
Gallant Armor |
I'm not sure what your saying in the first part. Are they not letting you take the feat Craft Wondrous Items, or are you not allowed to purchase specific items?
What would you like to do that you are unable to do given the restrictions?
Staves can be good if you have downtime between adventures. Recharging a stave while adventuring is generally not a good idea as you will be sacrificing a spell for a charge that is worth less than the spell you sacrificed. The exception would be if you value a spell on the staff more than spells on your own list.
For example, to restore a charge to a Staff of Fire you need to give up a 4th level spell slot, but a charge is worth one 2nd level spell (burning hands), 1/2 of a 3rd level spell (fireball), or 1/3 of a 4th level spell (wall of fire). These are bad trades.
If you are charging the staff on days when you aren't adventuring or don't expect to need all of your spells it is a good way to save that power for later use.
Since staves use the caster level and save DCs of the user, they can be very powerful compared to wands, scrolls or potions.

Saldiven |
Staffs are expensive, but they remain useful at higher levels.
The standard wand uses the minimum associated caster stats to determine the save DC. So, a wand casting Fireball would have a DC of:
10 + 3 (level of spell) + 1 (Int 13 required for 3rd lvl spell) = 14.
This doesn't change whether you're a 1st lvl user or a 20th lvl user. Doesn't matter if the user's Int is 11 or 111.
The staff, however, uses the character's stats to determine the save DC. This makes spells from Staffs useful at higher levels.
For example, a Fireball cast through a staff by a 10th level Wizard. Wizard started with 18 Int, had 2 level ups, and has a +4 head band, resulting in a 24 Int. The save DC would be:
10 + 3 (level of spell) + 8 (24 Int) = 21.

Nyerkh |

Staves are really very expensive, nice as they can be. Which is probably why I hardly ever see them in actual play.
Headbands are, in fact, Wondrous Items, so there's that : you already do have one.
And I'm not sure what you're asking.
Rings aren't Wondrous Items, so there's that. There are some good ones for wizards, too.
Neither are wands, scrolls and potions.
If your GM only allows one wondrous item per character or something similar ... Good news is you should be very rich, considering that's by far what most magic items fall under ?
Grab those expensive rings and staves you never could afford, some magic compatible shield and/or armor if that's your thing, stock up on consumables and hire armies of goons ?
And if you don't get the money either, rejoice that of all the classes, you're quite probably not the one who relies the most on his gear.

SanderJK |
I get some decent use out of a spellstoring armor on my arcanist. I put Frigid Touch in it, which means that if something went Bad and an enemy gets a full attack on me, I can stagger it (and end its full attack) after the first round. It probably saved my life at least twice.
Rods are potentially very very strong and you can spend money on them endlessly.
Toppling (with magic missile), Persistent, Dazing, Extend, empower, maximize, quicken, you can spend a ton of money on them.
Action economy on switching them becomes tedious though.
Remember that holding a staff or rod takes a hand, and you need the other to cast spells.
Something my arcanist just did with his money:
Visit a magical tattoo shop: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/r-z/tatto o-runeward/
The +1 on saves is nice, but the fact that I am aware of spellcasting or SLAs within 60 feet is a really nice alarm.
You can get a lot of utility out of smart wand buying too.

hellatze |
Staves are really very expensive, nice as they can be. Which is probably why I hardly ever see them in actual play.
Headbands are, in fact, Wondrous Items, so there's that : you already do have one.And I'm not sure what you're asking.
Rings aren't Wondrous Items, so there's that. There are some good ones for wizards, too.
Neither are wands, scrolls and potions.If your GM only allows one wondrous item per character or something similar ... Good news is you should be very rich, considering that's by far what most magic items fall under ?
Grab those expensive rings and staves you never could afford, some magic compatible shield and/or armor if that's your thing, stock up on consumables and hire armies of goons ?And if you don't get the money either, rejoice that of all the classes, you're quite probably not the one who relies the most on his gear.
i am confused what my GM want.
i am not allowed to purchase cyclops mask, but allowed to buy headband.
she said, for lore purpose.
confuse me even more.

Ciaran Barnes |

Rods and staves are expensive. They almost never appear in my groups’ games. Wonderous items cover a LOT of territory. Removing them from the game removes loads of interesting items from the game - not just powerful ones. Maybe it is a cliche to say it, but you should ask your GM why such a broad magic item ban is taking place.

Goth Guru |

Lore is in Pathfinder Unchained. Like Knowledge skills it is based on Intelligence.
It's Cyclops Helm. Once per day it gives you a nat 20 on a die roll.
This helm is made from the husk of a cyclops’s shrunken head, and grants a limited version of that creature’s flash of insight ability. Once per day as an immediate action, the wearer can choose the result of the die roll instead of rolling her next attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check.
I would save that for a saving throw. Some would use it to hit tough monsters. Would anyone use a once a day for a lore check? Probably Nopeville. The good news, your GM may not be stressing combat as much as research.

Snakers |
I'm actually decently certain that the gm just told Hellatze here that they can't buy the singular item Cyclops Helm because she thinks it makes no sense for the item, beingmade from a cyclops head, to be available, but a headband is common and thus is. Lore in the sense of before Pathfinder Unchained.

hellatze |
I'm actually decently certain that the gm just told Hellatze here that they can't buy the singular item Cyclops Helm because she thinks it makes no sense for the item, beingmade from a cyclops head, to be available, but a headband is common and thus is. Lore in the sense of before Pathfinder Unchained.
yes, like that

Nyerkh |

Ah. That's a different thing entirely.
If your GM has decided that very specific one item doesn't fit in her world, or at least not anywhere near where you are ... She's right, quite simply.
Assuming there even are cyclops there, which is not guaranteed, they might just brutish bullies, devoid of any oracular ability - like say, good old Polyphemus and similar classical cyclops. Or supremely skilled smiths and craftsmen, also devoid of any future-sight, like the other classical cyclops. Who knows.
Ultimately, there are loads of other items, find something less obscure, you'll probably be fine.
For what it's worth, I'm not convinced complaining here about a decision a GM made regarding her own, possibly homebrew, campaign is likely to convince her.
Also, I didn't know that helm and, lore aside I can see why she wouldn't want to deal with a potential guaranteed crit once per day, for a relatively cheap item.