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Staff of the Master isn't all that broken. It is better than most staffs, granted.
Neither is the Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier, though it probably should be priced higher.
Staff of the Master isn't all that broken. It is better than most staffs, granted.
It is underpriced, even without its extra special effect. That effect is better than most Rods of Metamagic. It's stupid.
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The Cape of Feinting is the most broken item I know. A 7th-level Swashbuckler can keep an any level anything in a dazelock, forever. (Or, at least as long as the swashbuckler can stay awake.)
*Deploys Android Swashbuckler army*
I was going to edit, but I've been quoted too much: just FYI, Staff of the Master would be 27K instead of 30K without it's extra special metamagic stuff - so not underpriced *without* it. Disagree that the staff spell selection is poor though. All are just the sort of spells you want to have at your fingertips when you really need them, but not necessarily worth spell slots. It's even optimized for price (a 2-charge 3rd level and 1-charge 2nd level are maximally efficient on staff pricing).
But enough of the staff: what else do people restrict? Maybe not for power reasons but for game flow reasons (e.g. "teleport spells ruin travel adventures!").
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Staff of the Master Necromancer is incredibly powerful, it's like the worlds most versatile metamagic rod. Being able to freely add quicken, dazing, persistent etc to your highest level spells in huge. In a home game you can limit it a bit by placing time pressure on players making it hard to start each adventure with it charged but that gets very obvious and very forced very quickly.Staff of the Master isn't all that broken. It is better than most staffs, granted.
Neither is the Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier, though it probably should be priced higher.
So you can go Super Sayan once every ten adventuring days, or spread out the butter a little thinner over time.
I personally see the metamagic rods as being more powerful since you can use them every. single. day.
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Staff of the Master Necromancer is incredibly powerful, it's like the worlds most versatile metamagic rod. Being able to freely add quicken, dazing, persistent etc to your highest level spells in huge. In a home game you can limit it a bit by placing time pressure on players making it hard to start each adventure with it charged but that gets very obvious and very forced very quickly.Staff of the Master isn't all that broken. It is better than most staffs, granted.
Neither is the Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier, though it probably should be priced higher.
So you can go Super Sayan once every ten adventuring days, or spread out the butter a little thinner over time.
I personally see the metamagic rods as being more powerful since you can use them every. single. day.
That logic is akin to saying "I like full BAB classes because they are awesome all the time, as opposed to partial BAB classes who have to buff up and can then kick the ass of the full BAB guys whenever they feel like it."
The ability to bring it with any metamagic feat, in quantity, at the time you NEED it, is extremely powerful.
Yeah, for sieges, and going out and killing stuff every day, the MM Rods are stronger...if you know you are going to need that specific feat, for those low level spells.
But the Staff works with any spell and any feat at any time. It's the perfect Metamagic tool when you want it and need it, and you get to prep it ahead of time!
As far as toolbox magic items go, it's one of the best.
==Aelryinth
I agree that the trait is the problem.
Plus with fates favored even luck stone seems underpriced (+2sv throw, +2ability checks, +2 skill checks)
Add jingasa on a divine caster and you have luck bonuses on... Everything.
Even put on a beater, if your a half orc with sacred tattoo you get a +2 on all saves at level uno. not busted but still quite good
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That logic is akin to saying "I like full BAB classes because they are awesome all the time, as opposed to partial BAB classes who have to buff up and can then kick the ass of the full BAB guys whenever they feel like it."
The ability to bring it with any metamagic feat, in quantity, at the time you NEED it, is extremely powerful.
Yeah, for sieges, and going out and killing stuff every day, the MM Rods are stronger...if you know you are going to need that specific feat, for those low level spells.
But the Staff works with any spell and any feat at any time. It's the perfect Metamagic tool when you want it and need it, and you get to prep it ahead of time!
As far as toolbox magic items go, it's one of the best.
==Aelryinth
Uh, it's not any metamagic feat you need whenever you need them. You need to actually have the metamagic feat in question to use it through the staff.
That's why he said "any spell and any feat at any time".
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That's why he said "any spell and any feat at any time".
...yes, I'm aware of what he said, and I addressed it.
In addition, this staff can be used to cast spells using any metamagic feats known by the wielder without increasing the spell’s level. This consumes a number of charges equal to the number of spell levels increased by the feat. No more than one feat can be applied to a spell cast by the wielder in this way. Using the staff for this purpose does not increase the casting time of the spell.
It's not any feat. Only feats that you already possess.
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We're trying out a ban on belts and headbands that add to ability scores in two games. Mostly because that's all anyone would ever buy or craft. I'd much rather see people get magic items that do special things instead of just "I want +1s to things."
Plus, the DCs do get a bit high when people streamline for that.
Are you banning cloaks of resistance as well? Those are just +1s to things. How about magic weapons and armor? The game assumes those plus ones are in there at certain levels. If you remove them, things start to break down.
Yes, yes, any feat you possess, understood. But that's like saying you get wizard spells and sorc spell slots. You still need to know the spell, but you can use them in any combination.
That's much more powerful then extra castings of feat x or y, that has no use in this situation. Pick the feat you have, and any spell, at any time. Major toolbox power, and it's spontaneous!
==+Aelryinth
Considering it takes 10 days to fully recharge, and metamagic wands come with 3 uses per day every day, I think you're overestimating it's usefulness. Especially since metamagic wands can give you access to feats you don't have, and are useful no matter what you spent your feats on.
And no, it's not like saying you get wizard spells and sorcerer slots. Any spellcaster has spell slots, not all spellcasters even spend any feats on metamagic. That's like saying every martial should get a holy avenger, because they could take levels in paladin.
EDIT: Case in point, one of the other characters in a game I'm in is a sorcerer. The only metamagic feat they have is Threnodic Spell. A greater rod of threnodic spell costs 73,000 gp and grants 3 applications of the feat per day (or, 24334 gp/use/day), versus a staff of the master which would cost 30,000 gp for an application of the feat every 2 days (or, 60,000 gp/use/day). And they could very well just purchase a cheaper version of the rod (especially since they only know 5th level spells at the moment anyway).
You're glossing over the fact that you don't need to use the Staff of the Master every day. You need to use it when you need to use it, and when you need it, it delivers in spades.
On the moment it's needed. For cheap like.
Saying, "gosh, I have to spend days to recharge it", is like saying, "gosh, I have to buy scrolls and make preparations for a delve."
Except the staff costs you nothing but time, and delivers for those who can make use of it.
Having a full BAB and being able to swing at full TH all day doesn't mean anything for the fighter. Having a metamagic rod with 3 uses/day every day means nothing if there's no use for that feat. It only matters on the moment when you need it.
And on the moment you need it, the staff of the master is gonzo more flexible. On days you don't, you can just recharge it!
==Aelryinth
I get the feeling our games are significantly different. For us, most of the time adventures take days and combat is happening every day. It seems like in your games you only get into fights every couple weeks, or something, which would make an item that takes 10 days to fully recharge seem significantly more powerful than it is in normal conditions.
Metamagic rods, one and all.
Generic dull +X items of all stripes (inherent bonuses in use instead).
The price of things doesn't matter so much since you can't just drop gold to make stuff; I use what amounts to the talismanic components rule ... you gotta go find stuff to make stuff. Magic items are rare things.
I get the feeling our games are significantly different. For us, most of the time adventures take days and combat is happening every day. It seems like in your games you only get into fights every couple weeks, or something, which would make an item that takes 10 days to fully recharge seem significantly more powerful than it is in normal conditions.
Both games I run right now have pretty much full recharge between dungeons. One, the world size is huge so it may take them days or weeks of travel, in the other its PFS. My next game will have a ton of downtime too. If you read many fantasy novels the adventures take places over years, not weeks so it does have some basis in literature, and it feels slightly more realistic, granted it does affect balance differently than adventuring every day, which I've also ran.
Fates Favored is broken, I ban that not related items. It's way too powerful for a trait, and probably for a feat. You can base entire builds around it. The fact that like 1/3rd of my PFS characters has it and regularly abuses it lets me know its too strong.
I ban the following:
Cape of feinting. Dumb.
Both items of see through walls/doors. Way underpriced for what they do, though not in general.
Boots of Earth, dumb.
I think thats it off hand.
All cursed items. Anyone with the requisite spellcraft or craft skill to make magic items is smart enough to not make these things. I understand that stuff happens, but they just get weaponized and abused going back to bags of devouring in AD&D.
Deck of many things. Nothing will throw off WBL faster than one of these.
I can't think of anything that I ban automatically.
I'd probably hesitate to hand out some artifact level items, but everything else is usually fair game. (I'll hand out artifacts sometimes as well, keeps things interesting)
3rd party stuff would require approval, but it's not often a problem.
My GM just bans traits. Less customization but also less trait abuse, which I prefer.