Can you spend additional XPs when using Miracle or Wish from items?

[Shin Okada]

PCs of my current campaign are now hitting 18th-19th level. So, items like Ring of Three Wishes or Scroll of Miracle/Wish are now well within their shopping list. And some of the players are actually planning to buy some.

So I want to grasp the rules better before they actually use them on the table.

When using Wish or similar spells from magic items, can the user spend additional XPs for achieving greater effects? For example, can a fighter uses a Wish from Ring of Three Wishes and spend 9,600XP to create a Holy Avenger(XP cost to create = 4,800XP) on the fly?

 

[NewJeffCT]

with lower level spells, I would say no, but these are arguably the most powerful 9th level spells, so I could see allowing it.

 

[Runestar]

Even if you couldn't by the rules (and I admit to being ignorant in this area), I see little harm in allowing it.

Only issue might be that the PC in question becomes lower lv than the rest of the party, though he will eventually catch up (since he will get more xp from each encounter). This may result in him having more gear than what is suggested for his WBL, which means that he may be more powerful than his ECL lets on.

I suppose it is fine so long as it is not abused.

 

[frankthedm]

Would not recommend it. It would be like allowing someone to split the cost of the wish between two people. I guess if the person using the wish was willing to pay the ENTIRE XP cost, rather than using any of the 5000 already included with the wish, it would be alright. And I'm still not so sure about it since only casters capable of wish or miracle are supposed to be able to burn away any XP in this manner.

XP costs are factored in pricing the item. If the creator of the item wants to bundle 10000 XP into the wish, its reasonable as long as the XP is factored into the cost.

The only real check and balance on burning XP is that it VERY painful to be left behind. Sharing that pain takes that away as does tuning 25000 GP into Raw XP [by turning it into a wish and then adding in your own XP to make up the difference]. The pain for one person being 40,000 XP behind is what prevents Wish from being overused. If instead each person in the group could spend 10,000 XP for the same benefits, it becomes far less painful. Same reason why the rules don't let collaborating casters split XP costs on items. One person pays the whole amount.

If two or more characters cooperate to create an item, they must agree among themselves who will be considered the creator for the purpose of determinations where the creator’s level must be known. The character designated as the creator pays the XP required to make the item.

 

[Runestar]

I think the CO boards once did the math, and the conclusion was that it was actually well worth it for the party wizard (or whoever the dedicated crafter is) to consistently stay 1 lv below the other PCs. The idea is to let him gain more xp from encounters, which can then be used to craft/wish for items. Which in turn drains xp, ensuring he stays 1 lv lower.....the cycle repeats.

I suppose you can argue that this is not likely as it sucks for the wizard to be of lower lv, and few players are so altruistic as to be willing to suffer to such an extent for the good of the whole party...

 

[axenome]

I did that in a campaign myself- I was the party's magic item crafter. Found it to be little different power wise than playing a sorceror, whose spell level cap is one level behind wizard progression anyways. With all the magical goodies I kept crafting, I wasn't at any real disadvantage, and the sheer number of scrolls I kept in my triple-H made up for any shortcoming in spells. I crafted my own rings of wizardry 2 and 3, in fact.