Disposable Magic

The flip side of the name magic argument is the availability of disposable magical items. I like the notion that a wizard might dash off a few spells onto scrolls, so that he doesn't need to memorize lots of utility spells before heading into the dungeon, or the party might invest in a couple of wands of cure serious wounds. These are low-powered, disposable items that should be available, and which can be crafted by the weaker spell-casters in the setting.

At present, the cost of creating a potion is spell level x caster level x 50. So, a potion of cure light wounds (1d8+1) costs 1 x 1 x 50, while a potion of cure light wounds (1d8+5) costs 1 x 5 x 50, and a potion of cure serious wounds (3d8+5) costs 3 x 5 x 50. (3rd level spell, so minimum caster level is 5). Only spells of 3rd level or lower can be placed in potions.

The cost of creating a scroll is spell level x caster level x 25. So, a scroll costs half as much as the same potion. There is no limit to the spell level allowed in scrolls, but bear in mind, of course, that they are harder to use (anyone can use a potion, after all).

The cost of creating a wand is caster level x spell level x no. of charges x 15. Most wands, fully charged, have 50 charges. So, it's 1 x 1 x 50 x 15 for a 1d8+1 wand of cure light wounds, 1 x 5 x 50 x 15 for a 1d8+5 wand of cure light wounds, and 3 x 5 x 50 x 15 for a wand of cure serious wounds. Only spells of up to 4th level can be placed into wands.

Note that none of the above consider the impact of expensive material components. In the first two cases, these just add to the final cost; with a wand you need to add the cost of the component once per charge.

My proposal is to remove the spell level muliplier from the cost of the items. This will significantly reduce the cost of higher-level potions, wands and scrolls, and make the 1d8+5 wand of cure light wounds obselete. However, it means that a wand of fireballs (5d6) will now cost 3,750 gp, instead of the current 11,250 gp. Since the latter value places such a wand beyond the buying power of a 5th level character, and barely within that of a 6th level character (and shortly after that, the wand becomes useless - better simply to cast fireball, to get 7, 7 or 10d6 damage), I think this is a good thing.

This also has a knock-on effect that the Craft Wand, Scribe Scroll and Brew Potion feats become more useful, since the XP costs for creating these items is also reduced. This is also a good thing.

Note that I think I like this notion, but only in concert with an increase in the difficulty of acquiring more powerful items. As I've said before, permanent items should have a legend associated with them, with more powerful items requiring a more powerful legend.