Help me create a Staff (/Rod /Wand) of Awesome

[ILM]

I have a character who’s a spontaneous, roguish warmage (ex-army) specializing in Magic Missile and its variants. He’s level 12 and through some fairly hefty houserules in effect regarding warmages, and prudent spell selection, I’d call him a solid tier 3.

Anyway, I have 88,000 gp to blow on gear. I’d like to get him a boomstick (tm): something that, once in a while, will blow the crap out of whatever he wants out of his face, preferably with excessive violence and amusing pyrotechnics. My first idea was a Rod of Many Wands loaded up with wands of Magic Missile, but unfortunately he can’t metamagic or apply his Force Missile Mage goodies to them, resulting in fairly underwhelming numbers.

Anything else I can do? Is there any way to apply class features and feats to spell trigger items?

[Doc_Maynot]

For your level, Metamagic Spell Trigger (Complete Mage, p. 45) is a possible feat.
Also, perhaps a runestaff is what you are looking for?

[JDL]

From the description of Staffs:

Staffs use the wielder’s ability score and relevant feats to set the DC for saves against their spells. Unlike with other sorts of magic items, the wielder can use his caster level when activating the power of a staff if it’s higher than the caster level of the staff.

By RAW your Boomstick staff would use your own ability score as well as feats only for effects that improve save DCs. It wouldn't benefit from any other feats you have (metamagics etc.)

Now to Rods. Rods are pretty much a "whatever we thought was cool" grab bag of goodies. They emulate class features, they emulate metamagics, they do crazy stuff nothing else can do. They're also completely arbitrary in their pricing and very much a DM approval item for anything that's not printed in a book.

Wands are just Diet Staffs. No use of feats or ability scores for DCs, purely spell storage. They're a cheap way to carry a lot of spells you use often where saves or duration don't really matter.

Sounds like you really want a custom Boomstick Rod. Best present a convincing case to your DM if so. Otherwise you're stuck with a long stick that you can fire the same spell with over and over as a slightly weaker version of your own spells.

[crankykobold]

Sounds to me like you would be better off using your own spells. Why not load up on stuff like pearls of power or a ring of wizardry. If once a day is good enough, you can get meteor swarm( or any other 9th level spell) In command word activated wondrous item for 58320. Hit the same target with all 4 meteors for 32d6 no save, and meteor swarm would be a hell of a show.

[ILM]

I'm really more after something that'll fire a proper Macross-style barrage. Seems like my best should would be a Chained Awaken from Afar with a high CL, and as many wands of Magic Missile as I can get - but to get that working on an ECL 12 character is prohibitively expensive.

[Doc_Maynot]

Okay, got something for you but it may be outside of your price range.
First off, you'd need to purchase a Psychic Reformation (or Dark Chaos Shuffle) if you do not have the following feats.
Metamagic Spell Trigger, Twin Spell
Next, I recommend purchasing three (Or crafting, but you'd need to add Repeating Spell and Craft wand to the previous list) CL 9 Wands of Magic Missle, Repeating (27,000gp each)
Load them into the Rod of Many Wands. On Use, use Metamagic Spell Trigger to apply Twin Spell to the wands being cast.
This will result in a total deduction of 7 charges from each wand per cast.
However, it will shoot thirty total missles on the turn you activate the Rod, and a further thirty on the beginning of your next turn.
Total Price: Two Feats, 27,000gp per wand, 27,000 for the Rod of Many Wands, 280gp and some XP for the Reformation.

However, your wands will run out fast, but I think it's the closest thing to what you were looking for.

[ILM]

That's even more expensive than what I had. For about 62k and with strict adherence to item creation rules, I can work out a 1/day item that'll fire 105 magic missiles at once, simply with a Wand of 4/day Awaken from Afar, a Metamagic Wand Grip (and the Chain Spell feat), and 21 CL9 1/day wands of Magic Missile sovereign glued together.

[crankykobold]

I'm no expert, but I don't think you can activate all those wands at the same time in a single round. Somebody correct me if wrong but activating each wand would be a separate action unto itself.


Edit:Had to look up awaken from afar again, had forgotten what it did. Still wont work as a wand tho as it is a 5th level spell.

[Fouredged Sword]

I'm no expert, but I don't think you can activate all those wands at the same time in a single round. Somebody correct me if wrong but activating each wand would be a separate action unto itself.

There is a rod that allows you to activate them all at the same time is exchange for extra charges if I am not mistaken.

[crankykobold]

There is a rod that allows you to activate them all at the same time is exchange for extra charges if I am not mistaken.

Doc_Maynot mentioned it above.

[Fouredged Sword]

Metamagic spell trigger lets you burn uses of the wand to apply metamagic. You burn 7 charges (1 + 1 for the rod + 5 for the metamagic if I am remembering correctly).

[crankykobold]

Metamagic spell trigger lets you burn uses of the wand to apply metamagic. You burn 7 charges (1 + 1 for the rod + 5 for the metamagic if I am remembering correctly).

Yes. What Doc_Maynot posted looks like it works perfectly fine. I don't think what Ilm is doing will work correctly. At the very least because it puts a 5th level spell in a wand.Also unsure why the awaken from afar item needs to be 4/day, when all the wands he would target with it are 1/day.

[ILM]

Yes. What Doc_Maynot posted looks like it works perfectly fine. I don't think what Ilm is doing will work correctly. At the very least because it puts a 5th level spell in a wand.Also unsure why the awaken from afar item needs to be 4/day, when all the wands he would target with it are 1/day.
Wands only happen to go up to level 4, but nothing in the item creation rules prevents me from cooking up a spell trigger item holding spells above that - though you'd probably be right if you said this was DM-approval territory (then again, what isn't?).

4/days because Chaining Awaken from Afar through the metamagic wand grip burns an extra 3 charges.

[crankykobold]

O.K. It's a rule 0 situation. Anything can work once you apply that.:wink:

[ILM]

... It's about as rule zero as making a custom necklace of +16 to Craft, much more RAW than putting metamagicked spells into wands, and far less munchkiny than Psychic Reformation / DCFS combos but sure.

[crankykobold]

Wasn't making any judgement really, sorry if you felt that way.

I don't see an issue with metamagic spells in wands as long as the overall spell level doesn't go above 4th. But the psychic reformation/ dark chaos shuffle, or retraining in general has always seemed wrong to me.