Why Do Many DMs Overlook This Restriction for Spellcasters?

[reiella]

Hmm, I guess I have a weird game.

Some of the characters sought out Bat dung to sell to freaky mages.

Looking over the phb, you know how many spell materila components require a 'pinch of dust'? Or a drop of water... Alot of extremely mundane requirements. Bat Fur is another common as are iron shavings/filings.

One question though, is a lodestone really a <1gp item?

As said, it's about the same as the fighter who buys a sword/armor and never needs to replace it ( except for magic enchantment- ) or repair it. Use the optional upkeep rules, they subsume the cost of maintaining armor and spell components.

One good point though, what is the point to taking Eschew Materials if the 15gp pouch handles it?

 

[Zhure]

Hong "I mean, WHERE exactly does all that bat guano come from?" Ooi

Reason Number Six for having a bat familiar.

Greg

 

[Sarellion]

I have my notes now and give you the list of abilities your focus gains.

Focus Mastery (Int)

Spellbook substitution: A wizard can memorize spells using his focus as a spellbook. Each point in focus mastery allows the wizard to write 1 spellevel worth of spells in his staff. Most wizards use their staff as a backup spellbook. There is no cost attached if the wizards scribes a spell into his staff.
A feat allows to store triple the amount of spellevels

(I am thinking about increasing the spellevels to twice the amount for the general ability and the feat)

Difficult to break: The focus is considered to be a magical weapon if someone wants to break it (and only for this purpose, it does not give a bonus to attacks). The required enchantmentbonus on a weapon to break it increases with a higher skillrank.

Locate: A wizard can locate his focus after attaining a certain skillrank. The range increases with the skill rank.

Call: A wizard can call his focus back to him. This ability is attained at rank 15 or so. First the staff flies, at rank 18 or so the staff teleports back. the range is limited for this ability.

Wands: A wand can be made in two ways, as the traditional wand or as a spellgem. The spellgem is like a wand but it is attached to a wizards staff. Spellgems are 5% cheaper than wands but lose power if the staff is broken.

Skillranks to obtain ability

1: Able to cast spells with materialcomponents, +1 weapon needed to sunder

4: cast light at will. Wizard can locate focus with successful skillcheck. DC: 5+1 per 100 yards

5: +2 weapon needed to sunder staff

8: Wizard can locate focus with successful skillcheck. DC: 5+1 per 500 yards

9: +3 weapon needed to sunder

10: Staff only: can change size between 1 ft and normal length at will

11: Wizard can locate focus with successful skillcheck. DC: 5+1 per 1000 yards

13: Call focus to wizard. Maximum Distance, focus can be called from is skillrank*100 yards. The focus flies as under the effect of a fly spell.

14: +4 weapon needed to sunder

15:+5 weapon to sunder

16: teleport focus into owners hand.

 

[Mordane76]

I like what you have here, Sarellion!

I have a couple questions, though --

1) Do you give wizards more skill points than standard?

2) Does a spellgem function exactly as a wand, in that it runs out of charges after so many uses? What does a wizard do after that?

 

[Sarellion]

I like what you have here, Sarellion!

I have a couple questions, though --

1) Do you give wizards more skill points than standard?

2) Does a spellgem function exactly as a wand, in that it runs out of charges after so many uses? What does a wizard do after that?

1) No, but it is only one skill and they get the benefit of a small spell mastery and have a more stylish components pouch. I thought about using feats but this cost was too steep for what I intended. Also, a wizard does not have to put in ranks in focus mastery, one point is sufficient under the current rules. His focus is more vulnerable and he can't find it via skill but it is a viabkle option. Most opponents who know about the powerfo a magic focus will disarm a wizard rather than sunder a staff as they cannot know if they can break it.

2) A staff has sockets most of the time, more elaborate (mean enchanted) ones attach them magically. You can reenchant a spellgem or remove it. It takes half an hour to an hour to remove a gem out of his socket, five minutes for the magic to let it go.
Also, the wizard can just let it there if he wants to have some sparkling gems on his staff and add a socket somewhere else.

 

[Spatula]

One good point though, what is the point to taking Eschew Materials if the 15gp pouch handles it?

Because you can still be stripped of the pouch, and thus denied access to many of your spells.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Another advantage to Eschew Materials is that it makes it that much tougher to identify what spell is being cast, or that a spell is being cast at all. For the layman (read: fanatic religious wizard-burner) seeing a man waving his hands and holding a rolled-up ball of bat guano is a one-way ticket into the purifying flames.

But if he's just waving his hands...? Perhaps he's just a madman, and all know that madmen are sacred to the gods...

On topic: I agree with many of the other posters who've mentioned the hassle.

 

[Buttercup]

But moreover, it's like a punishment for playing a caster. It's not fun, it takes time away from the actual gameplay, and it serves no real balancing purpose, as i feel wizards are balanced just fine without the hassle

This sums up my position on spell components perfectly.

 

[Voneth]

But moreover, it's like a punishment for playing a caster. It's not fun, it takes time away from the actual gameplay, and it serves no real balancing purpose, as i feel wizards are balanced just fine without the hassle, maybe even a bit weaker than I would personaly like.

But if you do that it takes away an "advantage" of the psions.

 

[Tsyr]

But if you do that it takes away an "advantage" of the psions.

No, I don't.

Again, I re-iterate that I don't use vancian magic, nor 3E psionics, and I have not done so for almost a year now, so I might be rusty on some of the details, but...

Assuming you use the rules, as wrote...

As someone else said, a psion can still manifest his powers bound, gagged, and naked, and after a week of having been so.

A wizard can be stripped of his component pouch, bound, or gagged. Any one of those will stop him from casting most spells. 2 of the three pretty much finishes the wizard. And a wizard without his spellbook to prepare from isn't much good. Granted, you can get around that with spell mastery (which helps a bit), and you *can* circumvent the first things via loads of meta-magic, but by that point even your 1st level spells will be a fair bit higher.

Advantage? Clearly the psion, in this particular field of debate.