Hopefully this is not a stupid question, but looking over the item creation rules i stumbled on something a bit confusing.
All it says abou CL is its used to determine the Dc for making the item thats strait forward. But Cl is not actually listed as a caster requirement for any of the items and this is where the confusion starts.
like necklace of fireballs do i need to be level 10 to make one?
The reason i ask is there is a few items which have a +1 +2 +3 +4 etc version of the item which have special instructions. so to make bracers of armor +4 you need to be level 8. Brace4rs mof armor are listed as aura Cl 8 so do you need to be level 8 to make bracers of armor +1?
So far at this point i was thinking yes.
However i think the pearl of power is listed as Cl 17 and has a note that you have to be at least of a level to cast spells for an appropriate pearl of power to make it. but given CL 17 can cast level 9 spells in most cases this would be a pointless stipulation.
It also struck me as odd that pearl of power level 1s have an aura of CL 17.
Anyhow i was bored at work looking through the SRD and mau have missed something.
You're not wrong. As DM I had to house rule some of this. The first one was that you have to be of a caster level equal to the listed CL to make any item. It doesn't say that in the book, and in fact they seem to go out of their way NOT to say it anywhere. And yes, the Pearl of Power entry doesn't make any sense (doing it my way) in that regard. One thing I can tell you for SURE is that pearls of power, made en masse, get out of hand pretty fast. You shouldn't be able to get more spells per day as a level 5 Wizard with multiple pearls than a level 5 Sorcerer gets, and to make them is pretty cheap. I mean that's just wrong, to me. In fact, this never came up while I was DMing, but I'm pretty sure I would limit the usefulness of Pearls of Power to one pearl per spell level per person. So you can get, at most, one extra spell at each spell level by making pearls. Unless there's a rule for Pearls of Power somewhere that I missed (totally possible, I admit), I think this potentially a huge rules exploit. A lvl 5 wizard with Int mod +5, 5 ranks in spellcraft, skill focus (spellcraft), Craft Wondrous Item, and Magical Aptitude has 5+5+3+2 = +15 to spellcraft checks. Make yourself a +4 Int headband, which is easy (DC 13, assuming you know Fox's Cunning) get's you another +2 for a total of +17 to Spellcraft. Then you start making lvl 3 pearls at 4500gp a pop, needing to hit a DC of 22, so you need to roll a 5+ to get one, no chance of getting a cursed one. And the level 2 pearls are only 2000gp each to make (same DC, which makes no sense either). That's broken, IMO.
Well theres a few other items that seem to 'break the rules i saw horse shoes of the zephyr are a level 3? item but need haste. so shouldnt they be Cl 5?
Anyhow thing is for alot of the stuff the cost would prevent abuse.
in your 5th level wizard example the 5th level wizard would still need 8000 gp which would probly involve him selling everything he has to maybe pay for it?
i am glad somone else noticed this though i wanted a clearer undrstanding before i braught it up with my dm.
Having just looked at this issue closer myself...
There was, at one time, a sentence in the rules for magic items, on page 460 (I think) that mentioned CL as a requirement. The most recent errata says to delete that sentence. So if there ever was any reason to believe that CL was a requirement, it was apparently a misprint and they intentionally got rid of it. So being of a lower CL than the item you're trying to make will NOT, by RAW, cause the DC for the spellcraft check to go up at all. Unless you're making a Pearl of Power for a spell level which you yourself cannot cast yet, which would be awfully expensive and do nothing for you until you level up enough to use it. I still think you could go nuts with pearls and get abusive, maybe that's just me. Or maybe I give out too much treasure...