Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Discussion of all things magical for DCC RPG -- "Let the Phlogiston take you where it will..."

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Blood Axe
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Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by Blood Axe »

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.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by dark cauliflower »

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.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by finarvyn »

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.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by Blood Axe »

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.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by GnomeBoy »

finarvyn wrote:Part of the question to ask is: do you want magic to be more difficult for the wizard?
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.

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...
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by Raven_Crowking »

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!
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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.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by Blood Axe »

GnomeBoy wrote:
finarvyn wrote:Part of the question to ask is: do you want magic to be more difficult for the wizard?
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.

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...
Yes, thats what I meant. Something that is appropriate for the spell.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by finarvyn »

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.
Marv / Finarvyn
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"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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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by TheNobleDrake »

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.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by GnomeBoy »

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.
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Re: Spells, Wizards & Material Components

Post by Monster »

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.
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Noun mon·ster/mɒnstər/Show Spell[mon-ster]
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