[3.5] Activating a Wand at a Lower CL than Normal?

[Sintanan]

I've skimmed through my books, and I can't find any reference under wands or creating magic items for this so I was wondering if anyone else has ran into this.

As we all know many spells increase in power and range as you increase the caster level, and you determine the caster level of the magic item (in this case) wand when you make it.
Now, what I'm wondering is, can you opt to activate the spell from the wand at a lower caster level than possible? i.e. Could I take my CL 11 Wand of Fireballs and launch a charge from the wand at, say, CL 7? Keep in mind I'm only talking reducing the effective caster level of the wand, not increasing.


If there's no rules to support this, are there any here that would allow this in their game?

[bokodasu]

There aren't any rules that I know of that would let you do this.

If you were my player, I'd ask why you wanted to. And if you had a good reason, make up a UMD check to do it.

But in general, no, I probably wouldn't allow it because it doesn't make sense - you can't increase the CL, why would you be able to decrease it?

[Telonius]

Wands are spell trigger items. Basically this means that the spells have all already been cast into the item, you just have to perform the right trigger to release the energy.

From the Spell overview:

You can cast a spell at a lower caster level than normal, but the caster level you choose must be high enough for you to cast the spell in question, and all level-dependent features must be based on the same caster level.

The wand prices listed in the DMG are for wands already created at the lowest possible CL to still be able to make the wand (unless specifically stated otherwise, like Wand of Magic Missile 3rd and 5th). The reference to this is in the Table: Wand Base Prices (by crafter's class):

1. Caster level is half class level.

Prices assume that the wand was made at the minimum caster level.

So, short answer: no, you can't, because you're already casting the spell at the lowest possible level.

EDIT: There are a few exceptions to the wand rule, mainly for Artificers. I personally wouldn't see a problem with houseruling them to "lessen" the spell as they cast it from a wand as soon as they figure out how to use metamagic on trigger items. Not like it would overpower it. And just out of curiosity, what are you trying to do with this trick?

[gbprime]

And as an aside, why would you want a CL 11 Wand of Fireball? You gain nothing on the spell after CL 10.

[Quietus]

And as an aside, why would you want a CL 11 Wand of Fireball? You gain nothing on the spell after CL 10.

Probably random loot, rolled both for item and CL.

[Urpriest]

So, short answer: no, you can't, because you're already casting the spell at the lowest possible level.

I think he's specifically discussing wands made at higher than required caster level, not just the wands listed in the DMG. Or even the wands of magic missile you yourself mentioned.

[Sintanan]

If you were my player, I'd ask why you wanted to. And if you had a good reason, make up a UMD check to do it.

And just out of curiosity, what are you trying to do with this trick?

A player got a hold of me last night over instant messenger saying that at some point in the future she'd like to try a monk or unarmed swordsage build that creates clones of himself to fight with; I'm unsure what spell or ability she's using to create the clones, nor the build she's planning, but I'm assuming (because I've done something akin to this before) it's body outside body, which creates "one duplicate / 5 levels", and I'm assuming she wants to control how many clones are spawned at a time (probably by switching between CL 5, 10, and 15).

So, while a build like this wouldn't show up in the game for a few months still (at the party's current rate), I was more curious about this at a thought exercise than anything... well, that and heading off any possible arguments with the rules lawyer without having to specifically make a houserule for this.

[dextercorvia]

A wand can be made with a lower caster level than the creator has, but it has to be sufficient to cast the spell in question (so body outside of body would not work at a 5). Once picked the CL for the Wand is set.

Wands only go up to 4th level spells anyway. You would need a staff for Clone.

[Sintanan]

Alright, thank you all for your input.