Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
wizards vs. sorcerers
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 501579" data-attributes="member: 2013"><p>1.) As has already been mentioned - Level Cap - you can't fire high-level spells from a wand.</p><p></p><p>2.) Creating multiple wands is more expensive than creating a single staff (granted, you get fewer total charges). This is because the second spell added to a staff is added at 3/4 price and the third and subsequent spells are added at 1/2 price. Thus, creating a staff to throw a 10d6 fireball or lightning bolt (your choice) will run you 19,687.5 gp. Creating two wands runs you 22,500 gp (granted, you get twice as many total charges, but that's a price you pay for flexibility - see below).</p><p></p><p>3.) If you need to create something "on the cheap" you can make staff spells draw two charges instead of one. If you only need the staff for a one-shot adventure, maybe you only need 25 uses instead of 50. You can thereby halve your cost (the above staff with fireballs and lightning bolts costing 2 charges a pop runs just under 10,000 gp). This gives you some flexibilty when creating the item in that you can set how many "uses" you need and can thereby control costs some.</p><p></p><p>4.) The other big reason (aside from #1) is flexibility. You just don't have as much "speed" getting out the "right tool for the job" with wands... With a staff you have all your "spells" ready in your hand at once. With a set of wands, you have to grab the right one - which will cost you at least standard action (or a Quick Draw Feat, if your DM allows it, but that's another Feat you've had to burn). Not a problem with just two wands... but a big problem with 3 or more. And remember, the staff I quoted in the above post "knows" 24 spells (10th level or 29 spells for the 12th level sorcerer). Do you really want to fumble with 24 wands, trying to find the right one, or would you rather just use one big ol' swiss army knife where you're guaranteed to have the right one "in hand" immediately?</p><p></p><p>Charge for charge, wands are cheaper - but the utility of a wizard's staff is stupendous (not to mention that you can enchant it and use it as a weapon - and, if you're using the Arcane Nexus or Wizard's Staff rules from Quint Wizard or Path of Magic, the staff becomes an even more useful tool).</p><p></p><p>My high-level wizards like to travel with quarterstaffs that have been ensorcelled to be:</p><p>1.) A virtual sorcerer, as above</p><p>2.) Have +5/+5 enhancement bonuses, preferably with energy burst damage (sonic and acid are popular choices) and have the defending property (wizards always need AC bonuses).</p><p>3.) Are intelligent items</p><p>4.) Are "marked up" as an Arcane Nexus per the Quint Wizard</p><p>5.) Are "marked up" as a Wizard's Staff per Path of Magic</p><p></p><p>...and will soon be changing #3 to...</p><p>3.) are intelligent items that gain levels per Monte's Rules in BoEM3.</p><p></p><p>Does it tie a lot of power up in the staff? Absolutely. Is it worth it? I think so - it gives the wizard unparallelled flexibility, both tactical and strategic.</p><p></p><p>Again, I submit to you my wizard's creed:</p><p></p><p>"Staff. Don't leave home without it."</p><p></p><p>--The Sigil</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 501579, member: 2013"] 1.) As has already been mentioned - Level Cap - you can't fire high-level spells from a wand. 2.) Creating multiple wands is more expensive than creating a single staff (granted, you get fewer total charges). This is because the second spell added to a staff is added at 3/4 price and the third and subsequent spells are added at 1/2 price. Thus, creating a staff to throw a 10d6 fireball or lightning bolt (your choice) will run you 19,687.5 gp. Creating two wands runs you 22,500 gp (granted, you get twice as many total charges, but that's a price you pay for flexibility - see below). 3.) If you need to create something "on the cheap" you can make staff spells draw two charges instead of one. If you only need the staff for a one-shot adventure, maybe you only need 25 uses instead of 50. You can thereby halve your cost (the above staff with fireballs and lightning bolts costing 2 charges a pop runs just under 10,000 gp). This gives you some flexibilty when creating the item in that you can set how many "uses" you need and can thereby control costs some. 4.) The other big reason (aside from #1) is flexibility. You just don't have as much "speed" getting out the "right tool for the job" with wands... With a staff you have all your "spells" ready in your hand at once. With a set of wands, you have to grab the right one - which will cost you at least standard action (or a Quick Draw Feat, if your DM allows it, but that's another Feat you've had to burn). Not a problem with just two wands... but a big problem with 3 or more. And remember, the staff I quoted in the above post "knows" 24 spells (10th level or 29 spells for the 12th level sorcerer). Do you really want to fumble with 24 wands, trying to find the right one, or would you rather just use one big ol' swiss army knife where you're guaranteed to have the right one "in hand" immediately? Charge for charge, wands are cheaper - but the utility of a wizard's staff is stupendous (not to mention that you can enchant it and use it as a weapon - and, if you're using the Arcane Nexus or Wizard's Staff rules from Quint Wizard or Path of Magic, the staff becomes an even more useful tool). My high-level wizards like to travel with quarterstaffs that have been ensorcelled to be: 1.) A virtual sorcerer, as above 2.) Have +5/+5 enhancement bonuses, preferably with energy burst damage (sonic and acid are popular choices) and have the defending property (wizards always need AC bonuses). 3.) Are intelligent items 4.) Are "marked up" as an Arcane Nexus per the Quint Wizard 5.) Are "marked up" as a Wizard's Staff per Path of Magic ...and will soon be changing #3 to... 3.) are intelligent items that gain levels per Monte's Rules in BoEM3. Does it tie a lot of power up in the staff? Absolutely. Is it worth it? I think so - it gives the wizard unparallelled flexibility, both tactical and strategic. Again, I submit to you my wizard's creed: "Staff. Don't leave home without it." --The Sigil [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
wizards vs. sorcerers
Top