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Old 03-28-2019, 11:00 AM   #21
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

Note that MI3 is basically a thinly edited 3rd edition book, so the answer to "X is allowed in MI3" may well be "MI3 is wrong". The examples given would have been valid in 3e, which had a different description of the Staff spell; they're not actually valid in 4e.
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Old 03-28-2019, 12:52 PM   #22
Black Leviathan
 
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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Originally Posted by Gumby Bush View Post
I have concluded that the once-living requirement serves largely to keep a staff from serving as too good of a weapon (I point my sword at him and cast fireball!), while the length requirement obviously limits how much the staff can benefit distance modifiers.
I don't know that that's a thing. Staves are good weapons GURPS honestly doesn't have a lot of not-good weapons. There are plentiful explanations for why a magic staff would have to be made of a material similar to your finger or why it couldn't be longer than a man is tall. I could see a super important need to make limitations on the Staff Spell so that you don't cast the Staff Enchantment on a Road and use it to make touch attacks one people miles away in a city you've never been to.

There's no great reason why your wizard's staff couldn't have a protective butt be decorated with a spear head or a glave blade. I would presume that you cannot use the decoration to cast through so you wouldn't gain the benefit of Wizard's touch unless you touch with the organic part of the staff.
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Old 03-28-2019, 01:39 PM   #23
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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I don't know that that's a thing. Staves are good weapons GURPS honestly doesn't have a lot of not-good weapons.
You are right, on further examination. That +2 to parry looks like a great reason for a wizard, particularly one not focused on fighting with their Staff, to use a quarterstaff as a Staff, and something similar goes for Short Staff and fencing parries.

The question about modifying prerequisites then mostly effects dabblers and such. I can easily imagine someone wanting to enchant a rapier or katana as a Staff for an elvish warrior-mage, and there are settings where it would be fitting.

Here's another way to ask my central question (two parts):
1. Assuming all prerequisites were removed from the Staff spell and it was switched to 10 energy per pound (or 30 * (SM + 1), minimum 30 for another case I'm considering). How would you (ab)use it or expect it to be (ab)used?

2. If you were aiming for similar open endedness for the Staff spell, how would you go about it?
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Old 03-28-2019, 01:54 PM   #24
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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Originally Posted by Gumby Bush View Post
1. Assuming all prerequisites were removed from the Staff spell and it was switched to 10 energy per pound (or 30 * (SM + 1), minimum 30 for another case I'm considering). How would you (ab)use it or expect it to be (ab)used?
In the first case, I'd expect to see staff spells cast on ropes (or lassos) as that gets you the most reach, which is mostly what the staff spell is for. The second case has fewer obvious abuses as long as you compute SM based on maximum length.
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Old 03-28-2019, 03:44 PM   #25
scc
 
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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In the first case, I'd expect to see staff spells cast on ropes (or lassos) as that gets you the most reach, which is mostly what the staff spell is for. The second case has fewer obvious abuses as long as you compute SM based on maximum length.
Chain weapons have twice the reach of Staffs, one reason to be wary of using Sorcery with the normal system, such as in DF.
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Old 03-28-2019, 03:54 PM   #26
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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In the first case, I'd expect to see staff spells cast on ropes (or lassos) as that gets you the most reach
This leads to a potentially interesting campaign world where wizards effectively have mystical umbilical cords that they can channel magic through. That bit of rope dangling from the ceiling might not just be leftover from a former chandelier; it may be a channel to the wizard who owns the place. Scouts may sneak forward to lay a wizard's rope as close to the conclave of cultists as possible. Powerful wizards would have invisible, nearly unbreakable ropes. I can imagine a lich lining the walls of its dungeon with staff-ropes so that it could sit in its impregnable control chamber and cast spells anywhere in the complex at short range.

Of course, if I remember correctly, the default Staff spell doesn't limit the staff to be usable by the caster only, so a sloppy wizard might end up getting zapped in reverse by a savvy opponent.
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Old 03-28-2019, 04:11 PM   #27
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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Of course, if I remember correctly, the default Staff spell doesn't limit the staff to be usable by the caster only, so a sloppy wizard might end up getting zapped in reverse by a savvy opponent.
Not unless you use a limiting spell. Passwording your staff would be the easiest.
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Old 03-28-2019, 04:58 PM   #28
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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Of course, if I remember correctly, the default Staff spell doesn't limit the staff to be usable by the caster only, so a sloppy wizard might end up getting zapped in reverse by a savvy opponent.
As with any other Magic Item, whomever touches the staff first "controls" it (see the bullet points on GURPS Magic p. 19). Unless the Wizard loses contact with the Staff completely he will maintain control of the Staff enchantment itself, even if another Wizard grabs hold of his staff. In fact, grabbing a staff while it's in a wizards hands is an invitation for him to cast a Body or Mind Control spell on you that'll make you regret that mistake.
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Old 03-28-2019, 07:06 PM   #29
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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"Once living" also has it's roots in folklore and tradition, where wands are traditionally made of wood or bone.
The logic kind of breaks down when you start getting into the higher TLs. Plastic comes to mind especially that super-strength polypropylene as durable as steel they have been working on.

Oil and gas are "once living" materials and certainly qualify.
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Old 03-28-2019, 07:47 PM   #30
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Default Re: Staff Spell Item Prerequisites

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As with any other Magic Item, whomever touches the staff first "controls" it (see the bullet points on GURPS Magic p. 19).
Ah, yes, I couldn't remember if there was a contest involved or not. Thanks for the reference.
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