paizo.com Recent Posts in Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDF Discussionpaizo.com Recent Posts in Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDF Discussion2015-03-14T21:09:52Z2015-03-14T21:09:52ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFFlaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)https://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#722015-10-23T23:21:06Z2015-10-23T23:21:06Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Thedmstrikes wrote:</div><blockquote> I look forward to the update. The cool factor on this beats the stuffing out of using a lousy light crossbow... </blockquote><p>There's a couple books on my desk that have been there for a couple months... Once I got those published, we'll return to the Spellstaff, and your wizardliness won't have to use a lousy light crossbow anymore!Thedmstrikes wrote:I look forward to the update. The cool factor on this beats the stuffing out of using a lousy light crossbow...
There's a couple books on my desk that have been there for a couple months... Once I got those published, we'll return to the Spellstaff, and your wizardliness won't have to use a lousy light crossbow anymore!Flaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)2015-10-23T23:21:06ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFThedmstrikes (alias of Bill Mead)https://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#712015-10-21T01:35:14Z2015-10-21T01:35:14Z<p>I look forward to the update. The cool factor on this beats the stuffing out of using a lousy light crossbow...</p>I look forward to the update. The cool factor on this beats the stuffing out of using a lousy light crossbow...Thedmstrikes (alias of Bill Mead)2015-10-21T01:35:14ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFFlaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)https://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#702015-10-21T02:46:28Z2015-10-19T23:30:55Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Endzeitgeist wrote:</div><blockquote> I really look forward to the re-release of this one! Also: Thank you for being professional and not taking this review personally. I hope my review did take some work-load off your team regarding the re-release. :) </blockquote><p>No problem. You put a ton of advice and helpful critiques in your reviews. Publishing/writing is nothing if not a learning experience!
<p>Your review should make this revision process run smoothly, thank you!</p>Endzeitgeist wrote:I really look forward to the re-release of this one! Also: Thank you for being professional and not taking this review personally. I hope my review did take some work-load off your team regarding the re-release. :)
No problem. You put a ton of advice and helpful critiques in your reviews. Publishing/writing is nothing if not a learning experience! Your review should make this revision process run smoothly, thank you!Flaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)2015-10-19T23:30:55ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFEndzeitgeisthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#692015-10-21T02:46:33Z2015-10-15T00:17:18Z<p>I really look forward to the re-release of this one! Also: Thank you for being professional and not taking this review personally. I hope my review did take some work-load off your team regarding the re-release. :)</p>I really look forward to the re-release of this one! Also: Thank you for being professional and not taking this review personally. I hope my review did take some work-load off your team regarding the re-release. :)Endzeitgeist2015-10-15T00:17:18ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFFlaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)https://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#682015-10-15T00:54:01Z2015-10-15T00:08:42Z<p>Thanks a ton for the long and helpful review, Endzeitgeist! We appreciate the feedback. We'll have it on hand when we go back and hammer the Spellstaff into shape! And thank you for offering to review the to-be-released revised version.</p>Thanks a ton for the long and helpful review, Endzeitgeist! We appreciate the feedback. We'll have it on hand when we go back and hammer the Spellstaff into shape! And thank you for offering to review the to-be-released revised version.Flaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)2015-10-15T00:08:42ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFEndzeitgeisthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#672015-10-21T02:46:36Z2015-10-14T08:21:46Z<p>Part II of my review:</p>
<p>The next archetype would be for Flaming Crab Games' Priest-class, which I do not own and thus cannot judge. It seems to be on d20pfsrd.com as well, but I do not review online content - it's too mutable. The pdf closes with some brief, basic pieces of advice regarding the integration of spellstaves into your campaign, the aforementioned FAQ and also provides a significant array of different plot-hooks - all of which are pretty nice!</p>
<p>Conclusion:</p>
<p>Editing and formatting on a formal level can be considered okay, but on a rules-language, this pdf, alas, is deeply flawed and is in dire need of a good developer and rules-editing. Layout adheres to a beautiful two-column full-color standard and is by far my favorite component of this book - it's elegant and the book also sports numerous beautiful pieces of full-color art I really enjoyed. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience and with a very small (less than two MB!) version for mobile devices - kudos!</p>
<p>It is pretty obvious from the get-go that author J Gray has some absolutely glorious ideas - and indeed, I love the concept of the spellstaff to death. It is pretty much a gaping hole in the rules that should be filled. Alas, this pdf, and there's no two ways around it, fails pretty hard in almost all regards. Beyond the vast array of issues in the finer details of rules-language that render this pdf more opaque than it should be (and no, I have not listed all of them), the rules unfortunately pretty much result in a whole cornucopia of problems. For full casters, spellstaves remain a sub-par option due to the massive feat-tax they require - my playtest did show that with either option, casters are, after first level, pretty much better off when simply retraining. It's not like they'd hit much with their abysmal BAB. So, in my game, primarily gishes felt that these staves were useful - and for them, they may be a tad bit too good. The problem remains that the very basic rules of how spellstaves operate, are too opaque and leave holes at the very foundation of the concept, destabilizing everything built on it.</p>
<p>Now this focus on gishes could be intentional, granted - the issue remains that, once multiclassing comes into the fray, this pdf completely falls apart. There are several extremely ill-conceived archetype abilities that are horribly broken herein, running the whole gamut of problematic exploits and flawed wording, to the point where I honestly wouldn't allow anything in these pages near my main campaign without excessive fixes. And we're not talking about brief changes, but about massive design-changes, which would take me quite some time to do. Less experienced GMs will look at the task required with question marks over their heads.</p>
<p>While writing this review, I've been cursing quite a bit - because the system, make no mistake, CAN be salvaged. In fact, just about every chapter herein, with some SIGNIFICANT streamlining, could have been made awesome. In fact, that's what I hoped for. I re-dl'd the pdf right before posting this one to make sure it hadn't been, hoping that I might rewrite this review. Alas, the flaws remain - there is next to no component that does not sport one issue or another and I am, quite frankly, pretty frustrated with this book.</p>
<p>Author J Gray does show promise, but this pdf, and there are no two ways around it, is simply not functional. The rules-language is horribly flawed and does not manage to represent the complex concepts properly and there is a whole array of issues with even the base items. That being said, while not many, there are some functional pieces of crunch herein, some concepts that are awesome and show promise. Hence, my final verdict will clock in at 1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 due to the awesomeness of the concepts and these components. I sincerely hope I'll be able to write a review of a revised edition soon, one that eliminates these issues and lives up to the awesome premise.</p>
<p>Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here and on d20pfsrd.com's shop.</p>
<p>Endzeitgeist out.</p>Part II of my review:
The next archetype would be for Flaming Crab Games' Priest-class, which I do not own and thus cannot judge. It seems to be on d20pfsrd.com as well, but I do not review online content - it's too mutable. The pdf closes with some brief, basic pieces of advice regarding the integration of spellstaves into your campaign, the aforementioned FAQ and also provides a significant array of different plot-hooks - all of which are pretty nice!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting...Endzeitgeist2015-10-14T08:21:46ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFBrother Fenhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#662015-10-13T02:16:24Z2015-10-13T02:16:24Z<p>He decided to retrain out of spellstaff for now.</p>He decided to retrain out of spellstaff for now.Brother Fen2015-10-13T02:16:24ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFBrother Fenhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#652015-09-16T14:34:37Z2015-09-16T14:34:37Z<p>Thanks for the clarification. I'll talk to my caster and see what he wants to do.</p>Thanks for the clarification. I'll talk to my caster and see what he wants to do.Brother Fen2015-09-16T14:34:37ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJGrayhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#642015-09-16T13:16:16Z2015-09-16T13:16:16Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Luthorne wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Brother Fen wrote:</div><blockquote> I've been running a campaign with a caster using a spellstaff. I don't mind the feat tax because I treat it as a magic attack. If it were free - then the attack should be treated no different than a crossbow which would be fine with me, but a magic attack that bypasses weapon/DR is worthy of a feat tax. It should not be free unless it is not treated as magic. </blockquote>Hmm? It doesn't bypass weapon DR, presuming you mean bludgeoning/piercing/slashing. Actually, it doesn't even say it bypasses DR magic/X, though it would make sense for it to do so given the flavor involved... </blockquote><p>You are correct. The spellstaff, as written, doesn't bypass DR. I understand there was some confusion on the attuned spellstaves. We're working to address that in a future revision. A spellstaff attuned to fire would bypass DR only in a case of DR X/fire.
<p>That being said, just like anything in gaming, a GM should make spellstaff their own. If, in your world, it counts for bypassing DR magic/X? Awesome. That's your call.</p>Luthorne wrote:Brother Fen wrote: I've been running a campaign with a caster using a spellstaff. I don't mind the feat tax because I treat it as a magic attack. If it were free - then the attack should be treated no different than a crossbow which would be fine with me, but a magic attack that bypasses weapon/DR is worthy of a feat tax. It should not be free unless it is not treated as magic.
Hmm? It doesn't bypass weapon DR, presuming you mean bludgeoning/piercing/slashing. Actually, it...JGray2015-09-16T13:16:16ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFLuthornehttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#632015-09-16T12:53:18Z2015-09-16T12:53:18Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Brother Fen wrote:</div><blockquote> I've been running a campaign with a caster using a spellstaff. I don't mind the feat tax because I treat it as a magic attack. If it were free - then the attack should be treated no different than a crossbow which would be fine with me, but a magic attack that bypasses weapon/DR is worthy of a feat tax. It should not be free unless it is not treated as magic. </blockquote><p>Hmm? It doesn't bypass weapon DR, presuming you mean bludgeoning/piercing/slashing. Actually, it doesn't even say it bypasses DR magic/X, though it would make sense for it to do so given the flavor involved...Brother Fen wrote:I've been running a campaign with a caster using a spellstaff. I don't mind the feat tax because I treat it as a magic attack. If it were free - then the attack should be treated no different than a crossbow which would be fine with me, but a magic attack that bypasses weapon/DR is worthy of a feat tax. It should not be free unless it is not treated as magic.
Hmm? It doesn't bypass weapon DR, presuming you mean bludgeoning/piercing/slashing. Actually, it doesn't even say it...Luthorne2015-09-16T12:53:18ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJGrayhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#622015-09-16T12:47:33Z2015-09-16T12:47:33Z<p>@BrotherFen: You can certainly look at it either way. In my own campaign I treat the staff as magical but the attack as mundane - when the campaign witch uses her spellstaff it doesn't bypass DR. As a result, I gave her proficiency with the staff for free.</p>@BrotherFen: You can certainly look at it either way. In my own campaign I treat the staff as magical but the attack as mundane - when the campaign witch uses her spellstaff it doesn't bypass DR. As a result, I gave her proficiency with the staff for free.JGray2015-09-16T12:47:33ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFBrother Fenhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#612015-09-16T12:43:09Z2015-09-16T12:43:09Z<p>I've been running a campaign with a caster using a spellstaff. I don't mind the feat tax because I treat it as a magic attack. If it were free - then the attack should be treated no different than a crossbow which would be fine with me, but a magic attack that bypasses weapon/DR is worthy of a feat tax. It should not be free unless it is not treated as magic.</p>I've been running a campaign with a caster using a spellstaff. I don't mind the feat tax because I treat it as a magic attack. If it were free - then the attack should be treated no different than a crossbow which would be fine with me, but a magic attack that bypasses weapon/DR is worthy of a feat tax. It should not be free unless it is not treated as magic.Brother Fen2015-09-16T12:43:09ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJonGarretthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#602015-09-15T23:38:37Z2015-09-15T23:38:37Z<p>Thank you muchly. I'll try it when I get a GM that'll let me do odd things to characters and report back.</p>Thank you muchly. I'll try it when I get a GM that'll let me do odd things to characters and report back.JonGarrett2015-09-15T23:38:37ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJGrayhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#592015-09-16T12:57:49Z2015-09-15T22:17:26Z<p>@JonGarret: Thank you for using spellstaff in your game. I'm curious to know how your experiment with spellstaff disciple and the dedicated multiclass wizard goes.</p>
<p>I've given your question some thought. If your GM allows, you might add the following feat to the chain of Spellstaff Savvy/Calculated Missile:</p>
<p><b>Calculated Barrage (Combat)</b>
<br />
You've learned to do the calculations quickly, allowing you to maximize damage every time you strike.
<br />
<b>Prerequisites</b>: Exotic Weapon Proficiency - Spellstaff, Spellstaff Savvy, Calculated Missile.
<br />
<b>Benefit</b>: You can add your Intelligence modifier to your attack damage for each attack you make during a round.</p>
<p>I'm putting this together off the top of my head so I haven't had much of a chance to playtest it (and the designer makes the worst playtester anyway). I think the "feat tax" helps balance it and a couple of rounds of full out attacks will drain the spellstaff of charges anyway.</p>
<p>I hope this helps. If you use it, let me know. If it works for you we might include the feat in a revised edition of Spellstaff.</p>@JonGarret: Thank you for using spellstaff in your game. I'm curious to know how your experiment with spellstaff disciple and the dedicated multiclass wizard goes.
I've given your question some thought. If your GM allows, you might add the following feat to the chain of Spellstaff Savvy/Calculated Missile:
Calculated Barrage (Combat)
You've learned to do the calculations quickly, allowing you to maximize damage every time you strike.
Prerequisites: Exotic Weapon Proficiency - Spellstaff,...JGray2015-09-15T22:17:26ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJonGarretthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#582015-09-15T03:55:33Z2015-09-15T03:55:33Z<p>I don't suppose there's a way to add damage to spellstaff attacks for more than one attack? I'm guessing Calculated Missile doesn't work with Vital Strike, after all, but I'm thinking of making a Spellstaff Disciple with the Dedicated Multiclass Wizard from Rogue Genius Games to make a very odd Fighter, and I'd like to keep up on damage as best I can.</p>I don't suppose there's a way to add damage to spellstaff attacks for more than one attack? I'm guessing Calculated Missile doesn't work with Vital Strike, after all, but I'm thinking of making a Spellstaff Disciple with the Dedicated Multiclass Wizard from Rogue Genius Games to make a very odd Fighter, and I'd like to keep up on damage as best I can.JonGarrett2015-09-15T03:55:33ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJGrayhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#572015-09-04T15:36:50Z2015-09-04T15:36:50Z<p>@Thedmstrikes: In my own campaign, high level spellcasters automatically gain the Exotic Weapon Prof feat for spellstaff. I thought I had included that option as a sidebar in the book but, going through it, I see that I haven't. I'm making a note to include that in a revised edition. </p>
<p>So, my recommendation to your GM is to give high level spellcasters (especially wizards and sorcerer types) the feat for free. I don't believe this unbalances the game.</p>
<p>To deal with the 'doesn't do much at higher levels' problem, I would suggest the <b>Spellstaff Savvy</b> feat. It allows you to substitute your Int modifier for your Dex modifier when attacking with the spellstaff. Further down the chain, the <b>Calculated Missile</b> feat allows you to add your Int modifier to your spellstaff's damage as a full-round action.</p>@Thedmstrikes: In my own campaign, high level spellcasters automatically gain the Exotic Weapon Prof feat for spellstaff. I thought I had included that option as a sidebar in the book but, going through it, I see that I haven't. I'm making a note to include that in a revised edition.
So, my recommendation to your GM is to give high level spellcasters (especially wizards and sorcerer types) the feat for free. I don't believe this unbalances the game.
To deal with the 'doesn't do much at...JGray2015-09-04T15:36:50ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFThedmstrikes (alias of Bill Mead)https://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#562015-09-04T14:27:04Z2015-09-04T14:27:04Z<p>I picked this up a few months ago for a game I am playing in. I wanted to wait a few levels to see if there would be any difference on game play as the spellcaster advanced. In my game, the only portion of the rule set being used is the basic spell staff itself and recharging. As a player this item sounds great on paper, but is rather worthless in game. There is a two pronged drawback to my character's use of this item. First and foremost is the feat tax. Arcane spellcasters are just not good at standard combat. For the most part, an arcane caster only resorts to physical combat if they run out of spells or spells are just not appropriate. While the spellstaff sounds cool, it is essentially no different from a crossbow that does not need to be cranked, but limited to only 10 shots without rest. Because arcane casters suck so much at physical combat, the return on my extremely limited feat choice is not as good as could be had I just gone with a crossbow. Secondly, this item is drawback because it attacks physical armor, not touch AC. I say this because, initially, I remembered the use of the spellstaff as targeting the touch AC because it uses "bolts of force" such as magic missiles, but with a different damage die (and of course limited to one die). Once I realized my mistake and changed the attack method in game, its usefulness plummeted, especially at the higher levels when all the bad guys became tougher to hit.
<br />
make no mistake, I was excited to use this item in the beginning because it does sound really cool, from a fluff standpoint, but the feat tax and the low chance of usefulness in combat have changed my mind. Because we are being offered an opportunity to retrain characters in the campaign (a one time offering I note) I am going to drop the spellstaff in favor of something that does not require a feat to use so that I can get more utility out of the feat slot. If the two major points I mentioned in this post were to change, I would strongly consider using this item again for a new character as it still sounds really cool.</p>I picked this up a few months ago for a game I am playing in. I wanted to wait a few levels to see if there would be any difference on game play as the spellcaster advanced. In my game, the only portion of the rule set being used is the basic spell staff itself and recharging. As a player this item sounds great on paper, but is rather worthless in game. There is a two pronged drawback to my character's use of this item. First and foremost is the feat tax. Arcane spellcasters are just not good...Thedmstrikes (alias of Bill Mead)2015-09-04T14:27:04ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJGrayhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#552015-09-03T20:54:47Z2015-09-03T20:54:47Z<p>Disgaean: Thank you for the review. It was fair and brought up many points. I've made notes (some of which I was aware of, others you've brought to my attention) to fix Spellstaff up for a future update. Likely sometime next year.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>Disgaean: Thank you for the review. It was fair and brought up many points. I've made notes (some of which I was aware of, others you've brought to my attention) to fix Spellstaff up for a future update. Likely sometime next year.
Thank you.JGray2015-09-03T20:54:47ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFTheDisgaeanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#542015-09-03T19:56:32Z2015-09-03T19:56:32Z<p><b>What Dragon Age has that Pathfinder doesn't, hit has now! Almost (Cont.)</b></p>
<p>THE ARCHETYPES</p>
<p>Spellstaves are a lot like firearms, they really change the game and open the door for a lot of interesting character concepts, some becoming class archetypes. For the final major part of the book, we get eight new spellstaff-centric archetypes, and like firearms, they come with a rather steep trade-off. Each archetype (save two) are heavily combat oriented, and sacrifice a large chunk of their classes’ weapon and armor proficiencies to be able to use spellstaves, often to the point where they can only use a few simple weapons and light armor (if they get it). This is to be expected, given the spellstaff’s a “magic-user’s weapon,” but they also have some...other issues. First, each archetype has at least one ability that requires spending spellstaff charges to activate (henceforth referred to as “spellstaff abilities” for simplicity). It sounds good on paper, but as mentioned previously, it has huge potential for abuse. The archetypes also tend to be vague in some areas, especially regarding range and damage (see below for more details). As for creativity, they’re not the most inspired, but some are rather flavorful and make for some fun characters. Let’s have a look:</p>
<p>For the casters we have the Serpentstaff Witch for the...witch class. The archetype gains a snake familiar fused with a single spellstaff, which can change shape as a move action. The familiar can fire missiles even animal form, be thrown and instantly shift anywhere in 30 feet at 4th level, add its ranged attack bonus to its master’s 3/day at 8th level, and at 10th level, it gains its spellstaff ability: “serpent bond strike,” where master and familiar perform a combined blast that not only deals damages, but poisons or constricts the target if it hits! Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether the ability uses the witch or the familiar’s BAB and ranged attack bonus, it automatically deals maximum damage if it hits, it doesn’t specify whether this maximum damage only applies to the base spellstaff damage or the enhancements as well, and while it takes a full round action, it doesn’t mention whether or not the ability consumes spellstaff charges, suggesting that it can be used repeatedly. So right out the gate we have a cool archetype, if a little glitchy.</p>
<p>Next up, the Spellstaff Adept. This wizard archetype is more balanced, but very specialized. At the cost of its regular bonus feats, the spellstaff adept gains the ability to select ranged combat feats and spellstaff feats at 1st level and every 3rd level after. They also lose their arcane bond and scribe scroll ability in exchange for weapon focus (spellstaff) and the ability to sacrifice spells to restore charges. To top it all off, they’re required to take a whopping four opposition schools, severely limiting their options. Again, not a bad archetype, but very specialized.</p>
<p>For the sorcerer, we get the unusually named Spellstaff Channeler. The archetype gets its name because it allows the sorcerer to “channel” the power of its mystical bloodline through their spellstaff, granting it additional energy damage (depending on the the bloodline) for a number of rounds equal to their Charisma modifier. This bonus damage increases as the channeler levels up, but the short duration keeps it from being too powerful. Additionally, the spellstaff channeler gains the ability to create a “bloodline chain,” which grants them a +1 bonus to attack rolls that increases every time they make a successful spellstaff attack (up to their level), so long as they can attack every turn they receive. But the best part? The spellstaff channeler can convert the chain into a massive attack, granting them a damage bonus equal to the attack bonus they built up! It’s a near, flavorful, and extremely satisfying ability if you can build up a big enough chain, and it’d be perfect if it wasn’t for two, little problems. At 7th level the final strike splits into two missiles that deal max damage. Like the serpent bond strike before it, it doesn’t mention whether only the base weapon damage is maximized, but it also doesn’t say whether the missiles can target different enemies. What’s worse, at 11th level the final strike will automatically count a critical. You still have to confirm it, but that’s just ridiculous.</p>
<p>Full casters aren’t the only ones getting spellstaff love though. The Spellstaff Dancer gives bards the ability to go from wandering minstrel, to flashy, staff-twirling dervish straight out of the circus. Spellstaff dancers add their Charisma bonus, plus a small, scaling bonus, to their Combat Maneuver Defense and AC. This bonus applies to touch attacks and even works if they’re flat-footed, but not if they’re immobilized, helpless, wearing medium or heavy armor, or carrying anything heavier than a light load. Their other abilities focus on dancing, letting them add half their level to their Perform (dance) skill and may use it in place of Acrobatics, Fly, and Intimidate, and take 10 or 20 regardless of circumstances (taking 20 has limited uses per day thankfully). Then there’s their new bardic performances, which replace some of their supporting songs with some dances and parlor tricks. These are mostly self-buffs, granting things like evasion, haste, and increasing their critical range. But they also gain a few attacks, such as turning a spellstaff missile into a 10 foot cone of fire, and the epic “death spiral dance,” which sacrifices all other attacks that turn in favor of making a single attack against every enemy in range as a full-attack action. Fortunately, the death spiral dance is the 20th level capstone, and requires a separate attack roll for each enemy, so those concerned about its power can breathe easy. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the Spellstaff Disciple</p>
<p>The Spellstaff Disciple is a fighter archetype, the first of two spellstaff archetypes designed for martial classes. Like other fighter archetypes dedicated to a specific weapon or style, the spellstaff disciple loses a bonus feat and weapon training for a new ability. No big deal, except the replacement ability lets them spend charges to cast spells! Not spell-like abilities, actual spells! They only get up to 5th level spells and only one per spell level, but they can use their bonus feats to gain more spells, and as long as they have spellstaff charges, they can cast them as much they want! What’s worse, they still suffer from the arcane spell failure while wearing armor, which can only be eliminated by using the armor training feature to reduce it by 5% INSTEAD of receiving the normal benefits. Overpowered, unbalanced, end of discussion.</p>
<p>For a better martially oriented archetype, Spellstaff Scrapper gives brawler characters the ability to perform a thirty minute ritual to make a single spellstaff a functional melee weapon. This removes its fragile quality and allows it to be treated as a monk weapon, but it loses its ability to fire missiles and can’t be charged normally. Instead, charges are gained by inflicting maximum damage (again failing to specify), confirming a critical hit, or reducing an enemy’s hit points to 0 or less, and are used to grant the spellstaff one of six, changeable energy weapon heads (Think Aqualad’s waterbearers from Young Justice). Each of these heads functions as a different type of weapon, each with its own properties and a temporary bonus feat gained at 1st, 6th, and 12th level. For example, the blade head is the main damage dealer, so it has the brace and reach properties, and grants Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave. While the fork head focuses on disarming enemies, gaining Combat Expertise, and later Improved and Greater Disarm. Changing heads is a standard action, but gets faster as the Spellstaff Scrapper progresses in level, and can even grant their spellstaff a second head, turning it into a double weapon. Finally, spellstaves augmented by the ritual have their damage increase a step at 6th and 12th level, and bypass different forms of damage reduction every 5th, 9th, 12th, and 17th. As for issues, the only real problems with the archetype is that is doesn’t mention whether you have to qualify for these temporary feats, and the shield head. The shield head has the blocking property, granting the wielder a +1 shield bonus while fighting defensively, alright. However, it grants feats centered around shield bashing which, at least to my knowledge, you can’t do with blocking weapons. But despite the shield head’s problems, this is by far the most fun and balanced of the eight archetypes, and my personal favorite.</p>
<p>For those who play divine spellcasters, don’t worry, you haven’t been forgotten. The book contains an archetype for two divine classes: the cleric, and another Flaming Crab creation: the priest (a more spellcasting oriented cleric with an emphasis on knowledge, that gains domain-like abilities called dogmas.). Like the others, these archetypes are heavily specialized. Unlike the others, these two are strictly supporting roles, so if that isn’t your style, you’d best look elsewhere.</p>
<p>For the cleric, we have the Spellstaff Healer. As the name suggests, they only receive one domain, which has to be Healing, and may spend spellstaff charges to increase the range of healing touch spells, as well as treat their caster level higher when using healing or protection spells. There’s a catch though, healing spells with boosted range require a touch attack if they’re used to harm undead, and the caster level increase only works as long as they don’t harm enemies (though non-violent incapacitation and restraint is allowed). A staunch limit, but it definitely captures the essence of the wandering priest dedicated to aiding the sick and wounded. Then there’s the spellstaff ability, which uses charges to boost the variable numeric effects of their healing spells and channel energy ability by 50% or maximize them entirely, at 3rd and 5th level! Additionally these two boosts can stack with metamagic feats AND eachother, making it a little too powerful for my liking, even with the pacifism limit. Then there’s the aforementioned protection spells. What do they mean? Are they referring to shield spells? Abjuration spells? Protection from alignment or creature spells? What?</p>
<p>Then there’s the priest archetype, the Spellstaff Shepherd. Characters who take this archetype must be of good alignment, worship a good deity, and channel positive energy, and like its core class cousin, is limited to specific dogmas. Unlike the Spellstaff Healer, the Shepherd may choose the Animal, Community, Good, or Protection instead of Healing, and change their dogma each day, eventually gaining a second dogma (also changeable) at 20th level. They can also spend a spellstaff charge to track other members of their faith. Its spellstaff ability allows it to create a dome-shaped version of the wall of “force spell,” and it’s one of the more balanced examples. The dome has 10 hit points for every charge spent, but only covers a 5 foot radius around the shepherd (range increases 5 feet every 4 levels after 4, then to 30 at 20th level). Altogether, a good support archetype, but don’t expect to be doing much else.</p>
<p>Altogether, the archetypes are a mixed bag. They have some good ideas and abilities, but the lack of clarity, use of an easily replenishable resource, and a few stackable abilities keeps them from being great.</p>
<p>THE REST</p>
<p>The final section of the book provides a few ways to incorporate spellstaves into your game, a few plot hooks, FAQs, and obligatory OGL information. Helpful tips for GMs, but I felt more could’ve been done with it. Maybe add some more alternate rules like having full casters automatically receive spellstaff proficiency, or do what did with firearms and make some development tiers showing how accessible it would be for that world. Since many GMs would probably houserule this anyway, it’s not a huge missed opportunity, but a missed opportunity nonetheless.</p>
<p>CLOSING</p>
<p>Flaming Crab has attempted to bring the modern magical staff to tabletop gaming, and for the most part, I’d say they succeeded. The spellstaff is a unique weapon, and while it has a few glitches here and there, it definitely capture the essence of the new wizard’s walking stick. It has a solid set of feats backing it up, and while the archetypes could use some adjustments, they show promise, and I hope they’re rebalanced in a possible update. Unfortunately, as it is, I can only give the product a 3 out of 5. However, I’m confident that my players and I will be having a lot more interesting battles with our new magic-user’s weapons.</p>What Dragon Age has that Pathfinder doesn't, hit has now! Almost (Cont.)
THE ARCHETYPES
Spellstaves are a lot like firearms, they really change the game and open the door for a lot of interesting character concepts, some becoming class archetypes. For the final major part of the book, we get eight new spellstaff-centric archetypes, and like firearms, they come with a rather steep trade-off. Each archetype (save two) are heavily combat oriented, and sacrifice a large chunk of their classes’...TheDisgaean2015-09-03T19:56:32ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFJGrayhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#532015-07-26T18:25:21Z2015-07-26T18:25:21Z<p>Luthorne, sorry for the lateness of my reply.</p>
<p>The attuned staves do not change the type of bolt the spellstaff produces but, instead, gives them a damage descriptor. So, you don't so much have a ball of fire as a magical missile that is on fire. The intent is to allow the spellstaff to bypass damage reduction and not bypass physical armor altogether. </p>
<p>As for the Serpentstaff Witch, I allowed for a constrictor style snake in there for those GMs that allow players to have, say, a ball python familiar instead of a viper familiar.</p>Luthorne, sorry for the lateness of my reply.
The attuned staves do not change the type of bolt the spellstaff produces but, instead, gives them a damage descriptor. So, you don't so much have a ball of fire as a magical missile that is on fire. The intent is to allow the spellstaff to bypass damage reduction and not bypass physical armor altogether.
As for the Serpentstaff Witch, I allowed for a constrictor style snake in there for those GMs that allow players to have, say, a ball python...JGray2015-07-26T18:25:21ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFFlaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)https://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#522015-07-10T05:01:47Z2015-07-10T05:01:47Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">tsuruki wrote:</div><blockquote> Reviewed. Thanks for the good product Flaming Crab. Ill have fun with it but that Metamagic empowerment thing sticks out like a thorn in my eye! </blockquote><p>Thanks so much for your review! When we go back to update the product for errors, we'll be sure to look at the points you made! I agree that Metamagic empowerment is broken as is.tsuruki wrote:Reviewed. Thanks for the good product Flaming Crab. Ill have fun with it but that Metamagic empowerment thing sticks out like a thorn in my eye!
Thanks so much for your review! When we go back to update the product for errors, we'll be sure to look at the points you made! I agree that Metamagic empowerment is broken as is.Flaming Crab Games (alias of Uncommoner)2015-07-10T05:01:47ZRe: Forums: Product Discussion: Spellstaff: The Magic User's Weapon (PFRPG) PDFtsurukihttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9coq/discuss&page=2?Spellstaff-The-Magic-Users-Weapon#512015-07-06T12:54:04Z2015-07-06T12:54:04Z<p>Reviewed. Thanks for the good product Flaming Crab. Ill have fun with it but that Metamagic empowerment thing sticks out like a thorn in my eye!</p>Reviewed. Thanks for the good product Flaming Crab. Ill have fun with it but that Metamagic empowerment thing sticks out like a thorn in my eye!tsuruki2015-07-06T12:54:04Z