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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36968 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 01:48:42
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Okay, I'm asking this question here, since I'm not welcome on the WotC forums...
In 2E, many magical items (particularly rods, staves, and wands) could be recharged. I may have overlooked it, but I don't recall reading any such references anywhere in 3.x.
Can charged magical items be recharged, or are they useless once depleted?
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 01:53:03
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3/3.5e did away with that but I dimly recall a few items that you could recharge and or there was a class/feat ability that allowed it, but in general, that was removed.
I think that recharge ability appeared, finally, in Lost Empires. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
Edited by - Kuje on 21 Mar 2007 01:54:32 |
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jespin
Acolyte
12 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 02:09:45
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| Glow stones from the Under Dark souce book could also recharge some items, and Ed wrote about a lake in the border lands with that ability if I'm not mistaken |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 02:33:31
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| There is an optional rule for recharging magic items in the 3.5 Unearthed Arcana. I was sure it was in the SRD under alternate rules, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 02:37:44
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quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
There is an optional rule for recharging magic items in the 3.5 Unearthed Arcana. I was sure it was in the SRD under alternate rules, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Maybe that's what I was thinking of, because I don't see it in Lost Empires after all. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Xysma
Master of Realmslore
USA
1089 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36968 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 04:39:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Xysma
The DMG states that a wand that runs out of charges is a stick.
I did note that line, but it doesn't specifically preclude recharging a wand that is at less than full charges. Sure, a wand with 0 charges would be a stick, but the DMG doesn't say that you can't pump it back up to 50 charges, so long as 1 charge remained in the wand.
quote:
Originally posted by Xysma
However, I did just check out Unearthed Arcana and page 158 had rules for recharging wands, so take your pick.
I'll have to go with this option. As someone who "grew up" on 2E (and I've never, in fact, played 3.x, since my gaming group disbanded and I've not looked for another), I really like being able to keep wands around for a while. Plus, that option adds a bit more to them, so they're not just another clip of ammo. A magic stick that any wizard can make is not impressive, but the wand of lightning that Coronal Bob used to slay the demon Dethentaxus is impressive, even if it is, essentially, the same thing. |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 06:48:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
There is an optional rule for recharging magic items in the 3.5 Unearthed Arcana. I was sure it was in the SRD under alternate rules, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Maybe that's what I was thinking of, because I don't see it in Lost Empires after all.
You're not crazy: I saw something about recharging wands in LEoF too (or Champions of Ruins). It may be a feat or a spell that allows you to sacrifice spell slots to power a wand, methinks... which would effectively allow you to keep/buy wands with a mere ONE charge and power them when necessary (i.e. a wizard would come very close to the sorcerer in terms of spontaneous casting this way...) |
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Bluenose
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
134 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 10:28:11
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There was an article on the Wizards web site which discussed it. I found it here.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20041130a
So they'd prefer you not to recharge tems, but if you do it should cost the same and have the same requirements as if you'd made a new one.
The feat is Channel Charge. It is in LeoF, and it let's you use a wand by casting a spell of the appropriate level into a wand, then use the wand without using a charge. It's quite useful for a wizard or sorceror who has several wands as they don't need to prepare those spells at all, but can cast them as necessary - though I think it's a full round action to use it, so not as quick as casting normally.
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These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.
Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay. |
Edited by - Bluenose on 21 Mar 2007 10:30:45 |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 15:17:26
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| Ah good, guess I wasn't losing it.... more then normal, that is. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36968 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 16:35:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Bluenose
There was an article on the Wizards web site which discussed it. I found it here.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20041130a
From that link:
quote:
Before trying out this strictly optional rule in your campaign, consider its impact on play. Under the game's published rules, charged items, particularly wands and staffs, are fairly rare because player characters have to spend quite a bit of money (or money and experience) to obtain a fully charged item. Even if the PCs are lucky enough to find a partly expended item, they must replace it with a fully charged item once its charges run out. If you allow recharging, player characters can keep their charged items "topped off" fairly cheaply and that makes them more powerful characters.
I dunno... Adding charges takes all day, and, without feats, you'll not be able to add more than six charges a day (wands can only hold 4th level (or lower) spells, and a 20th level sorcerer can cast 6 4th level spells a day). It doesn't seem all that unbalancing to me... If it is, simply require the use of a spell like 2E's enchant an item (I don't know if that spell made it to 3.x). |
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Reefy
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
892 Posts |
Posted - 21 Mar 2007 : 22:56:29
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| The rules seem reasonable enough to me, I think I'm going to introduce them. |
Life is either daring adventure or nothing. |
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Bluenose
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
134 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2007 : 10:25:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Bluenose
There was an article on the Wizards web site which discussed it. I found it here.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20041130a
From that link:
quote:
Before trying out this strictly optional rule in your campaign, consider its impact on play. Under the game's published rules, charged items, particularly wands and staffs, are fairly rare because player characters have to spend quite a bit of money (or money and experience) to obtain a fully charged item. Even if the PCs are lucky enough to find a partly expended item, they must replace it with a fully charged item once its charges run out. If you allow recharging, player characters can keep their charged items "topped off" fairly cheaply and that makes them more powerful characters.
I dunno... Adding charges takes all day, and, without feats, you'll not be able to add more than six charges a day (wands can only hold 4th level (or lower) spells, and a 20th level sorcerer can cast 6 4th level spells a day). It doesn't seem all that unbalancing to me... If it is, simply require the use of a spell like 2E's enchant an item (I don't know if that spell made it to 3.x).
You could use some of your higher level spell slots to prepare the spells if you wanted to do it quicker. A 20th level wizard would be able to prepare 24 4th level spells that way without any bonuses for high int, and a sorceror could do even more.
In my opinion if you've got the prerequisites to make a magic item, you should certainly be allowed to recharge it. I'll admit it's not something I've ever seen, as my group had always assumed a spent wand crumbled to dust. I don't see any reason why players would expect it to be cheaper. I both play and DM, and it certainly wouldn't have occured to me. |
These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.
Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay. |
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A quick rules question: recharging magic items
