Material Spell Components in D&D

[thegreyelf]

I'm on a roll. I probably should've waited till tomorrow to publish this one, but what the Hell. A discussion of material spell components in D&D. And no, it's not the stance you think it is.

If there's anything in Dungeons & Dragons which is as controversial as alignment, and possibly even more roundly ignored, it's the idea of spell components. Some argue they are extraneous and irritating and ignoring them has no measurable effect on the game. Others argue that ignoring spell components entirely in D&D ignores an important--nay, vital--balancing element in the game. This article will examine spell components, how they developed in the course of the game, and the important role they play, at least starting with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons iteration of the game.

For more: wastedlandsfantasy.blogspot.com/2018/12/material-spell-components-in-dungeons.html

[talysman]

Yeah, I remember talking about material components when we started switching our game to AD&D mixed with OD&D and Holmes, but pretty much never actually dealing with it unless there was a rare/expensive ingredient. Probably wouldn't have worried about components unless something happened that would ruin them, like getting dunked in water.

[thegreyelf]

Dec 13, 2018 20:03:50 GMT -6 talysman said:

Yeah, I remember talking about material components when we started switching our game to AD&D mixed with OD&D and Holmes, but pretty much never actually dealing with it unless there was a rare/expensive ingredient. Probably wouldn't have worried about components unless something happened that would ruin them, like getting dunked in water.

And after doing a close reading, it seems that was, in fact, the intent of the rules.

[howandwhy99]

I think there were many limitations on casters to justify having very powerful magical effects. Armor restricting casting because you need to swing your arms about. Speech is necessary. Material components are necessary. Line of sight usually, which requires light. Requiring spell preparation so all spell use is heavily planned. Heavy spellbooks and a full night's rest are required even to prepare.

There are a ton of ways to screw with casters and stop them and that's good. The harder it is to use spells, or just use spells effectively, the more powerful those spells can be at a lower level and still be balanced.

All this being decades on from the fact that spells like Light and Detect Magic were far more powerful in early D&D. Where these practices and basic resources and so on had limits and difficulties of their own.

[Deleted]

Ingredients as well for the creation of magic items - a stricter standard regards this activity is evident at least in the AD&D DMG 1e.

[thegreyelf]

Dec 14, 2018 14:40:40 GMT -6 @doublejig2 said:

Ingredients as well for the creation of magic items - a stricter standard regards this activity is evident at least in the AD&D DMG 1e.

That's coming up RIGHT NOW, in fact .