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Neither. He needs to have the Craft Wondrous Item feat (so must be 3rd level) and make a DC 13 Spellcraft check and have 18,000 gp available, as well as the fox's cunning spell. Oh, and 36 days. If he doesn't have the spell, it's DC 18. If he wants to only take 18 days, that's DC 18. If he doesn't have the spell and wants to only take 18 days, it's DC 23. The 18,000 gp is non-negotiable, but can be reduced with a feat whose name escapes me.
Just chiming in to second BRF's answer here. The way wondrous items work is that the CL is the minimum caster level required to cast the spell used in making it, or in this case Fox's Cunning, which can be cast by a 3rd level Wizard. I'm not sure how you reached the conclusion it was level 8 or 3x stat mod, but those are incorrect. Stat mods do come into play with Magical Arms & Armor, but not with Wondrous Items.
The item's caster level is not used for creating the item, but for determining things like spell penetration, resistance to dispel, and so forth.
Thanks for the answers!
A follow up question, the time is based off of the cost of purchasing it new, not the cost of creating it yourself?
The 8th level comes from the item itself in the CRB that says it has a Caster Level of 8.
Ah, I see, ya that can be confusing. Those CLs are just arbitrary numbers picked out for the wondrous items, you can safely ignore them for the most part.
Thanks for the answers!
A follow up question, the time is based off of the cost of purchasing it new, not the cost of creating it yourself?
The 8th level comes from the item itself in the CRB that says it has a Caster Level of 8.
Time to craft is 1 day per 1,000 gp of the purchase price, so a +6 stat-boosting item, at 36,000 gp, takes 36 days to craft.
As Anzyr says, the CL is somewhat arbitrary, though it does do several things: sets the DC to craft the item (5+CL), determines the caster level of effects the item produces (so a wand of fireball at CL5 only does 5d6 damage fireballs, but a CL 10 one does 10d6), determines the item's saving throw bonuses (CL/2 + 2), and probably a couple more I'm forgetting.
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Yeah, it's totally arbitrary and odd. Some variable items, like arms and armor do have scaling caster level (3 times enhancement bonus). While other items like a ring of protection, or a headband of int have a flat CL regardless of the plus amount.
As I always understood it, when you make a magic item, any requirements you don't fulfill increases the DC of the spellcraft check by 5. Caster level is just another requirement of making a magic item. So if you don't meet the minimum caster level for the item, it just increases the spellcraft DC to make it.