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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Patryn of Elvenshae" data-source="post: 1945070" data-attributes="member: 23094">I'm always correct.Hey!  Stop laughing!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />But seriously, folks, I'm correct on this one.  There are two concepts to keep in mind.First, there is the Enhancement bonus of a weapon or piece of armor.  This is the actual bonus that is added to to-hit and damage rolls (in the case of weapons) or to the armor bonus to AC (in the case of armor or a shield).This aspect of the magical weapon has a special prerequisite:Then, there's what's known as the effective bonus of an item.  The effective bonus of an item is equal to its enhancement bonus plus any special abilities listed as a bonus, rather than a flat cost.  This includes such things as Flaming (+1) and Dancing (+4).An item's effective bonus is used only for determining how expensive an item is to make and not a minimum caster level because, since it is not actually an Enhancement bonus, it does not share the prerequisites of an Enhancment bonus (specifically, CL = 3 * bonus).Thus, a 5th-level Wizard could create a +1 flaming burst (+2), shocking burst (+2), defending (+1), keen (+1), Elemental Bane (+1), Elf Bane (+1), Aberration Bane (+1) longsword (+1 Enhancement, +9 other, +10 total effective bonus) so long as he had access to the appropriate spells (likely through a wand or staff, or through a cooperating caster).  It would cost him a pretty penny, of course - 100,000 gp and 8,000 xp - but he could do it.In other words, Core D&D doesn't contain Epic-level rules.  Therefore, the maximum caster level is 20th.  Why, then, would the tables include the possiblity of items that require Epic caster levels to complete (since you'd need to be at least CL 21 to make a +7 equivalent bonus sword or armor, let alone a +10 equivalent!)?EDIT:To add, I disagree partially with the RotG article quoted above, though it largely supports my arguments.Specifically, I disagree with what the author argues is meant by the line, "the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met."  The effective bonus increase is not an enhancement bonus, and therefore rules applying to enhancement bonuses to not apply.  The prerequisites for an extra ability are based on the spells required to create that ability.  Thus, Keen does not have a prerequisite of CL 3 because it is a +1 equivalent bonus ability (as the article states); rather, it has a prerequisite of having access to spell Keen Edge - which means a minimum CL of 5 (since Keen Edge is a Wiz / Sor 3 spell).Note that, regardless of whether you buy my argument or not, both the RotG article and I are arguing for a relatively low CL prerequiste for a Keen weapon, much lower than the CL 10 that dcollins's ruling calls for.EDIT:Continuing, I think the important line from the rules is the following:Note that the requirement is "minimum level needed to cast the needed spell" and not "at least as high as the CL listed in the item's description."Thus, since the requirement for a Pearl of Power is "must be able to cast spells of the spell level to be recalled," the minimum caster level for a PoP 1 is CL 1: you need to be able to cast a level 1 spell - any level 1 spell - in order to create a PoP 1, which requires (at least) CL 1.dcollins's ruling (and, to a lesser extent, my own) brings up an interesting paradox.  In order to create a +1 Wounding longsword, dcollins would posit that you must be a 10th-level caster (the property lists CL 10).  However, its prerequisite is the spell Mordenkainen's Sword (or Mage's Sword for the SRD types).  This spell is a Sor / Wiz 7 spell - and therefore cannot be cast by a CL 10 Wizard, who only has access to 5th-level spells at this point.  My own interpretation would be that 10th is merely an average CL for a randomly generated Wounding property on a randomly generated magic sword - which is likewise impossible.In this case, the CL on which dcollins would like to hang his hat is right out, which sheds doubt on its validity in other cases.By the RotG article, the minimum CL for Wounding is CL 6, because it is a +2 equivalent bonus property.  This is even more ridiculous.By my ruling, CL 10 is just a typo, and should really be CL 13 (the minimum needed to cast a level 7 spell).</blockquote>

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