Wizard Staff Mechanics

[Psion]

There are some valid, interesting points there Technophile. As I said, I am looking to make the staff a suitable replacement for the Wizard's familiar. As such, I anticipate several changes for it to work as I intend to use it. The Eldritch Staff from Path of Magic is pretty nifty, but it tries to maintain balance throughout since it is intended to be used as a plug-in option. I want to make the staff a class feature rather than a plug-in, or a feat chain. So modifications will be in order. I just want a solid starting point to work from.

If you are replacing the familiar with a staff, and you assume (similar to psioics) that a familiar is worth a feat, you can replace it with the create arcane nexus feat.

Or, if you want to make it more like the exisitng familiar, instead of having them craft the staff, give them the abilities to add features to it at every level.

As a side note/another potential resource, Vigil Watch: Asaathi for Scarred Lands has rules for "item familiars".

 

[Purzel]

My wizard staff idea

I have created this 2 years ago:

http://www.heim1.tu-clausthal.de/~purzel/staff_v2/

It's not done yet, and i didn't find much interest in finishing it.

 

[Rel]

Hey BSF,

When you get this worked out post it, will ya'? I like the idea.

Thanks,

pogre

Ditto.

 

[danbuter]

Purzel, that's some really good stuff. I will be borrowing it .

 

[danbuter]

And while I'm thinking of it, I would happily purchase a good pdf on wizard staves.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

I was very impressed with the wizard staff rules in Dragon #338. So impressed that I adopted them whole cloth. It provides some great abilities and perks without going overboard.

 

[BSF]

I have created this 2 years ago:

http://www.heim1.tu-clausthal.de/~purzel/staff_v2/

It's not done yet, and i didn't find much interest in finishing it.

Purzel,
You have some really neat ideas here. Thanks for sharing! I'm not sure that is exactly what I am looking for, but it is a great bit of work you have here.

 

[EdL]

Perhaps I'm just being dense here, but if you're going to replace the familiar with a staff, why not give the staff the familiar's abilities? Or, at least, some of them. (Obviously, some won't make sense, but those can be replaced.) Familiars give the caster something (bat = +3 Listen checks, etc.), have different types of wood do the same. For the various communication bonuses (empatic link, speak with master, speak with animal type) give the caster a free language. And so on.

 

[BSF]

Primarily because I am not looking to just replace the fluff element. I want to change the fundamental flavor with a different mechanic. It is a little more convoluted than that of course, but that is the gist of it. My next campaign is going to be different from what I have been running in the past 4 years or so and this is one of the ways I am looking to define that difference.

 

[pogre]

A bump from a creativity leech

I have an idea floating around about a staff as a gift from a Treant and the staff having some sentience.