Spell Components: Yes or No?

One of the optional rules presented in the Player’s Handbook is the use of spell components. You are free to decide to use or ignore components in your own campaign; as long as the NPCs abide by the same rules and restrictions the players do, the game works equally well in either case. The real crux of this issue are material components, and whether or not players should have to keep track of their stocks of spell reagents.

There are some very good reasons why you shouldn’t use material components in play; it requires a great attention to detail and some honesty on the part of the players, and may create obstacles or difficulties that take away from the DM’s plot. After all, if the party’s wizard has to drop out of the epic adventure in mid-stride to track down the ingredients for his next fireball spell, all concerned may feel a little frustrated or annoyed.

On the other hand, using spell components and requiring an account of what the wizard has on his person and what he has stockpiled in his laboratory or home base can add another dimension of detail and pseudo-realism to the game. If spell components aren’t used, who cares if a wizard is down to his last three coppers? More than any other class, a wizard can operate with no concern for material wealth— unless he has to worry about whether or not he can afford to buy the materials he’ll need to be able to cast his spells. In addition, the use of spell components requires players to spend some time and effort thinking about situations their characters would certainly be dealing with and can enhance role-playing if it isn’t taken to extremes.

Generally, enforcing the requirements for material components works best for low- to mid-level characters. By the time a wizard is 8th or 9th level, he’s usually wealthy enough to easily buy any materials he needs, and his daily selection of spells is so broad that keeping track of each type of component carried becomes a logistical nightmare. By that time, the DM can allow the player a little slack; the wizard’s a mighty hero now, and both player and DM may have other arenas of role-playing (building laboratories or establishing strongholds) that the character will be graduating to. However, at low levels, wizards and priests will find that some of their favorite spells have to be saved for when they’re truly needed.

For example, low-level wizards often rely on the armor spell as their sole means of defense against physical attack. Armor requires a piece of leather—no problem there—that has been blessed by a priest. Referring to Table 69 : NPC Spell Costs in the DMG, bless is usually reserved for characters of the same faith as the casting priest, and even then a small sum might be required. So, the wizard who wants the piece of leather blessed for his spell might have to convert to the faith of nearest available priest, and tithe him 10 or 20 gp to boot! If you consider how often players simply say, “Oh yeah, I’ll cast armor the day before we leave, so I’ll have my 1st-level spell open and armor in effect,” you can see just how much hassle (and role-playing opportunities!) are ignored by the player and DM.

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