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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
[[Trope Namer|Eye of newt]] and toe of frog,<br />
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,<br />
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,<br />
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,<br />
For a charm of powerful trouble, <br />
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."''|'''The Three Witches''', ''[[Macbeth]]''}}
|'''The Three Witches''', ''[[Macbeth]]''}}
 
The [[Spell Construction|material (or immaterial) component]] you [[Ritual Magic|need to call forth a spell]] or activate a superpower. It's not as simple as just spending [[Mana]], though. You may need to burn a pinch of sulphur, or to sacrifice the soul of your first born child. Either way, you've got to pay the price before you can throw lightning from your fingertips. If the value of what's sacrificed ''has'' to equal the value of what's gained, it's [[Equivalent Exchange]].
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== Tabletop Games ==
 
* A number of spells in many versions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' (AD&D 1e, AD&D 2e, and D&D Third Edition3.x) require use of material components. For standard spells, like ''fireball'', this requires something trivial and commonplace (like bat guano and sulfur rolled into a ball) that one can BS away by having a spell pouch on them. For more powerful spells, like Raise Dead, you're expected to pay cash money to use them (in the form of a pile of diamonds worth 5000 gp).
** Bat guano as seen in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0020.html this] ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' webcomic (see the image at the top of this page). 5000 gp worth of diamonds mentioned in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0286.html this] one.▼
*** Toyed with in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0677.html this one], with the valuation being crucial to the spell.▼
** Still, if that sort of thing isn't easy enough for you, there are feats like Eschew Materials (which is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]], for material components that don't mention a money cost), prestige classes like the runecaster, which allow you to replace expended material components with permanent rune-carved objects (one wonders what the replacement for ''fireball'' is...a little stone ball with "bat poo and sulfur" carved in Draconic?), and others.
*** Why not "Burn!" or "[[Girl Genius|Everything goes boom!]]" on Ignan?
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== Video Games ==
 
** ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' also has a whole alchemy system that allows you to use ingredients with set effects to make potions with those effects. Or you can just eat them and get their effects for a brief time, even though some of the ingredients are plainly inedible. (Raw Glass, anyone?)▼
* In a similar case, the Moth Monks from ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' watch over and have the power to read the titular scrolls, which describe ''everything, everywhere, everywhen''. The price for omniscience? [[Brown Note|A brief bout of blindness, which increases each time the scrolls are used, until finally, the monk is rendered permanently blind.]]
*** You still need to have a high enough alchemy skill just to get all the effects of eating it directly. It's [[Hand Wave|Hand Waved]] that it has to do with a specific way you chew it.▼
▲** ''The Elder Scrolls'' also has a whole alchemy system that allows you to use ingredients with set effects to make potions with those effects. Or you can just eat them and get their effects for a brief time, even though some of the ingredients are plainly inedible. (Raw Glass, anyone?)
▲*** You still need to have a high enough alchemy skill just to get all the effects of eating it directly. It's [[Hand Wave|Hand Waved]] that it has to do with a specific way you chew it.
* According to [[Wario Ware|Ashley]]'s theme, an eye of newt is a component of one of her favorite hexes.
** And Grandma's wig and kitten's spit!
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** Gwynn [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060602 found a spell] to cure [[Blind Without'Em|her eyesight]] that required "parts" from some monkeys. She bought the monkeys, but couldn't go through with the spell, keeping them as pets instead. [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060604 Much] [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060625 hilarity] [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060626 proceeded] [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060723 to] [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=061208 ensue].
** Another spell to open a dimensional portal required candles, drops of blood in a chalice, and a chicken quite specifically ''not'' [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080603 set on fire].
▲** Bat''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' illustrated D&D version - including bat guano, as seen inon [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0020.html this] ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' webcomic (see the image at the top of this page). 5000 gp worth of diamonds mentioned in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0286.html this] one.
* ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' / ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' 'verse have ''most'' spells run at a moment's notice, from illusions, to [[Elemental Punch]] to summoning, and others require a [[Geometric Magic|diagram]]. However, there are ''interesting'' applications for things like [http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/watch_your_buns pixie dust]...▼
▲*** ToyedPrice of components was toyed with in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0677.html this one], with the valuation being crucial to the spell.
▲* ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' / ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' 'verse have ''most'' spells runrunning with but a few words and/or gesture at a moment's notice, fromand illusions,most toof [[Elemental Punch]] to summoning, andthe othersrest require a [[Geometric Magic|diagram]]. However, there also are ''interesting'' applications for things like [http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/watch_your_buns pixie dust]...
 
== Web Original ==
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