Wand of Lightning Bolt - how good is it really?

[devincutler]

I use the optional variant where wands have 25 charges and then are destroyed. Even the lowly wand of magic missiles, without this change, is unbalancing at lower levels (18d4+18 damage during an adventuring day that automatically hits is a lot of fire power). And there is just too much incentive to use wands down to right before their final charge every adventuring day.

With the change to 25 charges and kaput, my players pull the wands out when really needed as a "save their bacon" tool rather than just another spell spamming method.

 

[jgsugden]

Folks, you're stuck in the past. 5E wands are INTENDED to be something more than their 3E and earlier equivalents.

There are a few wands that do not require attunement. Those wands are meant to be a bit more like their predecessors. They're not going to have a huge impact on the game, they're a nice power up, but they do not matter too much.

Attuned wands, like fear, paralysis, lightning bolts, fireballs, etc... - These are meant to be iconic items. Whether in the hands of a wizard, ranger, cleric or eldritch knight... they're meant to be something that allows the PC to do stuff that other PCs can't.

If you follow the DMG guidelines, you could conceivably find one at first level. However, that is unlikely. It is on table G and the Hoard tables for G show up on rolls of 98-100 for each 0-4 level Hoard - you're supposed to find 7 of those. For 5 to 10 level Hoards you get G treasure on rolls of 95-98 - you get 18 of those. For levels 11 to 16 you get them on 75-82 - you get 12 of those. For 17+ it is 69 to 72 and you get eight of those... All in all, you'll roll on the G table between 0 and 15 times, with pretty good odds it will be between 5 and 10 times. Over the career of the PCs. And if we say it will be 10 times, and these types of wands represent only a 4% chance every time you get treasure from that list - so about 25 to 33% of parties will find one or more of these wands during their adventuring career... Most likely in levels 11 to 16.

What does all that mean? These wands are iconic, character defining items that are intended to stand out. If you play 8 hours of D&D a week for 4 years, completing one campaign of 20 levels every year (which is the estimated time to reach 20 using the guidelines), you're likely to see about one of these wands found by a PC during that time.

Now, if you have a DM that allows you to buy these items, I think it will be more common, but that is up to the DM. In my games you might be able to find a small assortment of rare and even very rare items up for sale - but I usually determine what might be for sale randomly or create new items. I do not let a PC 'order' a rare or rarer item. Most uncommon items can be purchased with some effort, but not the best of them.

All of this adds up to my games not worrying about a Wand of Lightning Bolts, Fireballs, Fear or Paralysis. If it is found, the multiple uses per day is a cool and iconic ability of the PC that wields it. I celebrate it with the player.

 

[Satyrn]

Folks, you're stuck in the past. 5E wands are INTENDED to be something more than their 3E and earlier equivalents.

How am I stuck in the past when I've been recounting my experience in a 5e game with the wand in question?

And whatever the wand is intended to be, I think the OP is better served by examples of what it actually is. Do you have any experience with a wand of lightning bolts in a 5e game?

 

[CapnZapp]

Folks, you're stuck in the past. 5E wands are INTENDED to be something more than their 3E and earlier equivalents.

It is perfectly understandable if a player thinks a wand is a wand.

If this piece of short tapered wood is something else than it used to be, maybe it shouldn't be called a wand, amirite?

 

[jgsugden]

How am I stuck in the past when I've been recounting my experience in a 5e game with the wand in question?

Because of how you VIEW your experiences. Note that I'm talking about having a AD&D/2E/3E perspective of a 5E item.

And whatever the wand is intended to be, I think the OP is better served by examples of what it actually is. Do you have any experience with a wand of lightning bolts in a 5e game?

No. Because, as I mentioned, they're rare. However, I did have a wand of fireballs in a party in 2016. And it was just as I discussed above - it was an iconic part of the party (it passed through several hands) which was very useful when found, but as we advanced it fell off in utility. We had it from about level 9 to about level 13 - where it was stolen by an NPC when the party made a mistake (almost all our stuff was stolen and sold - we couldn't recover all of it). It was used by the warlock, primarily, because it massively increased the number of spells he could cast. However, it was not overpowered at any point - and by the time we lost it, it wasn't a priority to get it back... but the absence of it was noted from there on (until the TPK at level 15 or so).

 

[jgsugden]

...If this piece of short tapered wood is something else than it used to be, maybe it shouldn't be called a wand, amirite?

No.

Fireball as a spell in 5E is different than in 3E, 2E, or AD&D. So are ghosts, fighters, and pretty much everything else. We reuse the names, but the mechanics change.

We shouldn't assume that things that have a name that was used in older editions should function just like they did in prior editions. When there was an intentional design change, such as with these wands to make them more iconic, we should not ignore it. We should consider it and try embracing it. They put thought into how it fits into the games - try it out, as is, and appreciate the reasons for the changes they made (if you can identify them).

 

[FrogReaver]

How am I stuck in the past when I've been recounting my experience in a 5e game with the wand in question?

And whatever the wand is intended to be, I think the OP is better served by examples of what it actually is. Do you have any experience with a wand of lightning bolts in a 5e game?

Do you? From your recount you didn't actually use it much...

 

[Ancalagon]

Because of how you VIEW your experiences. Note that I'm talking about having a AD&D/2E/3E perspective of a 5E item.No. Because, as I mentioned, they're rare. However, I did have a wand of fireballs in a party in 2016. And it was just as I discussed above - it was an iconic part of the party (it passed through several hands) which was very useful when found, but as we advanced it fell off in utility. We had it from about level 9 to about level 13 - where it was stolen by an NPC when the party made a mistake (almost all our stuff was stolen and sold - we couldn't recover all of it). It was used by the warlock, primarily, because it massively increased the number of spells he could cast. However, it was not overpowered at any point - and by the time we lost it, it wasn't a priority to get it back... but the absence of it was noted from there on (until the TPK at level 15 or so).

Thank you for sharing your experience - and I agree with you that it's definitely an iconic item. Your analysis was quite convincing. My main concern is about too powerful for level 7 or not...

 

[Raif]

Thank you for sharing your experience - and I agree with you that it's definitely an iconic item. Your analysis was quite convincing. My main concern is about too powerful for level 7 or not...

First time post, long time lurker, but had to weigh in.

My party is playing PotA and we had found a wand of fireballs at around level 6, so one level earlier than your party. I can safely say as a phoenix sorcerer that it did not feel in any way overpowered or that it made things way too easy. The wand made its journey through a few party members until I got it (we talked about how it was stepping toes on the flavor and role of the phoenix sorcerer) and it was more iconic and awesome feeling than anything else.

Did it trivialize or make it easier on some minor mook fights or boss minions? Yep. It helped extend the casting power of the sorcerer quite a bit too. However, there is still a ton of resource management and drain and it certainly hasn't made the module feel any less dangerous or a breeze. There are still things to take into account such as friendly fire (a little less problematic on the wand of lightning bolt to be sure), but all it takes is just making sure things don't line up too often. Do it enough so that they get mileage out of it, but there is nothing better than having that feeling of getting one such wand and using it as a player effectively. The first time I got to use the wand, the party was ambushing 6 or so things and a well placed fireball inside the room incinerated 3 of them and the rest just surrendered letting us get some information. It was the most useful feeling ever.

Also, it could add another layer of RP, enemies facing such "destructive" or unexpected power of someone flinging more than 1 lightning bolt might retreat more often, regroup, get more help, get lightning resistance potions, etc.

We're now level 9 and it's already starting to "drop off" in power. Things are no longer dying to 1 fireball, are making their saves more often, counterspells are more plentiful, enemies are smarter and positioning better. It still helps in the resource management part, and it certainly is very useful, but as HP grows and dex saves start getting better, resistant monsters/enemies come along, it becomes less and less a "game changer". I'd say in my experience (I've gotten such a wand in 3 games so far at levels 6-8) that it's only really a huge game changer for those levels and after level 9 it's impact is a lot less than you'd expect.

Also for all the talk of giving it to a class who can't cast those spells - I'd disagree based on RP. For example, why bother taking fireball on a wizard or sorcerer if the bard or cleric can cast it way more often per day with that wand. It made me personally just not bother with the spell for a while and did other things because someone else can just fling that fireball and I'll just save 3rd level spells for counterspells. It certainly felt like some part of the character was taken for sure.

 

[Ancalagon]

First time post, long time lurker, but had to weigh in.

Thank you for sharing your experience and welcome to EN-world!. I'm honored that you would make your first post on my thread. Here is some XP