Spell Components for the GLOG

 

Material components for spells in D&D are annoying, but the idea is a flavorful one. A wizard throwing a handful of magical powder into a spell feels right. Unfortunately a lot of attempts to fix this are more complicated than I’d like.

Here’s a simpler way to do it: material components work like scrolls:

“Scrolls: If you cast a spell from a scroll, you can choose to burn the scroll. If you do, add +1 MD to your roll. This MD does not return to your pool.”

Re-flavored, this becomes:

Spell Component

You need to have the relevant component in your inventory in order to cast the associated spell. If you choose to use up your entire stock, add +1 MD to your roll. This MD does not return to your pool.

As with normal scrolls in GLOG, non-spellcasters can use a spell component to cast a spell, but because they don’t have any Mana Dice of their own to power it they’ll always use up the whole stock.

A spellbook under this system is a collection of notes and drawings. It helps you keep track of what spell components you’ve identified.

Note: This system works better if you have a fairly tightly curated list of spells.

Where to Find Spell Components?

In the dungeon. You distribute them like treasure, replacing the potions and spell scrolls that you’d otherwise sprinkle about. Because any character can use them for the basic effect, everyone has some incentive to look for them. Herbs and mushrooms are essentially hidden treasure, like a potion hidden under a loose floorboard. Monster parts are just personal treasure with a different flavor.

Magic shops and herbalists in town probably sell a few basic ingredients, but for the rest you’ll need to explore mysterious forests and crawl around in dungeons.

Rare Components

Everyone knows you can use cureleaf to heal an ordinary wound, but the horn of a unicorn contains more potent healing magic.

A lot of spell components need to be reasonably available for this system to work, but part of the appeal of material components is finding rare or exotic ones. So what should they do? Three easy options:

1. Contain 2 or more MD: the unicorn horn can be used to cast an extra-strength version of the cure spell

2. The component is reusable – effectively it has its own pool of MD. The unicorn horn can be used to heal many wounds, but if you use it too much its light will fade.

3. The component has a better spell: cureleaf = cure light wounds, unicorn horn = restoration, remove curse, or raise dead