Cast your spell with style! In this article, we explore different ways you can use the often-overlooked material components of spells to spice up your c...
The problem with spell components is that paying attention to them generally causes them to focus as a hindrance more than anything else, which is especially problematic given the hindrances other classes SHOULD have but often don’t.
I’ve seen DM’s go full-bore on clerics as well, with a whole lot of attention paid to proper religious observances in order to maintain spell-casting-levels of favor with their deity, but while that can ALSO provide some color and fun, it can also easily be more of a hindrance than anything else. It’s hard to celebrate next tuesday’s moderately important feast that requires horsemeat boiled in the leftover pomace from cidermaking when you’re out on the road between towns in an area that doesn’t grow apples or whatever the observance is. How many moderately important observances can you ignore before the metaphysical tie between your role and your granted abilities stretches too thin?
Functionally, it’d be like forcing melee classes to properly tend to their full plate armor, something which historically required several people working for a few hours in between military engagements. Heck, just getting in and out of the armor in order to sleep requires assistance. Fighter: “Can somebody help me with my…” Cleric: “Sorry, gotta pray!” Wizard:"Will you SHUT UP, I’m trying to memorize thi…: Barbarian: throws empty mug at wizard’s head “REFILL!”
Everybody in a band knows what happens when you fail to keep the lead singer/instrumentalist happy. Is the group treading on thin ice just to keep Bard in great spirits?
etc, etc…
I like the ideas around incorporating some personalization to an individual’s spells, though. One of the things that could lend well to that is substitute components. It allows for easy hand-waving with room for a story element as you change something minor about the spell due to it using something slightly different. No bats? Several types of bird guano should do if you’re going the alchemical route, crushing fireflies into pack animal manure could work if you’re going the symbolic route, but either way the point is that someone as schooled in the ways of magic as a wizard should be able to “punt” at almost all times unless you have a specific story-based reason for not allowing something (see: Dark Sun).
One of my regrets as a player ( @reverse was DM-ing this one) was when we only had one or two (we ended up only having one, IIRC) session to do Forge of Fury and one guy wanted our characters to spend so much time in the bar before the party set out and I was thinking “at this rate, we’re not going to get to explore the dungeon” and kept pushing us forwards. Which was dumb because it took away from that player’s fun. You can’t really “do” a module anyway, it’s just a location; what really matters is our play there, and that bar talk was part of the play for that player. I was stressed since it wasn’t a normal campaign, only a few limited sessions, but I was ultimately misguided there. When I myself prep for one-shot con games I bring a much bigger sandbox than we can ever hope to explore at the con. The important thing is what the players and their characters choose to do, not them finding or seeing everything,
But I’m of two minds. One of the two big beginner mistakes is not letting time pass. I’ve seen groups—not this one, where my fear was unfounded, but other groups—that just didn’t know how to advance the diegetic clock. Their characters are stuck in a cage? Well, then nothing happens for three real-time hours until a guard comes and talks to them. They’re wandering through a forest? Well, that’s gonna be real-time, too, with every meal accounted for.
I try to make this feel more like fast forwarding or time-being-told-quickly than “cutting”; some people get really uncomfy with cuts forcing them to take their eyes off their characters.
Once you’ve learned the knack for that kind of zooming in and out of time scales, you can start finding out what part of the game and the game’s world you all find most interesting. If, for your group, that means zooming over the domning & doffing & praying, that’s fine. And other groups can make different choices and that’s also great.
It’s great that each group can place the focus and emphasis where they want.
We’ve fast-forwarded through fights so we can spend more time on cleric stuff. That’s a huge part of the appeal for me, going into detail on how these people feel about the gods and their congregation.
We’ve also seen player characters throwing out money so they can carry more water after their cleric contracted fever and died.
Clerics and religion is just such a huge part of our worldbuilding and campaign. Holding the prayer meeting, keeping track of the gods’ various days throughout the week…
That said:
A key move is to establish routines so you then can execute them quickly the next time. Here’s am example:
First night out: “We set up two tents in a 60˚ angle with a campfire in the corner. I’ll take first watch and then Fa’ana takes second.” etc etc.
Then you never have to say that again until something changes—if you lose tents, tinderbox, or party members, or if you wanna forgo a campfire because you’re trying to be stealthy etc.
Using routine stuff as backdrop for other conversations can also be fun:
“Ruth, as I’m helping you with your armor… I’m gonna ask what in the nine hells you were doing when we met those book haunts? They seemed to know you.”
Etc etc.
Time records also help with all this.
I have a notebook where one of the columns is the current timestamp. As they light torches and frotz spells I can make a note. As time passes by them exploring or resting or talking, I make new timestamps. That way it’s easy to allocate some time in the morning for praying, spell-memorizing, and donning. And then you can get into as little or as much detail on that time as you want to.
But, again, all this is optional. For me it helps make the world come alive and is more valuable than fighting or plot events. If other people wanna do other things instead, that’s 💯 OK.
The problem with spell components is that paying attention to them generally causes them to focus as a hindrance more than anything else, which is especially problematic given the hindrances other classes SHOULD have but often don’t.
I’ve seen DM’s go full-bore on clerics as well, with a whole lot of attention paid to proper religious observances in order to maintain spell-casting-levels of favor with their deity, but while that can ALSO provide some color and fun, it can also easily be more of a hindrance than anything else. It’s hard to celebrate next tuesday’s moderately important feast that requires horsemeat boiled in the leftover pomace from cidermaking when you’re out on the road between towns in an area that doesn’t grow apples or whatever the observance is. How many moderately important observances can you ignore before the metaphysical tie between your role and your granted abilities stretches too thin?
Functionally, it’d be like forcing melee classes to properly tend to their full plate armor, something which historically required several people working for a few hours in between military engagements. Heck, just getting in and out of the armor in order to sleep requires assistance. Fighter: “Can somebody help me with my…” Cleric: “Sorry, gotta pray!” Wizard:"Will you SHUT UP, I’m trying to memorize thi…: Barbarian: throws empty mug at wizard’s head “REFILL!”
Everybody in a band knows what happens when you fail to keep the lead singer/instrumentalist happy. Is the group treading on thin ice just to keep Bard in great spirits?
etc, etc…
I like the ideas around incorporating some personalization to an individual’s spells, though. One of the things that could lend well to that is substitute components. It allows for easy hand-waving with room for a story element as you change something minor about the spell due to it using something slightly different. No bats? Several types of bird guano should do if you’re going the alchemical route, crushing fireflies into pack animal manure could work if you’re going the symbolic route, but either way the point is that someone as schooled in the ways of magic as a wizard should be able to “punt” at almost all times unless you have a specific story-based reason for not allowing something (see: Dark Sun).
One of my regrets as a player ( @reverse was DM-ing this one) was when we only had one or two (we ended up only having one, IIRC) session to do Forge of Fury and one guy wanted our characters to spend so much time in the bar before the party set out and I was thinking “at this rate, we’re not going to get to explore the dungeon” and kept pushing us forwards. Which was dumb because it took away from that player’s fun. You can’t really “do” a module anyway, it’s just a location; what really matters is our play there, and that bar talk was part of the play for that player. I was stressed since it wasn’t a normal campaign, only a few limited sessions, but I was ultimately misguided there. When I myself prep for one-shot con games I bring a much bigger sandbox than we can ever hope to explore at the con. The important thing is what the players and their characters choose to do, not them finding or seeing everything,
But I’m of two minds. One of the two big beginner mistakes is not letting time pass. I’ve seen groups—not this one, where my fear was unfounded, but other groups—that just didn’t know how to advance the diegetic clock. Their characters are stuck in a cage? Well, then nothing happens for three real-time hours until a guard comes and talks to them. They’re wandering through a forest? Well, that’s gonna be real-time, too, with every meal accounted for.
That’s not great. The fix is to let time move as slow or as fast as it needs to to answer any salient or relevant questions the players or the DM have about a situation. “It’s a six day journey there. On the fourth day as you’re deep into the forest, you here a rustling in the undergrowth. What do you do?”
I try to make this feel more like fast forwarding or time-being-told-quickly than “cutting”; some people get really uncomfy with cuts forcing them to take their eyes off their characters.
Once you’ve learned the knack for that kind of zooming in and out of time scales, you can start finding out what part of the game and the game’s world you all find most interesting. If, for your group, that means zooming over the domning & doffing & praying, that’s fine. And other groups can make different choices and that’s also great.
It’s great that each group can place the focus and emphasis where they want.
We’ve fast-forwarded through fights so we can spend more time on cleric stuff. That’s a huge part of the appeal for me, going into detail on how these people feel about the gods and their congregation.
We’ve also seen player characters throwing out money so they can carry more water after their cleric contracted fever and died.
Clerics and religion is just such a huge part of our worldbuilding and campaign. Holding the prayer meeting, keeping track of the gods’ various days throughout the week…
That said:
A key move is to establish routines so you then can execute them quickly the next time. Here’s am example:
First night out: “We set up two tents in a 60˚ angle with a campfire in the corner. I’ll take first watch and then Fa’ana takes second.” etc etc.
Then you never have to say that again until something changes—if you lose tents, tinderbox, or party members, or if you wanna forgo a campfire because you’re trying to be stealthy etc.
Using routine stuff as backdrop for other conversations can also be fun:
“Ruth, as I’m helping you with your armor… I’m gonna ask what in the nine hells you were doing when we met those book haunts? They seemed to know you.”
Etc etc.
Time records also help with all this.
I have a notebook where one of the columns is the current timestamp. As they light torches and frotz spells I can make a note. As time passes by them exploring or resting or talking, I make new timestamps. That way it’s easy to allocate some time in the morning for praying, spell-memorizing, and donning. And then you can get into as little or as much detail on that time as you want to.
But, again, all this is optional. For me it helps make the world come alive and is more valuable than fighting or plot events. If other people wanna do other things instead, that’s 💯 OK.