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I like the idea of this archetype, though its implementation seems a bit lacking. Was tossing around some ideas to give it a bit more oomph.
Quick change: Move Wand Adept up to 2nd level. X stat to Y skill abilities that don't come in before 3rd are kind of dumb. You're not going to go 6 levels sucking at your main schtick just so you can be better at it later.
More complicated fix:
I'd give the Rogue 1 or 2 more abilities, either as archetype abilities (trading out Uncanny Dodge/Improved, probably) or as Rogue Talents. Or as an archetype ability that eats Rogue Talents. Something like that.
Let the Rogue use his level as his "caster level" (note, this lets him take Item Creation Feats). Let him use said caster level in place of a wand or scroll's caster level. Likewise, ability 2 would allow him to use his Cha or Int mod (his choice) to determine spell DCs.
Not sure what a proper exchange would be. Fairly strong ability, balanced by the monetary cost.
Maybe trade out 2d6 worth of Sneak Attack and a Rogue Talent for it. I dunno.
Eh. Details. The ability itself just seems to fit, to me. Plus, it makes him one of the only viable offensive consumable users in the game. That trashy Wand of Lightning Bolt in the party loot that does 5d6 damage with a DC 13 save is something that usually goes right in the sell pile. This guy? He makes it a ray gun.
Thoughts?
I don't think Rogue levels should count as caster levels for this or any other archetype. He is a counterfeit mage. He is fooling magic items into working for him, without having any magical ability himself. Letting him have caster levels kinda defeats that purpose and brings him dangerously close to being a caster.
Correct. This is the ultimate of that. He's so good at fooling magic items into thinking he's a caster that they forget they're just trash items nobody should use.
And no, it does not bring him dangerously close to being a caster. Or even safely close to being a caster. Wands are hella expensive. You know how much a full wand of Fireball costs? 13, 500 gp.
That is, for your reference, like attaching a material component worth 270 gp to every Fireball. And you have to pay for 50 up front.
And even assuming unlimited funds, they only go up to 4th level spells in the first place.
So he's stuck with scrolls, 1-shot spells, and that gets even more expensive real quick.
That ups it to 450 gp per Fireball. Halve both of these if he takes the appropriate crafting Feats, but it's still more expensive and more dependent on loot than a true caster (who gets these things for free in addition to his WBL, rather than AS his WBL).
Give him animal training. He can train critters level=CR. This is a non magic equivalent of familiars or animal companions. He can seem to summon a tiger that cannot be dispelled away.
I really like this idea. I think we should look at other items based talents such as staff-like wand, wand/staff caster, the potion discoverys, scroll caster, rammzir sorcerer, and even the Enhance Magic Items from mythic.
The idea of the rogue artificer/magician is a very neat concept. The whole idea of "Oh so you think that wand is useless? Well you just don't know how to treat it. Let me show you" is awesome.
I'm thinking of say incorporating the rogue magic talents as free charges to spend on items up to a certain spell per talent.
I like the idea of both talents and better archetype abilities.
@Guru: That seems more like an idea for sprucing up the Carnivalist than the Counterfeit Mage TBH.
@Onyx: I'll see if I can get a more rules heavy write up made later, see how it compares.
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I don't think most characters are going to be lucky enough to find a wand at or around level 2, at least one that most rogues might enjoy having.
Craft Wand is a 5th level feat so 5-6th level feel about right for that kind of ability.
Wand Adept is kind of a strange ability, effectively a it's a trait that you get for free. The other issue I have with it is that I don't see a wand adept having a low charisma score thematically. Not that a PC has to be built to theme but it seems odd to build the mechanics of the archetype away from that.
I think allowing the rogue to actually make wands seems a little against that theme of them being counterfeit but that's just me.
I think it's perfectly with the theme. He's a counterfeiter. They make things. In this case, bootleg spells.
Since its counterfeit they should be able to treat spells they identify with spellcraft as on their list for an hour per rogue level.
I think the two should be merged. Individually, they seem too weak to make a fun character. The Bill Bixby show The Magician would not have been cancelled if he had a tiger and could make ancient magic items work.