What's the Deal with Staves?

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

A staff has 50 charges when it's created, just like a wand. Doesn't it?

Yes.

 

[ThirdWizard]

You can also lower the cost by making a spell take 2 charges. You can't do this with a wand, or create a wand with less than 50 charges. Staves can also carry multiple spells, which I don't think wands can do either.

 

[Nail]

Staves can also carry multiple spells, which I don't think wands can do either.

Wands cannot have multiple spells.

"Wands: A wand is a short stick imbued with the power to cast a specific spell."

 

[Nail]

Well wands have 50 charges and are very cheap. The staves I've seen only have a handful of charges and are really expensive.

....because:

• The spells are higher level, with higher caster levels, and
• There is more than one spell in the staff![/i]

Of course the staves are more expensive!

IME, the staves in the core DMG aren't all that great. Far better, IMO, to have a staff that does one or two things and is cheap, rather than 4 to 6 things, and is expensive. Moreover, the DMG list are spells that you'd probably want to be casting fairly regularly -- another mark against it.

It's far better to have spells you cast all the time on your prepared/learned list. Save the Staves for things that you need only once in a while, and in which caster level counts. Hence my Break Enchantment example.

Knock, for example, is probably better on a scroll than a staff. You'll be using [/i]Knock[/i] out of combat, so no AoO when getting the scroll out, and caster level is no big deal....unless the door is really big!

 

[darkelfo]

I guess whatn you factor in the 50 charges they're competitive. The ones listed in the DMG/SRD just seem so limited in usefulness and costly. For example:

Abjuration
Usually carved from the heartwood of an ancient oak or other large tree, this staff allows use of the following spells:

• Shield (1 charge)
• Resist energy (1 charge)
• Dispel magic (1 charge)
• Lesser globe of invulnerability (2 charges)
• Dismissal (2 charges)
• Repulsion (3 charges)

Strong abjuration; CL 13th; Craft Staff, dismissal, dispel magic, lesser globe of invulnerability, resist energy, repulsion, shield; Price 65,000 gp.

Charming

Made of twisting wood ornately shaped and carved, this staff allows use of the following spells:

• Charm person (1 charge)
• Charm monster (2 charges)

Moderate enchantment; CL 8th; Craft Staff, charm person, charm monster; Price 16,500 gp.

Conjuration

This staff is usually made of ash or walnut and bears ornate carvings of many different kinds of creatures. It allows use of the following spells:

• Unseen servant (1 charge)
• Summon swarm (1 charge)
• Stinking cloud (1 charge)
• Minor creation (2 charges)
• Cloudkill (2 charges)
• Summon monster VI (3 charges)

Strong conjuration; CL 13th; Craft Staff, cloudkill, stinking cloud, summon monster VI, summon swarm, unseen servant; Price 65,000 gp.

These seem very expensive for having such few charges.

 

[ThirdWizard]

These seem very expensive for having such few charges.

Eeeep! They all have 50 charges! It means you subract 1 charge, 2 charges, or 3 charges, or whatever from 50 when you cast the spell! So it can cast charm person 50 times or charm monster 25 times, or a combonation thereof.

Those are merely charge costs listed.

 

[JimAde]

NO!

Those charges are how many each power uses. Not how many it has.

No wonder you were so disgusted.

 

[shilsen]

These seem very expensive for having such few charges.

Actually all of those staves have 50 charges. The number of charges listed in brackets is how many charges of the 50 are used up when activating that spell. So, with a Staff of Charming (50 charges), you can cast either Charm person, with each use using up 1 of the charges remaining, or Charm monster, with each use using up 2 of the remaining charges.

 

[Demoquin]

I guess whatn you factor in the 50 charges they're competitive. The ones listed in the DMG/SRD just seem so limited in usefulness and costly. For example:



These seem very expensive for having such few charges.

The charges listed are how much the staff consumes. So if one spell cost 2 charges then you have 48 total left out of the staff with any number of combinations. Maybe another reason they cost so much.

 

[darkelfo]

Hmmm... that makes a big difference. Still, why would some charges cost more than others? You don't have to keep answering my 3.5 noob questions!