Frostmarrow
First Post
Hecateus said:"From this we learn that in order to make a Wand of Fireball the wizard need to make a spellcraft check versus DC 28 or face the fireball-misfire (8d6 Reflex save 14 save for half). If succesful the wizard gains 960 XP. If not the wizard must start over again (if still alive). The failure consumes half of the ingredients (or whatever is the usual amount)."
DC 28!? Sounds rough to just make your first wand at fifth level. Even with a 20 INT, a wiz would need a roll of 15 to succeed. One should allow partial failures like they have for climbing...ie at a roll of 14, that wand won't blow up in your face, but the days work is lost, that is all. at a roll of 9(failure greater than 5), there is a minor explosion, and half the wand's value is lost in it's creation, start over...after healing from the one charge that got loose! On a roll of 4 (failure greater than 10) the wand detonates at full explosive value (roll to see how many charges were inputed at the failure point), item totally destoyed.
since the caster has a bonus of 8, it is impossible to fail that badly on the basis of a simple roll for a simple wand. But more comlicated items can carry serious creation risks now. Risks which grant XP!
This would still heavily encourage spellcasters to take a few levels of rogue, but not be lethal to those just trying out new item creation feats.
I think DC 28 is about right. Sure you can tweak it if you like. Still, 20%-30% chance of creating an object which not only grants you extra power but also gives you more experience seems fair to me. Especially when you just about qualify for the job. (And it leaves a little space for the DM's best friend a +2 bonus for good role-play/clever thinking.)
But the main benefit of doing it the suggested way is that the maker is probably going to keep his buddies around to protect him. I mean what if the "trap" summons a monster or if a dart poisons the maker? It can be an adventure all to it self! -And you get to use all those marvelous traps you have collected on your book-shelf in S&S and other books.
Take a peek here for what you'd might have to expect:
http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/v35/Traps.rtf (page4 and on).
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