All right...
My DM allows intelligent items; I'm gonna lay it out, and hopefully you guys can see anything wrong. I'm unsure about the entire scenario because, well... because the rules are lightly touched in the book. I'll post ranting paragraphs, but for the "tl;dr" guys (which, I don't blame you), I'll have the solid questions numbered.
For starters, the book doesn't directly say what the prerequisites are to make an intelligent item, just that "less than 1% of magic items have intelligence" (Core 532). So, the vagueness here makes me assume any person able to craft magical items can thus craft intelligent items if they so choose to.
1. Can anyone make a magical item intelligent during creation?
Each intelligent item "possesses all three mental ability scores: Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma" (533), but the Core doesn't state whether these items need the ability scores to follow the prerequisites of normal casters: "To prepare or cast a spell, a [caster] must have [the choice stat] score equal to at least 10 + the spell level" (39).
2. If an intelligent item has a power from the Table 15-24: Intelligent Item Powers table (534), does it need its base stat to be high enough to match the level of the spell it can cast. For instance, can an intelligent sword with a 3rd-level spell power actually use this power without buying a 13 mental ability?
Because spells are versatile, issues about the item casting are left vague. Just for a light-delving of questions, spells like Beast Shape and True Strike come to mind, where the spell is personal and/or gives a buff to itself: would this affect the user as well? Would the +20 to hit go to the sword or the person, and if it went to the sword, could this still affect the user? For touch spells, like Vampiric Touch, can the spell use this while the user is swinging? In the instance of my own intelligent item -- because it was cheap -- I gave it the power to cast Guidance at will, so every round, if it's not doing something more important, or if it's stripped of spells, it just casts Guidance on me for a free +1 to hit every round. It's also funny when our players obnoxiously call out, "Guidance!" (I love infinite cantrips; thanks Paizo!)
3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?
The spell Animate Dead is also confusing here, too. There's no rule that says an intelligent item can't cast this, so does it need the "onyx gem worth at least 25 gp per Hit Die of the undead" (241) to cast it?
4. Do material costs apply to items using spells? If they do, how do you apply them?
On a personal note, my character is a wizard who has chosen her Arcane Bond to be an item, which means I pretty much get the Craft Magical Arms and Armor item-creation feat for this one particular sword. The Core says, "The magic properties of a bonded object, including any magic abilities added to the object, only function for the wizard who owns it. If a bonded object's owner dies, or the item is replaced, the object reverts to being an ordinary masterwork item of the appropriate type" (78).
5. If an intelligent magic item is arcane-bound, as per Wizard rules, do its spells only affect the user, even if the spell happens to be an area-effect buff? Also, does the intelligent item's intelligence fade away if the owner dies (I imagine this one is true, but it's worth asking)?
I'm sure I'll think of something else later, but these are the main issues I'm dealing with now. When the book is this vague, I wonder if these rules were open-ended because they're for DMs only... But the Core is kind of the equivalent of a player's handbook, so it makes me wonder. You'd think these rules would be in the GameMastery Guide if such is the case.
1. Can anyone make a magical item intelligent during creation?
Yes. There are no rules or limitations regarding this.
2. If an intelligent item has a power from the Table 15-24: Intelligent Item Powers table (534), does it need its base stat to be high enough to match the level of the spell it can cast. For instance, can an intelligent sword with a 3rd-level spell power actually use this power without buying a 13 mental ability?
No. Again, there are no rules or limitations, so there is no requirement.
3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?
4. Do material costs apply to items using spells? If they do, how do you apply them?
Since the costs to add spells to an intelligent item are similar to those of making a magic item that casts the same spell, I would assume the same rules. That is, you supply sufficient quantity of the material components during item creation, but no materials upon casting.
5. If an intelligent magic item is arcane-bound, as per Wizard rules, do its spells only affect the user, even if the spell happens to be an area-effect buff?[b]
The spell would be cast as normal, multiple targets and all.
[b]Also, does the intelligent item's intelligence fade away if the owner dies (I imagine this one is true, but it's worth asking)?
Nope, otherwise you wouldn't find any intelligent magic items in dungeons, would you?
Thanks, this helps a ton.
As per this:
Also, does the intelligent item's intelligence fade away if the owner dies (I imagine this one is true, but it's worth asking)?
Nope, otherwise you wouldn't find any intelligent magic items in dungeons, would you?
I should have been more specific: I was applying it to if a Wizard has an intelligent item as an arcane-bound companion (the alternate familiar rule), and the Wizard dies; does this mean the item dies with him, as per the normal rules for arcane-bound items, or does it being intelligent make it special?
Thanks again, though; I suppose I was just like, "No way!" the whole time I was making the item, lol.
Mostly, I agree with what already been said.
3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?
Personal spells affect the caster, which in this case is the item. True Strike as an intelligent item ability is usually worthless, since it would modify the items attack roll, not the wielders. It is only usually worthless since you could have an item that can cast True Strike and Scorching Ray, at while point the True Strike would apply to the Scorching Ray attack roll.
If the item was a Dancing Weapon, it might be able to benefit from True Strike. I would want to look at the rules to be sure, and my feeling is that the RAW answer is no. OTOH, it seems like a cool feature and I'm not convinced it would be overpowered.
5. If an intelligent magic item is arcane-bound, as per Wizard rules, do its spells only affect the user, even if the spell happens to be an area-effect buff? Also, does the intelligent item's intelligence fade away if the owner dies (I imagine this one is true, but it's worth asking)?
By the RAW, the item should also lose its intelligence if the wizard dies. It would also be reasonable to house rule that occasionally, such an item retains its intelligence. I would probably say that such an item chooses a single character and develops a new bond with that character, so even if it is passed around between multiple characters, it only works for the new "bonded" character. This is obviously getting fairly deep into house rules.
3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?
Personal spells affect the caster, which in this case is the item. True Strike as an intelligent item ability is usually worthless, since it would modify the items attack roll, not the wielders. It is only usually worthless since you could have an item that can cast True Strike and Scorching Ray, at while point the True Strike would apply to the Scorching Ray attack roll.
I disagree.
What is the BAB of an intelligent Staff of Power? There isn't one.
What do you roll when using Ray of Enfeeblement, which is one of the staff's powers? The wielder's attack roll.
What do you roll when using Ray as an intelligent item's power? The wielder's attack roll.
The rules don't make a distinction between the item casting a spell and the wielder casting a spell, so True Strike should work.
The rules don't make a distinction between the item casting a spell and the wielder casting a spell, so True Strike should work.
Seems a little crazy then, as the weapon can cast this on my round. It's like free Quickened True Strikes. Guess I can't complain too much though. >.>
What about touch spells that give temporary hit points, like Vampiric Touch? A) Can the weapon cast this as I hit my foe (thus doing damage to them as I strike them; the sword is "touching" the foe when the sword connects), and B) who gets the temporary hit points? If the weapon does, how does it affect it: just adds on to the hit points of the material of the sword?
Thanks for all the help.
3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?
Personal spells affect the caster, which in this case is the item. True Strike as an intelligent item ability is usually worthless, since it would modify the items attack roll, not the wielders. It is only usually worthless since you could have an item that can cast True Strike and Scorching Ray, at while point the True Strike would apply to the Scorching Ray attack roll.
I disagree.
What is the BAB of an intelligent Staff of Power? There isn't one.
What do you roll when using Ray of Enfeeblement, which is one of the staff's powers? The wielder's attack roll.
What do you roll when using Ray as an intelligent item's power? The wielder's attack roll.The rules don't make a distinction between the item casting a spell and the wielder casting a spell, so True Strike should work.
You cannot really talk about whether the rules make a distinction or not, as the are no rules to compare to the intelligent item rules.
1) No an intelligent item does not have a BAB, so it might be a bad idea to give it spells requiring an attack roll.
2) When you use a staff, yes, you use your own attack roll, because a staff like other magic items grants you the ability to cast a spell from it.
3) Following 2, there are no precedent to make your claim. Because you cast spell from a staff using your own BAB, it does not follow that the magic item, when casting spells itself, is able to use your BAB.
I can't find any rules (or sound arguments) supporting that intelligent items are allowed to cast personal spells on you. Furthermore getting quickened true strike 3 times a day for a mere 1400 gp seems rather exploitatious to me.
Furthermore getting quickened true strike 3 times a day for a mere 1400 gp seems rather exploitatious to me.
I agree. In fact, any spell it casts is a quickened spell, so Quickened Haste, for instance, a 3rd-level spell three times a day for this intelligent item, is only 9,000 gp (if it's crafted by the player). A Quicken Rod for 3rd-level spells is 17,500 gp for crafting cost, and the player has to be 9th level. True, the rod works for any spell of 3rd level known, but, with the intelligent item, the player doesn't need to have a free hand to activate it.
I don't see why crafters don't make every single magic item they own -- that's possible to make intelligent -- intelligent. For a mere 500 gp extra for each item, the Egos wouldn't get out of hand, so he could control them all, and he would have tons of abilities per day that were all Quickened... and not at a bad price. And if they're all of the same alignment and low Egos, they won't quarrel with themselves much. And think of the possibilities of buffs in one round: four quickened spells simultaneously going off if the player has four intelligent items, for example.
I started a THREAD HERE on this subject. I believe the general belief is that if the intelligent item is casting the spell (so its liking having a quickened spell) then spells with Personal or self wouldn't effect the person carrying the item. I agree with this. If the item allows you to cast the spell, and you burn your action doing it, then you should get the benefits. But your intelligent sword cant cast Divine Favor on you. Though the Haste example above should work.
Furthermore getting quickened true strike 3 times a day for a mere 1400 gp seems rather exploitatious to me.
"Unlike most magic items, intelligent items can activate their own powers without waiting for a command word from their owner. Intelligent items act during their owner’s turn in the initiative order."
I'd forgotten this sentence. I can see an argument for not allowing personal spells, but it still makes me wonder, who's BAB would you use if your intelligent magic sword can cast Ray of Frost?I don't see why crafters don't make every single magic item they own -- that's possible to make intelligent -- intelligent. For a mere 500 gp extra for each item, the Egos wouldn't get out of hand, so he could control them all. . .
Intelligent items don't like sharing their owners, and will rebel if you have more than one. However, the argument still stands that everyone should want one.
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Furthermore getting quickened true strike 3 times a day for a mere 1400 gp seems rather exploitatious to me.I agree.
I agree too. This is part of the reason I almost never give intelligent items to PCs. The last one I gave to a PC was during the Age of Worms. The sword's special purpose was to defeat followers of evil gods, so almost EVERY - SINGLE - ROUND of this campaign, the sword, on its turn, would activate its special purpose power (ice storm). Even when they reached levels upwards of 18-20 and EVEN though a lot of the foes were undead and thus immune to the cold damage portion of that spell, I found this to be on the broken side.
By the way, the core rules say "Activating a power or concentrating
on an active one is a standard action the item takes." So the rule is clear here .
Even though the true strike 3 times a day for 1,400gp may be broken, I am still tempted to start allowing intelligent magic items again due to Jason's new articles:
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lbrd
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lbsa&page=1#9
Bottom line: even if slightly broken they are cool. But the articles definitely angles them as a DM tool. So I would rule like this: only DMs can introduce them, and PCs cannot create them. Sure, some remote NPC hermit on some mountain can devote 5 years of his life making an intelligent item and with his dying breath transfer his conscience in the item, but the roving combat commando lifestyle that most PCs aspire to is not conducive to intelligent item creation... So you the DM should introduce these and not allow PCs to decide what powers go into an intelligent item...
Intelligent items don't like sharing their owners, and will rebel if you have more than one. However, the argument still stands that everyone should want one.
True, I suppose if you were good-aligned, though, the "alignment might change this sort of behavior [of rivalship]" (536).
So LG seems the way to go; just have a metric ton of these intelligent items of your alignment, and if they were to oppose each other, despite LG, their Egos would be too low to conflict with the wielder's Will save. The wielder would be Master-Dominate-Chief SilverBack of the USS I-Beat-Your-Campaign.
1. Can anyone make a magical item intelligent during creation?
Yes. There are no rules or limitations regarding this.2. If an intelligent item has a power from the Table 15-24: Intelligent Item Powers table (534), does it need its base stat to be high enough to match the level of the spell it can cast. For instance, can an intelligent sword with a 3rd-level spell power actually use this power without buying a 13 mental ability?
No. Again, there are no rules or limitations, so there is no requirement.3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?
4. Do material costs apply to items using spells? If they do, how do you apply them?
Since the costs to add spells to an intelligent item are similar to those of making a magic item that casts the same spell, I would assume the same rules. That is, you supply sufficient quantity of the material components during item creation, but no materials upon casting.5. If an intelligent magic item is arcane-bound, as per Wizard rules, do its spells only affect the user, even if the spell happens to be an area-effect buff?[b]
The spell would be cast as normal, multiple targets and all.[b]Also, does the intelligent item's intelligence fade away if the owner dies (I imagine this one is true, but it's worth asking)?
Nope, otherwise you wouldn't find any intelligent magic items in dungeons, would you?
Based on Arcane Bond description for Bonded objects:
from pg78 in Pathfinder Core Rulebook (Under Wizards Arcane Bond ie Bonded Objects)
A bonded object can be used once per day to cast any one spell that the wizard has in his spellbook and is capable of
casting, even if the spell is not prepared.
from pg532 in Pathfinder Core Rulebook (Intelligent Items)
Unlike most magic items, intelligent items can activate their own powers without waiting for a command word from
their owner. Intelligent items act during their owner’s turn in the initiative order.
1. Can an intelligent item activate the above ability on its own seperate from the Wizard whose Bonded Object the Intelligent Item belongs to?
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3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?
A personal spell affects the item, as it's the caster of the spell.
If an item can cast a touch spell, I'd say the creator must choose which end (or other meaningful division) of the item holds the charge. edit: If anyone or anything is touching that end when cast, the spell immediately goes off, whether or not it's a valid target. If not, the item can hold the spell until the charged end touches something.
The spell Animate Dead is also confusing here, too. There's no rule that says an intelligent item can't cast this, so does it need the "onyx gem worth at least 25 gp per Hit Die of the undead" (241) to cast it?
I'd probably add 50 times the appropriate cost of onyx for the item's caster level to its creation cost.
3. How do the mechanics of spells affect the intelligent item, especially "personal" and "touch" properties, and how do these mechanics affect the user? Are any spells off-limits for the item?A personal spell affects the item, as it's the caster of the spell.
If an item can cast a touch spell, I'd say the creator must choose which end (or other meaningful division) of the item holds the charge. edit: If anyone or anything is touching that end when cast, the spell immediately goes off, whether or not it's a valid target. If not, the item can hold the spell until the charged end touches something.
This is untrue.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons/specific-magic-weapons/an vengen-s-edge
It has a
0th level spell at will
1st level spell 3/day
And it clearly bestows it TO THE WIELDER. Everything else would be utterly stupid. A magic item has no attacks of any sort nor can it possibly make any.
Touch Spells would need to be resolved by the user (taking his actions, too).
Ranged Touch Spells would use the Wearer's ranged to hit.
Personal Range Spells use the Wearer as the target.