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Chrizzt
2009-08-21, 06:32 AM
Hello Folks!

As I am not so much adept at the field of magic items existing in D&D, I would like to tap the knowledge of the community concerning this field : )

I am looking for a flavorful, magical staff for a wizard character. The staff explicitly does not need to be powerful, but flavorful and handy. It is expected to work as a tool and sign of profession.

I have already had a look at the Staff Familiar that is described in Dragon Magazine #338, p.54 ("Staffs of the Magi").

But I have several problems with this staff system that is described there. First of all, it's instead of a familiar (which I have already traded for the Specialist Abilities of PHB2). The Feat Obtain Familiar would probably give me still access to such a "Staffs of the Magi"-Staff, but first I don't want to spend a feat for this and second the staffs that you obtain via that are heavily combat focused (staff gets many enhancements like thundering, you can deliver touch spells with it via hitting, etc.; while some abilities are flavorful as well like its ability to teleport into your hand or simply to cast a flickering light thrice per day...). Oh, and if your staff is ever broken, you loose up to 500 XP per level. Hence, while interesting, those Familiar Staffs are not what I am desiring.

Classical charge draining staffs crafted via Craft-Staff are too expensive for me and I loathe the concept of charge draining items. Rune Staffs as described in the Magic Item Compendium tap your own power, however, I am looking for a staff that has its own magic abilites.

I am more looking for a type of staff that can be used as a meele weapon if necessity occurs (not effectivily, just for the protocol) and that has small, nice, non-powerful (though I am happy to hear powerful suggestions as well) enchantments like the ability to cast light a few or even unlimited times per day, or other cantrip like spells.

Again, not the power, but the flavor is important.

Of course, a "real" Staff of the Magi would fit perfectly (though its powerful), but unfortunately no artifacts are available to me.

The following item would be nice, for example:
A quarterstaff +1 that can shed and revoke light as per the light spell at will and prestidigitation once per day.

If someone has by chance read over an item similar to the one above (meele weapon (ideally) and has handy uses [like unlimited uses of Light per day]), please spend a minute describing it here and in which book it can be found.

Thank you in Advance!

Eldan
2009-08-21, 06:54 AM
As a baseline that is nevertheless interesting, perhaps start with something akin to the following (it's a selfmade item, but a more or less legal one)

The Apprentice's Staff

This masterwork quarterstaff allows the user to cast the spell prestidigitation at will with a command word.

Price: 1200 GP.
Faint Universal, CL1,



Later you can just enchant it to give you more spells. (Price is MW quarterstuff 300 + unlimited prestidigitation 900. Every other 0-level spell at will is 1350 GP more, or less if you do charges. Higher-level spells cost more)

I'd add mage hand and light, if I were you, depending on your budget. Useful abilities later are perhaps a weapon enchantment like flaming if you want to fight with it, maybe defending if it should, well, defend you in combat, spell-storing to cast your spells through it, or more powerful spells.

Chrizzt
2009-08-21, 06:57 AM
@Eldan

Just as i pressed the button to submit my further explication of my wishes concerning the staff, i saw your kind reply.

That prestidigitation staff is a nice idea. Are you sure the price is just 1200 GP? It seems a little bit cheap. The staff itself only counts as masterwork for a weapon, right?

Eldan
2009-08-21, 07:00 AM
Well, there are rules (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm) for that here. Theoretically, I enchanted the quarterstaff as a wondrous item, not a magical weapon, and that might technically not be entirely legal, but since the spell doesn't really affect it's function as a weapon, at least I would allow it as a DM.

For a level 0 spell at command word, the price is caster level (1)*spell level (1/2)*1800=900, so that should be correct. If you reduced it to 3 charges a day (and you'll rarely need more than three prestidigitations a day, I'd say), the cost would go down to 840 GP, by the way

kamikasei
2009-08-21, 07:01 AM
The SRD contains guidelines for adding the ability to cast a spell some number of times per day or the like to an existing item. You could simply do as Eldan has done and make a quarterstaff which has some spells on it.

A +1 quarterstaff is 2000gp; adding a cantrip to it as a command-word-activated, unlimited-use ability is 900gp, or 1350gp as they're multiple abilities being added to an existing item. You could restrict these extra abilities to arcane casters only to discount them by 30%. Lastly, bear in mind that all of these are guidelines and depend on the balance of the spell system itself, which is nonexistent, so you should certainly look at the abilities of the resulting item and adjust the price accordingly.

Jarazix
2009-08-21, 07:01 AM
Well seeing as its a 0th level spell and its probably a caster level of 1-3 I can see it being dirt cheap



@Eldan

Just as i pressed the button to submit my further explication of my wishes concerning the staff, i saw your kind reply.

That prestidigitation staff is a nice idea. Are you sure the price is just 1200 GP? It seems a little bit cheap. The staff itself only counts as masterwork for a weapon, right?

Chrizzt
2009-08-21, 07:04 AM
A Staff with Prestidigitation, Light and Magehand seems quite nice to me.

But, as far as I remember a masterwork staff costs 600 GP as its a double weapon, right? I already had once a look at those creation rules, but I think I have to read them again in further depth. The rules for adding powers are still a little bit confusing for me.

Is it cheaper to create a Staff that has already all those enchantments or to add them one by one later?

Edit:
As a quarterstaff is a double weapon, the 2000 GP +1 enhancement only applies to one head. For spells that affect magic items only, how would this staff be affected?

Edit2:
My Wizard has barred Evocation as a school, how does this mettle with command-word activated abilities, for example the light spell?

kamikasei
2009-08-21, 07:22 AM
Is it cheaper to create a Staff that has already all those enchantments or to add them one by one later?

There's no difference.


As a quarterstaff is a double weapon, the 2000 GP +1 enhancement only applies to one head. For spells that affect magic items only, how would this staff be affected?

You mean spells like magic weapon, flame weapon and the like? I think they would affect both ends, though I can't find an explicit statement to that effect at a quick search.

I'd forgotten that quarterstaves are double weapons; to be honest I'd be perfectly happy to let them be single weapons for this purpose.


My Wizard has barred Evocation as a school, how does this mettle with command-word activated abilities, for example the light spell?

Not at all. Anyone can use a command-word activated ability, it's only things like spell trigger or spell completion that require having the spell on your list or using UMD.

AslanCross
2009-08-21, 07:42 AM
...and here I was about to suggest a staff with at-will prestidigitation and horrible taste, called the Staff of Many Flavors.

Eldan
2009-08-21, 07:46 AM
Sorry, my gnome artificer already did something like that once...

Findelwald's Flavourful Saltshaker. It just cast the "flavour change" part of prestidigitation when shook over a meal.

Chrizzt
2009-08-21, 08:50 AM
Thank you all for your kind replies so far. I'm starting to get enthusiastic about this whole staff stuff.

Due to your helpful input, I have come up with further questions.

1. What kind of material would you suggest as the base material? Darkwood seems quite cheap and the staff would only weight half as much. As my character has little strength, that seems feasible.

2. I still don't quite get it how costs for similar abilities are calculated. Instead of "command word activated" however, I will choose "use-activated or continous". I like activating items mentally, and at such low caster and spell levels those 200 GP difference don't matter much. I can spend several thousand GP.

As far as I understand, a 0. Level Spell use-activated or continous at will will cost 1000 GP if its the first enchantment, or 1500 if there is already one.

What if I choose Greater Mage Hand (Lvl 1) instead of Mage Hand?

The First Enchantment for Light at Will costs 1000 GP (Lvl 0 = 1/2 and Caster Lvl 1)

Then, when adding Greater MageHand, does it cost 2000 GP (Lvl 1 and CL 1) or 3000 GP (Lvl 1 Spell and CL 1, PLUS 50% because there are previous enchantments)?

3. The Point about Quarterstaff being a double weapon still concerns me. If, in addition to the cantrip and spell enchantments, I desire to give the staff a +1 enchantment, can I choose to apply the +1 bonus ONLY to one end of the weapon, or MUST I apply it to both, hence doubling the cost from 2000 to 4000 GP? Of course, if I could choose I would only enchant one end, as my mage is not of the dual-wielding type.

4. Supposed there is a spell that could destroy nonmagical weapons with a word (not sure if something is even around), and I do not give my staff the +1 enchantment, but others like Light, would it be a viable target? As a weapon, it would not be magical as it has only masterwork quality without +1 enhancement, as an ITEM however, it clearly has a magical aura.

I apologise for so many questions, but this is gonna be the first custom Item my wizard (who is already around for some years) will craft, hence I am not familiar with the rules.

Emy
2009-08-21, 09:10 AM
Weapons of Legacy sounds like pretty much exactly what you're looking for, honestly.

Here's an excerpt (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050701a&page=1) that shows sorta how they work. There are a ton of tables in the book itself that are intended for the creation of custom legacy items.

Eloel
2009-08-21, 09:18 AM
Staff of Usual Deeds
Can cast any cantrip at-will. Also functions as a Masterwork Quarterstaff.

33900gp

For an actual list of spells it can cast;
Acid Splash
Amanuensis
Arcane Mark
Caltrops
Dancing Lights
Daze
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Disrupt Undead
Electric Jolt
Flare
Ghost Sound
Launch Bolt
Launch Item
Light
Mage Hand
Mending
Message
Open/Close
Prestidigitation
Ray of Frost
Read Magic
Repair Minor Damage
Resistance
Touch of Fatigue

Glimbur
2009-08-21, 09:28 AM
Get a candy cane and cast Enlarge on it.

Dragon Elite
2009-08-21, 09:55 AM
I like the prestidigitation+mage hand+light idea. It would help a lot, a lot.

PairO'Dice Lost
2009-08-21, 10:39 AM
1. What kind of material would you suggest as the base material? Darkwood seems quite cheap and the staff would only weight half as much. As my character has little strength, that seems feasible.

Probably a good idea.


2. I still don't quite get it how costs for similar abilities are calculated. Instead of "command word activated" however, I will choose "use-activated or continous". I like activating items mentally, and at such low caster and spell levels those 200 GP difference don't matter much. I can spend several thousand GP.

"Use-activated" doesn't mean activate mentally, it means you need to use it in some way--swing a sword, drink a potion, etc.


3. The Point about Quarterstaff being a double weapon still concerns me. If, in addition to the cantrip and spell enchantments, I desire to give the staff a +1 enchantment, can I choose to apply the +1 bonus ONLY to one end of the weapon, or MUST I apply it to both, hence doubling the cost from 2000 to 4000 GP? Of course, if I could choose I would only enchant one end, as my mage is not of the dual-wielding type.

You don't need both; they're enchanted entirely separately.


4. Supposed there is a spell that could destroy nonmagical weapons with a word (not sure if something is even around), and I do not give my staff the +1 enchantment, but others like Light, would it be a viable target? As a weapon, it would not be magical as it has only masterwork quality without +1 enhancement, as an ITEM however, it clearly has a magical aura.

The shatter sell destroys nonmagical items, so if your staff has any magical properties at all, it can't be targeted.


I apologise for so many questions, but this is gonna be the first custom Item my wizard (who is already around for some years) will craft, hence I am not familiar with the rules.

Glad to help. I can't help much with the costing part, since I usually DM and so my custom items are mostly one-of-a-kind curiosities that I don't price out, but someone here should be able to help with that.

ericgrau
2009-08-21, 01:32 PM
Pick cool spells that you might not use everyday and/or might want to cast 10 times in a row. On my current character I may pick up a staff of fire for my battlefield control caster, as a backup damage option. Plus he likes a lot of ice conjuration and what not, has a silver dragon (cold) background, etc., so it'd cool to be casting ice spells in one hand while wielding a fire staff in the other.

Here are the rules for creating a staff: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#creatingStaffs
If you don't have the proper item creation feat, you'll need to pay an NPC full market price to make it. It takes 1 day to craft per 1,000 gp of market price. The guidelines are somewhat different from the more general guidelines everyone else is quoting. Just use this link. And you don't need to enchant the staff as a weapon at all.

Cute_Riolu
2009-08-21, 09:28 PM
Pick cool spells that you might not use everyday and/or might want to cast 10 times in a row. On my current character I may pick up a staff of fire for my battlefield control caster, as a backup damage option. Plus he likes a lot of ice conjuration and what not, has a silver dragon (cold) background, etc., so it'd cool to be casting ice spells in one hand while wielding a fire staff in the other.

Here are the rules for creating a staff: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#creatingStaffs
If you don't have the proper item creation feat, you'll need to pay an NPC full market price to make it. It takes 1 day to craft per 1,000 gp of market price. The guidelines are somewhat different from the more general guidelines everyone else is quoting. Just use this link. And you don't need to enchant the staff as a weapon at all.

...I hate to sound snappish, but did you actually read the OP? :P

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-08-21, 11:32 PM
As a completely different direction from the OP, might I suggest talking to your DM about making your staff into a spellbook, a la Merlin? It would be flavorful and magical-seeming, without costing anything extra. Just have it follow the normal rules for spellbooks, make it masterwork, and you've got a unique thing.

Fizban
2009-08-21, 11:42 PM
Didn't have any ideas before but I've got one now. You said you like the runestaves but not that they don't have their own power, so I'd give them their own power. Add the cost of a few pearls of power to the staff and instead of using the pearls effect to recover one of your spells cast, use it to cast a spell from the staff. The pearl is usually more versatile so you're losing net value, so there shouldn't be a problem

As for adding cantrips at will, that's always a good thing. Just remember that they're still cantrips, so don't go overboard. Sure being able to cast half the list at will is nice, but when the total cost approaches that of items which make a difference in combat, you should back off a little.

Cieyrin
2009-08-22, 12:47 AM
Of course, a "real" Staff of the Magi would fit perfectly (though its powerful), but unfortunately no artifacts are available to me.

...Y'know, I just so happened to price out the Staff of the Magi a couple weeks back (mostly b/c i was bored and/or curious to see what it would cost) and it's honestly not that expensive as epic items mimicking minor artifacts go. You could have one of your own from your local Red Wizard Magic Market for the low, low price of 712,813 gp! Ask about their financing options and perhaps you too could be striding down the street with a brand new Staff of the Magi: Red Wizard Edition!:smallbiggrin:

Chrizzt
2009-08-22, 04:59 AM
@all:
Thank you lads and lasses. There have been really great suggestions coming along! I'm happy to see so much input and interest in that topic.

@PairO'Dice Lost
Thanks for answering my specifical questions! I'm happy with the outcome.

@Sstoopidtallkid
Heck, thats a great idea too. Perhaps I will enchant my spellbook with a few spell 1 / day or the like. That really sounds interesting. It's difficult to decide for me now, what to enchant. But since the next time we are playing is still a few weeks in the future, I have still time to decide.

@Fizban
Whew, pearls of power are still a little bit expensive for me, but apart from that thats a nice suggestion.

If one could merge your suggestion with that of Sstoopidtallkid (combine a spellbook with pearls of powers) you could actually "cast" spells from your spellbook. Sounds really nice.

@Cieyrin
Whew... perhabs if I have some more coins left to spend : )

paddyfool
2009-08-22, 06:11 AM
A note as regards light: you can use it as a command word, but I don't think you can craft it into the staff yourself if it's forbidden.

Incidentally, if you found someone you could hire to do the crafting, you could give yourself access to non-Wizard cantrips if you liked this way, such as cure minor wounds. This one would enable you not only to stabilise people on negative hp, but would also enable healing between encounters at 1 hp to one party member per round. The DM might object, however, particularly to the latter usage; only taking the 3/day version for emergency stabilisations might be more politic.

On the whole, this sounds like a nice, fun item. Enjoy!

Doc Roc
2009-08-22, 08:34 AM
There is a relic item (I seem to remember it's a relic item, anyway) in the MiC called the rod of reversal, which is basically a Staff Of Saying No, Lesser.

Cieyrin
2009-08-22, 09:12 AM
A note as regards light: you can use it as a command word, but I don't think you can craft it into the staff yourself if it's forbidden.

Incidentally, if you found someone you could hire to do the crafting, you could give yourself access to non-Wizard cantrips if you liked this way, such as cure minor wounds. This one would enable you not only to stabilize people on negative hp, but would also enable healing between encounters at 1 hp to one party member per round. The DM might object, however, particularly to the latter usage; only taking the 3/day version for emergency stabilizations might be more politic.

On the whole, this sounds like a nice, fun item. Enjoy!

Sure, your staff could have cure minor wounds as at-will ability but that'd be a horrendously slow way of healing. Very 4E-esque, to boot, though I suppose you can accomplish similar things by using the reserve point system (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/reservePoints.htm). I'd actually rather go for an at-will cure light wounds, costing only about 10,000 gp, if we wanted to maximize healing for CLW. Either way would probably piss off a DM, though it's perhaps appropriate if the party doesn't have a dedicated healbot, either.

@Chrizzt: The staff is totally within reach of you in non-epic levels if going by WBL, though you'd have to sell everything and practically spend it all on the staff at ECL 20, leaving you some 40k for everything else. Not exactly balanced and probably a bit much for a single item, so it'd be more appropriate sometime around 27th to be able to acquire one, when it's around a 1/5th of your Wealth at that level.