RPM[MH]- Applicable items and sacrifice

[Kuroshima]

Me, I would take inspiration on the astrological correspondences (GURPS Cabal, GURPS Thaumatology) for the nature of the reagents.

I think I prefer having components provide a minimum of energy though.

Ritual Implements:

Ritual Implements are a systematized way to deal with Traditional Trappings. They provide a reduction to energy costs for the rituals. If using them, disregard the rules for Traditional Trappings in Monster Hunters 1: Champions, p. 34. Ritual implements can reduce the cost of the ritual by up to 25%, if using percent based reductions, or to zero, for fixed cost reductions. Implements are usually rated by the percentage of energy reduction they provide, but at least provide an energy reduction equal to that percentage, so a -5% cost reduction from ritual implements always provides at least a 5 point discount. Using Ritual Implements doubles the casting time, like using Grimoires, but using both Ritual Implements and Grimoires only doubles casting time, the time increases don't stack.

Focus Items: Focus Items are not consumed by the casting, making them immensely values by the spellcasting community. Only one Focus Item can be used per ritual, and at most, they provide a 10% reduction in energy cost. Like Grimoires, Focus Items are only useful for a single specific ritual. Use the Grimoire Table for figuring cost and weight, but read the bonus as percentage reduction, so a Focus Item that gives a 5% reduction would cost $1,500 and weight 3.5 lbs. A Grimoire can be a focus item. In that case, double the cost, but leave the weight alone, the Grimoire acts as a Focus Item of the same potency as it's bonus to the ritual. A single Focus Item can be built to help in more than one ritual, using the same rules for collections.

Ritual Reagents: Ritual Reagents are consumed by the casting. Traditional reagents are exotic incenses, psychoactive mushrooms, etc etc. You can use at most three different ritual reagents in a single ritual, and the total reduction from Ritual Reagents is at most 15%. They cost 1/10th of the equivalent Focus Item giving the same reduction, though weight varies immensely. However, for simplicity, assume that reagents weight as much as a Grimoire of equivalent bonus. Reagents are only valid for a given combination of Effect and Path. Thus, reagents bought for Weaken Body are not suitable for Strengthen Body effects, nor for Weaken Spirit, even if they are the same substance. You can not use more than one reagent for a given combination of effect and path in the same ritual.

As for the nature of the reagents and focus items, each tradition ought to have typical reagents, but for simplicity, you can use the Astrological Correspondences found on pp. 247-248 of Thaumatology: First, for each Path, look at the associated Sephiroth, use this Sephiroth to find the planetary and zodiacal correspondences associated with that path, and use those to determine the nature of the ritual implements. Focus items, when they don't take the form of a Grimoire, use the tool column.