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Old 05-03-2021, 11:12 PM   #1
pzmcgwire
 
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Default Staffs as Traps

If a wizard can make anything into a staff, could he ensorcel items as staffs and leave them lying around for unsuspecting intruders to pick up and take 3 dice damage when they explode.

Leave a staff-gem concealed among his real gems and give a surprise to a thief.

Could a wizard use staffs as magical grenades throwing them at opponents?
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Old 05-04-2021, 03:24 AM   #2
Chris Rice
 
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Default Re: Staffs as Traps

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Originally Posted by pzmcgwire View Post
If a wizard can make anything into a staff, could he ensorcel items as staffs and leave them lying around for unsuspecting intruders to pick up and take 3 dice damage when they explode.

Leave a staff-gem concealed among his real gems and give a surprise to a thief.

Could a wizard use staffs as magical grenades throwing them at opponents?
I guess if you want to manipulate the letter of the rules rather than the spirit of them then you can do all of those things. Personally I’d rule that a Wizard can only have one staff at a time. But if you want Wizards laying magic minefields all over the place then it’s your game so go to it.
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Old 05-04-2021, 04:43 AM   #3
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Default Re: Staffs as Traps

Even with only one staff this is an issue.

Is that my staff-dagger in my pocket? Search me and find out.
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Old 05-04-2021, 06:54 AM   #4
zot
 
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Default Re: Staffs as Traps

Quote:
Originally Posted by pzmcgwire View Post
If a wizard can make anything into a staff, could he ensorcel items as staffs and leave them lying around for unsuspecting intruders to pick up and take 3 dice damage when they explode.

Leave a staff-gem concealed among his real gems and give a surprise to a thief.

Could a wizard use staffs as magical grenades throwing them at opponents?
A wizard can only have one staff at a time (p148) so if you only have Staff I, maybe it'd be worth it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ITL p148
A wizard may have only one staff at a time. If he loses his staff, the act of making another will disempower the old staff
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Old 05-04-2021, 07:21 AM   #5
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Even with only one staff this is an issue.

Is that my staff-dagger in my pocket? Search me and find out.
Most times that one is searched, this will end badly for the wizard. Usually, there are at least two foes when there's a search. You'll take out one, but then what?
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Old 05-04-2021, 08:20 AM   #6
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Default Re: Staffs as Traps

Yes, I see in the current ITL, there is the limitation of one staff at a time. With a staff's capability as a mana store, it' not cost effective to waste a staff this way.

Wondering if there is any type of conducting 'wire' for magical energy.

A wizard could hook his staff up to 'magical wire' system connected to all doors and windows of a house and when an intruder touches a door or window, it conducts the intruder's touch to the staff, setting it off.

Would a staff fully charged with mana explode with more force than 3 dice?

When a staff does its 3 dice damage, it is like a grenade (potentially damaging other people around the grasper, or a live electrical wire affecting just the person in contact with it?

Last edited by pzmcgwire; 05-04-2021 at 08:31 AM.
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Old 05-04-2021, 09:02 AM   #7
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Default Re: Staffs as Traps

It is one thing for a wizard to have their staff punish someone who would deprive them of it or use it against them, but it is altogether different for the wizard to actually want them to pick it up. Under Staff's description is this: "If anyone other than the owner of a staff picks it up against the owner’s will ..." [emphasis mine]. This proviso allows a friend to hold the wizard's staff without harm. It also means that the staff can't be used as a trap, since the intent would be for someone to pick it up and thus they are not going against the wizard's will. If you want that kind of trap, learn Explosive Gem.
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Old 05-04-2021, 09:21 AM   #8
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Dragon pulling out arrow from his side: "Only one arrow?"

Archer: "It's my staff."
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Old 05-04-2021, 09:40 AM   #9
phiwum
 
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Default Re: Staffs as Traps

The rules say the staff explodes, but there's no rule that it affects adjacent people. I wouldn't interpret it that way.

I'm with Shostak on the problems of using a staff as an intentional trap. You can't set a trap without having some desire that a person in the right situation trips it. (It becomes a bit iffy, to be fair, because a captured wizard who's lost his staff sure would like for the dumb hobgoblin to pick it up and I am not so rigorous that I'd rule there's no explosion in that case.)

Ain't no damn arrow staves in my game, I can tell you that.
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Old 05-04-2021, 09:54 AM   #10
zot
 
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Default Re: Staffs as Traps

Quote:
Originally Posted by pzmcgwire View Post
Yes, I see in the current ITL, there is the limitation of one staff at a time. With a staff's capability as a mana store, it' not cost effective to waste a staff this way.

Wondering if there is any type of conducting 'wire' for magical energy.

A wizard could hook his staff up to 'magical wire' system connected to all doors and windows of a house and when an intruder touches a door or window, it conducts the intruder's touch to the staff, setting it off.

Would a staff fully charged with mana explode with more force than 3 dice?

When a staff does its 3 dice damage, it is like a grenade (potentially damaging other people around the grasper, or a live electrical wire affecting just the person in contact with it?
That sounds like a good magic item to me and it has a built-in limitation: a socket where you plug in the staff and filaments that "extend" its reach. Only works when the staff is plugged into the network. Touch a filament and you get shock. You could have different levels of the item, starting at 1 die, going up to 3 -- maybe it takes more work to make a better "conductor". Maybe the wizard could also make an occult attack at something near a filament.
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