Alternative Staff Powers

[hcobb]

In this variant only the base Staff spell exists, but wizards can add enchantments to their staves by expending XP. The XP cost to add each of four enchantments (order doesn't matter for cost) is one XP point per $5 of enchantment and the staff itself serves as the underlying item.

So Mana doesn't exist, but for every 200 XP expended the wizard can add one point of Powerstone to his staff. (If he makes a new staff this pseudo-enchantment carries along to the new stick). The powerstone enchantment (of any total strength) then counts as the second enchantment on the item (after Staff) for the rule of five.

Other useful pseudo-enchantments include:
Immunity to Drop Weapons (includes immunity to Break Weapon) 100 XP
Wizard Wrath Rod (wizard must know the missile spell) 2000 XP per die
+1 Charm 6000 XP
Immunity to Rope 200 XP

[Steve Plambeck]

Since the very beginning my friends and I gave the Staff -- the basic IQ 8 spell created Staff -- a small set of extra tricks, just to make it sexier. Otherwise there would have been nothing to distinguish it from any 1d6 club:

1. At will, it casts one torchlight of free illumination. Suddenly that weakling wizard no one wanted along on the dungeon crawl looks pretty good, because no one wants to bother carrying torches.

2. At will, the end will emit a spark that can light a campfire, regular torch, cigar or pipe, working even in the rain (provided the kindling itself isn't wet). Suddenly that weakling wizard no one wanted to bring on the camping trip looks pretty good. Being the 70's, being able to light... something... seemed really important.

3. Confers +1 DX if held in hand while casting spells. This was to help jump start new wizards, who so often did nothing or got killed on their first outings.

4. While in hand, confers automatic success for a (T)hrown spell the wizard casts on himself or herself, or any willing subject they can touch with the Staff. This just seemed in line with the sorta thing any wizard's Staff should do.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by hcobb

In this variant only the base Staff spell exists, but wizards can add enchantments to their staves by expending XP....

So Mana doesn't exist...

Very, very much in agreement that the base Staff spell is the only Staff spell we really need. Coincidentally just finished writing my own rules wherein benefits and extra powers of the Staff would increase not because there was anything different about the Staff after it was created, but because the wizard's skills were increasing and increasing (going back to my related project of inventing a multi-tiered set of Wizardry talents).

But for myself I really like the concept of Staff Mana, and it may be my favorite of the new things in Legacy Edition. BUT.... I actively dislike the mechanics of it. For one thing, in my world it should simply charge and recharge at the exact same rate as a wizard's fatigue, but that's a digression for later.

More to the point, I envision the Mana capacity of the Staff increasing not because of the Staff itself, but because the wizard increases skill. Which is to say, you can't buy Staff Mana capacity with XP. (Instead you'd be spending the XP to improve the wizard through magical talents available, and then the wizard would improve their Staff automatically.) I'm just really resistant to the Staff becoming a "tax shelter" for experience points. Let the wizard get better, and one of the things to get better at is charging your own Staff.

As it stands now I have 6 Wizardry talents, and as they are learned the capacity of the Staff follows this progression:

1. None (which corresponds to the RAW for the base Staff)

2. +2 Mana

3. +4 Mana (and drop/break immunity begins)

4. +6 Mana

5. Mana capacity as in Staff II

6. Mana capacity midway between the RAW Staves II and V

Which is to say Mana can be attached to the Staff sooner, but at a low level, and then it would increase quite gradually as the wizard improved.

And I'd take that whole occult zap thing away - sorry Henry! :)

[Skarg]

I still like the original TFT staff spells, even though their abilities were quite limited. I want that to remain the baseline in my TFT campaign. I also like that it's pretty optional, and even powerful wizards may choose to not use a staff, and won't be seen as sub-optimal for making that choice.

One additional ability of staffs that I do like and seems very logical to me is actually from GURPS, which is simply that they act as an extension of the wizard's own touch, and some staffs having a 2-hex reach, so spells which require touch can be done at staff-length, and the range penalty can be reduced if you can touch the subject (meaning either it's not moving, or you make a DX roll to touch it (cut range penalty to zero) before you make the spell roll).

I don't much like the new Legacy "occult" staff zap attacks, because they do several (not thoroughly defined) new abilities that almost nothing else does (bypass armor, have a to-hit bonus, and especially be a "free" attack). And I super-dislike that they come built-in to the staff spells that every wizard should get in order to get the super-good "staff mana" stat. So at the very least, I house rule that the zap powers are separate optional spell powers. So even if a wizard finds a teacher/books to learn them from, having all those powers will be a trade-off versus learning several other spells.

As for additional staff powers, for the same reasons, I don't want them to be built-in automatic bonuses everyone gets with their staff.

And with original staffs, I did like that there was some reason to enchant your own staff, so to me it seems natural that if I want more powerful staffs, I'd want to add some way to use them with other magic. For example, make it so staffs can be more easily enchanted, as in say half the needed time/energy to enchant a staff versus some other object.

And/or maybe a wizard can store the energy for a pre-cast spell in a staff. I can think of various details for how this could be handled/limited, depending on how much I wanted that to be possible.

[Senturian]

I'm thinking of the LOTR scene when Gandalf and Saruman are in the towere and fighting by pointing their staffs at each other.
Must be a reason -
So, why not have the staff multiply the effect of spells cast?
1 die lightning is 1 die, but thru a staff, it's 3 dice. and so on. Without Strength Batteries/powerstones.
More useful with some spells than others.
Maybe doubles the distance a spell can be cast or reduces the -DX effects for distance.

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by Senturian

I'm thinking of the LOTR scene when Gandalf and Saruman are in the towere and fighting by pointing their staffs at each other.
Must be a reason -
So, why not have the staff multiply the effect of spells cast?
1 die lightning is 1 die, but thru a staff, it's 3 dice. and so on. Without Strength Batteries/powerstones.
More useful with some spells than others.
Maybe doubles the distance a spell can be cast or reduces the -DX effects for distance.

This was also my thinking in re-designing the Staff powers, though I'm pretty sure that I now want to steal Steve's mundane staff abilities as well (thanks Steve!).

My main goals were to 1) make non-staff wielding wizards a viable option, 2) emphasize the wizard's staff (or wand) as a tool, not a weapon, and 3) remove the XP-for-Mana wizard tax.

So for #2 I tried to come up with 'Powers' (which is a new set of XP-based character option that I've posted about previously) that are not duplicative of any spells. For example...

Arcane Boost
The wizard imbues the foci item with a portion of their arcane power which can be used to enhance any spells cast while the wizard holds the device. The potency of spells cast thru the foci are increased, improving their chance of success or making them more effective over distances. This is reflected by a +1 DX modifier for each tier the wizard has achieved in the Magister portfolio.

Spellbinder
For each tier the wizard has unlocked, they can store one 'active' spell in their Arcane Foci. This is accomplished by the wizard expending the required ST to cast the spell into the item. The spell is then held as potential magical energy that can be released at the wizard's choosing as a free action (meaning that they can still cast a regular spell in the same turn). There is no limit to how long the spell(s) can reside within the item.

[hcobb]

It's just that Defend vs spell requires having a staff in hand.

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by hcobb

It's just that Defend vs spell requires having a staff in hand.

How does your house rule work that makes defending versus a spell a thing?

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

This was also my thinking in re-designing the Staff powers, though I'm pretty sure that I now want to steal Steve's mundane staff abilities as well (thanks Steve!).

Steal away Tippets!

The older house rules from my original gaming group (1978 to 1996) which I often share here were really written by committee, so I can't take credit for all but a few, and mostly don't remember who came up with what! I'm certain though those original Staff powers were by my late friend Mitch Kontek, who was our principle GM. He didn't live to see this forum but he'd have loved it here! He'd be flattered to know how many of his ideas are appreciated here.

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by Skarg

How does your house rule work that makes defending versus a spell a thing?

ITL117: "Defending is effective only against non-missile spells and attacks."

ITL26: "Also, the staff’s occult attack now bypasses the armor or natural defense of its target. Magical defenses such as Stone Flesh still operate."

So don't bring a sword to a staff fight.