D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5]Change to spells cast from Staves...

[brehobit]

I just don't get why wands weren't upgraded as well. The only one spell and 4th level limit are more than enough reason for the 7 level disparity. There is no need to make them weaker still.

As far as I could tell, no one actually used a staff in 3.0. Certainly I never saw anyone buy one with starting character money. Wands with 1st level spells were pretty common. Mainly CLW, but also Magic Missile and even a mage armor wand (paid for by a monk for the wiz. to zap him with)

I'd still argue staves are underpowered for a charged item. That said, they are really impressive in a long fight (say an army on army battle) You just keep on casting nasty spells for a LONG time....

 

[Fedifensor]

Craft Staff is actually a useful feat now (though still nowhere as good as Craft Wonderous Item). Unless you have a portable hole, you aren't going to carry around an arsenal of staves.

Craft Wand is useful if you want added healing on the cheap (Cure Light Wounds) or if you have a buddy with a high UMD.

Craft Rod remains the Item Creation feat that no one takes.

 

[Li Shenron]

I just wish staves were rechargeable and possibly expandable later; it's just a flavor thing, but im my mind the Staff is still a Wizard's signature item. At least now they share something more (DC and caster level) with him.

 

[Li Shenron]

I just don't get why wands weren't upgraded as well. The only one spell and 4th level limit are more than enough reason for the 7 level disparity. There is no need to make them weaker still.

Staves are effectively just a better version of Wands: more than 1 spell and no level limit, and eventually the 3.5 new things. On the other hand, Wands are a better version of Scrolls: multiple charges (although there could be multiple scrolls) and pell trigger instead of spell completion.

Take out the Wands limitations and you have Staves with lower cost and without 12th caster level requirement, and then why have staves?

 

[Fanog]

They list the difficulty in activating wands and scrolls with the UMD skill. Some would argue that since staff isn't listed, you can't do it. I don't happen to agree, but I can forsee someone making that argument.

Actually, they do list staffs. It's under the heading of Use a Wand : "This use of the skill also applies to other spell trigger magic items, such as staffs." So, according to RAW, a Staff can be activated by UMD (DC 20).

Since it states no where that it uses different rules then normal activations of a staff, the person with UMD would apply his own ability scores to the save DC, if higher than the staff's. You could up this with Emulate an Ability Score, as far as I can tell. The ability in its strictest sense reads that you use it when you need a higher ability score, but I don't see why you couldn't use it if you wanted a higher score.

Upping effective caster level for Staffs is iffy at best. It's not really supported by the rules: Using a Staff is bunched in with wands. Since caster level isn't relevant for wands, the UMD skill completely ignores the issue. But...
You could argue that Use a Wand is similar to Use a Scroll. The latter one does give you an effective caster level (UMD result minus 20). Even Use a Wand might give you a caster level, but it just doesn't matter for wands. (Hence, why they left it out). Effective caster level for staffs is (UMD result -20) seems reasonable. I think I'd allow it.

Fanog

 

[jabberwocky]

I just wish staves were rechargeable and possibly expandable later; it's just a flavor thing, but im my mind the Staff is still a Wizard's signature item. At least now they share something more (DC and caster level) with him.

Aren't they rechargable? I thought it cost half the creation cost to recharge a spent staff. And you can add new abilities by spending the difference in gold/xp from the original magic item to the new version. Or am i totally misremembering these things?

 

[Olive]

Aren't they rechargable? I thought it cost half the creation cost to recharge a spent staff. And you can add new abilities by spending the difference in gold/xp from the original magic item to the new version. Or am i totally misremembering these things?

DMG p288 says you can add new abilities to a magic item "with no restrictions".

I can't see any trace of rules for rechrging, other than the staff of the magi, which doesn't work the way you describe.

 

[da_deadman]

Is there a way to be able to use a spell slot instead of a charge?

 

[sithramir]

Theres a PC that gets an ability that allows that or maybe its a feat or something. I forget now heh

 

[jabberwocky]

DMG p288 says you can add new abilities to a magic item "with no restrictions".

I can't see any trace of rules for rechrging, other than the staff of the magi, which doesn't work the way you describe.

Right, I found the passage that was causing me to think recharging was possible. In the players handbook, under craft arms/armor, wondrous items, and forge ring, it says that you can repair a broken magic item for half the cost. Craft Staff/Rod/Wand don't include this passage in their text. This implies that they can't be recharged, I suppose. I don't like this, primarily because you can put charged effects in a wondrous item or ring, and recharge them, even if you have to break the item first . Or would people say that repairing a broken item doesn't include replacing spent charges? Also, it's sort of strange that Rods can't be repaired, since a great many of them aren't charged effects. Personally, I think I would allow cheaper recharging of an already created staff/wand, to make them more attractive feats for wizards/clerics.