Worst Spell Components?

[User3]

I used to think there was some competition for this title, but then I read the component line for Repulsion:

A pair of small iron bars attached to two small canine statuettes, one black and one white, the whole array worth 50 gp.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any worse than that, but I haven't checked exhaustively. That's where you guys come in. Feel free to list any favorites you have, too, even if they're not in contention for absolute worst.

[the_taken]

If that's one of the jokes, I don't get it.

Any-hoo, my group still isn't over the one where you take a lemon, aluminum and copper wires, and a specially treated mirror to scry on people. I don't even care what the material components are. I just check verbal and somatic against the character's situation.

[User3]

It's definitely a 'joke'

[MrWaeseL]

I fucking loathe spell components with a passion.

[josephbt]

Without a second thought: Spider Climb.

It requires you to eat a live spider. Where the fvck are you going to get a live spider at the moment when you cast this spell?

And the second nominee is: that crapy spell from BoVD(no books with me, can't remember the name) where the component is a fingerbone from s still live child. Setting aside the fact that it's sick and perverted, again, how the fvck do you get that component?

[erik]

1176039262[/unixtime]]Without a second thought: Spider Climb.

It requires you to eat a live spider. Where the fvck are you going to get a live spider at the moment when you cast this spell?

Heh, that's the first one that sprang to mind for me. I rather enjoyed making my paladin leader eat spiders during our dungeon crawls.


I also like the tarts for Tasha's Hideous Laughter. Why buy rations when you can dine on your spell component pouch's dime?

[User3]

1176039262[/unixtime]]And the second nominee is: that crapy spell from BoVD(no books with me, can't remember the name) where the component is a fingerbone from s still live child. Setting aside the fact that it's sick and perverted, again, how the fvck do you get that component?

Presumably, you cut the fingers off a child and then don't kill him. And then hope he doesn't die of something unrelated and make your spell fizzle at a critical moment. If you try to cast it and the spell doesn't work, you know the kid is dead, which I guess could be useful. Now I'm imagining an army that has to operate in some giant dead magic zone and communicates with their evil overlord by carting around fingerless children and killing specific ones. Of course, at that point you might as well just abuse the omniscience of contingency spells.

[User3]

All of them.

--d.

[tzor]

Ah the days of the bygone era where poking fun at magic was supposed to be the norm. I think almost all of the 1E spell components were odd or outright silly.

Dancing lights required a glowworm

Friends required applying makeup to the face (chalk, lampblack and vermillion)

Nystul's Magic Aura required a small square of silk

Sleep required a live cricket

Duo Dimension required "a thin flat ivory likeness of the spell caster (which must be of finest workmanship, gold filigreed, and enambled and gem-studded at an average cost of 5,000 to 10,000 g.p.) and a strip of parchment." (The latter was made into a mobius strip.)

The later shows a design strategy of 1E that was lost in later editions. Duo Diemension was a 7th level Magic User spell that effectively costs 5-10 KGP per shot! Spell components were designed both as a joke, a psudo tech explanation of the spell or as a limiter to the use of the spell.

Yes long live Papers and Paychecks. There is a little bit of silly in every edition as a proof against those who take the game a bit too seriously. (Which we all do on occasion.)

[Crissa]

...I never did use components. Not even their cost. It just seemed stupid. Why use a pearl that's worth more than an item to identify that it's not harmful? Who cares at that point?

And you're supposed to keep the kid in a cage, so nothing bad can happen to him. Owning a sweatshop is good for that, but children die, ya know.

-Crissa

[Prak]

that's why you cast eternity of torment on the kid after you've harvested his hands.

[User3]

Just hire a kid to carry your junk around every time you pass through a town. There's always one who'll be glad to hire on with adventurers in hopes of bringing home some sweet sweet loot.

Then you just cut his finger off right before the big fight scene and leave him writhing around on the floor in pain. Even if you can convince your DM that amputating fingers is a free action, you probably don't want to have the kid in range of the enemy during actual combat, otherwise he'll probably get killed almost by accident.

--d., really disturbed to be thinking about this

[Cielingcat]

Why bother? Unless the kid's finger costs something, you're just assumed to have it in your spell component pouch.

[User3]

1176141821[/unixtime]]Why bother? Unless the kid's finger costs something, you're just assumed to have it in your spell component pouch.

Classic.

[Judging__Eagle]

you've probably bought it from some guy who runs a magic component shoppe.

Who knows how to get the stuff he needs. So he buys urchins from their parents, chops off any unnecessary figers for their work (probably get 4 from each kid, pinkie and ring fnger) and put them too work. Gets a contingency to tell him when the fingers were used up and gets the same, or an other client to grow them back for reuse.

I'm sure that there are enough places like that and anyone who needs to cast such a horrible spell just can,

Also, wizards should have to buy a new component pouch per adventure and get rid of most focus components.

Sure, 15 gp may not seem like much, but really 1 GP is a huge deal; it's as much as a months wages for most mortals in the D&D world.

So, having your wizard PCs spend over a years wages for most people seems more reasonable than having them have most spell components.

[Fwib]

It doesn't specify the race of the child does it? You could get a very large supply of child-fingers from a troll child.

[User3]

or a human child and a cleric who casts regenerate

[User3]

1176245749[/unixtime]]or a human child and a cleric who casts regenerate

Cheaper, easier and less 'evil' to use a troll child though.

After all... monsters, even baby monsters, aren't considered 'people' by most npcs, players or even gods in your general game settings.

I wonder if the child you took the finger from has to be not only be alive but stil a child when you cast a spell... that would really make it tricky.

[SunTzuWarmaster]

I'm pretty sure that if you leave the child alive, you are violating the intent. The spell WAS in the book of Vile Deeds. As a necromancy spell. I think a better question is whether a child-zombie-finger counts.

[Leress]

1176252697[/unixtime]]I'm pretty sure that if you leave the child alive, you are violating the intent. The spell WAS in the book of Vile Deeds. As a necromancy spell. I think a better question is whether a child-zombie-finger counts.

Not really, inflicting pain purposefully seem to be well within the intent of the spell.

[Endovior]

1176252697[/unixtime]]I'm pretty sure that if you leave the child alive, you are violating the intent. The spell WAS in the book of Vile Deeds. As a necromancy spell. I think a better question is whether a child-zombie-finger counts.

Not at all. While most spells in BoVD just refer to a part, without caring about the current status of that part's owner, the one they're referring to is the one exception. Refer to the following...

Boneblast
Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Blk1, Clr2
Components: V, S, M, Undead
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature that has a skeleton
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude Half or Fortitude Negates (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes
The caster causes some bone within a touched creature to break or crack. The caster cannot specify which bone. Because the damage is general rather then specific, the target takes 1d3 points of Constitution damage. A Fortitude save reduces the damage by half, or negates it if the full damage would have been 1 point of Constitution damage.
Material Component: The bone of a small child that still lives.

So yeah, the spell isn't that impressive generally, AND you need to be Undead to cast it, AND it requires a weird spell component (note that it's not just a finger, it's ANY bone... but how many can you take without killing the child?). All in all, I'd say avoid this one; there's a lot of other, more cool spells you can use that require you to carve up your foes after battle, if you're into that kind of thing.

[SunTzuWarmaster]

Ah, my mistake. As a side note, wow, what a horrible spell. Range: Touch too.

[Judging__Eagle]

I dunno.

Enlarge Person + Girallon's Blessing + Spell Flower + 6 Maximized Bone Blasts.

That's not a bad opening routine for a Blackgaurd.

18 con damage in 3 damage shots is a great way to open up a fight if you're ambushing someone.

Not amazing, but it's a good way to start a fight out.

[Fwib]

Ahhh... since it says small child, a troll is probably out - since troll children are liable to be medium...

[Cielingcat]

That's a total waste of resources. I don't know why you'd do something like that, or even how you could do it in one round.

Wait, is the casting time actually "one action" or did you leave off "standard"?