How does an Intelligent Item casting spells work in regard to components? Is that just bypassed in general?
The specific case in question is a PC wanted to get an intelligent item that can cast True Strike, but it got me thinking about components needed to cast a spell & intelligent items in general.
Thoughts?
Not sure that I understand the question but If you are asking "Do intelligent items that can cast spells need components?" the answer is no. You would treat it as a wand or other magical device.
That said I would be careful about giving out an intelligent weapon before level ~10. The weapon because it has an int score actually has it own turn, which might make a lower level character much too powerful.
Most intelligent items do not cast spells -- if they have spell like abilities then they work just like spell like abilities.
These are not spells however.
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How does an Intelligent Item casting spells work in regard to components? Is that just bypassed in general?
The specific case in question is a PC wanted to get an intelligent item that can cast True Strike, but it got me thinking about components needed to cast a spell & intelligent items in general.
Thoughts?
Either treat it as a spell-like ability, which requires no components, or limit to spells that it can cast with the necessary components. If doing the latter for true strike, then the weapon needs to speak, while the focus could be embedded into the item (set in the pommel, etc.). Spells with somatic components are kinda tough if going this way. It's ok for some things to be impossible or for others to be difficult.
On the other hand, true strike is personal. Cast by the weapon, it would apply to attacks made by the weapon, not attacks made by the user of the weapon. Adjust for flavor if you prefer.
How does an Intelligent Item casting spells work in regard to components? Is that just bypassed in general?
The specific case in question is a PC wanted to get an intelligent item that can cast True Strike, but it got me thinking about components needed to cast a spell & intelligent items in general.
Thoughts?
Either treat it as a spell-like ability, which requires no components, or limit to spells that it can cast with the necessary components. If doing the latter for true strike, then the weapon needs to speak, while the focus could be embedded into the item (set in the pommel, etc.). Spells with somatic components are kinda tough if going this way. It's ok for some things to be impossible or for others to be difficult.
On the other hand, true strike is personal. Cast by the weapon, it would apply to attacks made by the weapon, not attacks made by the user of the weapon. Adjust for flavor if you prefer.
His scheme is to have the weapon cast True Strike on itself, then swing the sword and essentially auto hit anytime we come across a BBEG.
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His scheme is to have the weapon cast True Strike on itself, then swing the sword and essentially auto hit anytime we come across a BBEG.
Understood. The issue is that the sword isn't making the attack. The user is. The sword thus doesn't benefit from the spell. But, if the flavor and concept appeal, go for it. True strike is a spell with enough strength, even as a first level spell, that being strict with it is not a horrible idea.
Understood. The issue is that the sword isn't making the attack. The user is. The sword thus doesn't benefit from the spell. But, if the flavor and concept appeal, go for it.
Appeal to me? No way, I thought it was a bit overpowered. But I wanted to find a real rules reason for why that doesn't work. Thank you much.
Anyone else confirm this?
I think that the main thing in the rules against it is Rule 0. While it is possible to have an intelligent sword of dancing, having it also have the ability to cast True Strike on itself is stretching it, because it's overpowered. And if such an item were to be in existence, it should be as an NPC run by the GM, not an NPC run by the PC with a "Steppin Fetchit" personality which is to say a complete lackey which exists only to toady around the PC.
I mean, think of this logically. If you were a magic sword who could cast True Strike on yourself, would you stand for being bossed around by some PC? Or would you have an ego the size of the planet and any PC you couldn't dominate, you'd just stab to death, True Striking all the way?
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If the sword could also cast scorching ray, it could cast true strike on the first round, and apply that bonus to its casting of scorching ray on the next round.
Yep. And such a weapon would also need to have senses to be able to see the target. Pointing this out to help get a perspective on what intelligent weapons can or cannot do based on their characteristics. We take some things for granted that need to be buttoned down for intelligent items. Could make for some great weapon/PC role play, "Slave...er...master...what's the chance we could get me to see what's going on around me?" "Umm...how do you even know about sight, friend?"
His scheme is to have the weapon cast True Strike on itself, then swing the sword and essentially auto hit anytime we come across a BBEG.How does an Intelligent Item casting spells work in regard to components? Is that just bypassed in general?
The specific case in question is a PC wanted to get an intelligent item that can cast True Strike, but it got me thinking about components needed to cast a spell & intelligent items in general.
Thoughts?
Either treat it as a spell-like ability, which requires no components, or limit to spells that it can cast with the necessary components. If doing the latter for true strike, then the weapon needs to speak, while the focus could be embedded into the item (set in the pommel, etc.). Spells with somatic components are kinda tough if going this way. It's ok for some things to be impossible or for others to be difficult.
On the other hand, true strike is personal. Cast by the weapon, it would apply to attacks made by the weapon, not attacks made by the user of the weapon. Adjust for flavor if you prefer.
There's a few things worth noting. For your first question, if a magic item uses a spell component, you add the cost of the component multiplied by the number of charges (or 50 charges if it is x/day, or 100 if it is unlimited/continuous).
Then there's the fact that true strike is a personal spell, so giving it to the intelligent magic weapon to use on itself is pretty useless, since the sword would have a +20 to hit, but the wielder wouldn't. See the problem?
Now, the guy could have a magic item (even an intelligent magic item) that allowed him to cast true strike as a swift action (a quickened true strike) for 18,000 gp per daily use or +27,000 gp to an existing magic item per daily use.
In any case, the absolute best you can do with a true-strike item is once per round for a single attack (as a swift action). Otherwise, it's once every other round for a single attack (standard action).
Also, magic items don't require spell components after their initial investment.
Example
We're going to make some +6 gauntlets of strength cast true strike 5/day as a swift action.
The gauntlets cost 36,000 gp.
A quickened true strike is an effective 5th level spell, with a minimum caster level of 9th. We want it use activated (no command word or anything, just used when you desire) so anyone can use it, which makes out gold piece multiplier 2,000 gp.
Our base price becomes 2000 * 5 * 9 = 90,000 gp
True Strike Doesn't have any expensive materials or foci, so we skip this part.
We'll be adding it to another item, so we multiply the price by 1.5, making it 135,000 gp (from 90,000 gp).
So the +6 gauntlets of strength that grant you true strike 5/day as a swift action costs 171,000 gp.