Re: wishes & helms

> Try looking at the magical item creation rules once again.  You will
> find that a wizard does not need to be 16th level to enchant items.
> According to the Tome of Magic, and PO:SM, the permanency spell is not
> necessary to enchant an item if it uses charges

Yeah, I know. But helms don't.

> or if the spell is
> permanent anyways.  That way, creating a communication helm or something
> else of that matter <see the Tarkas Brain Lab IV, a truely excellent
> page> only takes a level 9 wizard.

I wasn't aware of this fact--not needing permanency on certain spells. I
don't know anything about communication helms, unless you mean a Helm of
Comprehending Languages (not a SJ helm)--in which case, I don't see why a
Permanency would not be required, since Comprehend Languages does not have
a permanent duration. Neither do the Helm spells, of course. And remember
the near-artifact status of helms, as well as the reference in the
original boxed set which states that helms may be created by "very
high-level wizards." (Conflicting, incidentally, with the claim elsewhere
in the set that the Arcane are the only source for first-hand helms. I
tend to go by this, because I like the conspiracy/mystery element.) Maybe
you would let a wizard create a helm at lower than 16th level, but I don't
expect it would be _too_ much before 16th.


> Also, there is a lower version of
> the spell, Semipermanency <see the Wizard's Spell Compendium, volume 3>

Yes, originally from Dragon Kings. I love this spell--for personal
enchantments, I as a wizard would much prefer it to Permanency, since you
don't lose a point of constitution. The duration is a bit erratic
(level -1d20 years), and it's rather pricey (100 gp? In SJ terms, 10,000
gp), but all in all I think it's a terrific enchantment.

> which is only sixth level and lasts for years (possibly).  Creating a
> helm with the permanency spell might be higher level required, but not
> always.

It's also worth considering the existnence of a more specialized
Permanency spell--i.e. one that can make one specific spell permanent,
instead of the range of options of the original Permanency. At most 7th
level, possibly of 6th--and of course, variant spell-research systems may
adjust this further.

Hemlock