[D&D] How to make quarterstaff not suck?

[The Shadowdove]

Ah the quarterstaff... A beefier walking stick .

One of our group doesn't want to go at it without a common weapon, as fun as it is. So, he picked quarterstaff over all of the other monk weapons. I guess it's something he's fancied for a while.

So, here we are, trying to figure out how to make the giant stick do more cool stuff.

1) What kind of feats are there to improve this weapon? There's gotta be something.

2) What kind of enchantments are expected on such a weapon?

3) are there any classes or orders who focus on this weapon?

4) what kind of fun actions can you use it for?

5) are there any cool quarterstaffs that already exist?

-All published books are up for grabs

Thanks in advance for taking the time to share your superior booksmarts and experience!

Have fun turning this into a 'best quarterstaff' mash up.

Much appreciated ,

-Dove

[hemming]

4 & 5 = I forget what edition it last saw the light of day in (2nd?), but there used to be a quarterstaff sling

-this doesn't look so great, but your character now has ranged and melee options without switching weapons

-use alchemical ammo in the sling - enchant the sling - who cares about base damage

[Clistenes]

Pick the Insightful Strike Intuitive Attack feat, that allows good characters to add their Wisdom Bonus to attack instead of their Strength Bonus when using a Simple weapon, then pump your wisdom to the stratosphere, which would also benefit your AC.

The quarterstaff is the only two-handed Simple Monk weapon, so is your best weapon for combining Insightful Strike and Power Attack.

[The Shadowdove]

Pick the Insightful Strike feat, that allows good characters to add their Wisdom Bonus to attack instead of their Strength Bonus when using a Simple weapon, then pump your wisdom to the stratosphere, which would also benefit your AC.

The quarterstaff is the only two-handed Simple Monk weapon, so is your best weapon for combining Insightful Strike and Power Attack.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Insightful_Strike_(3.5e_Feat)

What is this "edge" that it mentions at level 1?

Also, this feat scales with attack bonus.

Monks have crappy base attack bonus...

Are there any variants in the books that give monks fighter Bab?

[Alcibiades]

I think that feat is homebrew so I'm not sure that has a place in this thread.
The Intuitive Attack feat from BoED lets you add Wis to attack rolls with simple weapons.

Has your friend considered being a swordsage (ToB) instead of a monk?

[Der_DWSage]

Aye-though DanDwiki has been shaping up as of late, it's still wise not to use it.

Instead, try {Scrubbed} It doesn't have absolutely everything, but it has a heck of a lot.

[Know(Nothing)]

As far as spells for your staff(if spell-loading your staff is viable) you have a fair amount of choices. Some of these stack, some overlap, but I don't know what you have access to:

-Shillelagh
-Brambles, then later, Spikes
-Entangling Staff
-Might Wallop/Greater

[sleepyphoenixx]

Druids have a couple of spells that improve quarterstaff damage.
Shillelagh and Brambles/Spikes are useful. If you have a wizard in the party or go into Arcane Hierophant you can also use Greater Mighty Wallop since it's a blunt weapon.

A level of Shiba Protector (OA) adds your Wisdom to hit and damage. It's a little feat intensive but Alertness and Iron Will can be easily be gotten as bonus feats.
Since you want to focus on quarterstaff use you can trade wild shape for Wisdom to AC and some other stuff (UA).
It's a little weaker than wild shape but cuts down on bookkeeping a lot (and druids can afford the power loss, easily).
There are a few quarterstaff-specific feats but they are all pretty weak and usually not worth spending a feat slot on.

There's a few decent melee staves in MIC and MoF iirc.

[Clistenes]

I think that feat is homebrew so I'm not sure that has a place in this thread.
The Intuitive Attack feat from BoED lets you add Wis to attack rolls with simple weapons.

Yes, I meant Intuitive Attack; I got both feats mixed (the names are similar).

[Andezzar]

The problem is not the quarterstaff, even though it does less damage than any other two-handed weapon, but that is what you get for a free weapon. The problem is the monk.

[Azoth]

You can put a wand chamber into each end of it for quick access to wands you want to use. Though as a monk...good luck getting UMD.

Being that it is a double weapon it is easier to customize it for some things by making it cheaper to do so. +1 Warning/+1 eager is +7 initiative for only 16k. A +1 warning eager weapon is usually 18k. While getting both ends to a total +10 enchantment is considerably more expensive, getting each end to say +5 (50k per end) or +6 (72k per end) is much cheaper than a single +10 weapon (200k). You still come out cheaper after buying some Pearls of Power for your wizard buddy so he can GMW it up for you.

One thing to consider is deconstructing the cost of the Scorpion Kama from the MIC. This would allow you to enchant your quarter staff to do damage equal to your unarmed strike damage instead of 1d6.

[ben-zayb]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned these yet, but the most utilitarian use for the quarterstaff in my experience are:
1. Enchant one side with Warning/Eager (MIC), the other side with Spellstrike/Defending (MIC & PHB), and then both sides with Spellblade (PGtF, I think?) for 2 spell reflections (Dispel Magic, Gr. Dispel Magic come to mind).
2. Add Wand Chambers on both sides, for easy access of two wands.
3. Quarterstaff is the only weapon a druid will ever need (because it has Wild Shape): before level 5, enchant it with Brambles/Shillelagh and use Entangling Staff when you melee with it; at mid levels, Spellstaff nets you a bonus spell while Changestaff gives you a minion.


EDIT: Ninja'd!

[Seatbelt]

There are neat Pathfinder feats for quarterstaves. But I don't know if they're any good.

[Vaz]

What... The Quarterstaff is possibly the greatest weapon in the game, and nearly everyone can use it.

Spikes, Shillelagh, Entangling Staff are all Druid spells. You can turn it into a Spellstaff. With a high enough UMD check, it can function as a Runestaff - Enlarge Person, Greater Mighty Wallop etc. It can also function as an actual Magic Staff. It has two ends for a Wand Chamber. It's 2 Handed, and with power attack (etc optimization), deals a significant amount of damage (Wild Shape into a Legendary Ape etc), so you can turn one end into a utilitarian end with all sorts of defensive upgrades (Defending, Warning Eager gets +7 to Initiative and with GMW, +5 to AC).

With Sizing, Morphing and Skillful feats as well, it can turn into any other weapon you'd want to use it with.

[Amphetryon]

What... The Quarterstaff is possibly the greatest weapon in the game, and nearly everyone can use it.

Spikes, Shillelagh, Entangling Staff are all Druid spells. You can turn it into a Spellstaff. With a high enough UMD check, it can function as a Runestaff - Enlarge Person, Greater Mighty Wallop etc. It can also function as an actual Magic Staff. It has two ends for a Wand Chamber. It's 2 Handed, and with power attack (etc optimization), deals a significant amount of damage (Wild Shape into a Legendary Ape etc), so you can turn one end into a utilitarian end with all sorts of defensive upgrades (Defending, Warning Eager gets +7 to Initiative and with GMW, +5 to AC).

With Sizing, Morphing and Skillful feats as well, it can turn into any other weapon you'd want to use it with.

I was coming in here to defend the Quarterstaff, because it's fairly awesome for a mundane weapon in 3.5, only to find Vaz had beaten me to it. *tips hat*

[stack]

PF's staff magus archetype for the magus class makes a great staff fighter too, if you can go that direction. Loses out on crit range though.

[Captnq]

The quarterstaff is next to useless. It's a simple weapon. Tell him to get a ward cestus or a battle gauntlet. Then he can stack enchantments on his unarmed attacks.

If he insists...

Get a bone bow.
Have it customized into an elven double bow.
Have that customized into a Yaun-ti serpent bow
Add elvencrafted to make it a quarterstaff
Add a bow blade made for a diminuative creature.

Now you have a 1d10 (ranged)/1d10(ranged)/1d6(blunt melee)/1d6(blunt melee)/1d8(Piercing melee)/1d1(piercing melee)

Now add Shielding (+1 WSA) to the 1d1 piercing. Turn just the bow blade into a tiny shield. Do not use the shield, but stack many Armor special abilties on it and an armor crystal on it.

Add Hank's energy bow as a WSA to both bows. It extrapolates out to:
Price: 14,200 gp/each
Although unstrung, it fires arrows of pure magical force that deal 2d6 points of damage. As they are force effects, the arrows do not suffer a miss chance when used against incorporeal creatures. The bow can be used to fire normal or magic arrows, but in such cases the bow does not confer its damage due to force. When drawn, the energy bow sheds light like a torch. In addition, you can use the bow to make power shots. To do so, before making attack rolls, choose a number to subtract from your attack rolls up to your base attack and add this same number to the damage dealt by the bow with any attack that hits. The penalty on attack rolls and bonus on damage rolls last until yours next turn.

It requires about three DC 20 crafting checks and some very friendly wizards with craft arms and armor and a DM willing to allow you to take the Exotic Weapon Prof: (Holy WTF is THAT???)

But yeah, that's as weird as I can make your quarterstaff.