[3.5] Most Expensive Wand

[Thurbane]

Just out of idle curiosity, what would be the most expensive wand money could buy?

I'm assuming a 4th level spell with a very expensive component, but which one?

Cheers - T

[Eurus]

Restoration is the most expensive wand I've ever seen in practice, and it's a pretty useful one to have, but there are probably more expensive ones.

[weckar]

Would eternal wands count?

[Dusk Eclipse]

Restoration in theory could be cheapened when crafted by a Paladin, so there is that.

[Thurbane]

Well, just off the tables, isn't Stoneskin more expensive than Restoration?

[TuggyNE]

If there's a 4th-level spell with a substantial, or better yet open-ended, XP cost, that would be the best. Lesser planar ally off the Cleric list seems like the best candidate in Core, having, as it does, a market price of 46kgp.

[Rubik]

Dorjes are identical to wands, except they go up to 9th level.

Reality Revision FTW.

[holywhippet]

Would eternal wands count?

I'm looking at the details for them now. Oddly enough it says nothing about adding XP or material costs to the cost of the wand. Thing is, they only allow up to 3rd level spells.

I've never really looked at them before, but it seems to me a wizard or sorcerer would be wanting one that can cast healing magic since cure serious wounds is available as an arcane spell for bards.

[chaos_redefined]

There's no CL limit on wands... So, infinite caster level = infinite cost.

[HunterOfJello]

Restoration in theory could be cheapened when crafted by a Paladin, so there is that.

Somebody needs to reread the extra item creation rules in the back of the DMG. A 4th level cleric spell put onto a wand costs the same as a 4th level paladin spell put on a wand. The paladin wand is quite a bit worse though, since it's cast at half the caster level that the cleric wand would have.


~~~~~

Ignoring material components, xp costs, and metamagic the 4th level bard spells have the highest minimum starting cost at 30,000gp per wand.



I've never really looked at them before, but it seems to me a wizard or sorcerer would be wanting one that can cast healing magic since cure serious wounds is available as an arcane spell for bards.

Cure Serious Wounds sounds nice, but there are better ways to heal in the game and most wizards and sorcerers are better off using a spell to end a fight than heal in the middle of it. You could then consider an eternal wand of Cure Light Wounds, but since it only works twice per day it would be better just to get a Healing Belt instead (and cheaper iirc).

Eternal Wands + Bard spells pretty easily creates some broken scenarios that lots of DMs will overrule though. A player tried to play a Warlock 8//Warmage 8 in one of my games that started off with an eternal wand of glibness once. I overruled it pretty quickly.

[Fax Celestis]

A bardic wand of silent alter fortune is 30,000 gp base, plus an additional 500,000 GP in equivalent xp costs.

[Skevvix]

A bardic wand of silent alter fortune is 30,000 gp base, plus an additional 500,000 GP in equivalent xp costs.

Could it be Silent though, as bards have to have that verbal component? It has to actually be cast as part of the creation of the wand right?

[Jeff the Green]

Could it be Silent though, as bards have to have that verbal component? It has to actually be cast as part of the creation of the wand right?

No, it just has to be expended. Enlarged alter fortune might make more sense, though.

[Fax Celestis]

Could it be Silent though, as bards have to have that verbal component? It has to actually be cast as part of the creation of the wand right?

It doesn't actually have to be Silent. You just need your +1 metamagic of choice. Enlarge, I suppose. Or Heighten.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Animate Dead (4th) at caster level 20, with the material component cost to animate 80 HD worth of undead per casting as though you always use it in the area of a Desecrate with enough corpses on hand.

4 x 20 x 750 = 60,000 gp, plus 25 x 80 x 50 = 100,000 gp, for a grand total of 160,000 gp


Edit: I didn't see Alter Fortune up there, you could just make it the Wizard version and put it at caster level 20 for purposes of counterspelling with dispel and dispelling the wand to temporarily disable it. Silent Alter Fortune at caster level 20 would be 560,000 gp.

[Fax Celestis]

Mine is at 530,000 GP at minimum CL. You'll need a 4th level spell with a higher than 200xp cost.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

On further investigation, I don't think that's right. Alter Fortune costs 200 xp, and it's 5 gp per 1 xp. That's 200 x 5 x 50 = 50,000 gp, not 500,000.

[Fax Celestis]

On further investigation, I don't think that's right. Alter Fortune costs 200 xp, and it's 5 gp per 1 xp. That's 200 x 5 x 50 = 50,000 gp, not 500,000.

Oh, you're right. For some reason I thought it was 50 per, probably due to some weird negamath my brain came up with based upon xp costs for item crafting (1/25th GP in xp, but craft costs are halved, so 1/50th and carry the one and DON'T JUDGE ME I'M A COMMUNICATIONS MAJOR).

[Jeff the Green]

Oh, you're right. For some reason I thought it was 50 per, probably due to some weird negamath my brain came up with based upon xp costs for item crafting (1/25th GP in xp, but craft costs are halved, so 1/50th and carry the one and DON'T JUDGE ME I'M A COMMUNICATIONS MAJOR).

I'm a Rhetoric and Media Studies major, so I'm perfectly entitled to judge you. :smalltongue:

Okay, so I'm also a Biology major. Point stands,

Edit:
Ah, here we go: Emissary of Barachiel gets atonement as a 4th-level spell. At CL 20, that's 4 * 20 * 750 + 500 * 5 * 50 = 185,000 GP

[deuxhero]

Somebody needs to reread the extra item creation rules in the back of the DMG. A 4th level cleric spell put onto a wand costs the same as a 4th level paladin spell put on a wand. The paladin wand is quite a bit worse though, since it's cast at half the caster level that the cleric wand would have.

The minimum caster level is different and that changes the costs.

[nedz]

You are forgetting the base material for the wand. Usually this is just a wooden rod, but it could be made of something quite extravagant. I'm not sure what the most expensive material is ? Diamond encrusted Mithril would be a start.

[SPoilaaja]

Is there a hard cap on the caster level that you can put into a wand? Something like a wand with a lvl 4 spell, but caster level 20?

[Kraken]

Since different classes get access to certain spells at different levels, the prices for two characters to make the same item might actually be different. An item is only worth two times what the caster of lowest possible level can make it for. Calculate the market price based on the lowest possible level caster, no matter who makes the item.

Source (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#otherConsiderations)

So basically, rocketing an item's CL is only effective to a limited extent.

[Rubik]

The most expensive "wand" prefers moonlit walks and snuggles by the fire, and charges by the hour.

[Der_DWSage]

A wand of Prestidigitation that you were bluffed into thinking was a Staff of the Magi. Nothing more expensive than a good swindling!

On a more serious note...the most likely high-cost one I could see would be a 15th level wand of Stoneskin, for a grand total market value of 57,500. But that's only for a useful wand of high level. (The Emissary beats it out with atonement, though I'm not sure you really need to buy the Divine Focus 50 times over...)

The base price for any 20th level wand that's a 4th level spell is 60k, so let's put that out on the table right now. We need spells that have horrendously costly material components, and that are viable for placement in a wand. Anything open-ended gets tossed out the window (No money wands that use a Diamond of infinite value as a focus for Minor Creation or the like) and we're assuming that unless the wand actually needs to be changed, it's going to be made of 1 CP worth of wood.

I was going somewhere with this. I swear I was. Something more than goalpost setting. Ah well, I'll leave it where it is.

Hm. And the only runner-up I'm finding to all this is the ever-amusing wand of Reincarnate, with its 1000 GP per casting cost.

[Jeff the Green]

You are forgetting the base material for the wand. Usually this is just a wooden rod, but it could be made of something quite extravagant. I'm not sure what the most expensive material is ? Diamond encrusted Mithril would be a start.

As silly as that is, there are wand gems you can include in the construction in Magic of Faerun. For example, we can boost the atonement CL by 2 (pointless, yes, but so is making it CL 20 in the first place) by including a star sapphire worth 5000, bringing the price to 190,000 GP.



On a more serious note...the most likely high-cost one I could see would be a 15th level wand of Stoneskin, for a grand total market value of 57,500. But that's only for a useful wand of high level. (The Emissary beats it out with atonement, though I'm not sure you really need to buy the Divine Focus 50 times over...)

It's an XP component, not a divine focus.