[RPG] What’s the in-universe reasoning behind sorcerers needing material components

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Sorcerers are "spontaneous" spell casters. They don't "learn spells" the way a wizard does; their spells aren't granted by a powerful extraplanar entity the way a cleric's, paladin's, or warlock's are, they aren't drawn from nature like a druid's or ranger's. They have the same names, because they have the same effects — but they come from innate magic within the sorcerer's being; a sorcerer becomes a sorcerer because of his magic. He can, with some experience, bend the spells, changing fundamentals of how they work (multiple targets, touch spells at a distance, and so forth), or rearrange spell slots.

Why, then, should sorcerers have to use material components to cast spells?

Bottom line — is there reasoning given (beyond the small amount of material in the PHB) on why sorcerers have to use material components like "prepared spell" casters such as wizards, or divine casters like clerics? If you draw fire from your essence, why would you need a ball of bat guano?

Note that I am not looking for game design reasons (such as balance or anything about designer intent) to explain this, only in-universe explanations for why. Please support all answers with the appropriate evidence and support from lore and avoid conjecture.

Best Answer

Sorcerers are not innate casters

tl;dr Only innate casters don't require a focus or components. Sorcerers' spellcasting is not innate, even though their raw magic is. Spellcasting is learned and can be further developed.

...By learning to harness and channel their own inborn magic, they can discover new and staggering ways to unleash that power...

Innate casters are the ones who don't require focus nor components

For example, cloud giants have innate casting.

Innate Spellcasting. The giant's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma. It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components...

Contrasting with spellcasters that have learned to cast spells, innate casters always cast at the lowest level and can not change out their known spells.

Some spells require components (or a focus)

Spells are discrete effects regardless of how a character has learned to create them.

In casting a spell, a character carefully plucks at the invisible strands of raw magic suffusing the world, pins them in place in a particular pattern, sets them vibrating in a specific way, and then releases them to unleash the desired effect (Basic Rules, p. 82)

It is innate to the way that the world works that some of these discrete effects require materials (or an arcane focus) in order to "pluck at the invisible strands of raw magic suffusing the world".

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