I want to introduce Alakast into the campaign, but I'd like to make it a spellcaster item instead. Perhaps a bonus to Int or Wis or a bonus to DC's for spells, maybe even a couple spell-like abilities per day.
Any ideas on what a spellcaster Alakast would be like? Maybe even some intersting sample abilities and costs for them?
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I know that on therpgenius.com someone put up a version of Alakast that was made to be a weapon of legacy. If I recall though it wasn't designed for a caster, instead it gained intelligence and more offensive power as it and its wielder leveled. I actually am at this point in the campaign myself, the characters just finished chapter five last night. So far Alakast is being carried by their Dwarven cleric. They still aren't positive it is Alakast because even while I allow spellcraft to examine a magical item they rolled abysmally, but they are pretty sure after Nidrama's previous message.
Anyway, I've been debating this issue myself. I want Alakast to be an item that will grow with the characters so that it will remain useful throughout the campaign, it really feels it should be a legendary item. It is hard to do that however without making it specific to one player and as in the campaign as writter their aren't any other really legendary weapons its a bit tough.
If you wish to make it more wizardly in the tradition of surubar you may want to think about giving it similar powers to those the high handcrafters get in their earth amulet at 5th level. I can't remember just what they are off my head but I believe they were a pretty decent range of abilities without being overly powerful. If there is one or two spells that would seem offbalancing to give the players at this level then you might want to have the players 'unlock' them, and not grant them the full use until they could theoretically cast those spells themselves.
Anyway, just a thought. If you come up with anything post it, I would love to hear others ideas on this matter and see if there is something I want to include in my campaign.
I gave Alakast the ability to add +2 on rolls to penetrate spell resistance against chaotic evil outsiders, and +4 instead of +2 to overcome SR of Nabthatoron himself and demons in his service. The staff also adds +1d6 good damage to all damaging spells cast by the weilder of the staff against evil outsiders, and once per day, the wielder can cast a spell as if empowered (+50% damage) with the extra damage being good damage.
I gave Alakast the ability to add +2 on rolls to penetrate spell resistance against chaotic evil outsiders, and +4 instead of +2 to overcome SR of Nabthatoron himself and demons in his service. The staff also adds +1d6 good damage to all damaging spells cast by the weilder of the staff against evil outsiders, and once per day, the wielder can cast a spell as if empowered (+50% damage) with the extra damage being good damage.
Not bad. I like it. Did you happen to work in a price for this?
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zoroaster,
I really like those changes you have made but I can't help but wince at the thought of giving that sort of power to my players at the moment. They currently have a WMD called a warmage/warmage (yes he took the warmage base class and then prestiged into warmage from the Age of Mortals book) and while he has gone out of his way to not be greedy for magical items the one thing he has secured for himself is a lesser wand of empower. Using that its scary how quickly even just an orb spell can be turned into a big pile of destruction when used against the right enemy.
Our cleric is a follower of obad hai(who's favored weapon is the quarterstaff). I may do something to allow the staff to grant divine bonuses as he is the one who currently carries it anyway. Or perhaps some sort of group bonus like a paladins save vs fear. I suppose I have til sunday to figure something out.
Based off of several posts on this site and the SCAP site I made alakast a weapon of legacy, last night during FoF the cleric of Fharlargan who wields the weapon completed the final ritual. This is how Alakast is represented in my campaign.
Alakast
Alakast is a Quarterstaff with a cool-pale gold luster, a product of being forged from frystalline, a mineral from the icy mountains of the Blessed Fields of Elysium.
Nonlegacy Game Statistics: +1 evil outsider bane / +1 evil outsider bane (good aligned for the purpose of damage reduction) quarterstaff; Cost 22,000 gp; Damage 1d6+1/1d6+1; Weight 3 lb.
Omen: Weapon glows when demons or devils are within 25 feet. Your eyes emit a white glow when the weapon glows.
Legacy Rituals:
Touch of Mount Celestia: You must spend an entire day meditating and praying in a temple dedicated to a deity from the House of the Triad. Cost: 12,500 gp. Feat Granted: Lesser Legacy (Alakast).
Banish the Abyssal Blood: In a single encounter you alone must defeat one or more evil outsiders with the baatezu or tanar'ri subtype with a total Encounter Level of at least 15. Alakast is the only weapon you are allowed, but you can use any spells or innate abilities you possess. Cost: 40,500 gp. Feat Granted: Greater Legacy (Alakast).
Wielder Requirements:
Base Attack Bonus +3
Knowledge (Planes) 2 ranks
Any good alignment
CL; Abilities
11th; Nidrama's Grace
12th; Strength of Heavens
13th; -
14th; +2 evil outsider bane / +1 evil outsider bane (good aligned for the purpose of damage reduction)
15th; -
16th; +2 evil outsider bane / +2 evil outsider bane (good aligned for the purpose of damage reduction)
17th; Banish fiends 1/day
18th; +3 evil outsider bane / +2 evil outsider bane (good aligned for the purpose of damage reduction)
19th; Planar ally 1/day
20th; +3 evil outsider bane / +3 evil outsider bane (good aligned for the purpose of damage reduction)
Legacy Item Abilities:
All the following are legacy item abilities of Alakast.
Nidrama's Grace (Sp): Beginning at 11th level, when wielding Alakast you are protected by a permanent protection from evil as the spell. Caster level 5th.
Strength of Heavens (Su): At 12th level, when wielding Alakast against an evil outsider, you gain a +2 morale bonus on Strength.
Banish Fiends (Sp): Beginning at 17th level, once per day when you issue the command "Fiends depart!" and gesture with Alakast, you force evil extraplanar creatures out of your home plane, as the banishment spell. The save DC is 20, or 17 + your Charisma modifier, whichever is higher.
Surabar's Ally (Sp): Beginning at 19th level, once per day as a move action, you can use Surabar's ally to summon Nidrama. As Greater Planar Ally Caster level 17th.
Character Level Skill Check Penalty Hit Point Loss
11
12 2
13 -2
14 2
15
16 2
17
18 -3 2
19 2
20 2
I like what you've done with it, walter mcwilliams , but unfortunately its still just a quarterstaff for melee users. None of my players are going to want to use a quarterstaff as their weapon when they've already got the weapons they need/want. That's why I want to turn it into a caster item (which, by all estimation, it should be since it was Surubar, a mage!, who used it first). What mage is gonna jump up in melee, even with a cool staff like this, and start wailing away!?!?
For my group, my modified Alakast hasn't caused a problem yet. The wizard's player had been occasionally complaining that his character was not as effective as the melee types or the cleric. Even with the boost from the staff, the melee fighters are still dominating most fights.
I saw the same problem with the original write up presented in the HC. If you plan to use a melee type as Alakast predominate user then the above write up is sensational! Well done again Walter.
Unfortunately I plan on giving this item to the wizard of the group - following the Sundabar (mage) tradition.
(Just a thought but does anyone else find this strange - Sundabar the great wizard used an item which was very combat focused!?)
So I thought I would give Alakast the following benefits -
Glow when within 60ft of an Infernal creature (I like the white glowing eyes description from Walter above so I may steal this as well;))
1d6 addition damage to damaging spells cast on Infernal Creatures (ie a 10d6 Fireball would do an additional 1d6 bane damage)
Can cast any Cantrip at will
One type of Metamagic Feat (undesided - Extend, Empower?)
Anyhow these are just my initial thoughts. I'll write this up in much more detail, with more description and a information later.
Anyone else have any addition ideas about additional powers Alakast could have that haven't already been mentioned?
Delvesdeep
Here’s the idea that I’m probably going to use for Alakast in my campaign. I realise that it is very powerful but all my characters will be gaining powerful signature items that are of near artifact level at 20th character level. This item progresses as the character progresses in level.
Feedback is welcome especially as to the gp value at each level. I’m thinking that at 20th level it would probably be worth around 200,000 – 250,000 gp.
The reason I chose to use a limited amount of uses per day rather than charges is that I want Alakast to be a permanent magic item rather than something that eventually runs out of charges and effectively dies.
It could be changed to Evil Outsiders instead of Tanari’ri. Not sure. Would it make it too powerful?
Level of
Wielder
1 Protection from Evil 1/day
2 Know Protections 1/day
3 Quarterstaff +1
4 Purify Spell (metamagic) 1/day
5 Demon Resistance +1
6 Deeper Darkvision 1/day
7 Magic Circle against Evil 1/day
8 Empower Spell (metamagic) 1/day
9 Quarterstaff +2
10 Demon Resistance +2
11 Dimensional Anchor 1/day
12 Fortify Spell (metamagic) 1/day (increase spell level to maximum wielder can cast).
13 Orb of Force 1/day
14 Refusal 1/day
15 Demon Resistance +3
16 Heighten Spell (metamagic) 1/day (increase spell level to maximum wielder can cast).
17 Dispel Magic, Greater 1/ 3 days
18 Banishment 1/week
19 Maximise Spell (metamagic) 1/day
20 Demon Resistance +4, Push Staff
All metamagic feats can only be used against Tanar’ri.
Demon Resistance - Against Tanari’ri the wielder receives the stated luck bonus to AC and Saves.
Push Staff – Wielder may choose to use one of the staff’s abilities one extra time during the stated time frame. E.g if the wielder wants to use a extra orb of force then the staff cannot be pushed until the next day. If used on banishment , the staff cannot be pushed again until a whole week has passed.
Having thought about it a bit, a posible alternative to this, to make it less powerful, is let the staff have a certain amount of charges per day, say 10 and then have a cost in charges for each ability.
e.g.
1 Protection from Evil (1 charge)
2 Know Protections (1 charge)
3 Quarterstaff +1
4 Purify Spell (metamagic)(1 charge)
5 Demon Resistance +1
6 Deeper Darkvision (2 charges)
7 Magic Circle against Evil (2 charges)
8 Empower Spell (metamagic)(2 charges)
9 Quarterstaff +2
10 Demon Resistance +2
11 Dimensional Anchor (2 charges)
12 Fortify Spell (metamagic)(1 charge/level increase)
13 Orb of Force (2 charges)
14 Refusal (2 charges)
15 Demon Resistance +3
16 Heighten Spell (metamagic)(1 charge/level increase)
17 Dispel Magic, Greater (3 charges)
18 Banishment (3 charges)
19 Maximise Spell (metamagic)(3 charges)
20 Demon Resistance +4, Push Staff (+3 charges a day)
All metamagic feats can only be used against Tanar’ri.
Demon Resistance - Against Tanari’ri the wielder receives the stated luck bonus to AC and Saves.
Hopefully this is my last post on this.
I've decided I would definitely change it to evil outsiders and the number of charges per day that Alakast has would be equal to x, where x is the wielder's level/2, rounded up.