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Knight of the Gate
Senior Scribe
USA
624 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Jan 2011 : 15:05:51
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So I'm trying to come up with a certain type of staff for the high-level campaign I'm currently running. I don't really like the 2-3E take on staves, so much, since I've always seen them as SuperWands, basically, and not much representative of how wizard's staves are shown in fiction; I feel that they should be a 'power-multiplier' but am having trouble coming up with a game rule set which makes it a powerful item but which doesn't break the game.
The concept I have thus far is to have the staff act as a sort of 'super-spell focus', allowing it to replace spell components, or even aspects of spells. The game effect would be something like: For all spells levels 0-x (any non-epic spell) the staff can give the wielder the Eschew Materials feat; for all spells 0-6, the staff can (2x/day) allow the wielder to use the Silent spell feat (with no alteration of the spell level); for all spells 0-3rd level, the staff grants access to the Still Spell feat (2x/day) with no attendant spell level adjustment.
This basically makes it just a super-rod of metamagic, though, and isn't necessarily the 'feel' that I was looking for. Has anyone else ever used (or have ideas for using) non-standard/non-traditional magical staves in gameplay? Any and all feedback is appreciated, fellow scribes!
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How can life be so bountiful, providing such sublime rewards for mediocrity? -Umberto Ecco |
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Knight of the Gate
Senior Scribe
USA
624 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2011 : 06:30:05
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| Nothing? Ouch. I'll update if I come up with anything new. |
How can life be so bountiful, providing such sublime rewards for mediocrity? -Umberto Ecco |
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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
USA
830 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2011 : 07:02:25
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I'm not sure how well it will work for you, but definitely check out the staff familiar article in Dragon magazine (3e print run) from a few years back. I think the article was called Imbued Staff from Dragon #338. It could be a good place to start.
Otherwise, take a look at the Item Familiar alternative rule in UA. It's available in the OGL SRD. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7974 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2011 : 08:23:06
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I know the "2-3E take on staves" well, but not so much the 4E treatment.
I agree with the idea that a staff is just an oversized rod while a rod is just an oversized wand. Also that the physical size of the talisman (the rod/staff/wand/ring/amulet/etc) is an important parameter which affects capacity to store or channel magical energy. So, this logic suggests that - other factors being equal - a staff can function as a larger reservoir (hold more charges) and/or a better conduit (cast higher spell levels) than a wand. Of course the physical and magical materials and preparations in the talisman are probably more important than mere size.
1E/2E basically contradicts this logic: staves = 25 charges (8th level), rods = 50 charges, wands = 100 charges (6th level). Staves tend to be inferior to rods and wands overall, though a handful of extraordinary staves are clearly the most powerful among all these items.
As I see it, KoG, you basically want magical staff functions to:
replace material spell components (Eschew Materials)
provide a variety of minor metamagic bonuses when spellcasting (Silent Spell, Still Spell, etc)
My (not very well thought out) comments/suggestions:
Require a spellcaster takes some sort of single "Magical Staff Use" feat to be able to gain the advantages of multiple (or all) the other described feats only when using such a staff.
Require these (or other) skill/feat bonuses are not "standard" in every magical staff, only those which are created with these properties - this allows you to control access to certain feat bonuses by assigning some additional cost/difficulty in crafting them. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4430 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2011 : 10:45:06
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I've always been a big fan of the Weapons of Legacy from v3.5 so stemming from that idea, why don't you create a magical staff that gains power as you level up?
The metamagic effects of the staff can be "unlocked" by spending the appropriate amount of gold plus performing interesting rituals or doing something heroic that would help you gain it's unspent potential?
This could turn into a few interesting side quests or help in an overall story plot. What I did was allow my PC to forge his own Legacy Weapon. So I sat down with him and we figured out what the rituals would be, how much gold, and the kind of Knowledge checks would be required to find out about the weapon's history (the one he was creating at that very moment). It was a lot of fun. |
Edited by - Diffan on 01 Feb 2011 10:46:31 |
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Rhewtani
Senior Scribe
USA
508 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2011 : 14:54:01
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| Or take the pathfinder arcane focus of staff, and make yours into a runestaff and a staff. |
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Knight of the Gate
Senior Scribe
USA
624 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 23:21:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
I've always been a big fan of the Weapons of Legacy from v3.5 so stemming from that idea, why don't you create a magical staff that gains power as you level up?
The metamagic effects of the staff can be "unlocked" by spending the appropriate amount of gold plus performing interesting rituals or doing something heroic that would help you gain it's unspent potential?
This could turn into a few interesting side quests or help in an overall story plot. What I did was allow my PC to forge his own Legacy Weapon. So I sat down with him and we figured out what the rituals would be, how much gold, and the kind of Knowledge checks would be required to find out about the weapon's history (the one he was creating at that very moment). It was a lot of fun.
I thought about that, and wish I *had* done this a while ago, but we are really in the end stages of this campaign, and I don't want to give him a staff that he needs to unlock just before the BBEG fight!
Thanks for the input, guys, but I think I'm just gonna go in a different direction. |
How can life be so bountiful, providing such sublime rewards for mediocrity? -Umberto Ecco |
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Knight of the Gate
Senior Scribe
USA
624 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 23:35:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Knight of the Gate
quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
I've always been a big fan of the Weapons of Legacy from v3.5 so stemming from that idea, why don't you create a magical staff that gains power as you level up?
The metamagic effects of the staff can be "unlocked" by spending the appropriate amount of gold plus performing interesting rituals or doing something heroic that would help you gain it's unspent potential?
This could turn into a few interesting side quests or help in an overall story plot. What I did was allow my PC to forge his own Legacy Weapon. So I sat down with him and we figured out what the rituals would be, how much gold, and the kind of Knowledge checks would be required to find out about the weapon's history (the one he was creating at that very moment). It was a lot of fun.
I thought about that, and wish I *had* done this a while ago, but we are really in the end stages of this campaign, and I don't want to give him a staff that he needs to unlock just before the BBEG fight!
Thanks for the input, guys, but I think I'm just gonna go in a different direction.
Actually, on further review, the Pathfinder Item Focus might be the sort of thing I'm looking for... Hmmm. |
How can life be so bountiful, providing such sublime rewards for mediocrity? -Umberto Ecco |
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Dewaint
Learned Scribe
Germany
148 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2011 : 10:35:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Rhewtani
Or take the pathfinder arcane focus of staff, and make yours into a runestaff and a staff.
Looked for it but didn't find it ...am pretty sure I missed it ...
Wonder if you can provide a reference, it is in the core rulebook? |
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Rhewtani
Senior Scribe
USA
508 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2011 : 14:57:35
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| It's what wizards get instead of familiars. |
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Knight of the Gate
Senior Scribe
USA
624 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2011 : 16:00:53
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| You can find the rules in the Pathfinder SRD. |
How can life be so bountiful, providing such sublime rewards for mediocrity? -Umberto Ecco |
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Topic |
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Magical staff design
