Eschew Materials:
You can cast any spell that has a material component costing 1 gp or less without needing that component.

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Spider Climb
Transmutation
Level: Drd 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 10 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

The subject can climb and travel on vertical surfaces or even traverse ceilings as well as a spider does. The affected creature must have its hands free to climb in this manner. The subject gains a climb speed of 20 feet; furthermore, it need not make Climb checks to traverse a vertical or horizontal surface (even upside down). A spider climbing creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing.


Material Component
A drop of bitumen and a live spider, both of which must be eaten by the subject.

I'm sorry, are you sure this wasn't a compelling argument for getting rid of Spider Climb? Not that I have ever seen or heard of anyone casting it anyway.

Spider Climb is a pretty good spell. It's just better at higher levels, and by then mostly people have the ability to fly. But it's still good for getting around areas where you can't fly for whatever reason, and is also good if you are not a straight wizard or sorceror- a fighter / sorceror could make a decent argument for this spell, as could any kind of infiltrator.

When you post in another thread but not in the gaming times thread, I want to castrate you with a spatula.

Yarr I posted in the gaming times thread. How exciting!

You know, some of these mechanics that were brought over from second don't even make sense. For instance, stoneskin requires you to sprinkle 250 gp of diamond dust on the targets skin. Forgetting the fact that stoneskin is shit now, given that you have 6 seconds by the normal rules, how much "sprinking" can you really get in? I mean, maybe "flicked" or "tossed in a poofy fashion at" might work, to say nothing of the effort involved in having just that exact component around. Fiddling with components was one of the given reasons why you couldn't just cast super fast- you still had to manipulate them for most spells.

Spider Climb's real problem isn't eating a spider. It's moving thirty feet in six seconds to your friend, holding out bitumen and a live spider (this implies that if you keep a spell component pouch, that you are hunting up spiders every day or so in your off screen time- creepy imo), and he looks at you while parrying an attack and striking true three times, opens his mouth, and swallows them both. Now if it were a potion, that wouldn't fly. But a spider? SURE!

But it really *is* an argument for Eschew Materials, because I don't want to hear the description about how I seek out batshit and sulphur every time I go into town or whatever.

It's lame enough that I can't write down spells unless I have some undefined expensive materials that I can buy in literally any quantity in a town. I mean, if we robbed whatever store sells them, we would presumably have at least three or four THOUSAND gold worth of inks and unguents of an undefined nature. Hopefully they are useful for other stuff too?

Ok, time for bed.