No Spell Component Pouches Optional Rule (Vote in the Comments)

The following material has been added to the Aryathan Jiil Campaign Setting.pdf and updated on the Google drive.

This is material that was discussed at the most recent game session by everyone. If you want to vote on this or comment on some change, leave a comment. If we get at least 2 people (besides me) voting for this, then we will use it from now on.

No Spell Component Pouches (optional rule)

If the DM uses this optional rule, there are no such things as spell component pouches in the game world. Individual material components must be gathered by the spellcaster. This optional rule has no bearing on expensive material components (those with a gp cost of 1 or more); these must still be acquired as normal.

Acquisition by Magic

Conjure spell component (Libram of Magic I) allows you to conjure 3 components per caster level, although they are temporary and must be used within 1 round of casting.

Acquisition by Gathering

In a world with no spell component pouches, Survival checks become much more useful to the spellcaster. With a DC 10 Survival check while moving at half speed, you can provide a single dose of inexpensive material components for a single spell. This check provides 1 additional dose for every 2 points by which your check result exceeds 10 and need not all be the same kind of component. This check will only find items if they are in the area. The DM has final judgment on what components may be found in an area. In an urban setting, just about anything could be reasonably found, as well as natural substances found in natural locations. Similar to “getting along in the wild” as noted in the Survival skill description, no more than one Survival check in a 24 hour period can be made for acquiring material components, and a single check may represent a single hour or several hours, this is left to the DM’s discretion. To make this check while moving at full speed (rather than half speed), the DC is 40 (rather than 10).

Acquisition by Butchering

You may need to harvest body parts from creatures for some inexpensive material components. This takes 10 minutes and a DC 15 Profession (taxidermy) check to fully remove one body part, followed by 1 hour and a DC 20 Profession (taxidermy) check to preserve it so it won’t rot or otherwise deteriorate. The embalming materials cost 1 gp per item. Bodies and body parts deteriorate enough in 15 minutes that you can’t get material components from them. As a general rule, one monster provides enough substance for a single casting of a spell (such as bat fur or chimera scales), plus one additional dose per 2 points by which your first check succeeds. In some cases, the number of parts that can be obtained from one creature is obvious by the creature, such as 4 hooves of a gorgon or 10 eyestalks from a beholder.

Acquisition by Growing

If you want to grow and cultivate plant-based material components yourself, you must first sow and tend the seeds, which takes 1 month. At the end of that time, you must make Profession (herbalist) checks (DC 20) in order to harvest the plant successfully. You can attempt to harvest once in a season, and you gain 1d10 doses of the material component with a successful check, plus 1d6 additional doses per 2 additional points by which you succeed on the check. Each additional plant after the first that you personally attend during a single season adds 1 to all Profession (herbalist) checks for the season. Plants that do not naturally occur in your area add +5 to the DC.

Acquisition of Pure Elemental Matter

Purity is a major consideration for material components of this sort; obtaining a dose is not simply a matter of going to the appropriate elemental plane and scooping up a handful of stuff. In general it takes a day of scavenging and a DC 30 Knowledge (the planes) check to find enough of the relevant raw material in its purest form to serve as a single dose for a material component; plus 1 additional dose for every 2 additional points by which you succeed on the check. Then the material must be magically preserved and stored (see the preserving jar below). Using this optional rule, pure elemental matter can be preserved in a preserving jar.

Acquisition by Purchasing

For those who just want to let their money do all the work, they can visit an apothecary (not a magic item shop). You can hire an apothecary to gather the needed material components you require, either doing Survival checks, Profession (herbalist) checks, Profession (taxidermy), or Knowledge (the planes) checks. Any given apothecary can make a single skill check per day. The prices are noted below. Tracking down an apothecary requires a Gather Information check to find one that likely has stock in the items you need; DC 15 and takes 1d4+1 hours. After that, your wait time is minimal, long enough to enter the shop and discuss the items and the price; you don’t have to wait for the apothecary to gather the items, but he may be out of stock even though you succeeded on your Gather Information check. Any given community has, at most, 5 apothecaries per 10,000 population. Note, if the apothecary is on the Material Plane at the time of purchase, elemental materials are impossible to obtain. Planar apothecaries (those on other planes of existence) have elemental materials more readily available. This goes equally as well toward harvesting body parts from creatures native to planes other than the Material Plane.

Apothecary (Expert Level)	Skill Modifier	GP Cost
2nd	+14	2
3rd	+17	3
5th	+23	4
6th	+24	504
9th	+28	505
10th	+29	506
13th	+33	1,007
15th	+37	1,008
16th	+39	2,008
20th	+44	2,009

Preserving Jar

If freshness is a factor, you may need to use one or more preserving jars. These jars can hold one or more doses of material components, depending on the size requirements.

Preserving Jar: (From the Arms and Equipment Guide page 136.) This large glass jar has been magically treated to preserve any organic material placed in it. The jar can hold the equivalent of 2 gallons of liquid. Anything small enough to fit in the jar does not rot, age, or wilt. The lid must be placed securely on the top for the effect to work. A Tiny or smaller creature can be placed in the jar, but without a supply of air and food it eventually dies, although the corpse never rots. Caster Level: 3^rd; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, gentle repose; Market Price: 3,000 gp; Weight: 2 lb.

Adopting this in a existing Campaign

If you adopt this optional rule in an existing game, your character will obviously have some materials already on hand. For each spell you know that requires inexpensive spell components, your character gains 3d6-6 doses (minimum 1). Only check once for each spell. After this check, you must acquire inexpensive materials by the aforementioned means of gathering. Note that learning a spell as part of gaining a level in a spellcasting class does not automatically grant you possession of relevant inexpensive material components; all such components must be gathered in one way or another.