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A lively discussion has taken hold of late regarding the Shifting Rune that's caused me to look at some of the Rune and Staff rules again with a fine-tooth comb.
In so doing I've come across an ambiguity that I wanted to bring up which very well might eliminate the need for clarity on that topic altogether. I'm including sourcing to the rules in question along with it so everyone can read along and chime in within the context of the rules at play.
Attacking with a Staff
Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 1.1
Staves are also staff weapons, included in their Price. They can be etched with runes as normal for a staff. This doesn’t alter any of their spellcasting abilities.
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Universal Rune Rules
Specific Armor and Weapons
Unlike armor and weapons enhanced with runes, specific armor and weapons (such as ghoul hide or a holy avenger) are created for a specific purpose and can work quite differently from other items of their type. Specific magic armor and weapons can’t gain property runes, but you can add or improve their fundamental runes.
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The Staff Rules indicate that you can add Runes to the Staff as normal and the normal Rune Rules prohibit Specific Weapons from having Property Runes altogether.
So, this begs the following questions.
1) Are named Staffs considered "Specific Weapons" for the purpose of applying Runes to them?
2) Which rule is MORE specific than the other; the General Rune Rules, or the Attacking with a Staff Rules?
I'd like to hear the opinions others have on these two questions as well as justifications one might have in regard to why you feel that way.
In light of this, I think it is RAW that named Magical Staffs (Animal Staff, Staff of Divination etc) can only ever have Fundamental Runes etched onto them. I'm of the opinion that the only reason the rules indicating that the spellcasting abilities are not altered is to ensure that people don't apply the Item Bonus to Spells and Effects which are generated from the Staff.
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And, to show that this is a frequently asked question:
Plus just "shifting" in general
If you agree that this is a "frequently asked question", go ahead and favorite the original post so your vote can be counted!
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1) Are named Staffs considered "Specific Weapons" for the purpose of applying Runes to them?.
I think only you are begging this particular question. There are several staffs in the Specific Magic Weapons sections. They are not things like “Staff of Illusion (Greater)” et al.
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In lieu of retyping my reply from the other thread, I'll instead go ahead and copy/pasta it.
Since the CRB explicitly states that you can put runes on a magic staff, you would argue wrongly.While it does state you can put Runes on them, it says you can do so in the normal way you would for Weapons, which in this case would then fall to the normal Rune Rules which more specifically indicate that Specific Magic Weapons cannot have Property Runes on them.
Interesting....
They can be etched with runes as normal for a staff.
I would agree with your gist if staves were ever called out as being "specific magic weapons". But they are not. Staff to me is much more akin to a special property, like a material property, not an indication that the staff is a specific magical weapon.
Since we can etch runes on them as, "normal for a staff," the only real conclusion we can draw is that we treat a Magic Staff as a Staff when shopping for runes. So both fundamental and property runes are on the table, with their usual limitations.
Then you have the existence of the Scrollstaff, which is a specific magical weapon, but includes a bit of rules indicating that it does NOT follow the standard rules for specific magic weapons.
A scrollstaff serves as a weapon just like an ordinary staff and can be improved via runes like any other staff.
I'm not aware of any other specific magical weapon that includes that line, so that line could only serve to inform the reader that it breaks the norm of other specific magical weapons.
Thoughts?
