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I'm making this thread as a FAQ request. If you'd like to see this question answered, please hit the FAQ button on this post. Though, until a FAQ is issued, this will serve as a rules discussion.
The question I'd like answered in a FAQ is as it says in the title: Does a magic item's caster level increase its overall capabilities, such as uses per day, or its effectiveness in relation to its statistics?
The subject that spawned this question was the Boots of Speed, a CL 10 item that provides 10 rounds of Haste per day.
The primary synopsis of the basis for this question is when players have suggested that, because the Caster Level is 10, the rounds per day is 10, and the Haste spell (which the boots provide) has a duration in rounds based off of Caster Level, that increasing the Caster Level (besides making it more difficult to dispel as the book already spells out) would increase the number of rounds per day that the wearer could benefit from the item.
Is this true? Would a player who wanted to have Caster Level 20 Boots of Speed created possess the 20 rounds per day that he says? If not, then is an item's Caster Level only proportional in regards to Spell Completion and Spell Trigger items?
In general, no. A spellcasting item (such as a wand, potion, or scroll, or a wondrous item that allows you to cast something once/per day) would benefit from the higher caster level -- a fifth level wand of cure light wounds cures 1d8+5 hit points per charge instead of the normal 1d8+1. And any item benefits by being harder to dispel if it has a caster level.
But in general, items do what they say in the description, and if the description doesn't mention changes with caster level, there isn't one.
But there's a FAQ that says items like Ring of Invisibility and Hat of Disguise do have duration limits based on CL, while their basic text doesn't talk about durations at all. So I'd say it's the same for Boots of Speed.
I'd have to agree with Orfamay. If an item actually casts a spell, then the item's caster level governs any level-based issues. A CL9 wand of magic missile would chuck five missiles, for example, and a CL13 wand of fireball is ... well, dumb, because it peaks out at 10.
Now, if an item just does something continually, or switchably, then it does that, as it's just doing that effect, and the spells in its requirements are prerequisites. And I think CL factors in when people start throwing Dispel Magic at your treasures.
One simple way to check, if increasing the caster level doesn't change the cost (like with boots of speed) then it also doesn't change the powers. If it does change the cost (like with a wand or a scroll) then it does change the 'power' of the item.
I'd have to agree with Orfamay. If an item actually casts a spell, then the item's caster level governs any level-based issues. A CL9 wand of magic missile would chuck five missiles, for example, and a CL13 wand of fireball is ... well, dumb, because it peaks out at 10.
Not totally dumb. The extra caster levels would help overcome spell resistance. They also make it harder to temporarily negate the wand with a dispel magic spell.
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One simple way to check, if increasing the caster level doesn't change the cost (like with boots of speed) then it also doesn't change the powers. If it does change the cost (like with a wand or a scroll) then it does change the 'power' of the item.
Where you get: "increasing the caster level doesn't change the cost" for boots of speed?
The rules and FAQs say the opposite: if increasing the CL increase the effect the cost and price increase.
Boots of speed, with a CL of 10, a Spell Level of 3 and 1 single daily use (splittable in 1 round increments) follow perfectly this formula
Use-activated or continuous Spell level × caster level × 2,000 gp2
3 * 10 * 2000 /5 8single use) = 12.000
Official price of the boots: 12.000
If you want to use the item creation rules to make a new magic item, for example, a CL12 boots of haste item that grants 12 rounds of haste per day, no problem. Call it "Greater Boots of Haste." And it is just as legal as any other item your DM allows you to create.
But if your DM does not want to have such an item in his/her game, such a DM is totally legal not allowing the item. Same as any proposed new magic item.
Where you get: "increasing the caster level doesn't change the cost" for boots of speed?The rules and FAQs say the opposite: if increasing the CL increase the effect the cost and price increase.
Boots of speed, with a CL of 10, a Spell Level of 3 and 1 single daily use (splittable in 1 round increments) follow perfectly this formula
Use-activated or continuous Spell level × caster level × 2,000 gp2
3 * 10 * 2000 /5 8single use) = 12.000
Official price of the boots: 12.000
I don't know of any such rule or FAQ.
What you are doing there isn't increasing the caster level of boots of speed. It is making a custom magic item (similar to boots of speed) that lasts for 12 rounds. Additionally, as with all custom magic items, there is no 'official' price, although in this case that price is perfectly reasonable and in line with what one would expect.
You can have caster level 20 boots of speed that have 10 rounds, and the only difference between them and regular boots of speed is that they are harder to dispel, although typically one would have to craft the item themselves (and be caster level 20).