It is well known that the arcane focus is an essential for any mage, cleric, or paladin in order to cast their spells without needing material components named in the spell's description, but what is less known is that spells that require material components with a specified cost (i.e. Chromatic Orb, which requires a diamond worth 50gp) are unable to be cast unless the item is present in the player's inventory (PHB, Ch 10: Spellcasting; Components; Material).
The implication here is to include spellcasting foci as wieldable items in-game and introduce components. This gives more powerful spells a necessary balance, and players more awe when they are finally able to cast intensely powerful spells like Chromatic Orb. I can already see how Larian might implement this into gameplay: give players the opportunity to find these valuable (but rare) material components and then decide whether to sell them for gold or use them for magic. Or perhaps players might put all the extra gold they earn to use and purchase these consumable material components from some well-stocked vendor. Either way, I imagine that the mines in the Underdark would be rich with such materials, as required components often include crystals or crystal dust. Some other examples of costly material components are precious metals, special arcane foci, expensive vessels, incense, charcoal, herbs, oils, divinatory tools (such as bones or runes), ink, statues and replicas, jewelry, and ointments (Basic Rules, Ch 11: Spells).
Last edited by Roethen; 17/09/22 11:24 AM.
