Strill
2014-12-23, 10:36 AM
Pathfinder's staves are good for two things: Having a repository of spells once per downtime which you can use to go nova with, and having a selection of rarely-used utility spells at the ready so you don't have to prepare them.
The cost of adding utility spells to a staff is near-identical to the cost of making a 50-charge wand for each of them, so unfortunately there's really no reason not to just make the wands. If you actually run out of charges, then they weren't "rarely-used utility spells" in the first place.
The comparison then becomes: Nova once per downtime with a staff, or get more spells every day with a Pearl of Power. Staves are so expensive that the comparison is not favorable to staves. A Staff whose strongest spell requires 1 charge, will cost about the same as three equal-level pearls of power. That means you have the choice of either 10 spells per downtime, or 3 spells per day. I think most people would take 3 spells per day.
There's also the fact that the stock staves in the book don't take advantage of either of those primary benefits. Their strongest spells cost 3 charges to activate (in order to keep the cost down), which means they're bad at going nova. Usually they're also crammed with low-level spells that do the same things as high-level ones, which just inflates their price without adding any utility. The closest thing to a good book Staff is the Staff of Healing (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/staves/staff-of-healing). Each of those healing spells is nice to have ready, but it's still really really expensive for what it does, and you'd still almost certainly be better off making wands of each of those spells instead.
I think this is unfortunate because I honestly like the idea of Staves as spell batteries that you recharge with your own spell slots. I just think that the cost of purchasing them comes out really really unfavorably for them compared to the alternatives.
Has anyone ever tried homebrewing or houseruling magic staves? I've considered ideas like: "Staves can be charged with leftover spell slots at the end of the day", or "Charging a staff with higher-level spell slots than it requires restores additional charges", but I honestly don't know whether that would mess things up too badly.
The cost of adding utility spells to a staff is near-identical to the cost of making a 50-charge wand for each of them, so unfortunately there's really no reason not to just make the wands. If you actually run out of charges, then they weren't "rarely-used utility spells" in the first place.
The comparison then becomes: Nova once per downtime with a staff, or get more spells every day with a Pearl of Power. Staves are so expensive that the comparison is not favorable to staves. A Staff whose strongest spell requires 1 charge, will cost about the same as three equal-level pearls of power. That means you have the choice of either 10 spells per downtime, or 3 spells per day. I think most people would take 3 spells per day.
There's also the fact that the stock staves in the book don't take advantage of either of those primary benefits. Their strongest spells cost 3 charges to activate (in order to keep the cost down), which means they're bad at going nova. Usually they're also crammed with low-level spells that do the same things as high-level ones, which just inflates their price without adding any utility. The closest thing to a good book Staff is the Staff of Healing (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/staves/staff-of-healing). Each of those healing spells is nice to have ready, but it's still really really expensive for what it does, and you'd still almost certainly be better off making wands of each of those spells instead.
I think this is unfortunate because I honestly like the idea of Staves as spell batteries that you recharge with your own spell slots. I just think that the cost of purchasing them comes out really really unfavorably for them compared to the alternatives.
Has anyone ever tried homebrewing or houseruling magic staves? I've considered ideas like: "Staves can be charged with leftover spell slots at the end of the day", or "Charging a staff with higher-level spell slots than it requires restores additional charges", but I honestly don't know whether that would mess things up too badly.