So, maybe I am in the minority, but, I really don't use material components for spells. It ends up forcing the party to look for an endless supplies of 100 gp pearls and such. Also, using material components for different spells would require rooting around in your component during battle, right?
So, I am playing with a homebrew rule that gives them some use, but doesn't make them required. My proposed rule is that any spell can be cast as a ritual that takes an hour. If you have the proper components, there is nothing else. HOWEVER, if you do not have the components, you can spend an intense amount of effort drawing from the source of magic. This is the purpose of the material components (absent spell slots), it eases the transfer of magic from its respective font. This sheer will causes two (I thought three for 2014 rules to impact combat) levels of exhaustion.
According to the rules, to cast Acid Arrow you need to have powdered rhubarb leaf and an adder’s stomach? Does this mean on your person, in your hand, or what? Is it consumed, does it have an expiry? If you are in combat, and it needs to be in hand, do you have take a full action to rummage around in your bag to find those components and take them out. They are funny puns, but not logisitically "doable". So, most campaigns I have ever been in have ignored material components. Except for things like a pearl worth 100 gp or more (that is then consumed) to cast identify.
Material components just don't seem to make sense to me. But, if they make sense to you, you do you.
According to the rules, to cast Acid Arrow you need to have powdered rhubarb leaf and an adder’s stomach? Does this mean on your person, in your hand, or what? Is it consumed, does it have an expiry? If you are in combat, and it needs to be in hand, do you have take a full action to rummage around in your bag to find those components and take them out.
This is well defined in the rules already. If you have purchased a "component pouch" you automatically have all the required components for your spells that don't have a cost value and you can retrieve them as long as you have a free hand with no action cost. They never expire and are not consumed by the spell unless it is specified in the spell itself. Yes you do need a free hand to get them out.
If you don't want to worry about components then you can get any spellcasting focus which replaces them as long as they don't have a value specified for them. So holding a wand or magic staff makes a component pouch unnecessary.
The only time non-gold cost components are necessary to track is if you have been disarmed - e.g. by being thrown in prison.
Hence why it makes no sense at all for it to cost 2 points of exhaustion to cast without M components, it is incredibly easy to have access to M components or a spellcasting focus which replaces them.
So, maybe I am in the minority, but, I really don't use material components for spells. It ends up forcing the party to look for an endless supplies of 100 gp pearls and such. Also, using material components for different spells would require rooting around in your component during battle, right?
So, I am playing with a homebrew rule that gives them some use, but doesn't make them required. My proposed rule is that any spell can be cast as a ritual that takes an hour. If you have the proper components, there is nothing else. HOWEVER, if you do not have the components, you can spend an intense amount of effort drawing from the source of magic. This is the purpose of the material components (absent spell slots), it eases the transfer of magic from its respective font. This sheer will causes two (I thought three for 2014 rules to impact combat) levels of exhaustion.
Thoughts?
Why would anyone ever use that? It's far less costly to buy a stack of components to carry around with you than suffer 2 levels of exhaustion.
According to the rules, to cast Acid Arrow you need to have powdered rhubarb leaf and an adder’s stomach? Does this mean on your person, in your hand, or what? Is it consumed, does it have an expiry? If you are in combat, and it needs to be in hand, do you have take a full action to rummage around in your bag to find those components and take them out. They are funny puns, but not logisitically "doable". So, most campaigns I have ever been in have ignored material components. Except for things like a pearl worth 100 gp or more (that is then consumed) to cast identify.
Material components just don't seem to make sense to me. But, if they make sense to you, you do you.
This is well defined in the rules already. If you have purchased a "component pouch" you automatically have all the required components for your spells that don't have a cost value and you can retrieve them as long as you have a free hand with no action cost. They never expire and are not consumed by the spell unless it is specified in the spell itself. Yes you do need a free hand to get them out.
If you don't want to worry about components then you can get any spellcasting focus which replaces them as long as they don't have a value specified for them. So holding a wand or magic staff makes a component pouch unnecessary.
The only time non-gold cost components are necessary to track is if you have been disarmed - e.g. by being thrown in prison.
Hence why it makes no sense at all for it to cost 2 points of exhaustion to cast without M components, it is incredibly easy to have access to M components or a spellcasting focus which replaces them.