Material Components. How do you deal with them?

[melkoriii]

Well I wsa looking over the spells listed in the SRD and read the Material Components needed for Black Tentacles [A piece of tentacle from a giant octopus or a giant squid].

So that got me thinking. A wizard is balenced with other classes based on his spells per lvl. Then I was thinking about How in the game Im in we are traped in the depths of the earth looking for a gem and then a way out. We have been down there for like 3 weeks and many encounters. Our wizard has cast lots of spells most all haveing Material Components. I know that in our games we only track Material Components that have a gp cost otherwis if the wizard has his components pouch he has what he needs to cast spells. Else he would become almost useless.


How do others deal with Material Components?
Do you have to track them?
How do you know what components are avaible in a town?
How much do they cost? (the books dont say)

 

[Drasmir]

Well I wsa looking over the spells listed in the SRD and read the Material Components needed for Black Tentacles [A piece of tentacle from a giant octopus or a giant squid].

So that got me thinking. A wizard is balenced with other classes based on his spells per lvl. Then I was thinking about How in the game Im in we are traped in the depths of the earth looking for a gem and then a way out. We have been down there for like 3 weeks and many encounters. Our wizard has cast lots of spells most all haveing Material Components. I know that in our games we only track Material Components that have a gp cost otherwis if the wizard has his components pouch he has what he needs to cast spells. Else he would become almost useless.


How do others deal with Material Components?
Do you have to track them?
How do you know what components are avaible in a town?
How much do they cost? (the books dont say)

We only bother with material components that have a real cost associated with them, otherwise it would get entirely too complicated. Basically, if a wizard has a spell pouch, he has all he needs, unless it's a gem (or something else with real value).

 

[melkoriii]

We only bother with material components that have a real cost associated with them, otherwise it would get entirely too complicated. Basically, if a wizard has a spell pouch, he has all he needs, unless it's a gem (or something else with real value).

Anyone else want to coment?

 

[Zad]

We don't bother unless the component has a significant cost associated with it. In fact I believe this is exactly what the book say to do. A spell component pouch is just assumed to have what the caster needs, unless it's over a certain value. Otherwise you just bog yourself down in mindless details and it adds no fun to the game at all.

From the SRD:

Material (M): A material component is one or more physical substances or objects that are annihilated by the spell energies in the casting process. Unless a cost is given for a material component, the cost is negligible. Don’t bother to keep track of material components with negligible cost. Assume you have all you need as long as you have your spell component pouch.

 

[jgsugden]

The rules cover this issue. If a spellcaster buys a spell component pouch, he is assumed to have all material components except any focus or material component listed with a gold piece cost. If it wouldn't make sense for a certain component to be found in the area where the PCs bought their spell component pouch, assume an equivalent replacement is used. As an example, a desert may not be a good place to find giant squid, but perhaps certain cacti could be used as a replacement.

If you'd like to add more detail, I suggest going over the PCs spell list and figuring out which components might be hard to come by. Then, let the PC figure out how to get their hands on those components specifically and track the number of uses available to the PC.

In the end, inexpensive material components slow the game down. Adding detail is nice, but too much detail ends up slowing the action down. Sure, finding giant squid tentacle might be a real challenge for a PC wizard, but it might be a boring challenge for the player. There are thousands of little challenges that the PCs face in their 'lives' that we do not role play out ("As you begin to approach the line in the grocery store, a fat man with a full cart is about to step into line. Do you try to get in front? OK, roll inititiative to see who gets there first!"). We should spend most of our time worrying about the big issues, not the small ones.

 

[melkoriii]

So then whats the use of the feat Eschew Materials?

Reading the feat all it says is that you dont need your Material Conponents Pouch (for things costing 1gp or less). Hardly worth the cost of a feat.

ESCHEW MATERIALS [GENERAL]
Benefit: You can cast any spell that has a material component costing 1 gp or less without needing that component. (The casting of the spell still provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.) If the spell requires a material component that costs more than 1 gp, you must have the material component at hand to cast the spell, just as normal.

 

[MerakSpielman]

So then whats the use of the feat Eschew Materials?

Reading the feat all it says is that you dont need your Material Conponents Pouch (for things costing 1gp or less). Hardly worth the cost of a feat.

Ah. You must not have rat-bastard DMs that steal your component pouch all the time.

Well, not ALL the time, but our DM has been known to have NPCs with really nasty tactics - improved invisibility on the rogue, a pickpocket check in the heat of battle... all of a sudden, the wizard can't even cast a cantrip. If you take a few rounds to burn/destroy the pouch, it's almost as effective as Sundering the weapons of the front-line fighters.

Yes it's mean. Yes it's nasty. But that's the way we like our combats - no holds barred. We don't take it easy on the opponents and they don't take it easy on us. (YMMV)

 

[DM2]

So then whats the use of the feat Eschew Materials?

Reading the feat all it says is that you dont need your Material Conponents Pouch (for things costing 1gp or less). Hardly worth the cost of a feat.

Not a lot of point in most situations. Like Spell Mastery, it is mostly useful if you are separated from your equipment by being captured, failing an area spell save with a natural 1, etc.

It is also quite useful if you are grappled, as you no longer have to spend part of a round just digging for a component before casting that "save my ass" spell.

DM2

 

[Urbannen]

I think that a wizard should replenish his spell component pouch at least once a month, or else lose the ability to cast spells with material components.

You don't have to keep track of the wizard actually looking around for the components, but you could assume that if the wizard returns home, visits an apothecary, or has any free time while visiting a small or larger city, that his spell component pouch is replenished. If he is in the depths of the Earth, you can say that after one month his material components (but not foci) are depleted, and he must find the components for any spell he wants to cast.