spell components - are they really needed?

[phillymiket]

Be thankful you don't have a backpack full of Iron Rations.

[donfilibuster]

The spell components bag in the SRD assumes you will keep your bag restocked.
This is true in settings where you can always find a magic shop, and the same goes for item crafting where components are listed in gold value.

Now our DDO is also a high magic setting, however, Stormreach is a delving that lacks many of the usual city services.
There's no real bank for example, just a goods vault service. The houses only care about their ventures.
The 12 have tabs in the magic shops, probably they have to import the bull dung and bat guano from Khorvaire.
(likely cows keep getting eaten at the cerulean hills and hauling guano off caves isn't healty)

This happens in real life too, where meats are imported to the U.S. then get re-exported back to their places of origin for no real reason but wholesale prices.

[Nathrok]

I like not having to worry about food. That was such a PITA in other games. Spell components are really just a minor annoyance I'd rather just not have to deal with too. If I can't have them simply gone then I would at least like to have them in their own special slots...

[MRH]

They are indeed very important.........

Just like you needed your keyboard to post your suggestion, a painter needs a brush to paint with, and yes components are needed to cast spells

NOT SIGNED.......... and stop making things easier jeez

that is all !

[Nerate_Mireth]

They can make it so that collectibles can be taken from the bags when you turn them in so give us component bags. They can even make them in 3 flavors:
Small - Up to 10 components in stacks of 250 each
Medium - Up to 12 components in stacks of 500 each
Large - All components (don't remember how many total is the max) in stacks of 1000

Smalls are given to spell casters at the same time as the small gem and collectable bags. Mediums can be purchased from General Vendors (approx 8k plat like the other medium bags) or as a reward for getting favor (from the Twelve as well?) and Larges can drop in chests or be purchased (BTC) from DDO Store.

Yes the PnP rules give the assumption of having basic components in a pouch all the time. But they still have to carry a pouch. As a DM I still limited the amount of basic components in said pouch when the spell caster was between settlements that had magic shops/supplies. In DDO terms, you would then be limited to the number of times you could cast Firewall while in a quest. You can't drop 200 firewalls in a quest when you're carrying a pouch the size of a plastic grocery bag and expect to have components for other spells as well.

Just get the components bags into the game and all these people who cry about losing 10 pack slots for components can quit whining. And yes, I have 7 toons who have to carry components.

Also, some people, like me, who have tanks with 2-3 packs of weapons (disruptors, vorpals, GS, banishers, paralyzers, Greater Bane Weapons, smiters, etc) and clickies (haste, solid fog, remove curse, Girds, etc) are using more pack space than a caster with half a pack of components.

Also a Wand Pouch (use the same basis as the Cookie Jar where you can store them but have to move them to your inventory to use them) would be nice. Same with Scroll Cases.

[Gkar]

They are indeed very important.........

Just like you needed your keyboard to post your suggestion, a painter needs a brush to paint with, and yes components are needed to cast spells

NOT SIGNED.......... and stop making things easier jeez

that is all !

There is nothing "hard" or "challenging" about the current system, its just stupid and annoying, and it goes against D&D rules. Please tell us what it adds to the game.

(BTW, Thieves tools aren't supposed to be consumables either, 1 set of any "+" should last forever unless damaged)

[Darlor]

They are indeed very important.........

Just like you needed your keyboard to post your suggestion, a painter needs a brush to paint with, and yes components are needed to cast spells

NOT SIGNED.......... and stop making things easier jeez

that is all !

Keyboard permits a level of user interaction not possible without it (or without a less convenient substitute). Similarly idea with paint brushes.

Spell components are only necessary because the game's coded in such a way so as to specifically require them. The whole point is that they don't enhance your spellcasting at all, unlike your suggestions.

Perhaps we should force players to eat food in the middle of quests to avoid hunger? Keep drinking to avoid thirst? Clean your weapons after every quest to maintain them? Occasionally inflict players, at random, with various diseases, infections and other illnesses that they have to visit a healer to fix? Force player characters to have periods of uninterrupted sleep? What's wrong, can't handle a harder game? Stop trying to make things easier, jeez.

The point isn't to make the game easier, it's to remove punitive mechanics that don't actually improve the game in any way.

[PestWulf]

They are a clutter, annoyance and not needed.

As for it removing flavor from the game if they were removed, I think walking around ten different stacks of 1,000 ingredients pretty much killed the flavor in a monumental pile of bat guano and pinches of bull dung.

This has nothing to do with difficulty and everything to do with making the game mechanics less annoying.

The only thing buying spell components could possibly add to the game is a way to pull money out of the economy. and if that is the goal, there are better ways to do it than taking up 10 inventory slots.

A spell components bag would be a great way. To symbolize the need to keep it stocked, they could just use the repair mechanic (minus the permanent damage aspect). As you cast spells your component bag is being used (e.g. damaged) and you will need to stock up (e.g. repair it). This also leave room for the whole "running out" scenario in the event you forget to repair and your bag..er...breaks.

Less of a hassle and something you can take care of when you repair your gear. More flavor, less aftertaste.

[Hokiewa]

They are indeed very important.........

Just like you needed your keyboard to post your suggestion, a painter needs a brush to paint with, and yes components are needed to cast spells

NOT SIGNED.......... and stop making things easier jeez

that is all !

Joke...

Just take the eschew materials feat. No more components and opens up your inventory. This is one of the few feats that I run all of the time.

Funnier joke.

Get rid of them with the exception of the "special components".

[Chette]

I agree that components are pretty much useless. Nobody in the game can't get the components they need and the cost is trivial. However I do sort of like the flavour they provide. I also don't want to make it easier for casters to completely dump strength and still run around with a tank on their back. Spell components for my wizard contribute to a significant amount of the weight she is carrying.

I don't really understand why we can't have component bags, we have bags for everything else. Come on guys, it shouldn't be that hard to put these in.

[Gkar]

Be thankful you don't have a backpack full of Iron Rations.

But I'd be happy to have the standard 50ft of rope and grappling hook.

[phillymiket]

But I'd be happy to have the standard 50ft of rope and grappling hook.

I'm not touching that subject with a ten foot pole.
(because I don't have one)

[kratimas]

They are indeed very important.........

Just like you needed your keyboard to post your suggestion, a painter needs a brush to paint with, and yes components are needed to cast spells

NOT SIGNED.......... and stop making things easier jeez

that is all !

I know several painters that have never used a brush to paint with. I used a touch screen to post this so no keyboard required.

Try looking outside the box every now and then; you will be amazed at what you find out there

[Maeste]

Don’t bother to keep track of material components with negligible cost. Assume you have all you need as long as you have your spell component pouch.

^^^
This

Rather then getting a bag to work holding our ingredients, and then having to have us open that bag up to change our ingredients (I currently use the hot bar method to keep track and assume that wouldn't work).

Why not just have different level bags. These bags could have all the basic components covered up to the level of the bag, 2nd level bag has all the Pinch of Fine Sand and Eyelash in Gum Arabic you need (keep the stoneskin like ones separate).

The bags could be be given by Jeets or the mino on the boat for new toons, and then a plat sink at the current component vendor. While we are at it, add small scroll case as a rare in game drop, with a bigger store version available.

[dynahawk]

I really liked the flavor the components added for the first few levels. From level 9 on it just becomes an annoyance.

My suggestion is a magic bag/item that simulates eschew materials with a ML (insert level). Add it to a new adventure pack coming out or a favor reward.

Edit: Guess I took to long to type. I like Maeste's idea

[Chrasch]

As a side note to people who get aggro and then run around like a lunatic. If you kite it, you kill it. If you want me to kill it for you, bring it over to me and then stand still for a moment so that I can pull its aggro off of you.


That is Hilarious!

[Tunst]

In d&d you often need a specific material focus as well as a different component for EACH spell.

Most PnP groups just assume the caster's carrying whatever they need to carry instead of tracking all this nonsense (bat guano, mmmhmm), except for exceptionally valuable components like the diamond for the resurrection etc.

This.
I sayonly require comps for trap the soul, stoneskin, etc.

/signed

[justagame]

To me, the simplest solution would be to have one generic spell component for each class, rather than one for each spell level. You could carry just one great big stack. Retain the special components for spells like death pact, etc. That way:

1. Devs don't have to create component bags, and solve the problem of making them work from bags
2. You retain the "flavor" of having components
3. It greatly reduces the inventory slots taken up by spell components
4. It's much easier to know when you're low, only one item to check

[Bodic]

Just take the eschew materials feat. No more components and opens up your inventory. This is one of the few feats that I run all of the time.

1. does not work for all components
2. is a wasted feat more than extend,enlarge, mental toughness and those are the bad ones.

[donfilibuster]

The pouch would make the most sense, as long as you can have a 10k stack on them.

Besides one thinks turbine would love to be able to sell these in the store.
Is surely worth having to fix or code bags to pull the right component out of them.