How are Wand Charges Supposed to work

[Wolfweress]

I'm currently GMing a campaign and one of the players picked up a wand off of the monster. When asked the number of charges, I told them the amount which was 5 charges created by a 4th level. The rules lawyer of the group informed me that since it was 4th level each charge could be expanded 4 times before that charge was gone and that it was impossible for a played to pick up a wand with 5 charges only it had to be an even number. If I go by the math it seems the spell on the wand can be cast 20 times instead of just 5 times. Maybe I'm wrong but doesn't 1 charge equal 1 expenditure?

[Talynonyx]

Yes, each charge is 1 casting of the spell in the wand.

[Roberta Yang]

Everything the rules lawyer said is completely false.

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

Roberta Yang wrote:

Everything the rules lawyer said is completely false.

this

its 1=1

[Vod Canockers]

And they can have odd numbers of charges.

The wand can be used 5 times and functions as a 4th level caster. A Cure Light Wounds wand created by a 4th level caster cures 1d8+4, instead of the standard wands 1d8+1.

[Evil Lincoln]

That "rules lawyer" should be disbarred.

[Brotato]

Evil Lincoln wrote:

That "rules lawyer" should be disbarred.

He is probably recent student that hasn't gotten his results for the exam back yet. Gonna be such a let-down when he opens that letter.

[Mystically Inclined]

Makes me wonder what other "rules" this player has gotten enforced with nothing more than confidence in whatever he's saying.

[Drakkiel]

Wow...I wonder where he even got the idea for that? Anything that has a "charge" expends only one charge per use UNLESS it specifies differently...in the case of wands its only one charge...but there are items that let you choose more like "Ring of the Ram"...you can expend more charges for it to deal more damage and get a boost to its CMB for bull rushing

[Arbane the Terrible]

Drakkiel wrote:

Wow...I wonder where he even got the idea for that?

from the way staves work, maybe?

[Drakkiel]

Quote:

Recharging Staves: Staves hold a maximum of 10 charges. Each spell cast from a staff consumes one or more charges. When a staff runs out of charges, it cannot be used until it is recharged. Each morning, when a spellcaster prepares spells or regains spell slots, he can also imbue one staff with a portion of his power so long as one or more of the spells cast by the staff is on his spell list and he is capable of casting at least one of the spells. Imbuing a staff with this power restores one charge to the staff, but the caster must forgo one prepared spell or spell slot of a level equal to the highest-level spell cast by the staff. For example, a 9th-level wizard with a staff of fire could imbue the staff with one charge per day by using up one of his 4th-level spells. A staff cannot gain more than one charge per day and a caster cannot imbue more than one staff per day.

YES...I know...hence the sarcasm of the first sentence itself...not to mention I said "UNLESS it specifies differently"

The post was sarcasm followed by an explanation so the OP would maybe see where he may have gotten the idea from an item instead of jumping straight for staff for the reason. And just so you don't think of this post as insulting I will leave you with the kirby dance

<(")> <("<) <("^) <(")> (>")> (^")> <(")>

[Komoda]

Quote:

A Cure Light Wounds wand created by a 4th level caster cures 1d8+4, instead of the standard wands 1d8+1.

The above is possible, but it will coast a lot of coin.

The formula for wands is caster level x spell level x 750 gp.

So a normal cure light wounds wand is 1 (CL) x 1 (SL) x 750 = 750 gp

The wand mentioned above is 4 (CL) x 1 (CL) x 750 = 3000 gp.

That is a lot of extra coin for +3 healing. I would rather have 4 wands of cure light.

[Vod Canockers]

Komoda wrote:

Quote:

A Cure Light Wounds wand created by a 4th level caster cures 1d8+4, instead of the standard wands 1d8+1.

The above is possible, but it will coast a lot of coin.

The formula for wands is caster level x spell level x 750 gp.

So a normal cure light wounds wand is 1 (CL) x 1 (SL) x 750 = 750 gp

The wand mentioned above is 4 (CL) x 1 (CL) x 750 = 3000 gp.

That is a lot of extra coin for +3 healing. I would rather have 4 wands of cure light.

Wasn't advocating its purchase, just using it as an example of how CL varied with wands.

[Wolfweress]

Thank you very much for the clarification on this matter.

[Joesi]

This is will be evident/known information for most of you, but since some people may not fully know this, I might as well mention the following while we are on this topic:

A higher caster level character isn't forced to create higher caster level spell spell-trigger/completion items; they can chose any caster level equal or lower than their own, as long as it's not lower than the CL required to cast the spell that the item uses.
For instance, generally players/characters will only craft CLW CL 1 wands regardless of their level, since it's the most cost-effective form of healing than higher CL CLWs, (or than some higher level heal spells like CMW for that fact).