Reactions to the new staff spells

[zot]

These are really interesting. I think the 5 levels of Staff spell will become definitive for wizard characters, meaning that the level of Staff spell will be key in starting wizard character designs. They seem a little powerful at this point...

Comparing a wizard with the new staff to a fighter:

Staff of Striking is readily available to 32-point wizards and functions like a pole arm with DX 16 (minus charge attacks). It's definitely better than a spear and against chain armor or greater, it's better than a halberd.

Staff of Power's free attack lets the wizard attack twice per turn, with one attack at essentially DX 18+ (IQ+3) and the other attack at normal DX.

Staff of Mastery is better than a pike axe against chain or better and has an effective minimum DX of 20 (IQ+3). Head shots would be the norm, I would think, since they are effectively at adj DX 14.

[Dave Crowell]

A free action, two-hex range, omni-directional, auto-hit, armour piercing, one die attack that is immune to Drop Weapon and Break Weapon? Yes, please!

Don't Melee a Wizard!

[tbeard1999]

Originally Posted by zot

These are really interesting. I think the 5 levels of Staff spell will become definitive for wizard characters. They seem a little powerful at this point...

Comparing a wizard with the new staff to a fighter:

Staff of Striking is readily available to 32-point wizards and functions like a pole arm with DX 16 (minus charge attacks). It's definitely better than a spear and against chain armor or greater, it's better than a halberd.

Staff of Power's free attack lets the wizard attack twice per turn, with one attack at essentially DX 18+ (IQ+3) and the other attack at normal DX.

Staff of Mastery is better than a pike axe against chain or better and has an effective minimum DX of 20 (IQ+3). Head shots would be the norm, I would think, since they are effectively at adj DX 14.

Obviously, they need playtesting. But I'm very concerned about aimed shots. 1d+2 of occult damage will KO an opponent 2/3 of the time, regardless of normal armor and shields. If, as you intuit, the DX roll is 14-, then a wizard will have a ~60% chance of knocking out an opponent each turn. And the wizard will have a 90% chance of making his foe drop his weapon, drop to a kneeling position, etc. At 2 hex range.

That seems a bit powerful to me. An easy fix would be to disallow aimed shots with Wizard staffs.

[tbeard1999]

One quibble. I've never liked the rule about staffs exploding or doing damage if touched. But if they're gonna be kept, could we please make it clear that you can't throw a staff at a target and it explode if it hits?

My ruling was always "no, because when you throw it at someone, you WANT it to hit, therefore they aren't touching it against your will." But it would be nice to include that explicitly in the rules.

[Dave Crowell]

Where is the 1d+2 damage coming from?

The 4th paragraph of the introduction states 1d+2 damage, but the spell descriptions only give 1 die of damage under the Staff spell. There is no boost to damage given with higher level staff spells.

Which damage is correct?

Edit: Thanks to Zot for pointing it out to me, several readings and I still managed to miss it.

[Dave Crowell]

Originally Posted by tbeard1999

One quibble. I've never liked the rule about staffs exploding or doing damage if touched. But if they're gonna be kept, could we please make it clear that you can't throw a staff at a target and it explode if it hits?

My ruling was always "no, because when you throw it at someone, you WANT it to hit, therefore they aren't touching it against your will." But it would be nice to include that explicitly in the rules.

It is now in the rules "If anyone other than the owner of a staff picks it up against the owner’s will, it explodes, doing the fool who touched it 3 dice damage." So just throwing it at someone is not enough to trigger the explosion. I would even rule that if you threw it at someone and they caught it that wouldn't be against your will by the letter of the rules.

[zot]

Originally Posted by Dave Crowell

Where is the 1d+2 damage coming from?

The 4th paragraph of the introduction states 1d+2 damage, but the spell descriptions only give 1 die of damage under the Staff spell. There is no boost to damage given with higher level staff spells.

Which damage is correct?

IQ 17 Staff V (Staff of Mastery)

[guymc]

Originally Posted by tbeard1999

That seems a bit powerful to me. An easy fix would be to disallow aimed shots with Wizard staffs.

My view of Wizard Staff attacks is they do damage by releasing a surge of magical energy into the foe. As such, my own preference is that they not be usable for aimed shots at all.

[Dave Crowell]

At least Staff of Mastery is out of reach for a starting human wizard.

[larsdangly]

These are pretty powerful, but keep in mind that if you have IQ 17 it means your total for ST and DX can't be more than 23 under any circumstances; i.e., wizards powerful enough to have a Staff of Mastery are going to be pretty deficient at a lot of other things.