Quick Refresher On Components In DnD 5E

Author: pandaniel

Components in D&D 5E are probably more convoluted than they need to be. Especially for newer players, they can be quite confusing to get a hang of. While we usually aim our articles at more experienced players, we don’t want to shy away from helping new players too.

Many tables don’t follow the rules on spellcasting to a T, but we don’t want to make assumptions on house-rules at different tables, and as such we follow Rules as Written for our builds. 

To make sure the Rules as Written are properly understood, we will take a closer look at how spellcasting components work in D&D 5E in a quick refresher.

Verbal (V)

This is probably the easiest of the three components. Verbal components mean the words spoken to cast a spell. Being gagged, or being inside an area of silence, such as one created by silence or dark star makes you unable to cast spells that require this component.

Somatic (S)

Somatic components are gestures used while casting the spell. If a spell requires them you need to have a free hand to perform them.

Material (M)

Last, but not least, potentially the most confusing of them all: material components. These components are usually objects required for casting a spell, specified in its description. A character can use a component pouch or spellcasting focus in their stead if and only if there is no cost indicated for the component, and the component isn’t used up. (Keep in mind, not every spell with a costly component is used up!) 

You must have a free hand to access material components*—or to hold a spellcasting focus—but this can be the same hand you use for your somatic components. An important thing of note:

A spell that requires both material components and somatic components can be cast with one occupied hand and one hand holding a spellcasting focus or material components, but a spell that requires only somatic components requires you to empty this hand. This is a weirdly specific distinction that can come up quite a lot in practice. An example: a Hexblade Warlock, wielding a shield and staff, could cast a fly without a problem, but would need to drop their staff to cast synaptic static (luckily dropping your staff does not cost action economy, but picking it up again is an object interaction).

*This can mean using a component pouch, or having the objects specified by the spell on hand.

Wrist-strap Tech

Have you ever found yourself in the sky with a desperate need of a free hand, but feeling too scared to drop your staff? Well we’ve got the thing for you! Introducing the Wii Remote Staff Strap! Stop, drop, whop! No longer will your precious staves be stolen from you while you follow RAW!

But no, seriously, if this is an issue in your games try and get something like a chain or rope to make sure you can easily keep your spellcasting focus at hand, and if that is not a possibility, buy more staves.

Component pouches are available for use for any caster, but spellcasting foci are a bit more specific, each being tied to one or multiple classes.

• An arcane focus (a crystal, orb, rod, staff, or wand) is used by Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards.
• A druidic focus (a sprig of mistletoe, totem, wooden staff, or yew wand) is usable by Druids, and Rangers who use the optional rule introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
• A holy symbol (an amulet, emblem, or reliquary) is available for use for Clerics and Paladins.
• Thieves’ tools, some kind of artisan’s tool or an infused item needs to be used by Artificers. The Artificer needs to be proficient in the artisan’s tool to use them for this purpose.
• A musical instrument can be used by Bards.

A holy symbol differentiates itself from these options in an important way:

This supersedes the earlier explained rules where a spellcasting focus must be held, and instead allows you to basically free up a hand to be occupied by something else. However, do keep in mind that you still need an empty hand to cast spells that use somatic components, but not material ones.

Artificers with their tools and infused items are different as well. They need to use one of these spellcasting foci for their spells, even the ones that normally don’t require material components, as for Artificers they do require material components. This makes sure you never have to drop your spellcasting foci to cast spells that could lack material components. An unfortunate side effect is that spells that have components that are used up and/or have a costly component require you to have two hands to both hold that component, and the tool/infused item.

There are some other miscellaneous options, like magic items, and subclass-specific foci (for example a Spiritual Focus, for College of Spirits Bards), but most of these work the same as spellcasting foci usually work mechanically. Some exceptions include:

• A ruby of the war mage allows you to use a weapon as a spellcasting focus. This works similarly to an emblem on a shield in practice.
• A bloodwell vial, astral shard, elemental essence shard, Far Realm shard, Feywild shard, outer essence shard, and Shadowfell shard can be used as a spellcasting focus while worn or held, allowing you to have a free hand.
• A hat of wizardry, nature’s mantle, and dark shard amulet can be used as a spellcasting focus while worn. These don’t even allow you to use them by holding on to them.

The Savior of Hands, Destroyer of Juggling

War Caster is a feat we recommend you take on many of our caster builds, as concentration is incredibly important, regularly even more important than increasing your main Ability Score. However, its benefits don’t end there. Its second best feature is relevant for this article, because of this reason: “You can perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands.”

If you are an optimized spellcaster, you will most likely have either a shield or staff or both in hand. Combining this with War Caster would remove all your worries of needing to juggle items at all. This is why we often talk about War Caster in conjunction with finding magical staves in later tier play, as this removes the hassle of components.

Counterspell

To use counterspell one is required to see a creature cast a spell.

If through some means you cast a spell without these components, possibly through the Subtle Spell Metamagic, you can prevent your spells from being counterspelled. Of course this is also possible by leaving counterspell’s 60 feet range, which is less pricey, though not always feasible.

Magic Items

Some magic items allow their users to cast spells from them. This interacts with components in one particular way:

This is particularly cool, because this means items like a staff of power or spell scroll cannot be counterspelled when used!

We hope this overview of spell components was helpful, especially to those of you who are newer to spellcasting, and that you came away with a better understanding of the tools and methods available to you to make sure your casting is always on point.

As a last note: D&D is a game you play at a table, and thus we would like to state the importance of reading your spells and their components carefully. Starting your turn with a misunderstanding of what you want to do can lead to combat dragging on, which is generally not too fun for you or the other players. 

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