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Welcome to the first Genius Guide product to present a whole new class of magic items, the titular rune staves and wyrd wands. In many ways this book is an offshoot of our Loot 4 Less line of magic item books, the main difference being the items presented in Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands aren’t restricted to a 2,500 gp limit. Indeed, rules included here can be used to create items with a cost as low as 1,500 gp, or as high as 150,000 gp.
Both rune staves and wyrd wands are examples of a new kind of magic item: the magic implement. Defined broadly, magic implements are handheld devices that assist spellcasters with their casting in much the same way magic weapons assist characters in combat. Wyrd wands give casters enhancement bonuses to caster level checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, and possibly one other area, while rune staves can grant bonuses to a wide range of spell-related effects. Both are assumed to have arcane writing built into them (called "wyrds" or "runes," depending on which implement they are scribed on) that allow them to enhance every spell cast by their wielders, rather than being spells-in-a-can that take over when a spellcaster is out of other options.
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Cool...
Excellent.
Will there be future products that introduce new implements?
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Excellent. Will there be future products that introduce new implements?
That depends on how sales of this one go, but there are certainly some ideas and notes for new implements (and more powers for these implements) on my master file of Things To Write.
I like the concept, though I can already see my resident powergamers abusing this .... Mmm, oh wait, the wizard just left the team, I should be safe :)
Obviously only you know your group dynamics, but I will note that one of MY resident powergamers in playtesting gave these implements up because, for the same cost, he felt he could build other more power-gamery items.
Ack, a SGG product out for more then 24 hours without me having it...blashphemy.
Well...glad that was cleared up.
Awesome product. I like this so much its going in my game immediately.
So as always a couple points.
1. In the first page 1st paragraph it looks like you shifted a decimal point. Looks like you were refering to the loot for less cost limit, but put 25,000 instead of 2,500.
2. In that same theme, on page 4 in the behind the counter description the last sentance of the second to last paragraph appears to have been written when this was still meant to be a loot for less book.
3. Lorebound - Does a lorebound item function for a prepared caster? If so do prepared casters need to have the implement to cast the spell prepped using a lorebound item? It says you have an additional spell known, which technically would mean you only need it in hand when preping the spell, not casting it. Is that correct?
4. I dont know if i missed it in the 'how implements work' section but it doesnt seem like 'using' an implement is clearly defined. Obviously you have to be holding it, but do you need to have 2 hands on a staff? I mean certainly to use a quarterstaff as a weapon you need to hands. But do you need 2 hands to use it as an implement? Are all runestaves quarterstaves too? I think that requiring 2 hands hurts one of the most famous examples of this in fantasy. Gandalf. Without question he weilded both his staff and glamdring at the same time. So I am wondering if I can finally do that sort of thing with runestaves.
5. Creation/classification. You say they are a new category of magic items, but the feats listed to create them are the same. Are they the same as staves and wands for other purposes (such as a wizard's arcane bond, or a feat that works with wants?
Very cool idea!
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1. In the first page 1st paragraph it looks like you shifted a decimal point. Looks like you were refering to the loot for less cost limit, but put 25,000 instead of 2,500.
2. In that same theme, on page 4 in the behind the counter description the last sentance of the second to last paragraph appears to have been written when this was still meant to be a loot for less book.
Both these things are true. I'll see about getting them fixed. :)
3. Lorebound - Does a lorebound item function for a prepared caster? If so do prepared casters need to have the implement to cast the spell prepped using a lorebound item? It says you have an additional spell known, which technically would mean you only need it in hand when preping the spell, not casting it. Is that correct?
Yes... and no. I would certainly argue that just as you can't use a spell completion item if you don't know the spell, you can't actually complete a spell if you don't know the spell. think of it as having the lock, but the key is the implement. So I'd say it works for preparation casters, but you must have the implement in-hand both when preparing, and when casting.
4. I dont know if i missed it in the 'how implements work' section but it doesnt seem like 'using' an implement is clearly defined. Obviously you have to be holding it, but do you need to have 2 hands on a staff? I mean certainly to use a quarterstaff as a weapon you need to hands. But do you need 2 hands to use it as an implement? Are all runestaves quarterstaves too? I think that requiring 2 hands hurts one of the most famous examples of this in fantasy. Gandalf. Without question he weilded both his staff and glamdring at the same time. So I am wondering if I can finally do that sort of thing with runestaves.
Default to normal magic staff rules, which specify "a character must hold it forth in at least one ahnd"
5. Creation/classification. You say they are a new category of magic items, but the feats listed to create them are the same. Are they the same as staves and wands for other purposes (such as a wizard's arcane bond, or a feat that works with wants?
These are new classes of magic items, that are created with the existing feats. However they are still a new class. I'd certainly allow them to work with arcane bond, but feats would require a case-by-case ruling. Are there any core rules feats that are wand specific?
These are new classes of magic items, that are created with the existing feats. However they are still a new class. I'd certainly allow them to work with arcane bond, but feats would require a case-by-case ruling. Are there any core rules feats that are wand specific?
There arent any core feats that i can think of. But there are plenty floating around in 3rd party realm and 3.5 back library. Now that I think about it, it definately needs to be case by case. Because for instance the playtest magus ability (if it sticks around to the final version) would require some adjustment to make any sense with a wand implement. As would things like residual metamagic from the 3.5 days.