Recharge#

(Conjuration/Summoning) Level: MU 4 / IL 6
Range: Touch
Area of Effect: 1 rod, staff or wand
\columnbreak Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 6 turns
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 turn + 1 round/level

This spell acts as a funnel that draws upon spells to charge rods, staves, and wands that have spell-like powers. Throughout the duration of this spell, the spells that are cast at the wand are absorbed as charges rather than affecting the wand. For each spell cast, the wand regains a number of charges equal to the number of charges it takes to employ that power through the wand. The wand in question must be held by the spell-caster casting the recharge spell and the subsequent charging spells. Those wands that cannot be recharged are not affected by this spell.

Note that illusionists cannot recharge wands that they cannot use (see the Player’s Handbook, page 26, and note the wands usable by ‘any’ class in the Dungeon Masters Guide, page 122). Wands that can also be used by clerics or druids must be recharged using other means, as described earlier in this article.

A spell that does not resemble one of the powers of the wand is not absorbed. Instead, it affects the wand and dispels the recharge spell. Similarly, if the wand is recharged up to the point where the number of charges currently in the item is greater than the original number of charges, the spell also affects the wand and dispels the recharge spell. The sole exception to this case comes in overcharging a staff of power, which explodes in the same manner as if a retributive strike was made by that staff. Spells cannot be placed into the wand by anyone other than the spell-caster holding the wand and casting the recharge spell; such spells affect the wand (and everyone nearby) and dispel the recharge spell.

Fortunately, each time this spell is cast over a wand, the caster gains a relative idea of how many charges may be placed within the wand before it is fully charged. Roll 1d6. On a roll of 1-2, the spell-caster believes the actual number of charges the wand can still receive is 1-4 below the actual number. On a roll of 3-4, the spellcaster knows the exact number of charges that can still be added. On a roll of 5-6, the spell-caster believes the number of charges that can be added is 1-4 above the actual number (the most dangerous situation, of course).

The material components of this spell are a cubic inch of the basic material from which the wand was fabricated (iron, silver, oak, etc.) and a sapphire through which the spell is focused. The command word of the wand must also be known in order to cast this spell. Of course, material components needed for casting the spells to fill the wand must also be on hand.

In order to avoid confusion when using this spell, a table of the rods, staves, and wands from the DMG that may be recharged, and the spells that recharge them, is provided. Note that the recharge spell turns spells into ‘charge energy’; the spells are not stored in the wand as actual spells. Thus, if a player casts five fireball spells to charge a wand of fire, he has added 10 charges to the wand, not 10 charges that can only be discharged as fireballs from the wand.

Since many of the wands can be recharged by more than one spell, magic users will probably want to recharge wands with spells having the lowest level or the shortest duration. They also might want to use extra spells from scrolls, \magic{rings of spell storing}, Rary’s mnemonic enhancer, and similar spell sources.

Spells Used in Recharging Wands, Staves, and Rods for Magic-Users and Illusionists