Any character with the spellcasting feature can craft a wand, staff, orb, ring, tome, or other spell focus. The base material used from this item can be crafted using appropriate tools (such as
Carpenter's Tools for a wand, or
Jeweler's Tools for a ring), or by buying the materials at a market. Once you have access to the materials, you must then choose the rarity of the spell focus you're attempting to craft, from common, uncommon, rare, very rare, or legendary. You then choose what magic bonus you wish the item to have: +2, +1, or none. The item rarity determines its component cost, crafting time, maximum number of spells it can have, maximum spell level, and maximum amount of charges the item can hold (as described in the table below). The magic bonus grants the items wielder a bonus to spell attack rolls, and their spell save DC equal to the listed bonus, but increases the component cost for crafting the item, and has a minimum level requirement. The level requirement only considers spellcasting classes, with half-caster levels counting for half a level (rounded down). Reference the following charts:
| Staff/Wand Rarity | Component Cost | Crafting time | Max Spells | Max Spell Level | Max Charges |
|---|
| Common |
250 gp |
2 Long Rests / 16 Hours |
2 |
2nd |
3 |
| Uncommon |
750 gp |
1 Week / 5 Long Rests / 40 Hours |
3 |
3rd |
5 |
| Rare |
2,000 gp |
2 Weeks / 10 Long Rests / 80 Hours |
4 |
5th |
7 |
| Very Rare |
5,000 gp |
1 Month / 25 Long Rests / 200 Hours |
5 |
7th |
10 |
| Legendary |
20,000 gp |
3 Months / 75 Long Rests / 600 Hours |
6 |
9th |
15 |
| Magic Bonus | Additional Component Cost | Minimum Level Requirements |
|---|
| +0 |
None |
None |
| +1 |
500 gp |
5 levels in spellcasting classes |
| +2 |
5,000 gp |
10 levels in spellcasting classes |
Spell focuses require unique, rare, and high quality materials. These include special kinds of wood, crystal, stone, or metal that act as the base structure of the item. The base material is then embellished in a manner that the crafter chooses, perhaps using exotic plants, engraved runes, or religious symbols. The cost of these materials are represented by the items Component Cost, and in order to craft the item it is presumed that the character has access to the exotic materials required by the Component Cost (either on hand, or to buy at a vendor). If the crafter has the appropriate materials on hand, using those materials can reduce the Component Cost of the spell focus. At higher item rarities (rare, very rare, and legendary) the availability and uniqueness of the required components may become exponentially rare, and possibly unavailable to purchase even at the largest markets.
To imbue the item with spells, they must be spells you know. You may collaborate with other arcanists to imbue the item with spells not known to you, or you may procure and expend one or more spell scrolls in the process of crafting the item to imbue it with their spells (the cost of the spell scrolls used are not included in the Component Cost of crafting the item). With DM discretion, you may be able to repurpose magic from items or sources in the world to imbue spells that relate to those magic sources. Spells you imbue into the item must be of a spell level that you can cast. To cast these imbued spells from the item, you must expend the items charges. The amount of charges you must spend to cast the spell depends upon the spells level, with the amount of charges for each spell level as described in the following chart:
| Spell Level | Equivalent Charges |
|---|
| 1st |
2 |
| 2nd |
3 |
| 3rd |
5 |
| 4th |
6 |
| 5th |
7 |
| 6th |
9 |
| 7th |
10 |
| 8th |
11 |
| 9th |
13 |
The items spell charges do not naturally recover. The item must be imbued with power in order for it to regain charges. To do so, you may spend an action while holding the item to expend any amount of spell slots available to you, channeling their energy into the item. When doing so, your spell slots restore charges per spell level as described in the above chart. Other equivalent sources of magical energy can be used to restore charges to the item, such as any source of
Aether.
Instead of (or in addition to) imbuing the item with spells, you may wish to grant it unique powers. These features may mimic those of another item, a class feature, a spell, or be of your own creation. When adding such features to an item, you utilize item charges to enact the feature, either through spending item charges to use the feature, or by lowering the maximum amount of charges the item has to counter-balance the added power the feature brings. This is done in collaboration with the DM, though the above table is useful as a guideline of charge-to-power ratios.
