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Old 12-10-2018, 01:42 PM   #11
TippetsTX
 
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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Originally Posted by platimus View Post
No, the damage is "occult damage", not strength-damage. You don't have to touch your target with the "staff" (note the quotation marks. it could be a wand). You only have to point it at the target. However, by the same logic, using your "staff" with two hands would not impart a +1 damage bonus.
I was referring to the 'non-occult damage'.
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Old 12-10-2018, 01:45 PM   #12
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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I was referring to the 'non-occult damage'.
Maybe I misread the Staff descriptions or maybe I'm misremembering but...there is no 'non-occult damage'. It's all occult all the time, baby! :)
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Old 12-10-2018, 02:09 PM   #13
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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Maybe I misread the Staff descriptions or maybe I'm misremembering but...there is no 'non-occult damage'. It's all occult all the time, baby! :)
Page 148:

A “staff” does not have to be a literal staff, but it has to be of that general shape. Common forms include:
• An actual staff.
Advantage: has other uses, including walking, whacking foes, and poking questionable items.
Disadvantage: bulky, visible.
• A wand.
Advantages: light, stylish, can be concealed.
Disadvantage: does no damage of its own if you strike with it.
• Sword (must be silver, or it’s just a club).
Advantages: deadly weapon, can be enhanced by staff-strike power.
Disadvantage: of less use unless you have Sword training.
• Dagger (must be silver, or it’s just a stake).
Advantages: last-ditch weapon, cleaning fingernails, gesturing emphatically.
Disadvantage: less effective if you don’t buy Knife talent.
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Old 12-10-2018, 02:38 PM   #14
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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Originally Posted by hcobb View Post
Page 148:

A “staff” does not have to be a literal staff, but it has to be of that general shape. Common forms include:
• An actual staff.
Advantage: has other uses, including walking, whacking foes, and poking questionable items.
Disadvantage: bulky, visible.
• A wand.
Advantages: light, stylish, can be concealed.
Disadvantage: does no damage of its own if you strike with it.
• Sword (must be silver, or it’s just a club).
Advantages: deadly weapon, can be enhanced by staff-strike power.
Disadvantage: of less use unless you have Sword training.
• Dagger (must be silver, or it’s just a stake).
Advantages: last-ditch weapon, cleaning fingernails, gesturing emphatically.
Disadvantage: less effective if you don’t buy Knife talent.
Oh yeah. In that case, I wouldn't require Quarterstaff to use a Staff unless it was an actual quarterstaff imbued with the Staff spell.
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Old 12-10-2018, 02:43 PM   #15
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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A wizard's staff doing damage as a two-handed maul seems a bit of a stretch. Its just a long club, and probably not a very balanced one.
From the page # he quoted at the beginning of that line. P.122 Clubs. End of second paragraph.
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Old 12-10-2018, 02:47 PM   #16
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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Page 148:
• Sword (must be silver, or it’s just a club).
Advantages: deadly weapon, can be enhanced by staff-strike power.
Disadvantage: of less use unless you have Sword training.
• Dagger (must be silver, or it’s just a stake).
Advantages: last-ditch weapon, cleaning fingernails, gesturing emphatically.
Disadvantage: less effective if you don’t buy Knife talent.
Before I started working on my 'Powers' concept, I ruled that in my games the Staff spells would be limited to staves, rods or wands. No swords or daggers because that bleeds a little too far into the domain of magic item creation and enchantment IMO.

I also ruled that the wizard can't just pick up any old piece of wood and turn it into a staff. I think a bit more work should go into that process.
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Old 12-10-2018, 02:47 PM   #17
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

"This spell is used to make any piece of wood into a staff."

I have got to get a Giant apprentice.
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Old 12-13-2018, 12:59 PM   #18
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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First it gives you something in hand to choose the Defend option(p. 117)...
Circling back to the 'defend' option, when I read the whole section on page 117, I'm left with the impression that the intent of the rule assumes the engaged combatant has training with the weapon being used to defend. I realize the text does not say that explicitly, but I find it hard to justify letting a character effectively defend themselves if they have no melee talents whatsoever regardless of what they are holding. Requiring a 4-die roll does not seem appropriate against someone who doesn't know how to parry with a staff in combat.
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Old 12-13-2018, 02:39 PM   #19
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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Circling back to the 'defend' option, when I read the whole section on page 117, I'm left with the impression that the intent of the rule assumes the engaged combatant has training with the weapon being used to defend. I realize the text does not say that explicitly, but I find it hard to justify letting a character effectively defend themselves if they have no melee talents whatsoever regardless of what they are holding. Requiring a 4-die roll does not seem appropriate against someone who doesn't know how to parry with a staff in combat.
I agree with you, but the text doesn't.

Page 117 "A figure can defend only if it has a staff, sword, club, etc., ready to parry the attack with."

Remember that nobody has a Club talent.
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Old 12-13-2018, 11:38 PM   #20
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Default Re: Care and feeding of the wizard's staff

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Originally Posted by TippetsTX View Post
Circling back to the 'defend' option, when I read the whole section on page 117, I'm left with the impression that the intent of the rule assumes the engaged combatant has training with the weapon being used to defend. I realize the text does not say that explicitly, but I find it hard to justify letting a character effectively defend themselves if they have no melee talents whatsoever regardless of what they are holding. Requiring a 4-die roll does not seem appropriate against someone who doesn't know how to parry with a staff in combat.
I think hitting an unarmed opponent, i.e. one who can't effectively parry, should be 2/DX.

An armed but unskilled opponent would be somewhere in-between an armed skilled opponent and an unarmed opponent.
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