| 2 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
I'm considering targets for casting awaken, but I'm only likely to have one set of material components available.
If the spell fails, does wasting the spell include wasting the components as well?
I have no idea what the official rules on this matter are, but in the games I play, we distinguish between "the spell fails" and "someone saved." Think of a mass charm spell like Enthrall; if I cast it on twenty people and fifteen fail their save, that doesn't mean that the spell failed, even though five people are unaffected.
Similarly, if someone makes a save against a single-target spell, the spell was nevertheless cast and the material components are used.
On the other hand, we assume that if the spell fails, for example, by failing a concentration check or a deafness penalty or something, that the spell components are still around because the magic never happened at all.
Page 213 of the Core Rulebook says the material components are "annihilated by the spell energies in the casting process."
So, yes, they consumed. You use them, regardless of whether the spell fails. Because it is the casting, not the success of the spell, that eats them up.
On the other hand, we assume that if the spell fails, for example, by failing a concentration check or a deafness penalty or something, that the spell components are still around because the magic never happened at all.
See page 207 of the Core Rulebook ("If something
interrupts your concentration while you’re casting, you must make a concentration check or lose the spell"), then see what I wrote above. Per RAW, if you fail concentration or other interference stops your spell from being successful, you still lose the spell. It would then follow that the materials are also consumed, because, again, it is the casting, not the success or failure that eats the components up.| 1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Sigh... Somebody marked this for FAQ? Really?
It's common sense. The only confusion comes from folks who misinterpret "casting" to equate to a successful spell. It's not. "Casting" is the act of trying to generate a spell, whether successful or not. Since casting eats material components and spells, whether successful or fail, the question is answered clearly in the core rules.
People need to read the book and stop trying to get every little thing into FAQ.
Page 213 of the Core Rulebook says the material components are "annihilated by the spell energies in the casting process."
So, yes, they consumed. You use them, regardless of whether the spell fails. Because it is the casting, not the success of the spell, that eats them up.
That seems pretty clear. Thanks.