Free-form magic via spell components

She didn't giggle much, but the birds teetered a bit.

People who have kept abreast of me for a while know a few things about me: I like humor in RPGs, I like resource management, I like free-form magic systems, and I giggle a little when I write words like "abreast."

Pause for giggle break.

Okay, so I'm combining some of those things into the following spell-casting system.

• There are no spell slots, so you can cast all day.
• Component casting is the only kind of casting. I want greedy wizards scouring dungeons and flea-markets alike.
• To cast a spell, you sacrifice one or more spell components (they melt like cotton candy in the mouth of the æther). You also need the ability to speak and gesticulate.
• You have to roll to see how effective your spell is.
• The higher you roll, the better.
• Rolling a 1 means the spell backfires or consumes more components than you were expecting. Also, I say have a table of like 120 spell mishaps and you have to re-roll that spell die on it, cause great hubris preceedeth the fall.
• More valuable components give larger dice for you to roll. A whole fleece is better than a bit of wool. A dragon's blood is worth at least a d60, doncha think?
• In D&Dish games, where some sort of spell save could be mustered, you can roll your spell die vs the target's relevant save inverted (old school) or 10+stat+level (new school) and try to roll high. If you do, the spell affects them.
• Magic circles, sacrifices, extra casters, and cauldrons could bump up your spell's die-size. The costlier the better.
• The caster tries to justify a magical effect (the spell) based on the components they sacrificed to it as well as their scarcity/value. Puns and jokes are absolutely allowed, nay, nigh-requisite. For instance (some of these are adapted from a popular RPG):
• A copper penny to read someone's mind.
•  Combining sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter to make an explosion.
• Socks to make an electric shock.
• A tower model that helps you babble in any tongue.
• Chalk or dust to see invisible things.
• Sand to induce sleep.
• A dousing rod to gain the favor of a water elemental.
• A steak to command a carnivorous animal, or a leash to command any kind.
• A whistle to summon the hounds .
• A bit of fleece to trick someone or induce slumber.
• Beans to create a gust of wind.
• A bit of gold to create a zone of silence.
• Wire or a mother's bell to create a message over great distance.
• A log to make a shadow-clone.
• An abacus might counter a  spell.
• Shrooms to undergo an astral journey.

That's about it. Any component ideas or holes in the system? Make a comment!
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