I'm putting together some rules for the creation of magic items beyond the Scrolls and Foci already established. I'm having some serious thoughts about whether or not to just dump Wands completely. In a way, Foci take the place of Wands. Having a focus that shoots 1 spell per day (or 3 times per day if you made it yourself, or took it from someone who's still alive) eliminates the need for having a battery of 20 charges or so.
There's also the question of balancing Wands vs. Scrolls. If a scroll of fireball costs 350gp and 3 weeks to make, a 20-charge wand should be more expensive and require longer time, since it is more convenient to use the wand (no spell spoilage, whereas you can spoil a scroll casting) and it is less cumbersome than fishing out 20 scrolls. So, it would be at least 7000gp, and 60 weeks (but more likely, say 10,000gp and 70 weeks). It's a nice money-sink, but I don't see too many mages taking a year and a half out of play for a fireball wand. Maybe I'm wrong.
A fireball focus, would be 3 weeks and 300gp, but the bigger sacrifice would be the loss of a spell slot and the permanent disability on losing the focus.
I just think that the Focus slips nicely into the space that wands had in the magic-user utility realm, and they should be more justifiably ubiquitous. And, there's nothing that says that a Focus can't look like a wand.
The special staffs and rods can still be used, just treated as Misc. Magic Items.
You could make wands rechargeable. Like, say, if somebody had the spell/process, it would require them to spend time, money, and spell points to recharge the wand. That might make somebody think about paying an NPC (or apprentice) to build a wand for them.
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