When asked if the spell blood money can be used in conjunction with a spell having a casting time of greater than 1 round, creative director James Jacobs initially said No then Yes then, finally, No but have fun
From Nov. 27, 2012, there's this exchange:
(First One)
Question
In the hand of a witch with strength 11+ (even through the use of bull strength) it [the spell blood money] become rally impressive. Raise dead and reincarnate for free, greater restoration for free if you have the Endurance patron.
Really useful.
Sure, she would need a few lesser restoration to return at full strength, but it can be a good trade off.
So, a couple of questions:
1) it that working as intended? i.e. you cant a witch to cast those spells for no monetary cost?
2) If that is working as intended and the witch know resurrection, it is possible for the to use blood money and a less valuable diamond to satisfy the requirement for a resurrection (10.000 gp diamond)? I.e., it is possible to provide half of the material requirements for a spell through blood money and half through normal means?
Answer
Keep in mind that blood money only really works if you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 round or less, since the components created vanish after that time. So you can't combine this spell with raise dead or resurrection, both of which have a casting time of 1 minute. Nor can you do so with greater restoration, which has a casting time of 3 rounds.
1) Yes, working as intended, in other words.
(I left this as unedited as I could stand, adding italics and proper capitalization to spells for clarity; insert your own mental [sic]s where necessary.)
Then, from Dec. 16, 2012, there's this exchange:
(Second One)
Question
1. When blood money says you can create components for a spell cast in the same round, does that mean the casting must be completed in that same round?
2. When exactly is a material component used? Is it used when you start casting the spell, or once the spell takes effect?
Answer
When you cast blood money, you do so with a swift action. You create the needed components, and must then IMMEDIATELY (in the same round) cast the spell you want to use those components with. You don't need to finish casting the spell in the same round, though; once you start casting the spell, the components (and the prepared spell itself) are committed and used.
Finally, on Feb. 20, 2013, after another user quoted these two exchanges, there was this exchange:
Question
Er...which is it? Can you use blood money on spells with long casting times or can't you? If you can't then the spell doesn't strike me as being very good since most spells with costly components have long casting times.
Answer
It's the first one.
But if you use the second one, that's fine too.
Despite my error on that second post, as long as you stay consistent in how you run the spell in your game... THAT'S the right way to do it.
Although unmentioned by errata or FAQ, this nonetheless carries official weight for many. Most discussions of the spell blood money and the spell's use in conjunction with long-casting-time spells oddly cite only the second exchange, perhaps unaware of the first and third. That's unfortunate because, as the examination of the spell below demonstrates, Jacobs' first and third statements are more accurate than his second.
As written the spell blood money probably shouldn't work with spells having a casting time of greater than 1 round
The spell blood money says you take a swift action to cast the spell blood money then
When you cast another spell in that same round, your blood transforms into one material component of your choice required by that second spell.
Thus casting the followup spell transmutes the caster's blood into the followup spell's material component. Casting the spell blood money does not create the material component before the followup spell's cast.
Further, although no rule states when a material component is annihilated by the spell's energy, Jacobs' second statement seems predicated upon a material component being annihilated when the caster starts casting the spell. I, on the other hand, believe the material component is annihilated when the caster finishes casting the spell. Casting Time says that
You make all pertinent decisions about a spell (range, target, area, effect, version, and so forth) when the spell comes into effect.
To me that and so forth includes deciding which, if any, material component to use, especially in the case of spells with long casting times, as a caster's originally intended (but not yet chosen) target may be somehow rendered invalid before a spell comes into effect, and a spell's target sometimes determines a material component.
Example 1
Abe the fighter asks Bob the wizard to cast on him the spell enlarge person then the spell permanency. Bob casts on Abe the spell enlarge person and, next round, starts casting permanency. At the end of the first round of casting permanency, Abe's girlfriend Cal inconveniently chooses to transport Abe to her via the spell refuge. Bob decides not to finish casting the spell. Since Bob makes all decisions about the spell when the spell comes into effect—including the the target of the spell permanency and which spell permanency is to affect—Bob doesn't lose the 2,500 gp mandated by a permanent enlarge person because Bob made no decisions about the spell as it never came into effect.
Example 2
Abe the fighter asks Bob the wizard to cast on his longsword the spell masterwork transformation. Bob starts casting the spell. One round before Bob finishes casting masterwork transformation, Cal attacks Bob's hovel. Abe grabs his longsword and exits the room. Since Bob makes all decisions about the spell when the spell comes into effect—including the spell's target—Bob sighs, finishes casting the spell, touches a nearby butter churn, expends 50 gp in magical reagents, and transmutes the butter churn into a masterwork tool.
Annihilation of a material component upon the spell coming into effect also jibes with this otherwise sometimes ignored section of blood money's description:
Material components created by blood money transform back into blood at the end of the round if they have not been used as a material component.
That situation is impossible using Jacobs' second statement, which has a material component created then immediately annihilated by the followup spell. However, if a material component is instead annihilated at the spell's conclusion, a perfectly reasonable 1-round limit is placed on the casting time of the blood money followup spell, eliminating a great deal of controversy and making blood money an interesting but niche spell.
