Is a stave a staff?

[gnomersy]

So in the Staves magic items section it specifies that a stave is a staff however I'm wondering if that means that a Stave is a Quarterstaff(the only staff object in the equipment list). I assume this is true but it's worth checking.

If it is, can it be enchanted as both a Stave and a weapon at the same time? If you can do so, do you treat each type seperately or as a single joined object of multiple effects? No Idea how this one is supposed to work although my standard assumption would be to treat it as though it were two different objects being enchanted for the purposes of cost.

Oh and can a Stave be used in a single hand for the purpose of its magic properties or does it remain two handed?

[Mauril]

Quote:

Physical Description: A typical staff measures anywhere from 4 feet to 7 feet long and is 2 inches to 3 inches thick, weighing about 5 pounds. Most staves are wood, but an exotic few are bone, metal, or even glass. A staff often has a gem or some device at its tip or is shod in metal at one or both ends. Staves are often decorated with carvings or runes. A typical staff is like a walking stick, quarterstaff, or cudgel. It has AC 7, 10 hit points, hardness 5, and a break DC of 24

So, basically, a magic staff can either be a quarterstaff or a club if you want it to be. As such, I see no reason that it can't be enhanced as a magical weapon in addition to the spells you can cast from it. I would treat enhancing it as a weapon similar to how you can enhance a spiked shield as both a weapon and armor, with two separate prices that are added together with no multiplier.

Quote:

Activation: Staves use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a staff is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 standard action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a staff.) To activate a staff, a character must hold it forth in at least one hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures).

So, even if you wanted to enhance it as a two-handed weapon, you can just hold it in one hand to use it as a spell-casting device.

These quotes are taken from the section on Staves in the magic item section of the core rulebook.