Thoughts on wands being overpowered in 5E

[jgsugden]

...

So, you've helped me clarify that it becoming my best option wasn't the problem, wasn't the problem. Being overwhelmingly better was.

If a PC finds a Vorpal Sword, it will become their overwhelmingly best option. It won't be close. Problem?

Putting aside the assumptions about how useful all those fireballs are (by necessity, the 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th fireball in s dungeon will be used, at best, in the 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th best situation to use the fireball...), having a great, iconic and powerful magic item is not a problem. Having it be the 'go to' of the PC is not a problem. Having it be their strongest option for several levels is not a problem. That just makes it iconic for that PC.

Embrace. The. Flame.

 

[SkidAce]

If I recall, it was around 36 10x10x10 squares....but I'm old and not going to re-do the math.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I once took out a PC wizard by having my NPC cast a wall of force around them before challenging him to a duel because his go-to spell was lightning bolt. I think we calculated that the PC was hit 20 times or so.

I felt kind of guilty, especially since I think I stole the idea from some book and just thought it would be funny until I realized how much damage it did.

If you were familiar with any of the old editions of Shadowrun, you are describing the effects of using a grenade in a closed space - the power of the grenade is reduced by 1 for every meter from the source, but a target near a wall could be hit with the blast going in both directions, and a grenade tossed into the top of an open tank would rebound so many times as to kill almost anything inside. It was called the Chunky Salsa effect.

 

[TheSword]

If you look at the Magic Items by rarity tables in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, a wand of fireball is listed as a Rare Major item and suggests that a party should have 1 item of that power between levels 5-10. Alternatives on that table are Wings of a flying, Mantle of Spell Resistance, Sunblade +2, Ring of Free Action and Daern’s Instant Fortress. These are all powerful items that can totally change a character.

They definitely aren’t designed to be on par with 3e/pathfinder wands.

 

[Bupp]

In my game I've run wands as "magic focusing" items.

Wands do not have charges. The spellcaster uses their own spell slots to power the wand, but they don't have to have the spell memorized, known, or even on their spell list to cast the spell thru the wand. While the wand is in your possession, it pretty much acts as an additional "memorized spell".

https://jonbupp.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/variant-for-charged-magic-items-magic-focusing/

 

[smbakeresq]

Wands of fireball and lightning are limited by being unfriendly, rarely will you get more than 2-3 enemies in it and it's only damage. Wands you don't see are friendly area spells that greatly limit enemies, a Slow Wand would be far more useful and powerful. Those are the ones you have to watch out for.

 

[SkidAce]

In my game I've run wands as "magic focusing" items.

Wands do not have charges. The spellcaster uses their own spell slots to power the wand, but they don't have to have the spell memorized, known, or even on their spell list to cast the spell thru the wand. While the wand is in your possession, it pretty much acts as an additional "memorized spell".

https://jonbupp.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/variant-for-charged-magic-items-magic-focusing/

I've done that a lot also, I think I first got the idea from a Dragon magazine article.

Its worked really well. (I still have some of the "normal" type in the world).

 

[Tony Vargas]

In my game I've run wands as "magic focusing" items.
Wands do not have charges. The spellcaster uses their own spell slots to power the wand, but they don't have to have the spell memorized, known, or even on their spell list to cast the spell thru the wand. While the wand is in your possession, it pretty much acts as an additional "memorized spell".
https://jonbupp.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/variant-for-charged-magic-items-magic-focusing/

I've done that a lot also, I think I first got the idea from a Dragon magazine article.
Its worked really well. (I still have some of the "normal" type in the world).

RuneQuest (1978) featured a kind of magic item called a 'spell matrix' that let you use your own power to cast a spell you didn't know, and 'power crystals' that could store power to casts spells you did know. I figured they were inspired by MZB's 'matrixes' (or 'star stones') which were essentially psionic amplifiers, but often presented very like magic in the Darkover series (the first Darkover stories were from the 60s).

Dragon Magazine did have the occasional article for RuneQuest, Artifacts of Dragon Pass was one I remember, and I'm pretty sure one or more of the artifacts could function as a spell matrix....

...yep, it was TD40, and just about all of them could be used as matrices and the Wands of Ectal were a collection of matrices....

 

[SkidAce]

Dragon Magazine #111

Good stuff, for a spell John M. Maxstadt
Magic-focusing items: a new concept in treasure

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

If I recall, it was around 36 10x10x10 squares....but I'm old and not going to re-do the math.

33 if using the standard "always round down unless told otherwise" D&D rule.

One of the many bits of knowledge from running AD&D 2nd edition that is still stuck in my mind.