The Creation of Magical items and the increase of DC

Question

In my Campaign a question is consistently brought up:

Note that all items have prerequisites in their descriptions. These prerequisites must be met for the item to be created. Most of the time, they take the form of spells that must be known by the item's creator (although access through another magic item or spellcaster is allowed). The DC to create a magic item increases by 5 for each prerequisite the caster does not meet. The only exception to this is the requisite item creation feat, which is mandatory. In addition, you cannot create potions, spell-trigger, or spell-completion magic items without meeting its prerequisites.

1. Does this mean I can create an item without being able to cast the necessary spells by increasing the DC Accordingly?

In a more Plastic Example:

Would a level 8-9 Bard be capable of Crafting Ring of Gates by increasing the DC to 32?

The DC for creating an item is the CL + 5, and then an additional 5 for every Qualification you don't meet. So you'd be looking at a 27 (17 + 5 + 5 for not meeting the CL), then another 5 because you can't cast gate. So 32 total.

This leads to more Questions:

2. Can the same Bard create an Item that enables him to use "Detect Evil", considering he is unable to cast or provide this spell by other means? Of course, he'd still be increasing the DC for making the item in the process again.

2 a) Can the bard bring in assistance by other spellcasters to provide the necessary spells, thus avoiding the increase of the DC?

3. Considering that every item has a caster level, does the creator have to be that caster level to create the item in the first place?

In the case of the Ring of Gates, would that mean a character has to be Level 17 (in case the caster level is identical with the character level) to create it? Or does he only need to meet the appropriate caster level to cast the necessary spells needed for the item?

I apologize if there are mistakes in the grammar and spelling. English is not my First Language.

Thank you in advance for your time and help, its highly appreciated.

Answer 1

1) Yes, you can.

The only exception are:

• Metamagic feats, you need the proper feat to craft each type of item.
• Spell Completion items, you need to know the spell to write a scroll.
• Spell Trigger, you need to know the spell contained in the wand or staff.

Everything else you can simply increase the DC by 5 points per requirement missing. Using your example, the Ring of Gate has a normal DC of 27 (10 + item's caster level, 17), if you know the gate spell. If you don't know the spell, or if you cant pay for someone to cast it every day spent crafting it, then you must increase the DC to 32.

2) You don't have to provide all requirements by yourself, you can get help from others. Example: a cleric could craft a Wings of Flying with the help of a wizard. But everyone helping you must be present every day spent crafting the item, otherwise the process must be started again.

That said, yes you can make any item, even if you don't meet the requirements, the increased DC means you have to take different approaches, research a different ingredient to replace the missing spell and stuff like that.

3) No, the caster level is the default DC for every item, it is also used to roll saving throws for unattended magic items, and to define the spellcraft DC to identify them (15+CL). To craft a Ring of Gate, all you need is enough spell ranks to beat the DC 32 check and have the Craft Wondrous Item feat.