staff of swarming insects

[da newt]

So with the STAFF of SWARMING INSECTS a PC can expend one charge and burn an action to create a 30' radius sphere around them that is heavily obscured to everyone but them for 10 minutes - giving them ADV on all attacks and DISADV to all attacks against them and making them immune to all spells that require the target to be seen? And the 30' sphere moves with you, requires no concentration, and can only be countered by a 10 mph + wind?

Am I missing something or is this quite OP for a RARE item with 10 charges per day?





"Staff of Swarming Insects
Requires Attunement by a Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard

This staff has 10 charges and regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, a swarm of insects consumes and destroys the staff, then disperses.

Spells: While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend some of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: giant insect (4 charges) or insect plague (5 charges).

Insect Cloud: While holding the staff, you can use an action and expend 1 charge to cause a swarm of harmless flying insects to spread out in a 30-foot radius from you. The insects remain for 10 minutes, making the area heavily obscured for creatures other than you. The swarm moves with you, remaining centered on you. A wind of at least 10 miles per hour disperses the swarm and ends the effect."

[Segev]

THat is pretty powerful, but it's also as party-unfriendly as darkness or fog cloud. I suspect it self-limits by that. Though the lack of need to concentrate on what is a pseudo-greater-invisibility is pretty potent.

[da newt]

That's what I was thinking. For a sniper type who likes to be over there doing their own thing this could be a game changer (as long as there is room).

It's like gloomstalker w/ no restrictions to darkness and bad guys using dark vision ...

[diplomancer]

I've read here in this forum that it is one of the favorite items in PvP competitions

[Gignere]

It’s friggin amazing and underrated had it on my divination wizard and it can shut down encounters with caster enemies and it combos with animate objects making it totally insane.

[Bohandas]

It sounds like a magnet for fireballs

[da newt]

FB is too small to get all the swarm at once (only a 20' radius vs a 30' radius swarm - so a little less than half the swarm's area), and if team bad guys is wasting FBs on just little old me (with a good DEX save) that's a win for team good guys.

[Gignere]

It sounds like a magnet for fireballs

Not really, most enemies don’t have fireball or access to fireball. Most other AoE spells usually require LoS so they are mostly stopped. Secondly you have counterspell that can’t be counterspell so as long as you stick next to the caster or even more evilly stand right up in his face with the swarm of insects, you’re pretty safe from nearly all AoE.

[stoutstien]

Another reason warding wind is low key a gold level spell. Gust of wind is also a solid pick. So many effects/spells that can e handled with controlled wind.

[nickl_2000]

I had one and rarely used it for that myself for a few reasons. We had several party members would be massively nerfed when they can't see a target, the other is that the PC didn't need it. I was playing an Arcane Trickster/Wizard and by the time he got it he could hide better than any monster would have a chance of ever seeing.

Now the Insert Plague spell, I used that a lot. This party had a tendency to create massive, massive AoE control and damage. It was very normal to have a Firewall and an Insect Plague up at the some time. Then we had 2 people that could push others into that wrecking many an NPC (may favorite was the guy that was supposed to be a nasty spell caster with fighter support to keep people off of him. We dropped a Wall of Fire on him and a Hold person on him before he had a chance to even act. Then he just burned without any chance to do anything.

[tieren]

Can you fight with the staff itself?

I know some of the staffs say you can attack with them as a magic weapon or whatever. Does that mean the other magic staves can't be used as a quarterstaff?

[nickl_2000]

Can you fight with the staff itself?

I know some of the staffs say you can attack with them as a magic weapon or whatever. Does that mean the other magic staves can't be used as a quarterstaff?

Technically this is correct. Only the items that are listed as "This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff" can be used for attacking. I've never met a DM that cared about that though. EDIT: according to the DMG I was 100% completely wrong. All magical staffs are quarte

Same can be said for a Quarterstaff being a spell focus. Technically they aren't the same thing, but I've never met a DM who was bothered by that. Heck, my DM even let us use a collapsible 10ft pole as a spell focus.

[da newt]

Yeah - the downsides of blinding your party are significant and the biggest 'drawback' to this, but this PC's modus operandi is to run away from the party and snipe/kite, so everywhere there is room, he'll should be able to fight the encounter as if he's got greater invisibility up.

The campaign is giant centric, so there shouldn't be too many situations where there isn't room to maneuver and he enjoys his Slippers of Spider Climb and Zephyr Strike so he should have options.

The AOE/summons are gonna help give him new tools / options too - that will be icing on the cake. (SS Gloomstalker w/ Twilight dip)

[Segev]

Just remember that AoEs don't need to see you. Targeting the opaque mass of bugs with a lightning bolt down the center is a thing they can do.

[Chronos]

Somewhere there's a rule that spell-focus staves in general can be used as quarterstaves. And if a staff is a magic item, then used as a weapon, it's a magic weapon. Most of them don't gain any particular benefits when used as weapons (no attack bonus, extra damage, etc.), but they'll still hurt things resistant or immune to nonmagical weapons.

[nickl_2000]

Somewhere there's a rule that spell-focus staves in general can be used as quarterstaves. And if a staff is a magic item, then used as a weapon, it's a magic weapon. Most of them don't gain any particular benefits when used as weapons (no attack bonus, extra damage, etc.), but they'll still hurt things resistant or immune to nonmagical weapons.

Well, I'll be... I was completely wrong above.

"Unless a staff’s description says otherwise, a staff can be used as a quarterstaff." DMG, Treasure, Magic Item Categories, Staffs.

Then why the heck did they bother putting in "The staff can also be used as a magic quarterstaff." for some of the staffs but not others... My first theory was that they only put that wording in when you get a +X or you do extra damage, however the Staff of Charming would argue against that claim. Oh well, poor editing, nothing new there.

[da newt]

Just remember that AoEs don't need to see you. Targeting the opaque mass of bugs with a lightning bolt down the center is a thing they can do.

Absolutely, but also it would only hit a very small portion of the cloud of bugs, and it's not concentration, and I can see it coming so normal save for me, but all spells that DO require a target you can see can't target me.

Ruling question: How should you resolve a FB vs the cloud of insects? There is a stat block for a MED sized swarm of insects (5'). Is this 30' swarm comprised of 216 of those? Do you just say a 20' sphere has ~ 1/3 the volume of a 30' sphere so 1/3 of the bugs are smoked?

BTW - I just realized there is no written way to dismiss this cloud of bugs ... HA!

[JonBeowulf]

Absolutely, but also it would only hit a very small portion of the cloud of bugs, and it's not concentration, and I can see it coming so normal save for me, but all spells that DO require a target you can see can't target me.

Ruling question: How should you resolve a FB vs the cloud of insects? There is a stat block for a MED sized swarm of insects (5'). Is this 30' swarm comprised of 216 of those? Do you just say a 20' sphere has ~ 1/3 the volume of a 30' sphere so 1/3 of the bugs are smoked?

BTW - I just realized there is no written way to dismiss this cloud of bugs ... HA!

I suspect the standard "you may use an action to dispel..." would apply here, even if not explicitly stated.