[Magic] Other Melee Weapons Functioning as the Wizard's Staff

[Harry O'Gane]

A player came up with an idea to make his weapon (a broadsword) have the same ability as the Wizard's Staff, which prolongs the mages reach when it comes to Melee spells.

Is there any way to figure this out? I've glanced through Magic a bit, the parts regarding Enchantment and Magic Items, but i cannot find anything.

What I had in mind is to add a +CF modifier similar to the one of weapon being Meteoric - +49CF or so, with some kind of Generic name like "Infused". This type of weapon would give the user +2 on rolls to enchant the item, cast a spell on it or to identify its properties, and it would give the ability to prolong the user's reach with Melee spells.

Is there anything regarding this subject in other books, though?

Marko Zadro

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Harry O'Gane

Is there anything regarding this subject in other books, though?

By RAW, I think a staff has to be a once living thing (wood, bone, etc.). That may be 3e memory creep, though, and I don't have my books to check it.

Personally, I might allow something like meteoric iron or orichalcum to be a staff, as well. Other than the added expense of special metal, I wouldn't change anything about the way the Staff enchantment works.

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by RyanW

By RAW, I think a staff has to be a once living thing (wood, bone, etc.). That may be 3e memory creep, though, and I don't have my books to check it.

Personally, I might allow something like meteoric iron or orichalcum to be a staff, as well. Other than the added expense of special metal, I wouldn't change anything about the way the Staff enchantment works.

A "once living thing" could be iron removed from blood. The logical way to do this is make a deal with a kosher slaughterhouse. The full of awesome way is to make the sword from the blood of a thousand screaming human victims.

Luke

[KevinJ]

Originally Posted by lwcamp

A "once living thing" could be iron removed from blood. The logical way to do this is make a deal with a kosher slaughterhouse. The full of awesome way is to make the sword from the blood of a thousand screaming human victims.

Luke

Once you remove the iron you can use the remaining 'blood' as the quench medium.

I don't see the big deal. But unless it's a two handed sword he will only get a reach of 1 out of it.

[William]

Narwhal tusk always struck me as a cool possibility. Shard of dragon fang, if that's a possibility for your world.

Another possibility: make the weapon out of organic material, enchant it with Staff, and then whatever series of spells you care to use to transmute it permanently to metal.

Bear in mind, it's not all that much of an advantage, so too complex a method will have a low percentage return.

Personally, I had a character who had a 6 foot leather whip, and kept a spell stone of Extend Object handy.

[cbower]

I once made characters trying to do this hunt the "Beast with Steel Bones" in the Spirit World.

[korbeau]

In thoery, you can't because the staff must be made from once-living material, as detail in Magic p. 13

Remember you play GURPS and all things can be turn inside out! I had a dwarf mage in a campaing where he use his hammer like a Magic Staff with the help of a Perk from his magical school (see Thaumatology: Magical Styles).

[Langy]

Originally Posted by korbeau

In thoery, you can't because the staff must be made from once-living material, as detail in Magic p. 13

Remember you play GURPS and all things can be turn inside out! I had a dwarf mage in a campaing where he use his hammer like a Magic Staff with the help of a Perk from his magical school (see Thaumatology: Magical Styles).

I did the same, though it was a magic sword instead of a hammer and it was before Magic Styles came out. I just took an Extra Option perk for it. It was enchanted through a completely different means than the Staff spell, too; you might want to look into that kind of thing, where he just pays a CP cost instead of a $$$ cost for his unique weapon-staff.

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by Harry O'Gane

A player came up with an idea to make his weapon (a broadsword) have the same ability as the Wizard's Staff, which prolongs the mages reach when it comes to Melee spells.

Is there any way to figure this out? I've glanced through Magic a bit, the parts regarding Enchantment and Magic Items, but i cannot find anything.

What I had in mind is to add a +CF modifier similar to the one of weapon being Meteoric - +49CF or so, with some kind of Generic name like "Infused". This type of weapon would give the user +2 on rolls to enchant the item, cast a spell on it or to identify its properties, and it would give the ability to prolong the user's reach with Melee spells.

Is there anything regarding this subject in other books, though?

Marko Zadro

It would be an alternate version of the Staff spell/enchantment in my games. There is nothing about the function of the Staff spell/enchantment that limits it to being usable on staff-like items only, except that the spell was only designed to work on staves. So ... design a spell variant that works on swords instead. (Or just assume the variant already exists in-game and that, because most mages don't use swords for whatever reason, it just isn't very popular. Most people who sword at other people don't tend to be mages.)

[Kazander]

The use of a Staff is ultimately a genre-convention.

I allow players out of it through an Extra Option perk, specialized by weapon.