can wands be recharged?

TrizzlWizzl · Apr 22, 2002

Can they? Does anybody know anything official on recharging wands, i.e. whether or not it's possible (according to 'official sources') and if it is, how to adjust the cost to create?

A player wanted to recharge her wand of magic missles today and I let her do it, paying half the raw materials cost.

Anybody got a page number on this one?

Thanks...

Archer · Apr 22, 2002

Wand charges have a fixed cost. The wand itself has no value. There is no discount for adding charges to a wand nor is it generally done.

Shaele · Apr 22, 2002

As Archer pointed out, there's no official way to do this. It seems to be a fairly common house rule to allow it at a cost equal to the creation cost of the item * the percentage of charges that need to be added.

e.g. the base cost of a wand of magic missiles (5th level) would be 750gp * caster level (5) * spell level (1) or 3750 gp. Creation cost for a new wand with 50 charges would be half of this, or 1875 gp. Recharging a wand with 10 charges would be (50-10/50) * creation cost, or 1500gp.

It seems fair, since the cost per charge is the same for the characters, but it's cheaper than creating an entirely new wand.

I'll be quiet now, since this suggestion more properly belongs in the House Rules forum <g>

Hatchling Dragon · Apr 24, 2002

If I only had a memory...

I know I've read something, somewhere, about 'repairing' magical items. If I'm not totaly off it costs 1/2 the 'new' cost of said item. I think the rational behind this rule was based on recycling/reusing the materials/magic in the item you have, thus halving the costs involved in the items (re)creation. I believe that, in that same rules 'area', it was mentioned that (as a house/optional rule) that you could use the same rule to essentially 'recharge' a limited-use item.

This is pretty-much how I'd handle this question, if my group were still playing that is. It doesn't seem too terribly unbalancing either, and makes some sense in that you've already done the truely 'hard' part of making a mundane item magical, ie: you're enhancing what's already there and not starting from scratch.

Another thing to keep in mind is this: How many players would prefer the recharging of their Wand of Magic Missles (5th) (when they got the Feat) over 'upgrading' it to a higher caster level when the original ran out of charges? I know my character would prefer the higher powered versions, anything else would be sacrificing too much in way of firepower.

Hatchling Dragon

TrizzlWizzl · Apr 24, 2002

Okay, good. I'm not going insane. I could have sworn I came across some kind of rules material that said PCs could recharge wands at half the material cost, but I couldn't for the life of me remember where I saw it. It does my mind good to know there's someone else out there who's under the same impression. Does anyone know where Hatchling Dragon and myself might have picked up the vague notion we have of this mechanic?

Grazzt · Apr 24, 2002

Othmaar posted a feat (Recharge Wand) on the Necromancer Games MsgBrds. Here is the link:

http://pub39.ezboard.com/fnecromancergamesfrm9.showMessage?topicID=240.topic

If it doesnt work for ya, just go to Necromancer's site (www.necromancergames.com), click the Forums link, and look in GenDiscussion- you'll see the thread there.

bret · Apr 26, 2002

There are rules for repairing certain magic items, but not wands.

If you look under the Forge Ring, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, and Craft Wonderous Item feats you will find rules for repairing those items. There is no such text for Rods, Staves, Wands, Potions or Scrolls.

Basically, anything that uses charges can not be fixed. There is no mention of recharging that I can find anywhere.

SableWyvern · Apr 26, 2002

As the DMG states:

A wand with no charges left is just a stick.

Since you cannot recharge a stick, the official rules are no recharging wands.

Voadam · Apr 26, 2002

The official D&D Diablo supplement has class abilities for sorcerers and necromancers that allow recharging at a cost of (I think) 5% of the total max charges in the item round up.

kreynolds · Apr 26, 2002

SableWyvern said:
As the DMG states:

A wand with no charges left is just a stick.

Since you cannot recharge a stick, the official rules are no recharging wands.

SableWyvern, and others, are absolutely correct. You can't recharge charged items. Anything else is a house rule. I allow it in my games, but it's still a house rule.