Potions, Wands and Scrolls. Oh my - A magic item making question

[Baelin]

My group is debating over who can and cannot make Spell Completion and Spell Trigger items (eg. Wands, and Scrolls), and whether it's actually necessary for the item maker to be able to cast the spells in question.

The key point in contention is the bolded text below.

Quote:

Magic Item Creation

Note that all items have prerequisites in their descriptions. These prerequisites must be met for the item to be created. Most of the time, they take the form of spells that must be known by the item's creator (although access through another magic item or spellcaster is allowed). The DC to create a magic item increases by +5 for each prerequisite the caster does not meet. The only exception to this is the requisite item creation feat, which is mandatory. In addition, you cannot create potions, spell-trigger, or spell-completion magic items without meeting their spell prerequisites.

Based on this, our contention is that either

a) The character making the item (ie the one with the Item Creation feat) must be a spellcaster who has the spell on his/her class spell list or
b) The character making the item can collaborate with another spellcaster to cast the spell, or use a scroll or wand containing the spell (eg a cleric can ask a wizard with Scribe Scroll to write down his prayers).

Can anyone point me to a definitive answer for which answer is correct?

[Diego Rossi]

Under the specific rules for crating the different kind of items:

PRD wrote:

Creating Potions

Creating Scrolls
Creating Staves
Creating Wands
....
The creator must have prepared the spell to be placed in the potion (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any material component or focus the spell requires.

The text is the same (with a small difference for the staves) for the four kinds of items, so, one of the creators should have the spell memorized or as one of his spell know and be capable to cast it.

That don't mean that the character with the crafting feat should be the one with the capacity to cast the spell. The item can be built as a collaboration between a crafter with the appropriate feat and a caster with the appropriate spell. A developer has made the specific example of a wizard and cleric working in unison to craft a scroll with a cleric spell, with the wizard having Scribe scroll and the cleric having the spell memorized.

[Baelin]

Hi Diego. Would you be able to point me to the developer's example you cited?

[Diego Rossi]

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

Oliver McShade and the Core Ruleook wrote:

"It is possible for more than one character to cooperate in the creation of an item, with each participant providing one or more of the prerequisites. In some cases, cooperation may even be necessary."

A wizard and a cleric cooperating to craft a scroll of cure light wounds are, between the two of them, meeting all of the prerequisites for the item's creation. Thus, the "you cannot create this if you don't meet all the prerequisites" rule on page 549 does not apply, because "you" in the case of cooperative crafting is "the people involved in crafting the item."

It is here.

I have the tendency to read about everything that is written in the forum about crafting magic items and I have preferred several posts to book mark them :-)
I don't agree with all the rulings, but this one is one of those I appreciate. If you have more doubts SKR (short for Sean K. Reynolds) has opened a thread here asking for doubts about magic item construction. There will be a chapter about magic item construction in a future book, with explanations of the confusing pats.

[Baelin]

Thanks man. You're a lifesaver (sort of) :D