Does a component pouch have all material components in it automatically? if so doesn't this defeat its own purpose?
Some spells require strangely personal things ...
Bigbsy hand Requires a glove made of snakeskin ... does every component patch just have a snakeskin glove in it ? or does the player have to acquire one?
Banishment Requires an item distasteful to the target .... does every component pouch have in it an item distasteful to every creature?
It just sounds ridiculous to think all these items are in one bag ... if they are per game rules what's the point of requiring any of them at all when a piece of starting gear magically gives you everything.
Component pouch automatically has all components that don't have a cost associated with them. The individual components are mostly holdovers from previous editions or jokes of some sort, though they are still relevant if you find yourself deprived of your component pouch/focus.
Material components that don't have a listed cost are mostly ignored and an Arcane Focus, Component Pouch, or Divine Focus is the mechanic to let spell casters ignore components except the ones that have a listed GP value. Basically it's to streamline play so that spell casters don't waste tons of in game time tracking down spider silk, for example.
Material components that have a GP value in the spell description need to be acquired the same way a 50' rope has to be acquired though. That prevents a 1st level spell caster from casting Chromatic Orb for example because the material component for that spell is slightly hard to find.
It just sounds ridiculous to think all these items are in one bag ... if they are per game rules what's the point of requiring any of them at all when a piece of starting gear magically gives you everything.
It's been my experience that components are either used fastidiously, or not used at all. In other words, either DMs require, as the folks above are saying, that you procure all the components that have costs, or a DM will just assume you have all the components you need all the time, and not bother with tracking them at all. Anecdotally, almost all the DMs I have played with ignore them. Not that you don't have to have them--if you've been captured and imprisoned away from your gear, you can't cast spells requiring components. But once you get your gear back, almost all the folks I've gamed with just go back to letting you cast your spells as normal. I haven't gamed with many people who require you to build a list of your components and buy them when you're in town as a normal part of the game.
Occasionally, super-powerful plot point spell components may turn into their own quests. We have to shut off the Font of Dragon Magic, and only a scale from the Great Slumbering FireWyrm will let us cast the spell! Off we go, etc. But on the way, if you need to cast Chromatic Orb...you just do :)
Playing my first game, and so far our DM only cares about acquiring the components that have a listed cost (ie a Pearl for Identify). I imagine he would also care about replacing the components that explicitly state they are consumed by the spell, but as far as I am aware the majority of those also have a gold cost, so would be covered by the first point.
I think that the general idea with components that don't have a cost associated with them is that the character just keeps an eye out for them and keeps a reasonable stock in the pouch. Since there isn't a cost associated with them, they are therefore fairly easy to come by. The starting pouch could have been loaded out for the character upon purchase. This would mean that a non light domain cleric isn't going to have to worry about bat guano taking up extra space. Since there is no tracking of common materials, it's not a big deal and it's just a way to further the immersion.
Component Pouch does have everything in it - all the components that do not have a listed cost in GP are assumed to be in this pouch for you. The concept is that you acquire what you need in the downtime/rests/etc and so on.
A Focus (be it Arcane, Holy, etc) is similar in that you may "ignore" all components that do not have a GP cost.
The Pouch is useful for those who like to really describe the use of them in the spell (like Dresden files or how Liam O'Brien describes Caleb's spells in Critical Role). The Focus is better for those who don't like that aspect. In some extra publications like Eberron there are special Focuses (Foci?) that can confer additional bonuses to spell attacks.
In some ways the Pouch is superior because it can be used for non-Class spells like Magic Initiate feat (if choosing one that doesn't match your class), Dragonmark feats, and Racial spells. Focuses/Foci cannot be used for these because the use of a Focus specifically requires you to have the relevant Spellcasting class feature (it is that feature which lets you use a Focus).
What is the point of spells having material component if you can start the game with a pouch/focus that auto-grants/ignores the materials? The answer is simple: so that if the pouch/focus is removed from you, those spells cannot be cast. There can be scenarios in the game (like prison, etc) where you are without possessions and so you cannot cast these spells. It's a balancing mechanic (by intention, anyway, it's not an effective one in my opinion) to temper the effectiveness of your spellcaster much like how a warrior is tempered without their weapons (monks notwithstanding). You can still do stuff, you're just not as effective as normal.
Personally I abhor material components as a system and the idea of wizards and sorcerers juggling materials around looks utterly ridiculous in my head, and I cannot actually understand it for Racial and Sorcerer magic which is supposed to be "what you're born with" - why dafuq do you need to get random stuff to use a power you're born with? Anyway, that be a rant for another day.
Material components come directly from the Turjan stories of Jack Vance's Dying Earth, the same source as memorizing a limited number of spells which then vanish from the mind when cast.
Collecting and managing material components was a huge part of the game in 1e. Each material component reflected something of the spell. Aquiring some of the more obscure ones could be a source of adventure in and of itself.
Now they are almost a relic. The component pouch/arcane focus came out because DMs and players tended to ignore material components anyway. This gives an in game reason to not have to worry about them. In the few situations where a mage is deprived of both it can be interesting to try to work with the limitations of what components can be found near to hand. The pinch of sand for a Sleep spell is usually pretty easy.
My assumption is that the caster is always keeping her eye open for the bits and bobs that make up her material components and adds them to her pouch when she comes across them. It is subsumed into normal life for the character. Just like sharpening swords, oiling armor, replacing shield straps, etc for fighters. We don't track it all in play because it is not really fun and interesting to do so.
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Does a component pouch have all material components in it automatically? if so doesn't this defeat its own purpose?
Some spells require strangely personal things ...
It just sounds ridiculous to think all these items are in one bag ... if they are per game rules what's the point of requiring any of them at all when a piece of starting gear magically gives you everything.
Component pouch automatically has all components that don't have a cost associated with them. The individual components are mostly holdovers from previous editions or jokes of some sort, though they are still relevant if you find yourself deprived of your component pouch/focus.
Material components that don't have a listed cost are mostly ignored and an Arcane Focus, Component Pouch, or Divine Focus is the mechanic to let spell casters ignore components except the ones that have a listed GP value. Basically it's to streamline play so that spell casters don't waste tons of in game time tracking down spider silk, for example.
Material components that have a GP value in the spell description need to be acquired the same way a 50' rope has to be acquired though. That prevents a 1st level spell caster from casting Chromatic Orb for example because the material component for that spell is slightly hard to find.
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It's been my experience that components are either used fastidiously, or not used at all. In other words, either DMs require, as the folks above are saying, that you procure all the components that have costs, or a DM will just assume you have all the components you need all the time, and not bother with tracking them at all. Anecdotally, almost all the DMs I have played with ignore them. Not that you don't have to have them--if you've been captured and imprisoned away from your gear, you can't cast spells requiring components. But once you get your gear back, almost all the folks I've gamed with just go back to letting you cast your spells as normal. I haven't gamed with many people who require you to build a list of your components and buy them when you're in town as a normal part of the game.
Occasionally, super-powerful plot point spell components may turn into their own quests. We have to shut off the Font of Dragon Magic, and only a scale from the Great Slumbering FireWyrm will let us cast the spell! Off we go, etc. But on the way, if you need to cast Chromatic Orb...you just do :)
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Playing my first game, and so far our DM only cares about acquiring the components that have a listed cost (ie a Pearl for Identify). I imagine he would also care about replacing the components that explicitly state they are consumed by the spell, but as far as I am aware the majority of those also have a gold cost, so would be covered by the first point.
I think that the general idea with components that don't have a cost associated with them is that the character just keeps an eye out for them and keeps a reasonable stock in the pouch. Since there isn't a cost associated with them, they are therefore fairly easy to come by. The starting pouch could have been loaded out for the character upon purchase. This would mean that a non light domain cleric isn't going to have to worry about bat guano taking up extra space. Since there is no tracking of common materials, it's not a big deal and it's just a way to further the immersion.
Component Pouch does have everything in it - all the components that do not have a listed cost in GP are assumed to be in this pouch for you. The concept is that you acquire what you need in the downtime/rests/etc and so on.
A Focus (be it Arcane, Holy, etc) is similar in that you may "ignore" all components that do not have a GP cost.
The Pouch is useful for those who like to really describe the use of them in the spell (like Dresden files or how Liam O'Brien describes Caleb's spells in Critical Role). The Focus is better for those who don't like that aspect. In some extra publications like Eberron there are special Focuses (Foci?) that can confer additional bonuses to spell attacks.
In some ways the Pouch is superior because it can be used for non-Class spells like Magic Initiate feat (if choosing one that doesn't match your class), Dragonmark feats, and Racial spells. Focuses/Foci cannot be used for these because the use of a Focus specifically requires you to have the relevant Spellcasting class feature (it is that feature which lets you use a Focus).
What is the point of spells having material component if you can start the game with a pouch/focus that auto-grants/ignores the materials? The answer is simple: so that if the pouch/focus is removed from you, those spells cannot be cast. There can be scenarios in the game (like prison, etc) where you are without possessions and so you cannot cast these spells. It's a balancing mechanic (by intention, anyway, it's not an effective one in my opinion) to temper the effectiveness of your spellcaster much like how a warrior is tempered without their weapons (monks notwithstanding). You can still do stuff, you're just not as effective as normal.
Personally I abhor material components as a system and the idea of wizards and sorcerers juggling materials around looks utterly ridiculous in my head, and I cannot actually understand it for Racial and Sorcerer magic which is supposed to be "what you're born with" - why dafuq do you need to get random stuff to use a power you're born with? Anyway, that be a rant for another day.
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Material components come directly from the Turjan stories of Jack Vance's Dying Earth, the same source as memorizing a limited number of spells which then vanish from the mind when cast.
Collecting and managing material components was a huge part of the game in 1e. Each material component reflected something of the spell. Aquiring some of the more obscure ones could be a source of adventure in and of itself.
Now they are almost a relic. The component pouch/arcane focus came out because DMs and players tended to ignore material components anyway. This gives an in game reason to not have to worry about them. In the few situations where a mage is deprived of both it can be interesting to try to work with the limitations of what components can be found near to hand. The pinch of sand for a Sleep spell is usually pretty easy.
My assumption is that the caster is always keeping her eye open for the bits and bobs that make up her material components and adds them to her pouch when she comes across them. It is subsumed into normal life for the character. Just like sharpening swords, oiling armor, replacing shield straps, etc for fighters. We don't track it all in play because it is not really fun and interesting to do so.