Questions regarding Runestaff

[Greenfield]

A question came up the other day when I began talking about crafting Runestaffs for certain party members: How do you handle spells with expensive components, or EXP costs?

Normally you pay the cost 50 times for putting such things in wands or staves, because that's the number of uses you could get of the spell. But a Runestaff doesn't have a limited number of uses, just a limed number of uses each day.

So let's say I want to put Identify into a Runestaff. It has a component cost of 100 gp pearl per casting.

How much extra do I have to pay for this one?

(For those unfamiliar with the item, a Runestaff can hold a number of different spells, but doesn't have any charges. To use it you have to fire off a spell slot of the appropriate level into the staff, and it uses that energy to power one of the spells it holds. Each spell in the staff can be used up to two times per day, and has to be on the user's spell list. It's from Magic Item Compendium. )

 

[Sekhmet]

If I'm not mistaken, Runestaffs are Highest Level Spell Squared x 400 + (level of each other spell squared x 200). As far as costly spell components go, it is really tough to say. I don't think there are any real solid rules on the subject.

If I recall correctly, the Creating Magic Items table has an entry for "Spell Has Material ComponenT Cost", but that just add directly into the price of the item per charge. Since you have charges/day, I'd use Charges/day (Divide by [5 divided by charges per day]) + Spell Has Material Component (for 50castings). (The Annotation under Spell Has Material Cost suggests if an item is continuous or unlimited, determine cost as if it has 50 charges [if it is limited per day].)

 

[nogray]

The Runestaff user pays it for each casting

The creator of the runestaff doesn't have to pay anything beyond the base cost (below). This is stated in the "Creating New Runestaffs" section of the Magic Item Compendium (page 224). Since the user has to supply the cost with each casting, the creator only has to worry about paying the base creation cost of the spell, which is given described in the second column, but summed up as follows:

Highest level spell usable 3/day: 400*(spell level)^2
Highest level spell usable 2/day: 300*(spell level)^2
Highest level spell usable 1/day: 200*(spell level)^2
Each other spell usable 3/day: 200*(spell level)^2
Each other spell usable 2/day: 150*(spell level)^2
Each other spell usable 1/day: 100*(spell level)^2

The thing to keep in mind, to me at least, is that a runestaff isn't like a normal staff. It doesn't let you cast any more spells per day than you otherwise could, nor does the runestaff cast the spells. Instead, it allows you to spend your spell slots (and potentially XP and material components) to cast a spell you might not otherwise know. It is more like a limited-uses-per-day "add these spells to your spells known list" sort of item. In fact, if a sorcerer knows all of the spells in a particular runestaff, it is of no real value to him whatsoever. (A wizard, however, can always benefit from the flexibility allowed by the runestaff.)

I hope that helps.

 

[Wyvernhand]

Found the citation I was looking for!

You must supply any components or costs normally required by the spell cast from the runesraff just as if you had cast it yourself.

So, no XP or material components go into the runestaff upon creation. All components must be supplied at the time of casting. No creating a Runestaff of Wish and soaking up XP-free Wishes!

 

[Greenfield]

No, if you want to do that, create a Staff for Wishes, then use the Master - Staff feat that lets you fire spells from a normal staff without using any charges by expending your own spell slots instead.

Of course, to do that you'd need to spend 250,000 exp to pay for 50 wishes, plus the Exp to create the Staff as well.

Let me know how that works out for you.

 

[Binho]

No, if you want to do that, create a Staff for Wishes, then use the Master - Staff feat that lets you fire spells from a normal staff without using any charges by expending your own spell slots instead.

Of course, to do that you'd need to spend 250,000 exp to pay for 50 wishes, plus the Exp to create the Staff as well.

Let me know how that works out for you.

Master Staff is an epic feat, isn't it?
Oh, whatever... you don't need that feat, you just need the feat Channel Charge from the Lost Empire of Faerun as this handbook says at the bottom Dictum Mortuum's Handbooks: Handbook to Wand Users and Crafters

The feat will not help with wish, but limited wish will be free.
But the true tasty thing of this feat is the use of lv 20 wands at low levels. You can use a Greater Magic Weapon lv 20 for just 900 gp at lv 7. Add the War Weaver class and you will let your DM crying (or really pissed off).

 

[Greenfield]

Neither Master Staff nor Master Wand are Epic. They each have a prerequisite of Craft Staff or Craft Wand respectively, but you can easily get them at non-epic levels.

And while Wish is well beyond an affordable staff to make, Limited Wish is indeed within reach. 50 x 350 = 17,500 exp. Still a lot, but no longer an insane amount.

 

[Binho]

Neither Master Staff nor Master Wand are Epic. They each have a prerequisite of Craft Staff or Craft Wand respectively, but you can easily get them at non-epic levels.

And while Wish is well beyond an affordable staff to make, Limited Wish is indeed within reach. 50 x 350 = 17,500 exp. Still a lot, but no longer an insane amount.

Actually, both appear at the complete arcane's epic feats section. The book says that the "feats bellow are available only to characters of at least 21st level."
Even if you fulfill the requirements of those feats (the wand is possible, but the staff, only for 27st level on) you must wait until the level 21.

 

[Wyvernhand]

A simpler method would be simply to make a Staff of Wish with 1 charge, then take Wand Surge (use 1 action point instead of a charge) and cast Unfettered Heroism to supply you with 1 action point per round until you are done wishing for whatever it is you wish to wish for.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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