What are must-have expensive items for wizards?

[ericgrau]

... besides stat, AC and save boosters.

I've been working on a low magic item system and I need something equal in value to the fighter's weapons. I was thinking metamagic rods, pearls of power, rings of wizardry and maybe some turning boosting items for clerics. But I'd like to know if players like you would feel right if you automatically got those things. These items would then be replaced with identical abilities, rather than actual items. Hence the "low magic item system". Items of smaller value like scrolls and wands would remain as items found in treasure. So please, stick to the expensive stuff when telling me what you like to get. I already have stat, AC and save boosters figured out for all classes. I'm more concerned about the caster specific magic items.

List so far:

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metamagic rods
pearls of power
rings of wizardy
turn boosting items
runestaffs (MIC)
orange prism ioun stone
ring of arcane might (CA, MIC)
gemstone of heavy fortification (draconomicon)
ring of theurgy (CA)
vest of the archmagi (source?)
wild clasps (MIC)
blessed book
eternal wands (MIC?)
circlet of rapid casting (MIC)
belt of battle (MIC, overpowered?)

[Kaiyanwang]

... besides stat bonuses and AC.

I've been working on a low magic item system and I need something equal in value to the fighter's weapons. I was thinking metamagic rods, pearls of power, rings of wizardry and maybe some turning boosting items for clerics. But I'd like to know if players like you would feel right if you automatically got those things. These items would then be replaced with identical abilities, rather than actual items. Hence the "low magic item system". Items of smaller value like scrolls and wands would remain as items found in treasure. So please, stick to the expensive stuff when telling me what you like to get. I already have stat bonuses and AC figured out for all classes,. I'm more concerned about the caster specific magic items.

Are staves in magic item compendium able to convert spell too powerful? Don't remeber the name.

[Waspinator]

You're probably thinking of the various Runestaffs of X, which provide a list of spells that for each you can a few times per day expend a spell slot of the same level or higher and cast the spell the staff has instead. Very nice for allowing wizards to imitate spontaneous spell casting and for sorcerors to pick up spells that they lack.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

An Orange Prism Ioun Stone (DMG) and Ring of Arcane Might (CA, MIC) are two things I'll usually get with a high level arcane spellcaster. Every spellcaster probably gets a Ring of Freedom of Movement, unless they're a Cleric with the Travel domain. I also like getting a Gemstone of Heavy Fortification (Draconomicon) in the higher levels. A Ring of Theurgy (CA) is also very useful for both prepared and spontaneous spellcasters.

In a game like that, I'd probably take the feat Ancestral Relic (BoED), and with a spellcaster I'd make it the most useful metamagic rod I could afford at any given level. Consider giving every character a signature item that functions as that feat, but make it automatically go up in value as they level up. That way they get to choose what type of magic item it is, but within a reasonable limit.

[Kaiyanwang]

You're probably thinking of the various Runestaffs of X, which provide a list of spells that for each you can a few times per day expend a spell slot of the same level or higher and cast the spell the staff has instead. Very nice for allowing wizards to imitate spontaneous spell casting and for sorcerors to pick up spells that they lack.

Yeah, thanks. Refluffable with "arcane inspirations" or whatelse. Powerful, anyway.

[Dr_Horrible]

Well, as a caster I just convert more of my money into stat boosting earlier then my other PCs. This holds up usually until after I've bought a Tome.

That said, CL boosters like Orange Ioun Stone, Ring of Arcane Might, Pearl of Power.

Clerics might want a weapon depending on type. And various turn attempts boosters. I think there are 3-4 items that do that.

Arcanes could usually use the vest of super awesome, but yeah, doesn't really come up till level 17 or greater.

Save boosters are also important, but I assume you have them lobbed in with AC/stats.

metamagic rods usually fit into an if you don't need anything else for me, but that varies from person to person.

How are you dealing with the fact that Druids might come off of this better then everyone else? You could calculate various wilding clasps into your progression.

[Telonius]

Vest of the Archmagi. A real steal for only 200k.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

How are you dealing with the fact that Druids might come off of this better then everyone else? You could calculate various wilding clasps into your progression.

My Druid never once used a Wilding Clasp. It's just not worth it when you have friends to help you dress. The only real issue will be the Druid's armor.

[AslanCross]

A Ring of Wizardry IV will double your Lv 4 spell slots. I really like a lot of the spells around that level.

The Runestaffs give you more versatility. Also, casting gloves and a wand of dispel magic stored in them wouldn't hurt. Excellent for counterspelling if you have a way to get bonuses to your caster level checks.

If you have a particular spell you love and have taken Arcane Thesis for, you might want to get an Empowered Spellshard of that spell. Free Empower Spell thrice per day is a pretty good deal.

[Ceilingcat]

Metamagic rods are rather important, though I believe they have already been mentioned. Specifically, I am rather fond of the rod of Quicken, but it is quite expensive.

A wide variety of Scrolls is also very useful. Mostly you will want them for spells where the caster level and DC do not matter all that much-like, for instance, anything you don't intend to use in combat. This way, you save your spell slots for spells that make you win at combat, and your money goes to shoring up everything else. Teleport (and its Greater version), for example, is an excellent choice for a scroll, unless those couple of hundred miles make a difference. As for Greater Teleport, there is no reason to ever prepare it, since added caster levels do nothing for it.

[ericgrau]

... (thx for tips) ....

Clerics might want a weapon depending on type. And various turn attempts boosters. I think there are 3-4 items that do that.

...

Save boosters are also important, but I assume you have them lobbed in with AC/stats.

...

How are you dealing with the fact that Druids might come off of this better then everyone else? You could calculate various wilding clasps into your progression.

Clerics and rogues are going to get weapon boosts just like the martial classes, though I may hold it back by a +1 or +2 equivalent to make room for non-weapon abilities.

Yeah, save boosters are same for all, I just forgot to list them with AC/stats.

I'm a firm believer that the alternate form / wild shape errata is there specifically to keep people from using gear while in an alternate form, and druids become broken mostly when they try to work around this. Thus druids would lose all the bonuses while wildshaped (except augmented HP from con). I'll probably give them wild armor at least, which works well anyway since beasties tend to have low AC. So the rest will have to be caster boosting items. If I were to extend this outside of core I'd include the cost of wild clasps as well. But I'll be jotting down such things just in case I ever do extend the scope, or for DM's who want to tweak the system themselves.

And thanks for all the items, everyone, I'll be compiling a list soon. Keep it coming.

[elonin]

Don't forget about gloves of storing or cube of force. Alot of wizard items help with casting ability either in selection or casting per day.

Don't forget about skill boost items for your rogue types.

[Keld Denar]

I'm REALLY REALLY fond of the Circlet of Rapid Casting from the MIC on my casters, especially my wizards. Using the stat adder rules in MIC, you can get one and then put +int on it, so it doesn't affect your body slots. Its like a mini-MM Rod of Quicken. It has 3 charges per day, with 1 charge getting you a free quicken on any 1st or 2nd level spell, 2 charges getting you a 3rd level spell, and all 3 charges getting you a single 4th level spells. While not quite as strong as a Lesser MM Rod of Quicken, its also less than 1/2 the price and more flexible. There are lots of great 2 spell combos that you can pull off. Ray of Exhaustion + Quickened Escalating Enfeeblement, Quickened Ray of Clumsiness + any reflex spell (like Freezing Fog), Quickened True Strike + any Ray, Quickened Divine Favor + Righteous Might, Quickened Bless + Prayer, and the list goes on forever. Basically, allows your casters to get a lot more mileage out of those minor but still useful low level spells.

[MeklorIlavator]

Bacob's Blessed Book is nice.

[Learnedguy]

A flying Broom.

It's a must have.

[SydneyLosstarot]

with that many rings, you definitely need a Hand of Glory.
not that expensive, but still important.

[Waspinator]

A flying Broom.

It's a must have.

Carpets are cooler. Glue a portable hole on there and you've got a luggage compartment.

[Talic]

Ring of Invisibility (or similar item. Essentially a low level spell at minimum caster level, at will)

Cloak of Displacement. Makes you harder to hit? Yes please.

Eternal Wands - Great for casters. Get SLA's a couple times a day. Useful for utility spells.

Cloak of Resistance. Far more useful than AC.

Cube of Force. Nuff said.

[Learnedguy]

Carpets are cooler. Glue a portable hole on there and you've got a luggage compartment.

Why not both?

[oxybe]

because "my flying carpet has a luggage compartment" sounds cooler then "my flying broom has a glove compartment"?

[ericgrau]

I think I'll leave items like flying carpets as treasure items, since making them into selectable class abilities seems a wee bit impractical.

Ring of Invisibility (or similar item. Essentially a low level spell at minimum caster level, at will)

Cloak of Displacement. Makes you harder to hit? Yes please.

Eternal Wands - Great for casters. Get SLA's a couple times a day. Useful for utility spells.

Cloak of Resistance. Far more useful than AC.

Cube of Force. Nuff said.

1. Nice if you can spare the ring slot, but still would have to be a treasure item not a natural ability. Thanks though, perhaps I should have clarified my purpose a bit better. EDIT: Oh, sorry, you said "or similar". Well, that works with eternal wands then, but not so much in core.

2. You mean the minor cloak of displacement giving 20% miss chance? Even a wizard might do better by boosting AC, saves, etc., and you need the slot for your cloak of resistance. Or do you mean the major cloak giving 50% that costs a bundle and takes a standard action to activate, and only lasts 15 rounds per day so you can't keep it on all the time? Just use the actual spell when you have the prep time, or if you don't then do something better with one of the few combat rounds you have.

3. Good idea if non-core is allowed, since as a class ability gained with leveling I could have the wizard simply choose whatever spell he wants. Kinda like reserve feats. Added. It could also work just as well if left out and kept as treasure. But since it's non-core I don't have to make that decision until later (if ever), and other DMs who read the list can do whatever they feel like doing.

4. Again, already included for all classes. Sorry I didn't mention that in the first post, I think I'll add it.

5. Too specific to be a must-have class ability, leaving it as treasure.

[Keld Denar]

I'm gonna rebump a Circlet of Rapid Casting. This item is really really really really good for casters, as it allows them to get some actual useful combat use out of their lowest level spells by taking away their action cost. Having that option really makes spellcasters a lot more fun to play, IMO.

[BlueWizard]

Bracers of Protection.

[mostlyharmful]

Bracers of Protection.

Meh, a first level spell covers that for most of your career and there's Greater Mage armour for when you out grow it, there's some fun bracers in the MiC that are more milage for your item slot and in Core you can still benifit from the money saved.

After the Spellbook traps and the Int boost all a wizard NEEDS is accounted for. After that it's a matter of reducing your spell slot allocation on self buffs. Wizards and Druids are the two best at low resource games, followed by Clerics and Sorcs. Caster level boosters and miss chances for protection seems to be the only things they clearly need/benefit from as the money level rises.

Rings of Wizardry and Freedom of Movement and Invisibility, Cloaks of Resistance and the hand of glory, boots of teleport or speed, belts of the monk or strength or dwarven kind, meh. They all help but you can manage just fine without so long as you can increase your rest rate, if you drop 10% of your slots on longterm self buffs and another 20% on team buffs to make up for a low magic item campaign it just means you have less battlefield controls and debuffs to throw around thus your party needs to avoid endurance crawls to prevent the BSF and the glass cannon from biting the dust regularly.

[Bayar]

Meh, a first level spell covers that for most of your career and there's Greater Mage armour for when you out grow it, there's some fun bracers in the MiC that are more milage for your item slot and in Core you can still benifit from the money saved.

After the Spellbook traps and the Int boost all a wizard NEEDS is accounted for. After that it's a matter of reducing your spell slot allocation on self buffs. Wizards and Druids are the two best at low resource games, followed by Clerics and Sorcs.

Rings of Wizardry and Freedom of Movement and Invisibility, Cloaks of Resistance and the hand of glory, boots of teleport or speed, belts of the monk or strength or dwarven kind, meh. They all help but you can manage just fine without so long as you can increase your rest rate, if you drop 10% of your slots on longterm self buffs and another 20% on team buffs to make up for a low magic item campaign it just means you have less battlefield controls and debuffs to throw around thus your party needs to avoid endurance crawls to prevent the BSF and the glass cannon from biting the dust regularly.

Wait, what ? Dont you let WIS at 10 or even 8 as a wizard ?

[mostlyharmful]

Wait, what ? Dont you let WIS at 10 or even 8 as a wizard ?

depends on the wizard, if you roll up stats or if youve got a fluff reason to be all wise and benevolent or if you have one that aged to ancient or if you have a spare amulet of wisdom and nothing else to do with the slot or if you want to have a kung fu ninja wizard but don't fancy dropping a level on something else or if you just want the extra touch attack protection. meh. as I said not the most important but occassionally cool.

[ericgrau]

At high levels a monk's belt can mean more cost-effective wizard AC than other options, especially if he has a good wis. A ring of protection +4 costs 14,000 more than a ring of protection +3, for example. The belt is 13k and even if you don't have a free amulet slot you can get a +2 wis ioun stone for 8k. And it's not like the wizard is using the belt slot for much else. I wouldn't even pay attention to the unarmed attacks part, though technically you could combine that with touch spells if you had any chance of hitting with your rotten AB.

[Keld Denar]

And it's not like the wizard is using the belt slot for much else.

Belt of Battle...hands down the best wizard belt in the game. +2 init and free Quicken spell (any level) 1/day for 12,000g. Casting 2 of your highest level spells in a single round is VERY nice. Its a steal.

[ericgrau]

Oops, I meant in core. In other books, anything is possible . What book is that from, btw, so I can list it?

[mostlyharmful]

Oops, I meant in core. In other books, anything is possible . What book is that from, btw, so I can list it?

Magic item compendium, don't let it fool you, it's one of like two maybe three things that arre broken in the whole book.