Cheaper wands?

[Willtell]

Is it possible to commission a wand with fewer than the maximum charges at a reduced cost. for example a normal wand of daylight with 50 charges costs 11250gp, would a commissioned wand of daylight 5 charges cost 1125gp?.

 

[Crothian]

Not by the rules, but if the DM allows it then all is good.

 

[RogueJK]

From the DMG, page 246, under Creating Wands:
"Wands are always fully charged (50 charges) when created."

The only variable that you can adjust when creating a wand is the caster level.

 

[Henry]

You could allow this, but you might want to give a thought to play balance if your PC's decide to pick up a ****-load of wands of all types with only 5 charges in them. Someone last year on these message boards found out, when starting several "death-match" style games that allowing players to buy wands with only one or two charges in them was baaad news - they lit up the playing field with a belt-full of cheap wands.

 

[mikebr99]

Is it possible to commission a wand with fewer than the maximum charges at a reduced cost. for example a normal wand of daylight with 50 charges costs 11250gp, would a commissioned wand of daylight 5 charges cost 1125gp?.

Maybe not commision a new one... but there may be a used one on the market, for the right price.

Adventuring parties are always finding used equipment that isn't of use to them specifically... except for cash. So these used items make it into the retail market. Mind you, the exact number of charges information got lost in the translation/transaction... so you could pay for a 50% used wand and end up with 2 charges left... read the fine print on the back of the receipt... Not responsible for any items sold of the "used" rack. Owner beware.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Think of it this way...

Wands and scrolls are essentially the same device. The difference is that when you craft/purchase a wand, you are getting the spell at 60% of the gold and XP cost. The catch is that you have to buy the spell in bulk... 50 usages at a time.

Compare the cost of 50 1st level scrolls with the price of one first level wand.

It's like buying apples from a wholesaler, instead of the grocery store... You can buy them much cheaper per apple, but you have to buy a whole bushel, you can't buy just one.