Overpowered isn’t really meaningful in BW, but sorcery is very powerful. Magic items aren’t usually around in D&D-like ways, and shouldn’t be; they’ll cause stat-creep that will throw the advancement system out of whack if overused.
One of the appeals BW has, for me, is that there is NOT an overabundance of magic weapons. The Sword really drives home a perspective that magical or unique items are…magical and unique. And rare. And often, there is only one, making them sought after, which helps to drive a central component of the game: Beliefs.
The One Ring was the source of inspired decision (essentially BW Beliefs) for an entire book cast of characters, and it was one of very few Magic Items mentioned in Tolkiens works. It drove Boromir to act dishonorably, it created conflict between Frodo and Sam, and Gollum’s entire world revolved around it. There was only one ring,and it was highly coveted.
The Sword of Shanarra was a singular relic which caused strife between the brothers Shea and Flick. One relic, highly coveted.
Generally I see magic items, even wands (see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) as great devices for driving plots, and not as power tools for players. That isn’t to say this idea should be kaboshed, just that perhaps, as others have suggested, you look at how this drives the fiction through your Beliefs, rather than how your Beliefs can be used to engineer a better wand.
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For me its more like how would my character try to do things and why. Without rehashing Galens tail of woe it comes down to taking the easy way out (craft a wand to control his powers with, or return to school, admit his failure, and resume his studies. Either which way I know that he’s screwed, but it should be fun watching it play out.
One thing I have considered is adding a new die trait called “Wand Wielder” with it, the mage would gain +1D advantage when using his wand, but suffer a +1Ob disadvantage without it (these affect any and all Sorcery Type Skills) the wand would be considered to be a sorcery tool as far as price in burning and resource test are concerned. New wands that are purchased or found must be attuned to their new owner (used Perception Aptitude times) before the advantage kicks in to cancle the disadvantage. Note also that this could be used as Staff Wielder if that’s your preferred wizardry implement.
I don’t love it. +1D almost all the time is a huge, huge advantage. That had better be one hell of an expensive trait in burning.
Restricting that somehow to certain spells would go a long way towards making the trait not strike me as a powergamer’s dream come true.
What about a Call-On that could add a +1 rather than the standard tie breaker? (There are no ties in sorcery)
Another wand idea is far simpler and already in MaBu. The Ebon Wand is just a wand version of the Ebon Shunt (MaBu pg. 201) it would cost 10 resource points in character turning, add +1D to Forte when resisting tax, take two actions to draw in Fight, (or a draw wand instinct) and would shatter if mage is ever taxed into unconsciousness when using it (in hand).
There are other MaBu aritfacts, reasonably priced and powered that could just as easily be taken in wand form, but all should be looked at carefully to insure game balance within your world.
It’d be something like an 8 point trait.
For the Die Trait or the Call-On version? (I’m presuming the Die Trait as I had it in the 4-6 range, call on I was guessing 2-3 as it was loosely based on Driven) regardless of price control in burning it could still be voted on in group so I think that pretty much kills the trait idea as it could be too potentially unbalanced. That takes me back to reasonable limits on wands then.
Making your own seems the right way to do it, and you would think that the enchanting chapter obstacles would keep things in check.
Enchanting is already a long process that requires specific use of dificult materials that in turn require resource tests and possible quests to aquire. A wizard must be able to support himself while working on his wand (lifestyle maintenance), and even after all of the preparation he could still fail and cause a complication. Sounds like burning wheel stuff to me, just have to keep it from becoming too powerful, maybe by following the advice for family heirlooms regarding appropriate effects? (Keeping in mind that some things become even more potent as a wand or staff, some become less as a wand must be held)
Actually, a Dt for an extra die on a per session basis or a Call-On-esque Dt for succeeding once on a roll one short of the spell’s base Ob seems reasonable to me. Reasonable without a wand, and if you want to reward wand use then it’s reasonable to make the trait only function with a wand in hand.
I thought that just as “Driven” is a tie breaker C-O that is attached to one of your beliefs, “Wand Wielder” could be a +1 C-O that is dependent on using a wand.
Sure, but sorcery doesn’t really have ties. The rolls are almost never versus. The closest thing is coming up one short of the Ob.
Initially I was trying to say that it shouldn’t give +1 if you’re going for extra effect, just +1 to get you to the minimum threshold. But hey, why not?
Actually, I was meaning for it to make up for the one short of obstacle situation because of the no tie in sorcery thing, not as a generic +1. After all, this would work with any wand a mage might have or find and as such could quickly get out of hand. (you know, once per session) it may be better to switch it over to a reroll instead of a situational +1, less jury rigging that way.