[RPG] Do these spells require access to the material components for the spell even when cast from a Ring of Spell Storing

dnd-5emagic-itemsspells

So I answered this question some time ago. Recently, a random thought occurred to me that whereas my answer is technically correct there might be exceptions.

Now the Ring of Spell Storing and other similar effects/items (the Reserve Ioun Stone, and Shield Guardians) state that you can cast a spell into it as part of its casting. This uses the original spell caster's parameters – meaning their spell attack modifier, spell save DC, any upcasted level, and of course the consumption of any components during the casting used to store its energy. The only thing left up to the user of the ring would be targeting, more or less.

DMG p. 141 states (under the "Activating an Item" heading)(emphasis mine):

Spells

Some magic items allow the user to cast a spell from the item, often by expending charges from it. The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell level, doesn't expend any of the user's spell slots, and requires no components, unless the item's description says otherwise. The spell uses its normal casting time, range, and duration, and the user of the item must concentrate if the spell requires concentration. Certain items make exceptions to these rules, changing the casting time, duration, or other parts of a spell.

This brings me to the possibility of the following exceptions to the component rule for magical items (at least in this niche case):

  • Teleportation circle: The spell when cast requires you to draw your destination as part of the casting. This, to me, indicates that if I cast this spell into a Ring of Spell Storing I have preset the destination, so that if anyone later uses the ring to cast the spell I have input it will take them to the circle I bound the casting to. The alternative would be that the subsequent ring bearer would have to use the spell's component to draw a new set of coordinates while it cast the spell from the ring, which would seem to be in contradiction to the rules in the DMG about components (DMG 141).

    As you cast the spell, you draw a 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground inscribed with sigils that link your location to a permanent teleportation circle of your choice whose sigil sequence you know and that is on the same plane of existence as you. A shimmering portal opens within the circle you drew and remains open until the end of your next turn.

  • Drawmij's instant summons: In this case you must have a sapphire to which the item to be summoned will be bound then later crushed to summon the bound object.

  • Leomund's secret chest: Again a Wizard can cast the spell into the ring but anyone that casts the spell from the ring will require the expensive chest as well as the replica to which it will be bound.

To me this seems to indicate that logically there are exceptions, at least in the case of such items as a Ring of Spell Storing, to the rules presented on DMG p. 141 that casting a spell from a magical item requires no components.

Should these, and possibly others (like Warding Bond), reasonably be considered exceptions and thus in order to cast them from the ring, or similar device or effect, be required to provide the material components?

Or as @KorvinStarmast indicated should a DM simply disallow such spells from being input into these devices?

Best Answer

Getting technical with the wording, my interpretation would be as follows. Both Teleportation Circle and Drawmij Instant Summons would work, I don't think Leomund's would.

Teleportation Circle: Casting into the object would require you to draw the circle with a 'particular' destination in mind since you are required to expend the components to put the spell into a ring of spell storing.

Later when you activated the ring, 'a shimmering portal' would open up within that circle that you drew. Limited use in my opinion, but by raw wording that's my interpretation.

As you cast the spell, you draw a 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground inscribed with sigils that link your location to a permanent teleportation circle of your choice whose sigil sequence you know and that is on the same plane of existence as you. A shimmering portal opens within the circle you drew and remains open until the end of your next turn.

Creating the circle to a specific destination is part of casting the spell. The actual portal that appears is part of activating the spell.

Drawmij Instant Summons: In my interpretation this works off of the same concept. You have to present the sapphire at the time of casting the spell into the ring. The spell is put into the ring. When you activate the ring, the magic triggers thereby putting an invisible mark on the item you touch at which time inscribes the name of the item onto the sapphire regardless of where it's at. This is only true because of the wording of the spell.

You touch an object weighing 10 pounds or less whose longest dimension is 6 feet or less. The spell leaves an invisible mark on its surface and invisibly inscribes the name of the item on the sapphire you use as the material component

You used the sapphire at the time of casting the spell into the ring.

Leomund's Secret Chest While both items are considered material components that could be ignored by a ring of spell storing. The spell explicitly calls out in the spell description that you must touch both the chest and the replica.

You hide a chest and its contents on the Ethereal Plane. You must touch the chest and the miniature replica.

(I'm pretty sure 90% of spells with gp cost don't do this). As such this is a case of the specific text of the spell ultimately preventing the spell from being used by any of the above magic items you've listed without also having the item at the time of casting.

Practical Uses

Uses Of the three Drawmjii's has the most practical use:

  • Discreetly marking an item for later 'procurement'.
  • Discreetly marking an item an enemy is wearing. Crush the sapphire and learn 'who' they are. Essentially weed out an alias.
  • Discreetly marking an item an enemy is wearing. Crush the sapphire and learn 'roughly where' they are. (This has no plane restriction.) Used correctly this could simply be used to track down an enemy hideout/base or just keep the hunt going for a person that has escaped.

If another creature is holding or carrying the item, crushing the sapphire doesn’t transport the item to you, but instead you learn who the creature possessing the object is and roughly where that creature is located at that moment.

Logical Reasoning My interpretations are based on RAW readings of the spell and ring. You could of course house rule an option to magically transport the components into a ring. But that would have to be universal to all three to be concistent.