Wands with a bonus to hit.

[PoorWanderingOne]

I am currently playing a 5th level wizard and I just took the create wand feat. I have had excerable luck with touch/ranged touch since the game began and I want to build some help.

Is it possable to make a +1 wand? The bonus would be to hit only and would only apply when using a charge from the wand to cast the spell in the wand.

Would I need craft arms and armor to do this? I have craft wonderous item so I suppose I could just build something to give me "Cat's grace" for a better dex to hit bonus for the ranged touch attacks but it seems a tad extreme.

Any advice?
~will

[Sunaj Janus]

PoorWanderingOne wrote:

I am currently playing a 5th level wizard and I just took the create wand feat. I have had excerable luck with touch/ranged touch since the game began and I want to build some help.

Is it possable to make a +1 wand? The bonus would be to hit only and would only apply when using a charge from the wand to cast the spell in the wand.

Would I need craft arms and armor to do this? I have craft wonderous item so I suppose I could just build something to give me "Cat's grace" for a better dex to hit bonus for the ranged touch attacks but it seems a tad extreme.

Any advice?
~will

There is nothing in the core rules that allow this and I wouldn't allow it if I were a DM. If you want to increase your touch attack increase your dexterity. The wand isn't a weapon, you aren't hitting them with it. You are essentially putting the energy into your hand and touching the target to transfer it to them.

I have a suicidal friend that built a Grapplemancer. He cast a touch spell, stored it, and then ran up and grappled the opponent, transferring the spell. I don't suggest using this strategy, but with eschew materials and still spell he was able to get away with quite a bit.

[james maissen]

PoorWanderingOne wrote:

I am currently playing a 5th level wizard and I just took the create wand feat. I have had excerable luck with touch/ranged touch since the game began and I want to build some help.

Any advice?
~will

Go invisible. You then are targeting a flat-footed touch with a +2 to hit. In most cases this means you are aiming for around AC 8.

You can also increase your bonuses with heroism, bard song, smaller size, higher dex, etc.

But in general going invisible will boost you up the most as it will give you at least a +2 if not a whole lot more (as for most things it's just their DEX modifying touch AC).

-James

[PoorWanderingOne]

Ok it appears both of you are saying that a second magic item/spell/effect will be needed.

That's cool I was just wondering if there was a more unified way to get a small bonus with out having to go to the length of creating a wand/item of cat's grace or invisibility.

~will

[Grifter]

That is the beauty of gaming, the sky is the limit. Just enchant a wand with a magic bonus and it will work in conjunction with ray attacks. Since the ray is like a new weapon, mages are able to take weapon focus and improved critical with it I dont see why not. The wand would be a weapon at this point though so I wouldn't treat it like a normal wand so it wouldn't have the 50 spell charges in it unless you created it and adjusted the cost with that in mind.

Also since it is a weapon at this point craft arms/armor may be more appropriate, thats up to the DM.

[james maissen]

PoorWanderingOne wrote:

Ok it appears both of you are saying that a second magic item/spell/effect will be needed.

That's cool I was just wondering if there was a more unified way to get a small bonus with out having to go to the length of creating a wand/item of cat's grace or invisibility.

~will

You can get items that enhance your attacks as well. Depends what you have access to and how much you wish to invest in it.

Armbands of reduction (2hr reduce person 1/day) at like 2k gold will give you a +2 to hit (net) with ranged touch attacks, as well as make hiding easier for you to do (to be unseen and thus catch them flatfooted).

And if you wish you can always throw away a feat into weapon focus: ray or the like (but I don't recommend it).

-James

[Vigil]

Wand Rifles.

ducks!

From Entombed with the Pharoahs:

Spoiler:

This wooden-barreled device can be loaded with up to two separate wands, enabling its wielder to cycle between them as a free action as desired. The rifle’s slender barrel provides a +1 circumstance bonus on ranged touch attacks with discharged rays. Wand rifles are frequently outfitted with serrated bayonets, which share the statistics of short swords. Using a wand rifle properly (either with a ray or with its bayonet) requires the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat. For the purpose of adding magical enhancements, the wand rifle’s bayonet is always considered masterwork. The wand rifle itself is not truly a weapon and cannot be enhanced as one.
A wand rifle costs 400 gp and weighs 3 pounds.