Components & Spellcasting

The question of requiring Magic-Users and Clerics to use components in their practice has always been a tiresome one. I've found that requiring the PCs to find the exact components required to cast a spell every time they feel like casting it is tedious and, in many cases, an obstacle in the way of satisfying gameplay.

However, some part of me has always yearned for a bit of something more material. I really like the idea of having to acquire a scrap of sheep's wool to cast a spell, but the execution of that—the tedium of actually requiring the characters to go out and find just the right amount of wool—detracts from the satisfaction of actually utilizing the resource. So, I propose that spells should have material components, but ones that are immediately accessible, and directly relevant to the spell.

For example, for my Pontifex setting, I have re-written the spell Cure Light Wounds. At the moment it looks something like this:

• Cure Light Wounds (Reverse: Cause Light Wounds)
  Range: 0’
  Duration: instantaneous
  The caster rolls 1d6+1. This amount heals or damages the target by that many points. This spell must be cast with one hand covered in blood, either from the caster, some animal, or their enemy. The character may inflict 1 point of damage to themselves to cover their hand in enough blood to cast the spell.

I figured that blood was an extremely readily available resource for any given caster, but one that would still provide a tangibility to the spell that might not otherwise exist. What I am ultimately trying to do is make spellcasting more physical. I want spellcasting to be describable and to feel real. I want players to be able to describe how they cast the spell, not just that it happens. And I think the introduction of more accessible and relevant material components might be a way to aid that.