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<blockquote data-quote="Matthias" data-source="post: 6017360" data-attributes="member: 3625">So far: force, sonics, negative energy, and a couple others seem to be ahead of the rest in terms of threat vs. defense.I was thinking about what sorts of weapons a steam-age fantasy army would attempt to mass produce for its war mages (not &quot;war mage&quot; as in the D&amp;D class, but as a sorcerer, cleric, or other spellcaster who is in active military service on the front lines).As for appearance, I have in mind wands for low-level effects, staves or wondrous items for higher-level powers. There would be little in the way of customization; functionality and ease of use would take precedence over an individual war mage's need to have his gear password-locked or to be decorated just-so.Ingenuity would also require that a war mage's weapon would be dual-purpose. An unexpected encounter with an antimagic field or spell resistant/spell immune opponent might leave a war mage defenseless against a superior close-combat threat. A wand or staff could be designed to function as a working crossbow, quarterstaff, or other mundane weapon for situations where mundane combat is thrust upon the war mage in a pinch.Perhaps masterwork darkwood light crossbows could be designed specifically to house a wand (also designed to form part of the stock, so that its wielder maintains physical contact at all times). These probably take less time and money to manufacture than the wands themselves, so their peculiar design should not be a significant slowdown to production.As for the spell effect, magic missile or enervation (SL 1 or 4) are some good ones to start with. Shout is also just low enough (SL 4). Any others?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Matthias, post: 6017360, member: 3625"] So far: force, sonics, negative energy, and a couple others seem to be ahead of the rest in terms of threat vs. defense. I was thinking about what sorts of weapons a steam-age fantasy army would attempt to mass produce for its war mages (not "war mage" as in the D&D class, but as a sorcerer, cleric, or other spellcaster who is in active military service on the front lines). As for appearance, I have in mind wands for low-level effects, staves or wondrous items for higher-level powers. There would be little in the way of customization; functionality and ease of use would take precedence over an individual war mage's need to have his gear password-locked or to be decorated just-so. Ingenuity would also require that a war mage's weapon would be dual-purpose. An unexpected encounter with an antimagic field or spell resistant/spell immune opponent might leave a war mage defenseless against a superior close-combat threat. A wand or staff could be designed to function as a working crossbow, quarterstaff, or other mundane weapon for situations where mundane combat is thrust upon the war mage in a pinch. Perhaps masterwork darkwood light crossbows could be designed specifically to house a wand (also designed to form part of the stock, so that its wielder maintains physical contact at all times). These probably take less time and money to manufacture than the wands themselves, so their peculiar design should not be a significant slowdown to production. As for the spell effect, magic missile or enervation (SL 1 or 4) are some good ones to start with. Shout is also just low enough (SL 4). Any others? [/QUOTE]

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