Got to working out the cost of using a pearl of power to "buy" additional spell slots. For a straight caster here are the number of scrolls you could have for the price of one PoP for a given spell level / caster level.
CL Spells per PoP
1 40
2 20
3 13 27
4 10 20
5 8 16 24
6 7 13 20
7 6 11 17 23
8 5 10 15 20
9 4 9 13 18 22
10 4 8 12 16 20
11 4 7 11 15 18 22
12 3 7 10 13 17 20
13 3 6 9 12 15 18 22
14 3 6 9 11 14 17 20
15 3 5 8 11 13 16 19 21
16 3 5 8 10 13 15 18 20
17 2 5 7 9 12 14 16 19 21
18 2 4 7 9 11 13 16 18 20
19 2 4 6 8 11 13 15 17 19
20 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
So to create a scroll of a first level scroll with a caster level of 20 would cost 1/2 of the price of creating (or 1/4 of the cost to buy) a first level PoP. I'm not sure there are any first level spells that have a variable that scales all the way to level 20.
Additionally here is wealth by level compared to the cost of CREATING a PoP for a casters top level spell slot. I've also calculate how much of total wealth that represent as a percentage. (If you our buying a PoP or selling magic items for half price to get liquid funds double the percentage cost).
Wbl cost percent
124 500 403.23%
1000 500 50.00%
3000 2000 66.67%
6000 2000 33.33%
10500 4500 42.86%
16000 4500 28.13%
23500 8000 34.04%
33000 8000 24.24%
46000 12500 27.17%
62000 12500 20.16%
82000 18000 21.95%
108000 18000 16.67%
140000 24500 17.50%
185000 24500 13.24%
240000 32000 13.33%
315000 32000 10.16%
410000 40500 9.88%
530000 40500 7.64%
685000 40500 5.91%
880000 40500 4.60%
Finally here is a comparison of the top level spell in a staff, PoP or minim caster level wand:
Staff PoP Wand
400 500 350
2400 2000 2100
6000 4500 5250
11200 8000 9800
18000 12500
26400 18000
36400 24500
48000 32000
47600 40500
Conclusion:
Not really sure what conclusion can be drawn from all this. What seems clear is that the Magus class is going to love PoP as their slower progression helps keep costs down.
A staff only really seems useful for a spell that you know you are going to want more than once in an adventuring day (or are going to need to cast within AoO range). The problem with a staff is that it's one day per charge to recharge the thing, and puts you down a spell for the day while you're doing it.
There is some optimal mix here but I'm not quite sure what it is.
Staff can be very dependant on the campaign I know in kingmaker spending days travelling between encounters would make recharging a staff very easy and using 5-6 charges in a fight quite acceptable knowing you have a week to recharge it on the way back home.
Scrolls suffer from lowest possible CL syndrome so while cheap they are unatractive to higher levels.
I think the Magus has an ability which makes wands like staffs for CL so that makes them very cost effective on the Magus although does cost you arcana
Pearls of power are price fairly appropriately they're in the realm of use em if you find em but certainly not top of the list of things to buy. Plus being slots allow variable metamagic something not available when using staffs and wands
Staff can be very dependant on the campaign I know in kingmaker spending days travelling between encounters would make recharging a staff very easy and using 5-6 charges in a fight quite acceptable knowing you have a week to recharge it on the way back home.
Scrolls suffer from lowest possible CL syndrome so while cheap they are unatractive to higher levels.
I think the Magus has an ability which makes wands like staffs for CL so that makes them very cost effective on the Magus although does cost you arcana
Pearls of power are price fairly appropriately they're in the realm of use em if you find em but certainly not top of the list of things to buy. Plus being slots allow variable metamagic something not available when using staffs and wands
Yeah but are you workhorse spells really always your highest level slots? There's probably some optimal combination of price and resources. Yeah these charts shows that a PoP of your highest level spell takes up a large % of your wealth until the higher levels but what's the optimal mix for lower level slots so that you can get through a dungeon in one piece.
Hum I think metamagic feats are allowed in wands, staffs and scrolls but that's limited to the quote on page 549 that "using metamagic feats, a caster can place spell in items at a higher level than normal." On the other hand since wands top out at level 4 I'm not sure you have enough room to really get use out of many of the metamagic feats.
Staff can be very dependant on the campaign I know in kingmaker spending days travelling between encounters would make recharging a staff very easy and using 5-6 charges in a fight quite acceptable knowing you have a week to recharge it on the way back home.
Scrolls suffer from lowest possible CL syndrome so while cheap they are unatractive to higher levels.
I think the Magus has an ability which makes wands like staffs for CL so that makes them very cost effective on the Magus although does cost you arcana
Pearls of power are price fairly appropriately they're in the realm of use em if you find em but certainly not top of the list of things to buy. Plus being slots allow variable metamagic something not available when using staffs and wands
Yeah but are you workhorse spells really always your highest level slots? There's probably some optimal combination of price and resources. Yeah these charts shows that a PoP of your highest level spell takes up a large % of your wealth until the higher levels but what's the optimal mix for lower level slots so that you can get through a dungeon in one piece.
Hum I think metamagic feats are allowed in wands, staffs and scrolls but that's limited to the quote on page 549 that "using metamagic feats, a caster can place spell in items at a higher level than normal." On the other hand since wands top out at level 4 I'm not sure you have enough room to really get use out of many of the metamagic feats.
It's not so much workhorse spell being highest level slots its more about them using your casting modifier to their DC which scrolls and wands don't
never said metamagic wasn't allowed in wands and spell simply said they don't allow for variable metamagic meaning you can't change what metamagic you apply to them and the cost of the metamgaic increased level is factored into the cost of the item.
Honestly you don't really need "extra" slots or casts from any source for the Magus just be sensible about your usage. don't forget you can always spell combat with a cantrip touch attack, doesn't matter that the cantrip is mostly worthless you still get the free extra attack at your BAB for doing it.
Um isn't that BaB-2 for the magus?
Casting bodifier does not apply to all spells, for example haste and prayer (no save against prayer). The question is what configuration works for a five or seven fight dungeon?