enforcing the requirements for material components works best for low- to mid-level characters. By the time a wizard is 8th or 9th level, he's usually wealthy enough to easily buy any materials he needs, and his daily selection of spells is so broad that keeping track of each type of component carried becomes a logistical nightmare. By that time, the DM can allow the player a little slack; the wizard's a mighty hero now, and both player and DM may have other arenas of role-playing (building laboratories or establishing strongholds) that the character will be graduating to. However, at low levels, wizards and priests will find that some of their favorite spells have to be saved for when they're truly needed.
For example, low-level wizards often rely on the armor spell as their sole means of defense against physical attack. Armor requires a piece of leather—no problem there—that has been blessed by a priest. Referring to Table 69 : NPC Spell Costs in the DMG, bless is usually reserved for characters of the same faith as the casting priest, and even then a small sum might be required. So, the wizard who wants the piece of leather blessed for his spell might have to convert to the faith of nearest available priest, and tithe him 10 or 20 gp to boot! If you consider how often players simply say, "Oh yeah, I'll cast armor the day before we leave, so I'll have my 1st-level spell open and armor in effect," you can see just how much hassle (and role-playing opportunities!) are ignored by the player and DM.
Acquiring Spell Components[]
The materials used to power spells range from the mundane to the bizarre and the exotic. Dozens of spells require things like pebbles, stones, dirt, twigs, or leaves that can be found literally anywhere—including the middle of a battle, if a spellcaster is desperate. A number of spells require nothing more than a little bit of foresight and access to a simple trading post or small market. Likewise, a few spells require painstaking and expensive preparations that may be impossible to repeat in the field.
Scavenging: The cheapest method of acquiring spell components is a field search. Many plant and animal specimens can be harvested with nothing more than time and a little luck, and a wizard who knows what he's looking for can find a fair number of minerals as well. The wizard has to find an appropriate location, such as a nearby forest or field for animal and plant specimens. Materials that can be collected with a field search are rated as common, uncommon, or rare; depending on the amount of time the wizard takes, the suitability of his search, and the item's scarcity, he may or may not be successful. See Table 14 : Field Searches.
| Item Scarcity |
Base Search Time |
Base Success |
Time Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | 1d6 turns | 75% | +10%/turn |
| Uncommon | 3d6 turns | 50% | +5%/turn |
| Rare | 1d4+1 hours | 25% | +2%/turn |
Item scarcity is taken from Table 16 : Spell Components. The DM may modify the category depending on where the wizard is searching; finding sand on a beach is pretty easy, for example.
Base search time is the amount of time required to search for the item in question. A character can search for only one component at a time.
Base success is the likelihood that the character will find the material in the base search time.
Time bonus increases the success chance for each additional turn the caster spends searching for the item. If he fails to find the material in the base search time, he can continue to look, adding this percentage to his success chance as shown on the table .
A field search for common materials doesn't take much time, so a traveling wizard could pause for brief searches during the march or while his companions are setting up or breaking camp. Depending on what it is the wizard is looking for, he can find anywhere from 1 to 20 or more doses or samples of the material. For example, if the wizard was searching a damp forest for foxfire, he might find enough to be used in anywhere from 1 to 20 spells. Of course, storing and preserving multiple uses of a component may be harder than finding it to begin with.
Purchasing: If the wizard doesn't have time to search for materials himself, or can't find a certain component, he can always purchase what he needs. Again, the item scarcity reflects the likelihood that someone in the vicinity happens to have the material or compound the wizard requires. If the wizard is out to purchase materials, the most important consideration is the number of vendors or the size and completeness of the market he will be searching. This is generally a function of the community size, but the DM can modify item scarcity to reflect the character of the town. For example, many uncommon or rare chemicals may be common in a city that supports an Alchemist Guild.
Shopping for items in a town takes some amount of time, as well. A character may have to examine half a dozen smithies to find soot or charcoal of the exact color, weight, and composition he needs. Generally, common items can be located in a few minutes, while rare items may take several hours of the wizard's time. Anywhere from 1 to 20 or more usages can be found.
| City | ———————Scarcity——————— | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Common | Uncommon | Rare |
| Village | 80% | 50% | 20% |
| Town | 90% | 60% | 30% |
| City | 100% | 70% | 40% |
| Major City | 100% | 80% | 50% |
Wizards with Laboratories: One nice benefit about an up-to-date, well-stocked laboratory is that it includes a number of interesting compounds, minerals, and specimens that may be useful as spell components. If a wizard owns a laboratory, there is a 50% chance that 1 to 20 usages of any given spell component from the mineral, animal specimen, and plant specimen list may be on hand, and a 25% chance that a spell component from the finished item list may be present. The laboratory's normal upkeep and maintenance expenses cover the cost of replacing these items once per month.
Rule of Common Sense: The rules presented here for acquiring spell components are intended to be guidelines for the DM. If a player is particularly resourceful or intelligent in looking for components, ignore the dice and let his character find whatever it is that he's looking for. Clever play should always be rewarded. On the other hand, sometimes items just aren't available in a given area, no matter how hard someone looks. Finding iron filings in a village of Stone Age technology is going to be extremely difficult, to say the least. Flowers, plants, and herbs common in one part of the world may not exist elsewhere—no amount of money could create a pineapple in medieval Iceland, for example.
Storage of Spell Components[]
Spell components are quite small. Most spells require only the smallest pinches of powder or a few drops of liquid. In fact, the containers that are required to hold the materials and make them easy for a caster to find without looking are far more bulky and clumsy than the materials themselves. Small leather pouches, glass vials or tubes, or tiny clay finger-pots sealed with wax plugs are the most common storage devices. Most wizards choose to store the spell components for each of their memorized spells in separate, pre-measured amounts to facilitate quick and accurate casting. With a system like this, there are ten to twenty spell components to a pound—even the most powerful wizard carries only a couple of pounds of components.
For some wizards, it's a good idea to carry a bulk supply of some common reagents from which the individual spell preparations can be drawn. For example, a traveling wizard may find it to be a good idea to carry a whole spool of thread or string, since several spells call for this component. A bulk container usually contains twenty to fifty usages of the component in question and weighs about a pound. The character can carry a dozen or more of these in a leather saddlebag or a small trunk, ensuring that he won't run out at a critical moment. Bulk containers cost five times the listed expense of a component, but contain dozens of doses.
Some spell components may be perishable or short-lived. These items are noted on the component list. A perishable item can last for a week or so before it's useless. Obviously, the character shouldn't purchase or store more than a few days' worth at a time.
The Spell Component List[]
There are a couple of classes of item deliberately not included on Table 16: items that already have a listed cost in the spell description (the special dust mixture of Leomund's trap, or the 100 gp pearl required for identify, for instance) and items that are chosen or customized at the time of the spell. For example, the spell banishment requires the use of materials “harmful, hateful, or opposed to the nature of the subject of the spell.” Since this could consist of a wide variety of substances, banishment's material components weren't included on the list.
The spell components are divided into several categories, reflecting their general nature and origins. These include: Miniatures and Models; Finished or Refined Items; Minerals; Common or Household Items; Animal Specimens; Plant Specimens; and Other, a catch-all for anything that doesn't clearly fit in another category.
Each item has a note concerning its method of acquisition. Items are listed as FS (Field Search), TM (Town or market), SO (Special Order), or Auto (items that can automatically be found by anyone willing to look for a few minutes.) A few items are both field search and town or market, meaning that a wizard can try to buy the material if he can't find it for himself.
Scarcity is listed for items that wizards might search for or try to purchase, and a cost for items that the wizard might want to purchase. Also, items that are commonly available in the wizard's own laboratory are noted. Finally, items like the various dusts are priced with one spell use in mind. For example, if a wizard wishes to have enough powdered amber to cast two spells, he needs to come up with 80 gold pieces (40 x 2).
Note that the cost of an item can vary wildly with the circumstances. Buying coffin wood in a kingdom where the interment of the dead is considered the sole and sacred province of a fanatical religious sect could be far more difficult than a stroll down to the undertaker's place of business! Similarly, tolls, finder's fees, and all kinds of surcharges could come into play for strange or exotic items.
In addition to the problems of cost, some special-order items may take quite some time to locate. For example, finding a 100-year-old map to tear to pieces could be quite difficult. Even the most dedicated book-buyer, herbalist, or apothecary may have to wait several weeks for something to turn up. Some special items may not be available for any price, and the wizard may have to locate these items personally if he wishes to cast the spells in question.
Purchasing Agents: For the adventuring wizard, it's a very good idea to spend money on hirelings who can handle the acquisition of components. For instance, the wizard might hire a couple of local children to collect various insects or herbs. Unless the assistants are well-trained, at least 75% of the material they bring back will be unusable due to small imperfections or taints, but for simple materials an assistant can save the wizard a lot of time. Apprentices are often assigned to these duties, both to learn what makes for a good spell component, and to save their masters the time of stalking through a field, looking for a cricket or mouse that will let itself be captured.
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