Enchant an Item

This is a spell which must be used by a magic-user planning to create a magic item. 

The enchant an item spell prepares the object to accept the magic to be placed upon or within it. The item to be magicked must meet the following tests: 1) it must be in sound and undamaged condition; 2) the item must be the finest possible, considering its nature, ie. crafted of the highest quality material and with the finest workmanship; and 3) its cost or value must reflect the second test, and in most cases the item must have a raw materials cost in excess of 100 g.p. With respect to requirement 3), it is not possible to apply this test to items such as ropes, leather goods, cloth, and pottery not normally embroidered, bejeweled, fooled, carved, and/or engraved; however, if such work or materials can be added to an item without weakening or harming its normal functions, these are required for the item to be magicked.

The item to be prepared must be touched manually by the spell caster. This touching must be constant and continual during the casting time which is a base 16 hours plus an additional 8-64 hours (as the magic-user may never work over 8 hours per day, and haste or any other spells will not alter time required in any way, this effectively means that casting time for this spell is 2 days + 1-8 days). All work must be uninterrupted, and during rest periods the item being enchanted must never be more than 1' distant from the spell caster, for if it is, the whole spell is spoiled and must be begun again. (Note that during rest periods absolutely no other form of magic may be performed, and the magic-user must remain quiet and in isolation.) 

At the end of the spell, the caster will. "know" that the item is ready for the final test. He or she will then pronounce the final magical syllable, and if the item makes a saving throw (which is exactly the some as that of the magic-user who magicked it) versus magic, the spell is completed. (Note that the spell caster's saving throw bonuses also apply to the item, up to but not exceeding +3.) A result of 1 on the die (d20) always results in failure, regardless of modifications. 

Once the spell is finished, the magic-user may begin to place the desired dweomer upon the item, and the spell he or she plans to place on or within the item must be cast within 24 hours or the preparatory spell fades, and the item must again be enchanted.

Each spell subsequently cast upon an object bearing an enchant an item spell requires 4 hours + 4-8 additional hours per spell level of the magic being cast. Again, during casting the item must be touched by the magic-user, and during rest periods it must always be within 1-ft of his or her person. This procedure holds true for any additional spells placed upon the item, and each successive dweomer must be begun within 24 hours of the last, even if any prior spell failed.

No magic placed on or into an item is permanent unless a permanency spell is used as a finishing touch, and this always runs a risk of draining a point of Constitution from the magic-user casting the spell. It is also necessary to point out that while it is possible to tell when the basic (enchant an item) spell succeeds, it is not possible to tell if successive castings actually take, for each must make the same sort of saving throw as the item itself made. Naturally, items that are charged—rods, staves, wands, javelins of lightning, ring of wishes, etc.—can never be made permanent. Scrolls or magic devices can never be used to enchant an item or cast magic upon an object so prepared.

The material components) for this spell vary according to both the nature of the item being magicked and successive magicks to be cast upon it. 

For example, a cloak of displacement might require the hides of 1 or more displacer beasts, a sword meant to slay dragons could require the blood and some other part of the type(s) of dragon(s) it will be effective against, and a ring of shooting stars might require pieces of meteorites and the horn of a ki-rin. These specifics, as well as other information pertaining to this spell, are known by your Dungeon Master.

When casting the permanency spell on an item, the magic-user need only roll 2 or better with d20 to avoid loss of a Constitution point. Formulae for magic items are suggested under FABRICATION OF MAGIC ITEMS (q.v.).