Nah, I don't use them. Mages are already difficult enough to play in my fantasy settings, adding spell components to the mix would just make them unplayable.

Regards,
David R

For me it depends on the game.
My homebrew fantasy setting doesn't really have spell components for the most part (though the weather and location can be important).
But if I were doing something more fairy tale/horror I'd include them and make them mandatory... though creative proxies are allowed... and witches/warlocks usually have a crew of minions to send out looking for the stuff.
Also, requiring components sets up all sorts of scenario possibilities for finding some rare substance... including stealing it from some other magician (or retrieving stuff another magician stole from you).

I do.  
There are rules for casting without in our system, but if the spell calls for them, it is assumed they are part of the focus.
Wonderful way to keep the party gold supply in check.

(1) Expensive components can create difficult decisions, so I'll use those without exception. (If there's a GP cost, you've got to pay for the component.)

(2) For generic components, I've always just assumed that there's a "generic spell component bag" which is being maintained by the PC. It only becomes an issue if the PC is separated from their spell component bag (which has frequently forced out-of-the-box thinking and creative spell use).

(3) I have had some decent mileage with powerful spell components that provide a bonus. Like, say, a properly prepared red dragon's tooth can give your fire-based spells +1d6 damage. Making them a bennie makes them more interesting to the PCs.

Quote from: One Horse Town;492647I think a better way of implementing components is to have them as enhancements to the spell. So if you want to go to the time and trouble of getting them, then they have a concrete spell effect. They still vanish after the spell is cast, but the MU can have a bag of tricks up his sleeve for special occasions. For normal casting he needs nothing.

I really like that idea and am going to henceforth incorporate it in my games.

Quote from: Simlasa;492669But if I were doing something more fairy tale/horror I'd include them and make them mandatory... though creative proxies are allowed... and witches/warlocks usually have a crew of minions to send out looking for the stuff.
Also, requiring components sets up all sorts of scenario possibilities for finding some rare substance... including stealing it from some other magician (or retrieving stuff another magician stole from you).

This, a thousand times this.  It helps that I'm running a fairy tale/horror thing right now of course.

In the past, I've vacillated between "only need components for big/weird stuff", "you're assumed to have most components", and "keeping track of components is mandatory."   It works any of those ways.

However, it does change the tone of things.  And in a campaign where I require components, I do allow substitutions - from sub-par to better-than-usual.

Quote from: VectorSigma;492735And in a campaign where I require components, I do allow substitutions - from sub-par to better-than-usual.

'So what could go wrong if I substitute bull testicles for badger testicles in my fertility spell?'

I use them as do my players.  It is a rule that I implement to all my players...

I love 'em! They are built in plot hooks!

Need bat guano for the castle mages for an upcoming barbarian horde attack? Well, unfortunately the bat cave fertilizer wagon has not arrived yet for the routine new crop planting. What is holding them up? Can we get at least enough guano in time before the castle siege? See... exciting! And that's just merely poo!

But then, I also love the bookkeeping -- especially since I force the players to do it and I check periodically. Yes Virginia, I'm like the IRS, I do PC audits. They're fabulous good fun.  Encumbrance issues enforce renting mules, wagons, teamster hirelings, etc. which means spending money and enmeshing my players deeper into the game world's society (whether they like it or not, mwa ha ha!). Weapon/armor repair and spell components do a similar thing. And all that maintenance can be flipped over from being "negative" (GM stick) into opportunities (GM dangling a carrot) or, even better, new PC goals (player initiative).

All in all it allows me to be lazy without having to retread another bad story cliche ("We gotta save the world? Again?"). It's the same reason I encourage investments into bases of operations instead of wanderers with "infinite bags of holding." One just plays out more interestingly for me and those I run games for.

Quote from: Simlasa;492741'So what could go wrong if I substitute bull testicles for badger testicles in my fertility spell?'

LOL

I have had a few players try to make Potions and for those I definitely require them to get all the components (usually I'm the one who has to make up the list of components they need).

If the players substitute something in the recipie with something else, there are usually unpleasant and hilarious consequences...

QuoteSo what could go wrong if I substitute bull testicles for badger testicles in my fertility spell?'

QuoteI use them as do my players. It is a rule that I implement to all my players..

Heh. Thought this was a direct reply, first time. Hur hur.

Spell Components are in place to bring down the power level of the spells. If you aren't using them, then you are allowing the higher power spells to be used at a level much lower than their power level should be used.

Quote from: greylond;493030Spell Components are in place to bring down the power level of the spells. If you aren't using them, then you are allowing the higher power spells to be used at a level much lower than their power level should be used.

This is true but most of the components are mundane and most D&Dish worlds have a high enough level of magic that there would be established suppliers of the common, low level components.  Most players would diligently keep track of buying and never lack components except in unusual circumstances.  The net effect is a bunch of bookkeeping that has no effect on play.  Most players want immersion of the heroic aspects of play over the tedious aspects.
 
As a general rule, if there is an obvious optimal solution, rather than making players jump through hoops, I assume they are competent and move on instead of wasting time.  I think a key aspect of roleplaying is decision making with partial information.  If there the costs/payoffs of a decision are such that one outcome is a no brainer, it's not really a decision worth making.
 
It's only when there are real tradeoffs that a decision is worth considering.  Like suppose the group is going on a long expedition where every bit of weight matters and a given spell's components weigh a pound per casting.  Or the cost of components is non-negligible for the wealth of the character so it actually affects their spending decisions.

Quote from: Nicephorus;493050This is true but most of the components are mundane and most D&Dish worlds have a high enough level of magic that there would be established suppliers of the common, low level components.  Most players would diligently keep track of buying and never lack components except in unusual circumstances.  The net effect is a bunch of bookkeeping that has no effect on play.  Most players want immersion of the heroic aspects of play over the tedious aspects.
 
As a general rule, if there is an obvious optimal solution, rather than making players jump through hoops, I assume they are competent and move on instead of wasting time.  I think a key aspect of roleplaying is decision making with partial information.  If there the costs/payoffs of a decision are such that one outcome is a no brainer, it's not really a decision worth making.
 
It's only when there are real tradeoffs that a decision is worth considering.  Like suppose the group is going on a long expedition where every bit of weight matters and a given spell's components weigh a pound per casting.  Or the cost of components is non-negligible for the wealth of the character so it actually affects their spending decisions.

I don't know.
I play a very social-heavy, roleplay game.  (it is also not D&D, which most of this thread seems to rest upon.)  So the procuring of the rare and semi-rare items that are needed for spells is part of the social aspect of the game, as well as part of the balancing act for keeping.

Quote from: LordVreeg;493097I don't know.
I play a very social-heavy, roleplay game. (it is also not D&D, which most of this thread seems to rest upon.) So the procuring of the rare and semi-rare items that are needed for spells is part of the social aspect of the game, as well as part of the balancing act for keeping.

It also depends on the assumptions of the world.  D&D usually winds up as a modern market driven world in medieval costume, with magic filling in as tech.  But if magic is rare and the flow of goods is quite limited, then procuring anything out of the ordinary will take effort.  But there is still the practical aspect that it's a game where we spend hours simulating weeks of the characters' lives and we can't focus on everything they do so we have to choose what kind of game to have.