Alternate uses for spell components?

[Mercule]

So, the group faces some harpies last night. The wizard reaches into her spell component pouch and pulls out some loose wool that one of her spells requires, using it to plug her ears. I'm torn on how to react to this.

On the one hand, it is a pretty good idea and image. The player is the greenest at the table and often takes a back seat to the others because she not as comfortable with the rules (read: she doesn't have the three core books memorized). I'm tickled to see her step up.

On the other hand, the spell component pounch is really almost an intangible item. She doesn't have to stock it or track what's in there. To be able to pull something out of there for a non-magic use seems a bit... cheaty.

Since she'd already made her save and it didn't matter, I let her do it. I'm just wondering how others feel about the pouch.

 

[diaglo]

it isn't endless. now she needs to find a place to acquire the goods.

although, bookkeeping wise the newer editions don't require as much attention to these things. still.. no wool until she finds a town or farm with sheep. maybe she can still use the wool. but tell her it is now tainted with her earwax and may not work the same.


i think she did right. use what you have available to overcome the obstacles.


just like using them pouch to flavor meals.

 

[The_Universe]

Cheating? What!?

That's awesome! Applaud her creativity, giver her some bonus XP - encourage that kind of thinking!

 

[alsih2o]

That bit fo brilliance would be rewrded in my game. Probably with an action point.

 

[kenobi65]

I like ad-libbing like that. I'd probably give her the "DM's discretion" +2 circumstance bonus on her save, and maybe a little XP bonus if it proved to be important for the encounter.

OTOH, if she continually dips into her spell component pouch for things like that, there's always the chance she'll be out of a component when she goes to use it for a spell. "Sorry, looks like you used up the last of the bat guano in that other encounter."

 

[Janx]

If you abstract the components pouch to "it has the inexpensive stuff needed to cast your common spells" and only keep track of the expensive stuff (ex. must keep track of 1000gp worth of diamond dust), then by that logic, she has parts for whatever spells she normally casts.

Thus, it is not cheating.

If your game micro-manages the exact amounts of each component in her pouch, then she would have to prove she had it. Most people don't play that way.

And if she hadn't had the wool, she'd have just used a bit of rag or bandage lying about. Unless your game makes players track every object available in the game, it should be plausible to assume that there are sundry bits of stuff that has little value or weight that can be spawned into "existance" and deemed "having always been there" but is otherwise overlooked.

Janx

 

[Henry]

Dude, the sig - look at your sig!!! She's growing as a player, and in truth it's often the new players I see pulling this stuff.

I'd reward it - at the time, I might even have applied a +1 or +2 bonus to her save.


Anecdote: in 2003, PCat held a Gencon game for the Mods and Admins - a game of Spycraft. The player who stole the show was Morrus' friend Jane, who not only came up with means of torture that had the ex-STASI agent taking notes, but pulled off the most daredevil motorcycle-and-exploding-fishing-trawler stunt I've ever seen in a game. It was her first RPG ever, and she had all us jaded vets applauding.

 

[Snapdragyn]

Hmm, I believe I see the problem.

On the one hand, the spell component pouch is described as containing all 'non-expensive' spell components so that players don't have to track them. It is assumed that the caster is gathering bits of wool, bat guano, sand, etc. whenever they see some while wandering around doing the actual 'on-screen' activities.

On the other hand, it is not intended to be a Bag of Holding, with an infinite supply of wool, sand, whatever inside. Using it for non-spellcasting activities could potentially open up this can of worms. Need a winter blanket when the blizzard catches us unprepared? Hey, I can just pull out a few hundred handfuls of wool & we can bundle up in that! Um... no.

I think I'd reward the creativity in that session (hey, it was good), but just keep an eye out for potential abuse. If she begins to reach into the bag for anything & everything the party might need, I'd let her know the problem I had with that & come up with some potential risk if the abuse continued (such as percentage chance of being out of a spell component). As long as it remains a rare & creative thing, though, I'd probably not worry about it.

 

[Mercule]

Heh. Confirms my guilty suspicion that I was being a booger for even questioning it. Cool.

 

[philreed]

Definitely worth a minor XP bonus for playing creatively.