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<blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 5030397" data-attributes="member: 1645">Certainly much of the plot device-ness is in the hands of the Director (or DM), who can decide whether a spell (or 4E ritual) is even available, but it doesn't all have to come down to DM fiat -- or to pure DM fiat.The not-so-magical D&amp;D way -- at least the 3E way, in practice -- is to largely ignore spell components.&nbsp; No one goes on a quest for bat guano.&nbsp; It's not even treated as a limited resource.&nbsp; Even rare and powerful spell components are reduced to a gold-piece cost, perfectly fungible.&nbsp; Do you have the cash?&nbsp; Then cast the spell, or make the magic item.This strikes me as a perfect opportunity to introduce some Gygaxian DM's Guide random tables.&nbsp; What does this ritual require?&nbsp; Let's see, 5th-level evocation, ooh, rolled a 20, roll twice, hmm, looks like someone needs to find a cockatrice egg and boil it in the fire of a red dragon's breath.&nbsp; Good luck with that!The ritual-component table could be a random quest generator.I see that idea as a wonderfully simple way to inject some flavor into magic, while giving players interesting choices to make.The key, I suppose, is making sure the wizard has something useful to do if he elects not to take a crazy risk.&nbsp; It's no fun to make a choice between watch everyone else play the game or risk blowing up.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mmadsen, post: 5030397, member: 1645"] Certainly much of the [i]plot device-ness[/i] is in the hands of the Director (or DM), who can decide whether a spell (or 4E ritual) is even available, but it doesn't all have to come down to DM fiat -- or to pure DM fiat. The not-so-magical D&D way -- at least the 3E way, in practice -- is to largely ignore spell components. No one goes on a quest for bat guano. It's not even treated as a limited resource. Even rare and powerful spell components are reduced to a gold-piece cost, perfectly fungible. Do you have the cash? Then cast the spell, or make the magic item. This strikes me as a perfect opportunity to introduce some Gygaxian DM's Guide random tables. What does this ritual require? Let's see, 5th-level evocation, ooh, rolled a 20, [i]roll twice[/i], hmm, looks like [i]someone[/i] needs to find a cockatrice egg and boil it in the fire of a red dragon's breath. Good luck with that! The ritual-component table could be a random quest generator. I see that idea as a wonderfully simple way to inject some flavor into magic, while giving players interesting choices to make. The key, I suppose, is making sure the wizard has something useful to do if he elects not to take a crazy risk. It's no fun to make a choice between [i]watch everyone else play the game[/i] or [i]risk blowing up[/i]. [/QUOTE]

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