Staff and IQ

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Shostak

But the mana capability is a function of a higher IQ version of the spell. I'd argue that being able to tap into it is tied to IQ.

If I'm playing by the RAW, I would rule that the higher IQ was indeed necessary to attach the Mana stat to the Staff, and once created that's just how that Staff works. So the Mana capacity of the Staff would remain at X even when the wizard's IQ fell below X. The dilemma for the PC would come if they lost or broke that Staff before their IQ had returned to normal. In that case they wouldn't be able to make a new Staff with a Mana capacity above their IQ level at the time.

In reality I'm not planning on using the new Staff rules as written, if at all, so I wouldn't have to worry about that anyway, or at least not for the same reasons. My preference would be to say every Staff comes with a Mana capacity, and it's the skill (or experience) of the wizard that determines how much Mana they can focus into the thing.