Used wands?

[Primitive Screwhead]

Werebat, IMC? Nope.

Of course finding a sack full of used wands would be alot of effort, so if the player wanted to go through with that..why not?

Not to mention, how does the PC know which wand is which?

"Sorry Fred, I thought that was a wand of healing!"

If the player wants to invest in that much into it, why not?

 

[Mistwell]

I see a lot of people asserting that they allow used wands to be purchased, but what if someone seems to be deliberately taking advantage of this? For example, the frontline fighter with a few levels of rogue and maxed UMD who bulks up on 1-charge wands because they are a lot cheaper than scrolls? Would a player purchasing a sack of 50 1-charge wands of different spells make you change your ruling on this, or no?

- Ron ^*^

A few levels of rogue and maxed UMD will not allow that person to use a wand with any reliability at all. The DC is 20. Assuming an average roll of 10, and assuming a +2 bonus from charisma (which is unlikely for a frontline fighter) you would still need to be a level 5 rogue just to get wands to function 50% of the time!

Fair discolsure, I am in the same game as Quidam, also as a player. Personally, I think it is silly metagaming to only offer full wands for sale in magic marketplaces (and we are playing in Ptolus, which has plenty of magic items for sale). Finding a wand with the exact charges and spells we want? Ok, that is not realistic and some random rolls should be involved and gather information checks. But not finding any used wands? Seems silly.

In addition, the Magic Item Compendium lists wands with 10 charges in the tables. Seems to me that WOTC also considers used wands to be a viable option for magic item transactions.

 

[MithrasRahl]

I think this, like 90% of the situations on the boards, should be solved with common sense.

Are there going to be partially used wands in the world? Yes.

Will they be as common as any other item? Probably not.

This is the one time I would encourage random rolling for whats available. Gather information to get a lead, and that would affect price (between 10-30% price increase can be expected), as well as charges (If they're looking for a 12 charge wand, their Gather Information roll might find them 1d6 wands, each with 2d12 charges, or whatever floats your boat).

That way they are using their skills to find it, and they still might not find exactly what they're looking for.

 

[orsal]

A few levels of rogue and maxed UMD will not allow that person to use a wand with any reliability at all. The DC is 20. Assuming an average roll of 10, and assuming a +2 bonus from charisma (which is unlikely for a frontline fighter) you would still need to be a level 5 rogue just to get wands to function 50% of the time!

So, what about the spellcaster? A 1-charge wand is still cheaper, and easier to use, than a scroll of the same spell. That is assuming you stick to the standard per-charge pricing. Otherwise, you have two options to avoid making scrolls pointless:
(1) change the pricing of wands (essentially, the 50-charge price involves a bulk discount that doesn't apply for low-charge items)
(2) low-charge wands aren't generally available. Sure, there may be a merchant who has just the item you want, but you can't count on it. (Personally, I'd like it to be that way with all but the most basic magic items, but at the very least, do it with nonstandard charge totals).

 

[Graybeard]

I allow used wands in my game but they do cost more than the book price divided by 50 per number of charges left. I tack on a surcharge for used wands usually about 10 to 20 percent.

 

[Werebat]

A few levels of rogue and maxed UMD will not allow that person to use a wand with any reliability at all. The DC is 20. Assuming an average roll of 10, and assuming a +2 bonus from charisma (which is unlikely for a frontline fighter) you would still need to be a level 5 rogue just to get wands to function 50% of the time!

My last PC was a draconic human who basically took 2 levels of fighter, then 1 level of rogue and repeated this pattern (more or less) thrroughout his career. He got very good at UMD fairly early on.

Remember, you can spend all of your skill points on one skill if you want to, so long as it doesn't go above CL+3 (assuming it is a class skill). So a 6th level human fighter with a 12 Int could take 1 level of rogue and dump all 10 of his skill points into UMD.

Throw in a 12 Cha, an Ioun Stone +2 Cha, and a Circlet of Persuasion. Now you're making your UMD checks with a +15 bonus to the roll (plus you get a +2 to your checks if you've ever activated your wand before, but that isn't relevant to this discussion as we're talking about wands with 1 charge). You'll make it most of the time, especially if you're in Eberron and are using Action Points.

Give him a few more levels and he'll be able to be even more accurate. By level 11 there is no reason he couldn't succeed every time -- earlier if he wants to optimize.

- Ron ^*^

 

[Kahuna Burger]

But "I shop around for a wand of magic missile (CL7) with 20 charges left on it"? No, I'm not going to extend the "magic K-mart" expedient to that length. (You have to draw your arbitrary line somewhere, and that's where I draw mine.)

I think D. kilmor's point was that it would be less "magic Kmart" to say "I could use a wand of Magic Missile, preferably high caster level, but I'd like to check around for a used one before I commission a brand new one." and you roll a couple of dice and say "You find one that's more than a quarter full but less than a half and above CL3, but you'll have to burn an identify or buy it and experiment to get the exact details."

I don't think most people in favor of partially charged wands for sale support being able to get the exact spell, CL and charges you are looking for - it's more a "magical flea market" feel than a "Magical S-Mart" one.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Do you, as DMs, allow used wands to be purchased in your games? They're found as treasure often enough, but how do you handle the used wand market?

Yes, I do (or would), but it's so much better for the PCs to make it themselves, that I can't imagine them giving a flip. Also, the fact that they're 17th level or so means that wands are cheap.

I'm with Vegepygmy in the whole "don't play out shopping trips" scenario. When the PCs have titles, lands, and lots of minions, going to 'market' really is uninteresting. Who in their right mind is gonna short-change the Planter of the Nulb Forest?

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Who in their right mind is gonna short-change the Planter of the Nulb Forest?

Someone who used to be a farmer on the Plains of Nulb?

Later
silver

 

[evilbob]

Sure. To do otherwise seems a bit restrictive to me, but everyone has their own style.

Then again, you do open yourself up to one potential abuse: 1-use wands. These would always cost far less than a scroll, so that lends itself to possible abuse. However, scrolls are still the main way for spellbook-dependant classes to gain spells, so it's not like you're eliminating their usefulness. And it also seems like nothing a decent GM couldn't handle.