[Magic] Other Melee Weapons Functioning as the Wizard's Staff

[Harry O'Gane]

I guess I'll go with the variant Staff spell. Instead of 30 energy points, I'll go with 60 energy points for enchants on weapons that are made of unliving material.

If I'm right, the enchant would cost cca $1950 if cast by an enchanter.

Thanks for the quick replies!

MZ

[David Johnston2]

The idea behind magic staves having to be made of once-living things is associated with magic being The Force, an energy field generated by all life. So if you made a sword out of magically hardened wood, bone or even hair...

Then again magic also interacts with crystalline substances...

Or how about a sword created by using the intended user's own blood instead of water...

[Anaraxes]

If the player's notion is to charge up his sword to cast spells when he hits people with it, you might be interested in Imbuements.

[Stripe]

Originally Posted by Sunrunners_Fire

It would be an alternate version of the Staff spell/enchantment in my games.

That's also what I do since the sentence from 3e that explicitly states the item types listed are only for color and not for balance -- any item can be enchanted with any spell -- isn't in 4e. I wish that single sentence would have made the cut.

I once ran a side quest using the rules for inventing new spells (and spell variants) from Magic/Basic Set pages M14-15, B473-474. The rules lay out the process step-by-step.

[Novembermike]

Is he trying to gain a mechanical advantage? If so throw a talent worth a few points that lets him do it. If not then just let him do it. It's really a flavor specific thing so I wouldn't worry too much.

[Harry O'Gane]

Originally Posted by Novembermike

Is he trying to gain a mechanical advantage? If so throw a talent worth a few points that lets him do it. If not then just let him do it. It's really a flavor specific thing so I wouldn't worry too much.

It's only a matter of being able to cast Melee spells via weapon. And that's it.

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by Harry O'Gane

Is there anything regarding this subject in other books, though?

Marko Zadro

I kinda ran across this once.

I was playing a Priest (Clerical Magic) in 1e/3e (later updated to 4e) of the War God. My Broadsword was able to funtion as a Staff for spell purposes...of course because of the nature of the relgion part of the reason why was (after long discussion with the GM) we agreed that IT had a Soul.

As a sometime GM I would probably allow it but would require the PC Mage to Research a Variant Staff Spell (using the Rules), put a point into the Variant Spell and charge more to Enchant it (40-60 energy would be my guesstimate). Not sure that I would require special Matierals tho...(ninja'd by two min...got to tell less stories)

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Harry O'Gane

A player came up with an idea to make his weapon (a broadsword) have the same ability as the Wizard's Staff, which prolongs the mages reach when it comes to Melee spells.

Is there any way to figure this out? I've glanced through Magic a bit, the parts regarding Enchantment and Magic Items, but i cannot find anything.

What I had in mind is to add a +CF modifier similar to the one of weapon being Meteoric - +49CF or so, with some kind of Generic name like "Infused". This type of weapon would give the user +2 on rolls to enchant the item, cast a spell on it or to identify its properties, and it would give the ability to prolong the user's reach with Melee spells.

Is there anything regarding this subject in other books, though?

Marko Zadro

I'm not aware that there is one in RAW but I've been using a Special Set-up perk for the Staff spell, with one perk a peice for a broad class of items you can use. For instance, Special Set-up (Staff spell may be used on swords) would let you enchant a given sword with the Staff spell and then use it as one. The Staff Attunement perk is also useful (which is from GURPS Thaumatology Magical Styles.

In any case I wouldn't charge more than a point for it through either a variant spell or a perk.

Ghostdancer