Why bother with powerstones?

[bill_seney]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

I think people may be jumping to conclusions about high amounts of ST being stored in every wizard's staff. It costs 200 XP per point, so 40 points is an 8000 XP investment. At a normal sort of rate of XP awards, that's ~50-100 sessions of play. If you have a normal kind of group, thats 1-2 (or more) years of play. After you've set the preconditions for all this by getting the stat points and spells lined up. So, for the next couple of years the only people we'll be hearing from about what its like to play with a 40 point staff will be those who just wrote up a maxed out wizard to see what it would be like.

ITL Page 23 (Draft version)
"By spending XP, the Mana stat can be increased from its starting 0 up to the level of the wizard’s IQ."

Powerstones still have their place.

[The Wyzard]

An experienced fighter who has those just a few spells would likely want a power stone to cast them from. EDIT: Wait, did someone say non-wizards couldn't use them?

If you've got a bunch of apprentices charging you up to cast that one big spell, they might not have manastaffs, but you might be able to provide them with power stones.

Some wizards, for reasons of how they've advanced, might not have enough IQ to cast manastaff, despite being quite experienced.

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by The Wyzard

An experienced fighter who has those just a few spells would likely want a power stone to cast them from. EDIT: Wait, did someone say non-wizards couldn't use them?

Non-wizards can't charge them. Use your 30 point powerstone once a month and the rest of the time it's a pet rock.

[Chris Goodwin]

One 30 point Powerstone takes 30 days to fully recharge. Thirty 1-point Powerstones take one day to fully recharge.

[The Wyzard]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Non-wizards can't charge them. Use your 30 point powerstone once a month and the rest of the time it's a pet rock.

One adventure a month sounds pretty good to me.

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by Chris Goodwin

One 30 point Powerstone takes 30 days to fully recharge. Thirty 1-point Powerstones take one day to fully recharge.

And you can only use five of those, unless you want to start dropping them around the dungeon.

[Chris Goodwin]

Originally Posted by hcobb

And you can only use five of those, unless you want to start dropping them around the dungeon.

Ah yeah, Rule of Five. I forgot. Five 5-6 pointers. Or thirty of them, and only take five at a time.

[TippetsTX]

So maybe the real question is, 'why bother with a wizard's staff?'

[platimus]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

So maybe the real question is, 'why bother with a wizard's staff?'

If you're a wizard, the wizard staff is a lot cheaper to make in terms of money and time. And it has more benefits at the upper IQ level versions.

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by platimus

If you're a wizard, the wizard staff is a lot cheaper to make in terms of money and time. And it has more benefits at the upper IQ level versions.

As far as the upfront costs, yes, but one could argue that the long-term 'expense' is heavier since it takes XP away from stat advancement and the aquisition of spells and talents.

I like the idea of the wizard's staff, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the implementation.