I kinda miss 2-nd ed components, and my players constantly demand some loot (no idea why, it will be broken/stolen/taken from them in the blink of an eye anyway ).

To fill the gap, and silence my players a bit (especially the one that likes to play mages - loot, blood and carnage is his domain ) I came out with some ideas for magic components (so players could use them, or make some profit).

Have fun, and share Your thoughts .

(all formatting is messed up by the editor, but nothing I can do about).

Components can be used when casting a spell or blessing.
Components are sold in small Bags. Every bag contains components usually sufficient for 3 casts.
Only ONE component of only ONE type can be used for one spell.
Components are divided into tiers appropriate to their power.

You may use component as a maneouvre.

Random determination of component quality (for example, when found), Roll 1 [W]:
N - poor quality
*S* - average quality
*B* - exceptional quality

Component Costs per Bag (1 ENC / 5 Bags)
Component type Poor quality Average quality Superior quality
Bronze Tier 5p 15p 2s
Silver Tier 5s 15s 50s
Gold Tier 1g 2g 3g

Component availability
Component type Poor quality Average quality Superior quality
Bronze Tier Abundant Plentiful Plentiful
Silver Tier Common Common Rare
Gold Tier Rare Exotic Exotic

Bronze Tier Components
Poor quality:
add 1 pover/favor
{S} you draw too much power, all components of this type are lost
Average quality:
add 1 pover/favor
Superior quality:
add 1 pover/favor
*BB* add 1 *S* to the roll result

Silver Tier Components
Poor quality:
add 1 [W] die to the dice pool
{S} you draw too much power, 2 more components of this type are lost
Average quality:
add 1 [W] die to the dice pool
Superior quality:
add 1 [W] die to the dice pool
*BB* add/remove 1 recharge token to/from the action card you used

Gold Tier Components
Poor quality:
add 1 [Y] die to the dice pool
{S} you draw too much power, 1 more component of this type is lost
Average quality:
add 1 [Y] die to the dice pool
Superior quality:
add 1 [Y] die and 1 [W] die to the dice pool
*C* winds of magic surround you, gain Invigorated condition for 2 rounds

Components example (based on 2-nd ed core book, Realms of Sorcery book, and own silly ideas).

Bronze tier
Bright order: coal, matches, sulphur
Celestial order: clean cloth, splint of glass, rabbits foot
Grey order: charcoal, beer, spiderweb
Sigmar: small hammer, iron ring, holy water
Shallya: leech, bandage
Morr: crow feather, wooden spike , black rose

Silver tier:
Bright order: metal fork, scrap of burnt carpet
Celestial order: tuning-fork, broken mirror,
Grey order: garrote, cosmetics, velvet
Sigmar: golden arrowtip
Shallya: snake tooth,
Morr: grave fungi, small silver scythe

Gold tier:
Bright order: golden coin, dragon scale
Celestial order: vial of eagles breath, magnifying glass, starmap
Grey order: shroud of a spectre, crystal prism
Sigmar: golden amulet of two tailed comet
Shallya: rare healing plant
Morr: bone of destroyed undead

Quick question: are you requiring components to be used, or is this optional?

It looks like there's really no downside to using them, and essentially only positive outcomes - other than the money invested.

What might be interesting is requiring components, then having Poor ones result in a penalty, say adding a . Average components use the rules as written, and Superior components give a bonus [W].

schoon said:

It is optional (same as with 2-nd ed), but when you decide to use it, it is lost, even if your spell fails.

schoon said:

The point was to give my players something I could easily reward them with, or give them some kind of potential income source (and get them a bit more preoccupied when they try to get their hands on more exotic components), since mostly positive outcomes.

Components are of limited use (only one school of magic can use one type of component), the more powerfull are harder to get (you can easily limit how much your players can get), and are not cheap when buyed (at least when you compare it to lets say.. armor price). It can also be easily lost, stolen, or broken (you were swimming with dryed components in a bag? too bad ). You can also limit them by encumbrance.

I played a bit with some additional drawbacks idea, but couldn't decide (it didn't felt right), so I left them for now.

It can be a good idea, to add some more drawbacks, as the cost VS reward are a bit heavy on the reward side right now (only poor quality components have drawbacks - and it can result in a lost of even more components), but I'm note sure how to do that yet.

It would be nice, and helpful, if you post your own ideas here.

It is always good to see, and confront different concepts on the same subject

I like it. I wouldn't require it, but perhaps have it as a "find" occasionally in cities. Perhaps the components are already required, but these are exceptional components that add extra dice.

jh

Oh, and I did forgot to mention, that my players cast spells with the same difficulty as attacking, or shooting.
1 <P> is the default difficulty, and every card difficulty modifier is addet to it (I heard that some GM's use only card difficulty modifier for spells, and I feel that casting is too easy then).

I have also great hopes that FFG will add some kind of components (that I can use instead of the above ones) in the magic addon.

I spend some time today to expand this component thing a bit.

Here is the result:

Components are quite fragile things, and tend to become useless when not handed properly, or because of time.
Bad weather, swimming, high temperature, rough ride, fall, TIME passed, etc. all of that can affect precious components.

Each time (or once per chosen time period for simplicity's sake) you find that situation is bad enough, make a roll for each quality of each component (or chosen ones) your mage/priest have.

To build a dice pool start with a component quality.
Each level of quality adds a white [W] die to the pool ([W] for poor quality, [WW] for average, [WWW] for superior).

Then add a number of black misfortune dice that fits the situation (1-3 dice will usually suffice).

Make a roll, cancel the results and count the BAD symbols left (banes and challenges):
- if no bad symbols are left, the components are fine.
- for each bane {B} left, one of the checked components become of lower quality. If it already is of poor quality, then it is useless, and can be thrown away.
- for each challenge {C} left, one of the checked components becomes of lower tier (gold becomes silver, silver becomes bronze) of the same quality. If it already is of bronze tier, then it is useless, broken, and good for nothing.

If Your mage is trying to convince you, that he keeps his components in the armored box filled with polystyrene flakes, then forget the roll (or lower the number of misfortune dice), but add additional manouvre required to use such component (you know, one to get it out of the armored box, and one to actually use it).
And remember, that such armored boxes are usually quite costly (money), have their weight (encumbrance), and very limited space (not all components will fit in one box).