Material Components With Cost


Advice


My friends and players are requesting that if a spell has a specific material component with gold cost, they just pay the cost in gold instead of having to keep track of such materials. I would like to agree with them since it will simplify the tedious book keeping. But i also worry if this would unbalance some spells and class features. What is your opinion as DMs


What I do usualy, is allow to buy some type of stuff beforehand leaving details for later. So a character may carry for example "potion crafting ingredients, worth 400 gp", then they can use it anytime, even in the wilderness. You can do a similar thing. let them spend some amount of money on unspecified spell components beforehand. This saves a lot of bookkeeping, but won't make it possible to act like the required spell components were in the stash of the treasure they've just found.


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I always just let them spend the gold directly. Honestly, it's just not worth the effort to force them to track such components, as long as they spend the gold. Especially since the problem is specific spells, not the material component. If you're looking to prevent players from using certain spells by following strict rules, it's not because you care about the rules as much as you want to power down players. Now, don't get me wrong, I too have done this. But rather than go about it in a round about way (that comes off as passive aggressive) you should directly address spells you consider to be a problem and simply tell players they are unavailable or tweak them to work differently.


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I actually require specific components to be purchased. A result of this is many spellcasters carrying their spare cash in gems or precious metals that serve as components but also buy and sell for face value. The bookkeeping is not onerous for my players, and the small nerf to casters is not a bad thing in my opinion.

I also place some of the loot from enemy casters in the form of compnents they would use.


Having a more magic rich campaign, I have component costs unless the caster has a special feat which allows them to literally make components out of dust.

Spell components are required for all spells unless specified. Special items are usually sold at the same shops. Pouches hold enough for 100 spell levels and have other sizes. Cost is included for level 1 spells, a silver or so for level 2, etc.The pouch is rated to the highest level you can cast from it. And it is the third item casters search for, minimal at best treasure.


I'm with Claxon, spend GP on it. Focuses are the only thing that I require. I'm not a fan of tedious paperwork, for the players or myself when I go over the sheets... I've got better things to do than figure out every arrow, foodstuff, ounce of water or component used. Throw some gp at them at downtimes and I'm happy.


I hate the extra bookkeeping myself as a player, so as a GM I would just allow them to spend the gold. It's not going to really effect their power level. It just adds more bookkeeping to force them to track it.

At higher levels they can just teleport to a big city, buy it, and teleport back to where they were. Making them burn two spell slots at that level isn't really going to hinder them except for special situations.

Short version: I would let them just burn the gold and not track the component.


I've played it with this idea before. It was just plain easier all-around. Expensive foci still needed to be bought, and once or twice we got treasure that more or less converted straight to the pile of gold kept for spell components. It's not overpowering so much as lets you spend more time on other matters, like tracking spells or hp.


I require the specific component to be acquired ahead of time.

Also: there is a feat that allows you to substitute gold/jewels for components.


Unless the spell has a particularly pricey component, my group just handwaves most components in general. And when i play a spell caster i just use blood money, andbrew potions of restoration :P


Evilserran wrote:
And when i play a spell caster i just use blood money, andbrew potions of restoration :P

For most components your still paying as much, or more than, you would without Blood Money.

And you had to prepare those potions in advance, instead of just picking up your components.


I require players to put the money aside as having been spent on spell components but then don't worry about the details. The idea of making a 20th level wizard itemise a 500,000gp expenditure on spell components is so much not fun .


Pay gold? Hell, why not just roll a dice once and tell them how encounter went?
Seriously, you are just chipping from immersion and overall experience with this "shortcuts". You are planing a goddamn role playing game, not Zork.


Vahlae wrote:

Pay gold? Hell, why not just roll a dice once and tell them how encounter went?

Seriously, you are just chipping from immersion and overall experience with this "shortcuts". You are planing a g$%+!&n role playing game, not Zork.

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