Recharging a Wand

[Giorgio]

I can’t find the search ability on the forum, so forgive me if it has been asked many times before:

-Can a wand be recharged after (or before) it uses up its charges?

-If yes, where in the DMG or Rules Compendium is this rule stated?

Thanks

 

[Hypersmurf]

I can’t find the search ability on the forum, so forgive me if it has been asked many times before:

-Can a wand be recharged after (or before) it uses up its charges?

-If yes, where in the DMG or Rules Compendium is this rule stated?

By default: no.

There's an optional variant rule in a sidebar on p158 of Unearthed Arcana; alternatively, there's an item (minor artifact, in fact) in... Magic of Faerun? that can recharge a wand. Dwarven Glowstone?

-Hyp.

 

[Jack Simth]

As others have stated, by default, no; Craft Wand lacks the repair option that many of the other item creation feats have.

That said, you can use a partially charged wand to create a fully charged wand if you have Craft Wand, as you are permitted to use spell completion and spell trigger items to meet the spell requirements when crafting. You need one charge per day of crafting - so if you're using a wand of Cure Light Wounds to make a Wand of Cure Light Wounds (market price: 750 gp), you need at least one charge left (one day of crafting) in the old wand. If you've got a Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds (market price: 4,500 gp), you'll need at least 5 charges left in the old wand (as it takes 5 days to craft the new one).

 

[Folly]

As others have stated, by default, no; Craft Wand lacks the repair option that many of the other item creation feats have.

That said, you can use a partially charged wand to create a fully charged wand if you have Craft Wand, as you are permitted to use spell completion and spell trigger items to meet the spell requirements when crafting. You need one charge per day of crafting - so if you're using a wand of Cure Light Wounds to make a Wand of Cure Light Wounds (market price: 750 gp), you need at least one charge left (one day of crafting) in the old wand. If you've got a Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds (market price: 4,500 gp), you'll need at least 5 charges left in the old wand (as it takes 5 days to craft the new one).

The only time I would think this would be useful, is if you do not have easy access to wands and you happen to be a warlock with craft wand. Else either you can buy a new one or you can cast the spell from yours spells.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The only time I would think this would be useful, is if you do not have easy access to wands and you happen to be a warlock with craft wand. Else either you can buy a new one or you can cast the spell from yours spells.

Or a sorcerer, who doesn't know the spell in question.

(A wizard should instead use the wand to scribe a scroll which he then copies into his spellbook.)

-Hyp.

 

[Jack Simth]

The only time I would think this would be useful, is if you do not have easy access to wands and you happen to be a warlock with craft wand. Else either you can buy a new one or you can cast the spell from yours spells.

... or a Bard (small class spell list, and limited spells known, but with UMD, can use a wand of any spell for this), or a Sorcerer (for any sor/wiz spell not on their known list), a magic domain cleric (who can use wands of any Sor/Wiz spell, but can only cast a handful of them), or a Beguiler (who has a sharply limited spell list, but can cast from wands due to UMD), or a Favored Soul (for any Cleric spell not on their known list), or any of the other classes that can use a wand, scroll, staff, or other spell trigger or spell completion item but can't cast the spell directly.

As for the economics, if it takes you one charge to craft a new wand (1st level spells at minimum caster level), you (effectively) get 98% of the wand for 50% of the GP cost of a full wand. If it takes you five charges (for 2nd level spells at minimum caster level) to craft a new wand, you (effectively) get 90% of the wand for 50% of the GP cost of a full wand. If it takes you twelve (3rd level spells at minimum caster level), you (effectively) get 76% of the wand for 50% of the GP cost of a full wand. If it takes you twenty-one (4th level spells at minimum caster level), you (effectively) get 58% of the wand for 50% of the GP cost of a full wand. Except for cases where there's an XP component, an expensive material component, or you're running at a significantly higher caster level than the default (e.g., a 4th level spell at caster level 9), you STILL save GP over purchasing at market price (even if it's not much for the XP burn).

A Wizard will sometimes make scrolls from a spell in a wand, so that it can be scribed into the wizard's spellbook.

Granted, it's generally not worth while for the higher level spells... if you can simply purchase wands. That is not, however, an option in all campaigns.

 

[VanRichten]

Just look at the price of the fully charged wand and divide that price by the number of charges you want to recharge it back to multiplied by the amount it costs to put only one charge.

Example: You have a wand of cure light wounds with 1 charge left and you wish to charge it up back to 50 charges.

750gp (Cost of a fully charged wand of cure light wounds)/50 Charges (fully charged)=

15gp/charge

Now you want to refill it back to 50 charges. So you need to put back in 49 charges to get this amount.

15gp x 49 charges = 735gp and 1 day to fill that wand to 50 charges or 367gp 5sp and 15xp and 1 day.

Follow the standard rules for crafting a wand as normal. Remember also that you don't have to fill it full, and if you want examples of such concepts look in the Magic Item Compendium there are all sorts of wands that only have 10 or 20 charges.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Just look at the price of the fully charged wand and divide that price by the number of charges you want to recharge it back to multiplied by the amount it costs to put only one charge.

The Unearthed Arcana variant essentially does this, but it also has a surcharge of 10% of the initial value of the wand each time you add charges.

1/50 of the price of a wand is less than one scroll, for the same spell; one reason for this is that you can only 'buy' the wand charges in bulk. If you let someone buy a single charge, this rationale vanishes, and it should, in theory, cost about as much as a single scroll.

-Hyp.

 

[VanRichten]

So are you saying it would cost 90gp to add only 1 charge? Heck in the above example i gave it would cost you 808gp just to recharge a want and you can buy it straight for less than that.

I don't understand the rationale for that. By the book I would agree, but then again I am one to look at things and try to bring it to a balance point. I don't really see that as a balance point for me, but opinions do differ.

 

[Hypersmurf]

So are you saying it would cost 90gp to add only 1 charge? Heck in the above example i gave it would cost you 808gp just to recharge a want and you can buy it straight for less than that.

Right. It's cheaper to recharge 10 charges than it is to buy a new one, but it's not cheaper to recharge 50 charges than it is to buy a new one. And it's uneconomical to recharge 5 charges.

-Hyp.