For reference: There is a duell in the module where a shaman tries to secretly help one NPC by continously casting Cure Wounds on him while supposedly only helping him “stand up” after he intentionally let‘s himself fall prone. To spot this, a PC has to specifically declare checking for interventions a then suceed a DC 15 perception-check despite being within earshot…
People actually pay attention to spell components? I’ve been playing D&D for 20 years and literally every campaign I’ve ever played in just ignored them.
I tend to rule that any components are “assumed to be in the materials pouch”, unless there is a significant (relative to party wealth) gold price attached, in which case they need to be bought. In practice I found that only really seems to apply to resurrection spells.
From there, the only thing that matters to me is can you reasonably perform or (roll to hide to perform) the semantic and vocal components, as well as get out the materials of your materials pouch in your current state.
In practice this means I can ignore components 85% of the time, but can still temporarily de-power my players if needed for some reason.
your first paragraph is literally the book rules for spell components. You either have a focus/components pouch for mundane components and anything with a gold amount needs to be spent to cast.
Very few spells actually have a costly material component for it to ever come up anyway.
Can’t hide somatic or verbal components without being a Sorcerer for the meta magic though. Otherwise you’re literally undermining one of the key features of that class.
Spell components exist literally for the reason stated at the end: so the DM can keep in check the power of the spellcaster as needed for the scenario by limiting what spells are available to be cast.
Identify - (a pearl worth 100+ GP) Spend 100GP to fine out what this 10GP sword does.
Magical objects at least always give off an aura that makes it obvious they are exceptional. And magic items are usually always at least 100G anyways, if you go by the books “item price by rarity” scale, so it’s an equivalent trade off
Or it would be if not for one tiny thing…
You can alternatively spend one short rest in physical contact with the item (Per raw but the variant option of only getting a vague sense of the items capability/strength is better imo) to tell the exact same things as Identity.
Identity is way too expensive for what it does per raw. You still have to touch the item, so it doesn’t prevent curses, and can do the same effect as sitting with it for half an hour. The only thing it does otherwise is give details on any spells that have been cast on the object, not just its innate magical properties, but that is so situationally useful to be worth 100G.
They’re talking about verbal and somatic components. That spell doesn’t have material components.
Glad someone else knows it. As a player who frequently had to transcribe spells into roll20, I always just assume other people know the components certain spells take to cast and then end up confused if they don’t.
RAW verbal and somatic components give you away similar to making an attack. That’s why Subtle Spell and similar exist. There’s no “roll to cast secretly” mechanic on purpose, the benefit of being hidden is that you get advantage on your first attack
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Some do. I know I do. It limits what casters can do at least a little.
Yes, flavoring your spellcasting while it’s mechanically just “I have a component pouch that carries everything I need” is part of the fun for many…