Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Synjin Oct 14, 2014 7:44:42	I've never used MC in my games, just for ease and streamlining of the game-play, but I can see how integrating them into a game can prove interesting. Sometimes a mini-quest for that special component, or for gold to purchase a component, can be a sidebar adventure all it's own.   You guys use 'em?  Pros/Cons?
#2 iserith Oct 14, 2014 7:45:52	I use them, but don't make a big deal out of them.
#3 Synjin Oct 14, 2014 7:56:21	iserith wrote:
#4 iserith Oct 14, 2014 8:15:33	Most material components are not expended when the spell is cast if I remember correctly, only some. I assume the characters stock up accordingly. Only in certain scenarios where resource tracking is the point (maybe an exploration hexcrawl, an escape from prison, or a desert island sitch) would I make it an issue and that's not a type of game I run very often.
#5 Yunru Oct 14, 2014 8:57:17	Materia components? I once summoned Shiva, does that count? (That's a no by the way, unless it's comsumed in use)
#6 Touc Oct 14, 2014 9:12:57	If the component has a gold piece cost and the player has not purchased and placed it on their sheet, I wouldn't allow them to cast the spell. For other materials, it is descriptive fluff that can encourage some role-play (e.g. "I sprinkle some sand before the kobolds and watch their eyes flutter.") I wouldn't go through the tedium of individually stocking up as I assume casters are always scrounging for mundane components.
#7 dmgorgon Oct 14, 2014 10:18:08	We detail everything in my game.    For that purpose, I have a handout that consists of a few pages with all the spells listed, material component, and cost.      In addition, some material components expire in my game.
#8 Theros Oct 14, 2014 10:21:32	I think material components only came up once during my game. The Wizard was arrested and had his pouch taken away. He bribed a guard with the promise of a polymorph spell to make him handsome so it didn’t really slow him down.
#9 woif Oct 14, 2014 10:48:34	In my campaign casters with acomponnt pouch are assumed to have all non costly components they need. For a spell with a costly component they must actually find somebody selling it and purchase it beforehand, most are easy to find except the rare and much saught after diamonds (I do this to limit player resurecting and keep death at least slightly scary)
#10 OrwellianHaggis Oct 14, 2014 11:16:24	As with other similar things (ammunition, encumbrance) keeping a close track of these things doesn't appeal to my players, so we don't use them.
#11 Timborama Oct 14, 2014 12:11:41	I assume that anyone who buys 1 before the first session (whether 1st level or not) has all the basic materials* they need. In fact, I may even assume they have the basic materials* of a few future spells, too. Their character bought them before the first adventure, so it'll likely have everything they need, it'd be silly to NOT do that! And since the components are (usually) not consumed, there's no need to keep track of what's in there. I figure if they lose the pouch they lose all basic materials* (either the physical container is gone or if it happens to spill for some reason) to keep it simple. Otherwise there'd be no point to NOT use a Focus, really...   (*basic materials meaning any material component that is neither consumed nor listed as having a cost or extra focus, like diamonds or special gems or mirrors or whatever)   Though I can't wait for the day I kidnap them in the Underdark and then they escape, with the wizard finding some bat guano...
#12 Finieous Oct 14, 2014 13:19:40	I've only ever bothered about spellcasting components in corner cases. You wake up floating naked on the surface of the ocean? Material components might be an issue. Have your hands bound behind your back? Somatic components might be tricky. Trying to be quiet? Verbal components might be a concern. One of the only things I don't like about 5e is how fiddly it's gotten with things like the War Caster feat. What was wrong with paladins, clerics, fighter-mages, etc., can cast spells in melee because that's what they do?
#13 BW0222 Oct 14, 2014 13:27:30	Synjin wrote:
#14 Nevvur Oct 14, 2014 16:34:43	I spent a lot of time daydreaming on the metaphysics in my setting, and consideration of casting components was a part of that. All my magic users require a spellcasting focus for spells that require a material component. Mundane objects simply don't interact with the soul responsible for bringing magic into the realm, so component pouches don't exist.   For spells with a component cost, casters require a generic substance called Adross -- essentially, crystallized willpower/essence of life -- which grows naturally in certain (dangerous) places, but can be created via ritual. The crystals are specially carved to function with individual spells, so they are not interchangeable, whatever their GP value. Arcanists use the willpower to channel (spell does not destroy the component) or fuel (component is consumed) the magic directly, while it serves as a spiritual bridge (not consumed) or tithe (consumed) to the patrons of divine casters. It is traded primarily among casters, and is essential to the creation of potions and magic items, but serves as high value currency in some cities.   Pro's/con's: my table gets some of that streamlining without neglecting the dev's intent in limiting the use of certain powerful spells. It kills the adventure hook of seeking out exotic components, but I'm not lacking for ideas to keep my table engaged by other means. Most important, I don't have to think too hard on what's so magical about guano.   On a side note, using material components/spellcasting focus requires a free hand. This is assumed to be the same hand that uses the somatic component, but I was interested to find the following spells with only verbal and material: Darkness, Feather Fall, (Mass) Suggestion, Tongues, Teleportation Circle
#15 AaronOfBarbaria Oct 14, 2014 18:10:14	I have players track any components with a cost, especially ones that are expended when the spell is cast, but I am very lax about components otherwise, including that I don't make getting them any harder than paying their cost and putting in an order.
#16 SpedGuy Oct 14, 2014 18:45:46	In my history of gaming, I can only think of one time componants (of the 'cost less than 1gp' variety) ever mattered in a game.  When traveling through a 'magic is evil!' nation, the DM made us track all our componants; as the authorities knew the common spell componants and tracked people who tried to buy or gather them.  Catching a bat at night to harvest Guano 'from the source' because we couldn't know if there were spies watching the caves nearby added some interesting factors to that specific trip.
#17 Huntsman57 Oct 15, 2014 5:47:05	The only way I track material components in my campaign is if they are lost or taken away the Mage can't cast spells requiring them. They don't need to be located or kept stocked however. They are simply an item in the mage's inventory and he either has his components or he does not.   Thats not to say I wouldn't allow a mage without his components to spot some bat guano laying about that he could use to unleash a fireball...
#18 Ashrym Oct 15, 2014 9:57:30	Only costly components or if the caster doesn't have a focus or component pouch.
#19 Ansbach Oct 15, 2014 13:16:26	I do use material components, but I have my players track them on the honor system and don't care how closely they track it.  I tell them, "Just let me know when you are out of something interesting and want to incorporate it into part of a fun side-quest".   So basically the wizard player gets to decide how important they are - not me.  I do make sure they acquire the expensive ones in order to  drain some of their treasure, however.
#20 ChrisCarlson Oct 15, 2014 16:38:51	Since you can use a spellcasting focus in lieu of non-costed/expended components, many (most?) spells don't actually end up needing them at all. Assuming you have access to a one of your class' foci, of course.
#21 MechaPilot Oct 16, 2014 18:52:13	I like material components, just not when they are used as a balancing factor for making a spell X level instead of Y level.  Material components that add flavor are great.  I often change them to fit my particular setting, but I expect that many people do the same.
#22 sleypy Oct 16, 2014 19:05:18	I'm using compontent cost, but only for materials that are valued in gold. I provide the materials in various means; most of it comes from old ruins or from wizards that offer the material in exchange for services.