D&D General Do you track material components?

[jgsugden]

In 1970s: BECME: What is a material component? Like fabric for a quilt? I'm 6. I kill them!
In 1980s: AD&D: Look, I described the bats in the cave really clearly. It isn't like you didn't have a chance to gather components. No fireballs until you trek back and get them.
In 1990s: 2E: Do we really want to make this so meticulous? Ugh. Screw it - you find a pouch of holding along with that wizard's spellbook with enough components to cast each spell hundreds of times.
In 2000s: 3E: I don't talk to you about your character's bowel movements, including them moving around bat guano. It is assumed that you have them unless there is a reason for you not to have them.
In 2010s: 4E: Where we're going, there are no material components. What? You miss them? OK, I'm not going to enforce them on you, but feel free to enforce them on yourself.
In 2020s: 5E: Material components, outside the ones with a cost, are there for flavor. Use them to spice up the discussion of what you're doing. You need to have a spell component pouch, an implement, or the components themselves, but I'm only going to be rigid about it if there is a good reason in the story to do so, such as you waking up as a Underdark prisoner with no gear.

 

[MNblockhead]

I have a low-magic campaign, where the party would be working to support an underground group of arcane wizards in a world where magic is rare, feared, and its practitioners are persecuted. Gather components would be an important hook for many of the quests. But I don't want to get into a book-keeping slog. I'm thinking of requiring tracking of components for maybe the first three levels but eventually switch to the handwaving the components without costs listed at higher levels. But spell casting will require components. I'm thinking of making a spell focus, like a wand or staff, give some benefit other than replacing the need for components.

But other than this campaign, where components make up an important part of the plot lines, I go with the RAW for 5e.

For my MAGE the Ascension Campaign, I only require them if they are part of your instruments and materials necessary for casting magic. But what forms those take are highly personal, other than lower-power characters need a lot more to effectuate magic than higher-power PCs.

 

[DammitVictor]

I never used them in play. The expensive ones just never came up in my abortive 3.X games.

I appreciate the idea, but... 99% of M components fall into two categories: X gp of boring-ass diamonds/oils/incense or 0 gp worth of stupid-ass puns. I don't appreciate jokes being embedded in the rules of my games.

I would really like to see something where only ritual spells had material components, and those ritual components were flexible and thematic in addition to being expensive-- like potion-crafting in Dresden Files RPG.

 

[Fauchard1520]

The only time I ever bothered to track 'em was in the beginning part of "Out of the Abyss" in 5e. That's a prison break situation, so any bit of bat guano or spider silk you can salvage is a big deal.

 

[Stormonu]

@jgsugden has the right of it. I first played Holmes basic and B/X and components weren't even mentioned. I thought they were cute descriptions when I moved on to 1E/2E and mostly ignored them (except for things like diamond dust for stoneskin and holy water fonts for scrying and the like, or describing the first time someone cast the spell). 3E and later, I only care about expensive components, otherwise they're fluff until the party has been taken prisoner and stripped of gear (which my party is about to encounter...).

I could play without them and it wouldn't affect my games at all.