Familiar Replacement

[Purzel]

This idea is really interesting, how possible would it be to come up a balanced list of staff abilities and then let the wizard choose which one he wants to add at a given level range. Something allowing wizards to customize their individual staves because I can see different wizards wanting different things in a staff. I mean we are basically talking about an item the wizard would conceivably own for his whole career here.

I had that in mind too, it's on my TODO list.
But first i want to have a balanced base staff, the next step would be to make it customizable.
Another idea is to make themed templates for the schools of magic (illusion, necromancy, ...) or giving a staff some elemantal flavor (fire, ice, ...).

 

[thullgrim]

something that could very easily be handled by additional chooseable abilities. For instance....

1-2 Type 1
3-4 Type 1
5-6 Type 2
7-8 Type 2
9-10 Type 3
11-12 Type 3

etc... Type 1 abilites would include additional use of cantrips, the Touch ability, etc.

Type 2's are a little more rubust, maybe the most powerful being +1 spellcaster level to a school of magic or type designator

Type 3's maybe the ability to use the staff as a rechargeable wand with the recharging being done through the sacrifice of either XPs or spell slots

Just some disjointed initial thoughts.

Thullgrim

 

[Khorod]

My Craft Wand idea was just to use the Craft Wand feat on the staff- invest some XP and time, and place 50 charges of something on the staff. Initial idea was that this was a Staff-related feat.

Perhaps broadening this idea- you may have 1/25 your total XP with which to enchant your staff. It must be a straigtforward enchantment- Wand charges, weapon bonus/enhancement, and so on. You may dismiss any one enchantment with a day of work.

This goes a long way to customize a staff in itself. With this idea, a wizard could carve spell-runes all over his staff, and read them off as if the staff were 'covered' in scrolls. Etc.

**

For general customization, I don't like having # times per day of a power to be customizable. Its messy somehow. Better yet would be ever 5 levels, choose a special power off the list. Everything else is static. The powers can even have prereq requirements that make a feat tree look simple- spells known, school specialization, metamagic feats, and so on, in addition to other powers on the Staff-list.

Anything 'obvious' about a Staff should probably be such a special power. Changing size is something that would be way cooler if not every wizard's staff could do it. Casting cantrips- well, in game play, was it the wizard, or his staff? Not everyone should be able to tell.

 

[Purzel]

something that could very easily be handled by additional chooseable abilities. For instance....

1-2 Type 1
3-4 Type 1
5-6 Type 2
7-8 Type 2
9-10 Type 3
11-12 Type 3

etc... Type 1 abilites would include additional use of cantrips, the Touch ability, etc.

Type 2's are a little more rubust, maybe the most powerful being +1 spellcaster level to a school of magic or type designator

Type 3's maybe the ability to use the staff as a rechargeable wand with the recharging being done through the sacrifice of either XPs or spell slots

Just some disjointed initial thoughts.

Excellent idea, i think i will use that kind of progression. Five types of powers and a stock of basic powers at level 1.

Time to work on a version 2

 

[candidus_cogitens]

A different proposal for a wizard's staff.

A wizard can exchange the class ability Summon Familiar against this ability. Making a wizard staff takes a day and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp (not including the price for the staff, which must be a masterwork weapon or better).

If the staff breaks or is destroyed, the same penalties are applied as for the death of a familiar.

A staff has a sense of hearing, sight and smell. It can relay its sensory impressions to the wizard by means of an empathic link, so long as the wizard is within one mile.

A typical staff is like a walking stick or quarterstaff. It has an AC of 7 and 10 hitpoints. The hardness of the wizard's staff is 5 + Clas`s Level of the wizard. Break DC is 25 + Class Level. The staff has Elemental Resistance of the owner's Class Level. The hardness, the break DC and the Elemental Resistance are extraordinary abilities and cannot be dispelled.

If a wizard dies, or is otherwise separated from the staff, the staff maintains all of its abilities, and may be used by another spellcaster.

Saves: Fort +0, Ref –5, Will (Wis bonus).
Abilities: Int (see below), Wis (3d6), Cha (3d6).

Class Lvl . . Int . . . Specials
1 - 2 . . . . . . 8 . . . Empathic Link.
3 - 4 . . . . . . 9 . . . Spellmastery of 3 cantrips, and one 1st level spell.
5 - 6 . . . . . . 10 . . . Spontaneous casting of one designated cantrip.*
7 - 8 . . . . . . 10 . . . Spontaneous casting of all cantrips.*
9 - 10 . . . . . 11 . . . Spontaneous casting of one designated 1st level spell.*
11 - 12 . . . . 11 . . . Spontaneous casting of 1st level spells from one designated school.*
13 - 14 . . . . 12 . . . Spell Resistance 5 + Class Level (staff only)
15 - 16 . . . . 13 . . . Spontaneous casting of Daylight.*
17 - 18 . . . . 14 . . . Spontaneous casting of Minor Globe of Invulnerability.*
19 - 20 . . . . 15 . . . Spontaneous casting of Sending.*

*A wizard can draw upon the memory of the staff to recall any spell that he has previously learned, substituting it for any of his prepared spells for that day. Because the staff’s intelligence is not as great as that of the wizard, the spells are not as powerful. The caster level for any spell cast in this manner is always the lowest necessary to cast that spell. The ability modifier of the staff, not that of the wizard is applied for purposes of determining the spell’s DC. The wizard must have the staff in hand in order to cast spells in this manner.

...................................................................

This alternative to the Summon Familiar ability may be more powerful, in which case a special feat could be made, along the lines of Improved Familiar. However, keep in mind that unlike a familiar, such a staff grants no special bonus to an ability or skill, does not grant alertness, cannot move, and cannot defend itself or attack.

 

[Purzel]

Re: A different proposal for a wizard's staff.

A staff has a sense of hearing, sight and smell. It can relay its sensory impressions to the wizard by means of an empathic link, so long as the wizard is within one mile.

Interesting improvement. That could make the Emphatic Link more useful. Hmmm, but it has almost the power of a Scry then.

Question to the audience: is a staff with a sense of hearing, sight and smell better than a familiar? I think yes.

If a wizard dies, or is otherwise separated from the staff, the staff maintains all of its abilities, and may be used by another spellcaster.

Bad idea, even when you balance this with a feat. The staff should not be shared with the other spellcasters of the group. The Wizard Staff should only have its special abilities in the hands of its owner and master.

Saves: Fort +0, Ref –5, Will (Wis bonus).
Abilities: Int (see below), Wis (3d6), Cha (3d6).

I don't like the idea of the staff being "alife", so i would not set any abilities for it.

And for the savingthrows i'd use the rule from PHB page 136:
A magic item's Fortitude, Reflex and Will save bonuses are equal to 2 + one-half its caster level.

 

[thullgrim]

I think like most items a character holds, the item would have the wielders saving throws.

I too disagree with the notion of the staff being 'alive' but being able to use it to extend the casters senses would be a good ability for the staff to have, maybe an ability tree along these lines. The staff could be used for remote viewing, ie leave it in a room and then be able to scry the room...

Thullgrim

 

[candidus_cogitens]

Re: Re: A different proposal for a wizard's staff.

Interesting improvement. That could make the Emphatic Link more useful. Hmmm, but it has almost the power of a Scry then. Question to the audience: is a staff with a sense of hearing, sight and smell better than a familiar? I think yes.
..... [edited]

The staff should not be shared with the other spellcasters of the group. The Wizard Staff should only have its special abilities in the hands of its owner and master.
.......

I don't like the idea of the staff being "alife", so i would not set any abilities for it.

And for the savingthrows i'd use the rule from PHB page 136:
A magic item's Fortitude, Reflex and Will save bonuses are equal to 2 + one-half its caster level.

I am inclined to think you are right about the sight, hearing, and smell, although I cannot agree that it would be "better than a familiar." The major disadvantage of a staff would be that it cannot move around, like a familiar. So, if you wanted to use the staff for spying or scouting purposes, you would have to plant it somewhere and hope no one discovers it and takes it. So, in reality, giving it sensory perception does not do a great deal.

I never thought of the fact that the staff, as I proposed it, could be used by other spellcasters in the group. Interesting idea. Of course, it would have to be another wizard, since the spontaneous casting feature relies on the staff's Int, not Cha or Wis. And supposing there were two wizards in the group, who occasionally swapped staffs, it would not give them any significant advantage. Even so, you might be right that it would be a good idea to make the staff bound to the wizard who makes it only. (My idea was based on the fact that a familiar who survives its master still retains its intelligence and some of its abilities.)

Why do you object to the idea of the staff being intelligent? In my view, it makes it more like a familiar, and less like just another magic item. It's more for flavor than anything else. The method for determining saving throws that you recommend would not work, since it is not a magic item and does not have a caster level.

These issues aside, do you have any reaction to the main idea of my proposal--namely, that the staff grants some limited abilities to spontaneously cast unprepared spells?

 

[Purzel]

I think like most items a character holds, the item would have the wielders saving throws.

Yes, of course. I already cited PHB page 136. Now a more complete citation:
A magic item's Fortitude, Reflex and Will save bonuses are equal to 2 + one-half its caster level.
Attended magic items either make saving throws as their owner or use their own savingthrows, whichever are better.

 

[Purzel]

Re: Re: Re: A different proposal for a wizard's staff.

These issues aside, do you have any reaction to the main idea of my proposal--namely, that the staff grants some limited abilities to spontaneously cast unprepared spells?

They are a good approach. At the moment i'm working on a revised version of my Wizard Staff using the sugestion made by thullgrim. I'm aiming toward a customizable staff.

1-2 Type 1
3-4 Type 1
5-6 Type 2
7-8 Type 2
9-10 Type 3
11-12 Type 3
. . .

Your ideas for spontaneous casting could easily be included.