I am playing a Arcanist/Evangelist of Nethys (The God of bi-polarism).
I am embracing the magic of the character, he is a scholarly type (constantly taking notes in a book, trying to learn everything). I did however roll amazing well for the character so he has some Gish to him (rolled 2-16, 3-15, and a 12)
I decided that I will be making a magical (quarter)staff. I will soon start the magic weapon portion. The Staff portion will come in a long while (We will be level 3 tomorrow) but I want to have an idea of where I am going with it.
I have a couple ideas for the weapon portion (+2-Spell Storing/+2-Training:TWF) but thinking of adding some Command word abilities.
One key thing is that I want it to SCREAM Nethys, bi-polar and all. Visually I have an idea that will cost me a couple hundred extra gold (It will be composed of both Dark Wood and Mitral Silver, entwined with each other in a cork screw)
So what would you guys suggest for possible powers.
I am looking for FLAVOR here as well as USEFULLNESS. Ideas please :)
Arcane Mark/Erase?
Cold/Fire?
Darkness/Light?
Vampiric Touch/Shield Other?
Fireshield?
Silence/Blindness/Deafness/Shout/Sonic Burst/Shatter?
Enervation/Searing Light?
Haste/Slow
Wall of Force or some other defensive force effect/Battering Blast
Disintegrate/Major Creation, Fabricate?
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dispel magic / permanency
For extra dedication points, have the command words trigger these dichotomous pairs w/o getting to specify which half of the pair activates (roll for it). ;-)
Alternatively, require each half of a pair to be used approximately equally. In the extreme this means after you use one you can't use it again until you use the other. That should be work a 30%-50% discount, too. Less extreme, allow either to get say 3 uses ahead of the other but no more (less of a discount).
EDIT: Alter-alternatively, designate each spell as creative/defensive or destructive/offensive and require the user to alternate between these two groups but not between individual spells. Maybe a 25%-40% discount for this setup.
FURTHER EDIT: As a tweak to the last one, say you can use a spell from the same group as the last spell you cast but it costs double charges. If you then cast another from the same group, triple charges, etc. This gives you flexibility in emergencies. Less of a discount, of course, but still a substantial one.
This is what I have come up with so far
Staff of Nethys
* Special Materials 1/2 Mitheral; 1/2 Darkwood
* +2-Spellstoring/+2 Training:TWF
* Eshrew(sp) Materials
* Magic Missile (level 8/0Charges)
* Shield (Level 8/0 Charges)
* Selective Flare Burst (1 Charge)
* Darkness (1 Charge)
* Haste (2 Charges)
* Slow (2 Charges)
* Selective Fire Ball (3 Charges)
* Wall of Ice (3 Charges)
Cost: 120,063.34
Crafting Cost: 60,371.63
At will magic missiles seems pretty powerful. You could plink away at anything and kill it over the long haul.
I like the Selective bits.
The magic Missile is because the "base" is based off the Staff of entwined serpents. My original "draft" kept both Shield and Magic Missile at level 3 so that it would not be so powerful...I will lower both to level 3, see if my GM has a problem with the "weapon" being a significant lower level
My main concern is the frequency, not the damage output.
2d4+2 would (probably) never get used by someone who is high enough level to afford this staff.
I would have it cast spells that do energy damage (EX: fireball) modified by an ability that works like Versatile Evocation of the Admixture school of wizard but have it activate every time and you roll a d4 with it to determine what the damage type becomes
The plan is the staff will be slowly upgraded
Phase 1: Masterwork item of material
Phase 2: Lines 2 (Partial: just a +1) 3, 4, 5 (lines 4 & 5: CL 3),
Phase 3: Line 2 (Partial: Spell storing/+1 Training TWF)
Phase 4: Finish Lines 4& 5 (around level 11-13)
Phase 5-8: Not sure of order yet, but 2 "spells" at a time
This is what I have come up with so far
Staff of Nethys
* Special Materials 1/2 Mitheral; 1/2 Darkwood
* +2-Spellstoring/+2 Training:TWF
* Eshrew(sp) Materials
* Magic Missile (level 8/0Charges)
* Shield (Level 8/0 Charges)
* Selective Flare Burst (1 Charge)
* Darkness (1 Charge)
* Haste (2 Charges)
* Slow (2 Charges)
* Selective Fire Ball (3 Charges)
* Wall of Ice (3 Charges)Cost: 120,063.34
Crafting Cost: 60,371.63
Considering what I said in the first post, do you think I have captured the Dual nature of what I was going for. Right now these are the "conflicts"
Material: Wood/metal (life/inanimate)
Basic Weapon: Magic/Martial
Magic Missile/Shield: Attack/Defense
Flare/Darkness: Light/Dark
Haste/Slow: Fast/Slow
Fire Ball/Wall of Ice: Fire/Ice
White bone and black clockwork?
Something that once lived but is now dead, something that was inanimate but now moves.
What do you all think of the spell selection?
I like the light/dark dichotomy, but the haste/slow and fire/ice bits seem kind of obvious. Also, both the flare ability and the darkness ability both blind the staff wielder's opponents.
Is this staff for a specific PC or NPC? What role will it play in the campaign? How will the wielder use it? Will it add new abilities to the wielder's repertoire, or enhance abilities the wielder already has?
It is for my PC
The MAIN thing is that his crafting is suppose to be a religious expression, but I want it to be useful as well (It is going to cost me a small fortune after all...)
The Quarterstaff of Entwined Serpents is inexpensive [5,050 gp] +1 Q-staff that you can upgrade as desired. But the entwined serpent aspect can be easily flavored as a different opposite, as can the material of the staff.
/cevah
It is for my PC
The MAIN thing is that his crafting is suppose to be a religious expression, but I want it to be useful as well (It is going to cost me a small fortune after all...)
OK.
Then what do you want your staff to help you with? Is it just a symbol? Or is it a tool and/or weapon?
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My Nethyn cleric was working on a staff of fire-blackened mahogany entwined with white pine wood, with the following;
0 charges - light
1 charge - cure light wounds, darkness or inflict light wounds
2 charges - bestow curse, cure serious wounds, inflict serious wounds or remove curse
3 charges - dismissal or summon monster IV.
If he'd also been a wizard, I'd have definitely thrown some sor/wiz spells in there, too. Perhaps something exploring the Destruction / Protection dichotomy, like dispel magic (protection/abjuration) and fireball (destruction/evocation), for 2 charges each, and oh so definitely prestidigitation as a 0 charge option!
The Quarterstaff of Entwined Serpents is inexpensive [5,050 gp] +1 Q-staff that you can upgrade as desired. But the entwined serpent aspect can be easily flavored as a different opposite, as can the material of the staff.
/cevah
If you look carefully it is incorporated in, just listed separately, and upgraded
Plan for stage 2 is the staff of entwined serpents and the shield spell, both MM and Shield at level 3 to start (to be upgraded later)