Pricing the Wand of Wonder

Has anyone worked out the formula to give a price to a Wand of Wonder?

As far as I know, ACKS doesn't have official stats for a Wand of Wonder, so it would depend on the particular variant of the one you were using.

Off the top of my head I would probably estimate something around a hundred thousand.

I suppose the truly ACKS method of calculating the cost would be to create every spell in the Wand of the Wonder and then calculate how much it would cost for one charge, multiply cost of each of those spells by the percentage chance of the effect occuring, and sum the total. Then multiply by 20 charges.

So for instance, a dumbed down Wand of Wonder:

1 Confusion (L4)

2 Fireball (L3)

3 Glitterdust (L2)

4 Ventriloquism (L1)

500, 1000, 1500, and 2500. 25% chance of each, so 125 + 250 + 375 + 625 = 1375gp. x 20 = 27,500gp

But the actual amount will vary depending on what the wand can do....

 

[quote="Alex"]

I suppose the truly ACKS method of calculating the cost would be to create every spell in the Wand of the Wonder and then calculate how much it would cost for one charge, multiply cost of each of those spells by the percentage chance of the effect occuring, and sum the total. Then multiply by 20 charges.

So for instance, a dumbed down Wand of Wonder:

1 Confusion (L4)

2 Fireball (L3)

3 Glitterdust (L2)

4 Ventriloquism (L1)

500, 1000, 1500, and 2500. 25% chance of each, so 125 + 250 + 375 + 625 = 1375gp. x 20 = 27,500gp

But the actual amount will vary depending on what the wand can do....

 

[/quote]

I’d apply a 90% reduction due to random effect.

Hmmm. If it were fully priced it would be full price for the most expensive spell effect and then 1/2 for each other spell effect. So 1/10th seems too little to me. A wand of wonder is worth more than 2,750gp. If it was that cheap, they'd be very common. You'd see suicide bomber units armed with them.

 

A wand of wonder seems more like the result of a research mishap than something one would create on purpose.

[quote="James C. Bennett"]

A wand of wonder seems more like the result of a research mishap than something one would create on purpose.

[/quote]

 

 

I agree. It’s hard to see a Wand or Wonder being a purposeful development by most arcanist, though I can see a god of whimsically natured chaos causing these to be created.