Weapons as staves

[phiwum]

Would anyone ever use staff to sword?

Especially if, as in RAW, a staff can be a sword, it's pointless. And if that is house-ruled out, it still seems like quite an investment. One turn each battle to turn the staff into a weapon (hope the spell works) costing 1 or 3 ST and for this to be effective, an additional 2 to 4 IQ points for the talent.

Not sure I see the market. (Is this spell found in the literature, by the way, or did you come up with it?)

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by phiwum

Not sure I see the market. (Is this spell found in the literature, by the way, or did you come up with it?)

It's my own adaptation of a fairly common spell trope. TFT even had a version back in the day from one of the old Interplay mags. It provides some versatility for a warrior-mage character, but I agree it would be a niche spell.

And if you allow the occult strike to stack with regular weapon damage, that could be a nice little melee boost.

[Steve Plambeck]

Ah, but my question would be, is it Staff to Steel Sword (-4 DX to spells for the duration of the transformation), or Staff to Silver Sword? Or I suppose one could rationalize it doesn't have to be either, because it isn't a real sword at all, it just functions identically to one.

I like but have never used the idea. I see role playing aspects to making a character look less dangerous than they really are. And of course, it's one less thing to carry, which is always a good thing.

[Skarg]

A staff-to-weapon spell wouldn't be pointless but it might not be popular nor wise in most cases.

There was such a spell in one of the many take-it-or-leave-it optional spell lists in the original publisher's Interplay magazine. Staff to Weapon, IIRC. It was a fairly high-level spell, and included the ability to use it without learning a weapon talent. A couple of powerful NPC wizards in my original campaign took it.

[phiwum]

Giving the ability to use the weapon makes it a heckuva lot more attractive.

But then it's appropriate that it be high level. What were the ST costs and duration?

[TippetsTX]

The Interplay spell was IQ 17 and ST cost was 2 (or 3 if a peculiar weapon) and 1 per turn to maintain.

The continuing ST cost is pretty high even if you consider the embedded weapon talent which is why my version dropped that element.

[Anomylous]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

If you really need your wizard's staff to do double-duty as another weapon, try this...

IQ 9 - Staff to Sword (T)

A bit of a misnomer, this spell allows the wizard to temporarily transform their staff (or wand, rod, etc.) into a melee weapon of similar size. For example, a wand could be changed to a dagger or hatchet, but not a broadsword. The wizard must still have the required talents as well as sufficient ST to use the weapon w/o penalty. The transformation lasts for 12 turns.

Normal cost is 1 ST, but if the wizard uses 3 ST the weapon will be fine (+1 to hit).

Cost: 1 ST

Thanks, I'm stealing this (though I might raise the IQ level somewhat). I agree with the comments of others, that with RAW it's probably not worthwhile for most characters... but I'm using house rules that make spellsword-type builds much more feasible, and this spell would be really useful to some of them.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

The Interplay spell was IQ 17 and ST cost was 2 (or 3 if a peculiar weapon) and 1 per turn to maintain.

The continuing ST cost is pretty high even if you consider the embedded weapon talents which is why my version dropped that element.

A continuing cost is reasonable, but ST 1 per twelve turns would seem better to me. Especially since it's IQ 17.

If you take away the maintanence cost, I presume you added a specific duration?

[JohnPaulB]

Originally Posted by phiwum

ITL148 says a wizard's "staff" can be a dagger or sword, for instance. I wonder what people think about this.

There are two reasons I don't like this. First, it just sounds wrong to have a commonplace weapon as a staff. Just as the symbolism of a shoe as a staff is "wrong", so is (to me) the image of a sword or dagger as a staff, even if the shape is roughly right.

Second, and maybe more important, the whole idea of character creation is striking a balance, that few choices are obviously right. But to me, the choice of a dagger as a staff is just too obviously the best choice (as Henry will attest). It's a cheaper weapon talent than sword and a dagger is very useful, particularly if a wizard ends up in HTH. That's a dangerous position for most wizards, since it's too late to cast spells if you're already in the fray. (Right? Can't cast spells in HTH at all?) Having a dagger always in hand is a great advantage. (And, as Henry has also pointed out, Staff II makes it unbreakable and undroppable.)

I don't like it when one choice is obviously superior. A wizard seems like a fool to use anything but a dagger as a staff. Even without spending IQ on the knife talent, he'll do fairly well in HTH, since the -4 DX penalty for being untrained is a wash with the +4 DX benefit of attacking a prone figure.

Well, your second reason is trounced by the first reason.

You envision what your character will be upon its creation. If you can't envision him using a staff that is not a wooden stick, then who cares if a dagger is obviously the best choice. Your character would never consider it and won't use it. For him, its not even a choice!

[JohnPaulB]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

My own rules...

A wizard may create and imbue this personalized magic item with unique properties through which their arcane power may be enhanced. Usually, this will take the form of a staff, but it can also be a wand, rod or cane. Cost of materials will vary since while wood is the most common medium (the core must be some type of organic matter), bone, ivory, abalone shell, and other combinations are also possible, and gem or crystal decorations are common for wealthy wizards. Metal is prohibited, however.

In my campaign, a wizard's staff is exclusive to members of the Mage's Guild. It is a symbol of status within the guild and it cannot be acquired until the character has passed a uniquely designed test or challenge known as a Wizard Trial. Non-affiliated mages are therefore limited to non-staff alternatives unless they want to risk unfavorable attention from guild wizards.

I like this. A practical 'guide' for players that allows for the Rules As Written and is motivated by other things mentioned in ITL (Wizard's Guild) as the restriction.

Perhaps more RAW upsets could modified by agencies restricting the rules through law or societal pressures. This broadens the story and could possibly allow the PCs to do something about it.