The Components of Casting

Spellcasting Components

Spellcasting, too many, is an academic domain. Scholars analyze archaic scrolls, sorcerers try to control wild magics, and summoners try to bargain with otherworldly creatures. It is a discipline of study and iteration that builds upon what others have discovered. All with the goal of applying it to real-world situations. It falls upon the humble, arcane professors to impart their knowledge of the mystic arts.

The most common knowledge about magic is the three mediums through which a caster channels and shapes their magic. Below are some examples of these three iconic component types and how mages might use them.

Verbal

A sweet song rolling off a bard's tongue. The chanting of a devout cleric amidst the steady drone of a gong’s strikes and reverberations. Screeches of a goblin shaman stamping along the warpath. All these are examples of how to verbally express magic.

The idea of a Word of Power, a True Name, is interwoven with the concept of verbal components. The premise of words themselves carrying some mystical property. This could be expressed by a diplomat or someone who is well-versed in magical languages that allow them to speak to people of all nations and tongues.

A linguist mage studies the dialects of casters around the realm to find how different pronunciations change a spell. A bard that only uses verbal spells could be an orator that wields their words as a weapon. One who has no need for a spell focus when their start running their mouth.

The verbal components do not even need to be words. You could have a bird mage whose spells conjure as they mimic a sound. A water spell accompanied by the crashing of waves, or a fireball brought to bear by the noise of a crackling fire. An old automaton uses a record player to create a steady chant as they weaved their mechanical, arcane defense.

While this type of spellcasting can be effective when one has only their wits and voice about them, it has some drawbacks. Verbal components would not be available to one who has been rendered mute, either by injury, gagging, or magical means.

Somatic

A subtle tweak of the thumb as a hooded figure activates an illusion several feet away. Ink bottles hurtle toward a threat as the academy librarian mimics an underhand toss. Complex motions are carried out by the hands, an intricate spell that only those with knowledge of the king’s secret handshake can replicate. These are some ways that magic can be expressed somatically.

Gesturing with a hand can be an instinctual non-verbal form of communication. Emphasis can be delivered to a speech with the use of gestures or made all the more prevalent by omitting them to draw focus fully on the words being spoken. If we consider gestures to be a form of communication, ranging from secret codes, to sign language, then it stands to reason that movements of the arms and hands can fit the same role that verbal components occupy.

An acrobatic warlock, deft with their body, could sling spells as they swung on the trapeze. Knights skilled in the art of magic could use a one-handed sword style, or their shields could come with extra straps to better allow them to cast a spell.

Less common somatic components are also possible, as somatic refers to the whole body. A mage without hands might discover the ancient art of Leg Casting and kick through the air like it was water. Clerics hailing from a tribe of giant hybrids may find themselves blessed with an extra set of arms. One set for the casting of blessings, as the other set wields weaponry amidst the chaos of battle.

While versatile, somatic components can fail in ways like their verbal sibling. Casters that have lost the use of parts of the body may not have skill in alternative somatic styles. Old age can also limit the movement of mages that have not been taking a steady dose of health potions. Those skilled in close-quarters weaponry can find it hard to wield magic, as one has only so many hands.

Material

A cube of lead is turned into a bar of gold by an aged transmuter. Flower petals turn into razor-sharp daggers as they fall from the roof above. A single, golden phoenix feather erupts into a fireball after an unlucky guardsman finds it. Material components take all shapes, sizes, and forms, and can span the entire gambit of physical goods.

Unlike somatic and verbal components, which originate from a creature with intent, material components have their magical properties innately. To illustrate: A dragon’s scales will always have the same magic properties no matter who knows of it, but verbal and somatic components must be learned and their meaning conveyed as part of the spell they contribute to. You can have magical elements that occur naturally, but it is impossible to have a somatic or verbal component just spontaneously manifest.

Material components exist all their own, though that does not make them any less interesting, and some would argue it makes them far more powerful in magic. A succulent maroon mushroom that is grown in the dark of the swamps, prized for its potency and ability to make potions of True Seeing, though its side effects can be quite hallucinogenic. Dragon’s- well, any part of a dragon is quite magically potent. Eyes, scales, teeth, you name it, and there is likely a magical effect that can be gained from a dragon, no matter how minor.

While the drawbacks of somatic and verbal components tie into how able-bodied or restrained a mage is, their physical state, material components have a far greater limit on them. While it is true having a wand or ingredient pouch stolen can limit a caster, not having access to materials in the first place can severely limit many higher-level spells that a caster could hope to achieve. It is because of this that many accomplished mages are well-known for their connections with royalty, profitable factions, or Chosen Ones that give them access to rarer or more costly materials. Many have joked that if not for the cost of material components, there would be a lot more wizards who would hermit away in their towers instead of seeking quests for coinage.