Applejack: While we git our vittles, Ah got a question. Since this merlin fella seems ta be a more straight shootin' type, any chance he could give us a less, uh, poetic rundown a things?
Merlin: Ah, I see you've encountered that flowery fool the Dungeon Master. Allow a real wizard to tell you the story.
DM: And with a wave of his hand, the reflection in the cauldron changes.
Merlin: The village of Helix stood against the reign of Venger, the Conqueror. And for their impertinence, he struck them with all of his magical might.
Merlin: But before Helix was destroyed, I arrived!
Merlin: And with my good magic, I forced back the evil!
Merlin: My spell is not permanent. Venger's hatred may yet rise again.
Merlin: But for now, Helix rests easy, knowing that I am but an alarm bell away.
Applejack: Well, Ah 'ppreciate the story. But you'll have ta forgive me for maybe not trustin' that soup now.
Twilight Sparkle: Oh, it's fine, Applejack. It's just a simple stock image spell.
Guest Author's Note: "Spell components are a weird and funny thing to look at. When you take a peek at the full list in 5e of spells, what they do, and if they require components, you often find there's a lot of jokes or just blatantly obvious things. What do you need to cast Alarm? Basically, a tripwire and a bell. What do you need for Chain Lightning? 3 silver pins to serve as lightning rods, an amber, glass, or crystal rod to serve as a grounding rod for you, and a bit of fur to...generate static electricity for the spell. What do you need for Darkvision? Well, you can use an agate, or you can use...a piece of dried carrot. I guess in D&D they really do make your sight better. And finally, the classic: what's the material component of Minor Illusion? A bit of fleece. Really helps to pull the wool over someone's eyes.
So yeah, when you take a look at the list, there's a lot of spell components that are perfectly edible. I still think I maybe wouldn't trust the snacks of a wizard who doesn't distinguish between their component pouch and their backpack."
Newbiespud's Note: Got some news about Spudventures (which probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who's noticed the lack of recent updates).
Notice: Guest comic submissions are open! Guidelines here. Deadline: February 20th.
Oh yeah, spell components are a huge source of injokes by the game's creators. It also explains why so many wizards are skinny and frail. They need better dietary habits.
I suspect the amber, glass, or crystal rods are for rubbing the fur on to generate static electricity (fun fact, the Ancient Greek word for amber, ēlektron, is where we get the word electricity precisely because people realized it did funny things if you rubbed it with fur).
On the other side or things, agate is closely related to tiger eye, so that also has a somewhat joking relationship to Darkvision, though it's more of a pun.
Guest Author's Note: "Spell components are a weird and funny thing to look at. When you take a peek at the full list in 5e of spells, what they do, and if they require components, you often find there's a lot of jokes or just blatantly obvious things. What do you need to cast Alarm? Basically, a tripwire and a bell. What do you need for Chain Lightning? 3 silver pins to serve as lightning rods, an amber, glass, or crystal rod to serve as a grounding rod for you, and a bit of fur to...generate static electricity for the spell. What do you need for Darkvision? Well, you can use an agate, or you can use...a piece of dried carrot. I guess in D&D they really do make your sight better. And finally, the classic: what's the material component of Minor Illusion? A bit of fleece. Really helps to pull the wool over someone's eyes.
So yeah, when you take a look at the list, there's a lot of spell components that are perfectly edible. I still think I maybe wouldn't trust the snacks of a wizard who doesn't distinguish between their component pouch and their backpack."
Newbiespud's Note: Got some news about Spudventures (which probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who's noticed the lack of recent updates).