using enemies as spell components?

[flamewolf393]

So my player was fighting constructs forged from iron found in a meteor. He has a spell that needs 1000g worth of meteoric iron as a spell component. Can he grapple one of the constructs and use it as the spell component and then have it be consumed as spell components generally are?

Another example is needing wolf fur, if you are fighting a wolf can you grab a handful of its fur and consume it as a spell component?

[Friv]

Obviously, this one is going to be down to the GM, but I would personally rule No to the former but Yes to the latter. Specifically, a construct forged of meteoric iron probably has enough meteoric iron to serve as a spell component, but while the construct is animated you can't just trigger it that way. Being part of an animate being pretty much rules that out. If you want an IC reason, it would be "the magic in the construct prevents you from claiming the arcane ownership needed to channel power through the material". (On the other hand, if you severed a chunk of the construct, you could cast using that chunk.)

Similarly, you can't just lay your hand on a wolf and consume a chunk of its fur. But if you rip the fur out, the fact that the wolf is still alive doesn't matter. You've got a handful of wolf fur.