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You can never get 8 rays out of Scorching Ray. 1 at 3rd lvl, 2 at 7th lvl, 3 at 11th lvl and 4 at 15th lvl. A 7th lvl wizard with arcane bond could only make a 7th lvl caster wand, so one that could shoot 2 rays, if he wanted to pay that much for it, otherwise it'd only get 1 ray.
Derp, I meant 2 rays (was thinking of the damage dice.) So a wizard can get 2 rays? Very good to know.
And since crafting feats are banned, one just pays the cost and assumes one collaborated with a wizardly friend, right?
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Yeah, didn't check out the FAQ
Can an Arcane Bonded Item be upgraded?
A character with the arcane bond class feature may create a bond with any magical item they own, as long as it falls within the categories permitted by the arcane bond ability. If a caster selects a non-magical item as his arcane bond, and the player later wishes to upgrade it, he may do so for the cost (not price) of the final item as listed in the item's statblock.For items which can be enchanted incrementally (such as weapons or a ring of protection), only the first step gets this discount. For example, a nonmagical bonded dagger can be enchanted to a +1 dagger for 1,000gp instead of the normal 2,000gp, but further upgrades are purchased as normal even if you save up and purchase several enhancements at once.
A bonded item that is enchanted must still conform to all the campaign rules for access to and upgrading of magical items. The final and total price of the item (not the cost) is used on the Fame chart to determine whether a caster can purchase such an enchantment on their bonded item.
So from that it reads like you can only do minimum level for a wand.
Ok then - lets talk amulets (this thread is great timing - arcane bond has been on my mind).
Specifically Amulet of Spell Cunning and Amulet of Spell mastery.
Does the Wizard Creating the bond need to be of the CL of the item? (in the above cases 7 and 11). Or could he bond an amulet at 3rd level (qualifying for craft wondrous item at CL3) if he had access to the spell casting needed to create the item.
For an Amulet of Spell Cunning it takes 10 days to create (Base Price 10k - craft limit 1k per day). So he needs to hire an NPC caster to cast mnemonic enhancer into the to amulet 10 times (once per day spent crafting the item. Price per casting (CL)7*(SL)4*(GP)10=280 times 10 days = 2800 gold on top of the bonding ritual cost of 5k. Total Cost to caster 7800.
Or if the wizard waits till 7th level when he can cast mnemonic enhancer himself - 5K total cost to caster - half the base price as per the arcane bond rules.
Now - here is the big question. The Wizard is 7th level. He wants to bond his masterwork amulet as an Amulet of Spell mastery. (in theory he could hire out the spell casting as above - but it seems to be prohibitively expensive) Is he casting mnemonic enhancer 22 times (Base Price 22k=22 days of creation) at CL7 (minimum CL required to cast the spell) or must he cast it at CL11. In other words, does the "power" of the item increase because the CL of the construction spell increases or is it because he casts it 22 times into the item instead of 10.
Its unclear to me because items like Amulet of Nat Armor and Bracers of armor specifically call out Caster level reqs in the construction requirements where these two items do not. The PRD and CRB indicate that the CL given is the relative power of the item- not a req for creation.
FROM THE PRD
Caster Level (CL): The next item in a notational entry gives the caster level of the item, indicating its relative power. The caster level determines the item's saving throw bonus, as well as range or other level-dependent aspects of the powers of the item (if variable). It also determines the level that must be contended with should the item come under the effect of a dispel magic spell or similar situation.
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As far as I understand it, you do not need to meet the CL requirements to create an item. You certainly do not need to hire an NPC spellcaster to cast spells for you as part of the process. I was under the impression that the 'crafting' was handwaved and you were merely required to pay the creation cost to get the bonded item.
Ah - but - FROM the PRD/CRB
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A wizard can add additional magic abilities to his bonded object as if he has the required item creation feats and if he meets the level prerequisites of the feat. For example, a wizard with a bonded dagger must be at least 5th level to add magic abilities to the dagger (see the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat in Feats).
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Isn't the process of "bonding" simply an item creation with the special nature of the bonded item allowing the creator to forgo actually having the feat (in the example above for a bonded Item the wizard doesn't need to take craft magic arms and armor - he just needs to be 5th level to "bond" with and enhance his weapon. The wizard still has to "add" the additional abilities - via spell casting or other construction requirements.
Believe me - I like your understanding better: 36 fame and 11k gold gets the wizard 6 extra levels of spells from the Amulet of Spell Mastery (or 27 fame and 5k three levels from Amulet of Spell Cunning).
With the fame Reqs it doesn't look like you can get the Amulet of Spell mastery before 7th-8th level anyway when you could cast the spell yourself - so really the only question I have is if you need to be CL11 to craft (bond) it. Is the difference in the creation CL or in more multiple castings at minimum caster level (except for items like Am nat armor or Bracers of armor and the like which have specific CL reqs)
Wands functioning at minimum caster level is in reference to wands found as loot. When you create a wand you create it at whatever caster level you want, between the minimum for casting the spell, and the maximum of your caster level. That would be 'specifically stating otherwise'.
You can, indeed, have an Arcane Bond Wand of Magic Missile (CL9) costing you 1(level)x9(CL)x750gp/2= 3375gp
So your 9th Level+ wizard pays his 3375gp and creates his wand that shoots five missiles. This math is VERY CLEARLY spelled out in the magic item creation rules.
There are two discussions going on here. One is assuming this is for PFS society play and the other is a pure PRFPG discussion.
In PFS wands are always at minimum caster level.
In PFRPG you can set the caster level at anything you want. (They even have higher level wands listed as treasure options.)
Ah, yes. This is the regular rules question forum, and the OP didn't say anything about PFS. I wouldn't know from PFS on the issue. Can you not enchant your own arcane bonds in PFS play?
Ah, yes. This is the regular rules question forum, and the OP didn't say anything about PFS. I wouldn't know from PFS on the issue. Can you not enchant your own arcane bonds in PFS play?
Gear is very controlled in PFS on what you can and cannot buy. It is based upon your standing with your faction along with what adventures you have played in. Crafting is not allowed and there are specific rules on potions, scrolls, wands, etc.
(It is not as bad as the above paragraph sounds. You can buy magic items and pretty much equip your character with almost anything in the Paizo books... they just have some solid rules that keep it balanced at about the same rate as wealth by level.)
See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. There need to be a pfs-specific rules forum BECAUSE OF THINGS LIKE THIS.
Let me make sure I understand this right, an arcane bonded wand still has to follow the same rules for other wands where CL is concerned.
help me out with something
in a 7th level game a wizard had an Arcane Bonded Wand of Haste and was stating they could recharge that from their own spell list.I can find nothing that states that doable. Is there a feat out there i am missing or something??
As far as I can recall the only item that you can recharge is a staff (which is done during spell preparation time).
That being said since the wand in question is an bonded item you can just re-enchant it after you blow all the charges.
Yes, you'd have to repay for crafting prices (1/2 market value, though perhaps slightly less since you already have one of the needed materials but that GM discretion).