Spells, Wizards & Material Components
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- Blood Axe
- Cold-Blooded Diabolist
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Spells, Wizards & Material Components
This is mentioned briefly on pages 125,126.
I think its a great opportunity to give a bit of color & fun to the Wizard.
Casting Scare? Use a bit of bone from an undead creature +1 to cast.
Strength spell? Use the fur of a bull.
Lots of ideas in old RPG books like the Players Handbook. If you cant find one, just make it up.
Comprehend Languages? Spittle from a wise Sage.
Anything offering more than a +1 should be rare , expensive.
I think its a great opportunity to give a bit of color & fun to the Wizard.
Casting Scare? Use a bit of bone from an undead creature +1 to cast.
Strength spell? Use the fur of a bull.
Lots of ideas in old RPG books like the Players Handbook. If you cant find one, just make it up.
Comprehend Languages? Spittle from a wise Sage.
Anything offering more than a +1 should be rare , expensive.
To defend: This is the Pact.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
- dark cauliflower
- Deft-Handed Cutpurse
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
screaming "Blood and Souls for Arioch!" seemz to work pretty good. Have you tried that yet? Of course you need to whack some dorks first to make it potent.
Dark Cauliflower
--from deep night comes the cruciferiouz king!
--from deep night comes the cruciferiouz king!
- finarvyn
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
Part of the question to ask is: do you want magic to be more difficult for the wizard?
While I agree that spell components are (1) more "realistic" within a fantasy context, and (2) more fun because the acquisiton of such can lead to some additonal adventures ... keep in mind that the game effect is to put additional limits on your spellcasters.
If spellcasters need to go on adventures to find the components, they turn into collectors and hourders. If these components can be purchased locally, the main effect is simply to drain their finances. Either way, if they happen not to have the correct component at the correct time their magical power can be severely limited.
I guess it would be good to define what is the intended purpose of a spell component rule, then we could brainstorm to see how to make one work.
While I agree that spell components are (1) more "realistic" within a fantasy context, and (2) more fun because the acquisiton of such can lead to some additonal adventures ... keep in mind that the game effect is to put additional limits on your spellcasters.
If spellcasters need to go on adventures to find the components, they turn into collectors and hourders. If these components can be purchased locally, the main effect is simply to drain their finances. Either way, if they happen not to have the correct component at the correct time their magical power can be severely limited.
I guess it would be good to define what is the intended purpose of a spell component rule, then we could brainstorm to see how to make one work.
Marv / Finarvyn
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11 (over 11 years of SPAM bustin'!)
DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975
"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson
"Misinterpreting the rules is a shared memory for many of us"
-- Joseph Goodman
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11 (over 11 years of SPAM bustin'!)
DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975
"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson
"Misinterpreting the rules is a shared memory for many of us"
-- Joseph Goodman
- Blood Axe
- Cold-Blooded Diabolist
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
I figure a +1 wouldn't be game changer . But it might be enough for a Wizard player to think about. He might stop & collect some weird stuff along the adventure. The Wizard collecting the blood or bone of some strange creature, dirt from a Vampire crypt, etc,etc.
To defend: This is the Pact.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
- GnomeBoy
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
I guess I'm reading the OP differently. More like, components are just as abstract as they are in the rules as written, you don't need to track them for each spell, how many of each thing you have, etc. etc. etc. -- but! if you did happen keep a bit of bone from that dragon skeleton, employing it at a creative time will give you a +1 to a single spell check of an appropriate spell.finarvyn wrote:Part of the question to ask is: do you want magic to be more difficult for the wizard?
I think that is a really cool idea. Not a game changer, but a great opportunity for player inventiveness and creativity. I personally wouldn't just tell the player what rare bits and bobs help which specific spells (I wouldn't even pre-define that), but would in general make it known that such things could be discovered through experimentation...
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.
Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters
bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.
Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters
bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
- Raven_Crowking
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
As an alternative, you could allow the Mercurial roll using that component to be different....rerolled when casting, with a +10 bonus to the roll. It would give characters with a very poor MM roll reason to seek out special components, but, when the spell is cast, there is a chance that the new effect will be equally bad...or worse!
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
- Blood Axe
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
Yes, thats what I meant. Something that is appropriate for the spell.GnomeBoy wrote:I guess I'm reading the OP differently. More like, components are just as abstract as they are in the rules as written, you don't need to track them for each spell, how many of each thing you have, etc. etc. etc. -- but! if you did happen keep a bit of bone from that dragon skeleton, employing it at a creative time will give you a +1 to a single spell check of an appropriate spell.finarvyn wrote:Part of the question to ask is: do you want magic to be more difficult for the wizard?
I think that is a really cool idea. Not a game changer, but a great opportunity for player inventiveness and creativity. I personally wouldn't just tell the player what rare bits and bobs help which specific spells (I wouldn't even pre-define that), but would in general make it known that such things could be discovered through experimentation...
To defend: This is the Pact.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
But when life loses its value,
and is taken for naught -
then the Pact is to Avenge.
- finarvyn
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
Ah, I thought you meant a game system where specific components were required in order to cast specific spells, whereby much of the magic-user's power would vanish as I spent time searching for ways to cast basic spells.
If you're talking about simply giving a bonus for wizards who gather cool stuff to put more "pop" into a spell, that sounds pretty cool.
If you're talking about simply giving a bonus for wizards who gather cool stuff to put more "pop" into a spell, that sounds pretty cool.
Marv / Finarvyn
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11 (over 11 years of SPAM bustin'!)
DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975
"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson
"Misinterpreting the rules is a shared memory for many of us"
-- Joseph Goodman
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11 (over 11 years of SPAM bustin'!)
DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975
"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson
"Misinterpreting the rules is a shared memory for many of us"
-- Joseph Goodman
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- Cold-Blooded Diabolist
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
I want to allow my players to use this sort of thing... but my current DCC campaign involves a couple of players that I know it would be toxic for.
One guy has this weird thing where he goes from intensely immersed role-player that barely cares about the mechanics into a turbo-charged bonus chaser the moment he catches wind that there is some bonus he could get by doing a certain thing - he nearly destroyed an entire AD&D campaign by chasing down every last individual XP award he could manage, and being so bitter if he didn't get his "shiny" that he would go out of his way to reason that other players didn't earn theirs either.
Another... he's just the reason that "give 'em an inch, he'll take a mile," is a phrase. He'd turn every session into harvesting every last piece of every last critter and feeding me lines of reason and logic (because he doesn't realize I am just going to say "magic doesn't have to be reasonable or logical, stop that and lets play" to everything he says) trying to convince me that if a bull's horn works to enhance a strength spell then so should a piece of horse flesh, orc teeth, the ear of an ox, any part of a giant, the scale of an extremely large fish, or any other piece of critter because they are all stronger than humans just like a bull... and he won't settle for "it's not about being stronger than a human, it's about having a mystical association with strength." as a suitable reason for anything other than him being right.
...it's actually why this guy is back in the group after a 3 year exile... not sure I want to provide addicts with temptation, even though I really think everyone else in the game would benefit.
*shrug* game is in 14 hours and I don't get to sleep between now and then, so I'll probably be crotchety enough by game time to just go for it and unleash a heap of grouch onto anyone going for abuse or obsessing over it.
One guy has this weird thing where he goes from intensely immersed role-player that barely cares about the mechanics into a turbo-charged bonus chaser the moment he catches wind that there is some bonus he could get by doing a certain thing - he nearly destroyed an entire AD&D campaign by chasing down every last individual XP award he could manage, and being so bitter if he didn't get his "shiny" that he would go out of his way to reason that other players didn't earn theirs either.
Another... he's just the reason that "give 'em an inch, he'll take a mile," is a phrase. He'd turn every session into harvesting every last piece of every last critter and feeding me lines of reason and logic (because he doesn't realize I am just going to say "magic doesn't have to be reasonable or logical, stop that and lets play" to everything he says) trying to convince me that if a bull's horn works to enhance a strength spell then so should a piece of horse flesh, orc teeth, the ear of an ox, any part of a giant, the scale of an extremely large fish, or any other piece of critter because they are all stronger than humans just like a bull... and he won't settle for "it's not about being stronger than a human, it's about having a mystical association with strength." as a suitable reason for anything other than him being right.
...it's actually why this guy is back in the group after a 3 year exile... not sure I want to provide addicts with temptation, even though I really think everyone else in the game would benefit.
*shrug* game is in 14 hours and I don't get to sleep between now and then, so I'll probably be crotchety enough by game time to just go for it and unleash a heap of grouch onto anyone going for abuse or obsessing over it.
- GnomeBoy
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
Nobes, you could try to mechanize that component thing by saying it is random, and whatever he wants to try takes a 1-in-6 (or whatever die you want to employ), rolled during the casting, to gain that +1 or not. Not the most fun solution maybe, but it could shut up a player like that, and save yourself the repeated, long-winded explanations.
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.
Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters
bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.
Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters
bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components
And lots of these items can be used up in the casting. Sure you can get a +1 bonus.
But there is only enough for 5 uses.... Chose when wisely.
But there is only enough for 5 uses.... Chose when wisely.
To that creature, you are the monsters hunting it!
Noun mon·ster/mɒnstər/Show Spell[mon-ster]
1. a legendary animal combining features of animal and human form or having the forms of various animals in combination, as a centaur, griffin, or sphinx.
2. any creature so ugly or monstrous as to frighten people.
3. any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.
4. a person who excites horror by wickedness, cruelty, etc.
5. any animal or thing huge in size.
6. any small, unattended children running free
Noun mon·ster/mɒnstər/Show Spell[mon-ster]
1. a legendary animal combining features of animal and human form or having the forms of various animals in combination, as a centaur, griffin, or sphinx.
2. any creature so ugly or monstrous as to frighten people.
3. any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.
4. a person who excites horror by wickedness, cruelty, etc.
5. any animal or thing huge in size.
6. any small, unattended children running free