So, the new Runelord archetype replaces your thesis woth a personal rune, which turns your bonded item (which must be a polearm or spear) into a staff. The specific text is,
"The weapon functions as a staff with charges equal to the highest rank of spells you can cast and contains the sin spells from your sin up to that rank (including your cantrips). Your personal rune isn’t a property rune and doesn’t count against the weapon’s limit of such runes.
If you prepare a magical staff, it merges with your bonded item until your next daily preparations, adding its charges and spell list."
So, what's got me confused is that last paragraph. A Runelord's polearm staff is clearly not a normal staff because you can't prepare multiple staffs in one day, but you can merge another staff with your Polearm staff by using the normal preparation method. Which makes me wonder- Does a Runelord's bonded weapon follow the regular mechanics of preparing a staff if you don't merge it with another staff? What does that mean for your ability to expend a spell slot to add a number of charges equal to the level of the expended spell?
I don't have access to the new rules, so I am going off of what is posted here.
From what I am seeing, the limit of only preparing one staff is still mostly in effect - but being relaxed a bit by allowing the 'merge' option.
So if you only have your Runelord staff, it behaves like any other staff. It automatically gets charges equal to your highest Rank of spell. And you can add additional charges in the normal fashion by infusing spell slots into it (typically only one slot).
If you have a second standard staff that you also want to use, then you can merge the two into one staff for the day. Then prepare the combined staff as normal. The combined staff will have the Runelord spells on it as well as your secondary staff spells on it.
I am also a bit confused on the number of charges that this merged staff would have. It is pretty clear that it will combine the Runelord staff's automatic charges and the normal staff's automatic charges together - so double the number of automatic charges when prepared. What is less clear is if you can add charges to both staves by infusing spell slots into the separate staves before they merge (adding two spell slots total) or if you can only add spell slot charges after merging them (only adding one spell slot).
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Here's the rules text for anyone wanting to take a crack at this conundrum that doesn't own the book:
In place of an arcane thesis, you have
a personal rune, which appears on your bonded weapon.
The weapon functions as a staff with charges equal to
the highest rank of spells you can cast and contains the
sin spells from your sin up to that rank (including your
cantrips). Your personal rune isn’t a property rune and
doesn’t count against the weapon’s limit of such runes.If you prepare a magical staff, it merges with your
bonded item until your next daily preparations, adding
its charges and spell list. While merged, the weapons haft
takes on aesthetic aspects of the staff.
Also... Looking at the GM Core text on staves and their charges... I get the feeling this is covering staves either given to you or taken as loot? Basically a way to say, "Oh, that staff you merged with your Runelord Staff has charges already? Just add those to your Runelord Staff too."
I don't have access to the new rules, so I am going off of what is posted here.
Full rules are here in the Nexus.
About the staff I can't see why you could not add extra charges from your spellslot into it. There's no rules preventing this.
Does a Runelord's bonded weapon follow the regular mechanics of preparing a staff if you don't merge it with another staff?
I get just what it says, "charges equal to the highest rank of spells you can cast". If you prepare another staff, you add it's charges and that is where you get an option to increase its base number of charges. The base runelord ability offers no such increase.
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About the staff I can't see why you could not add extra charges from your spellslot into it. There's no rules preventing this.
the issue is, you never prepare the staff and thus never get the opportunity to add additional charges. If you DID prepare it, then you would be unable to prepare the second staff you can merge as you can only have 1 prepared staff.
PS: There is actually an issue with it never specifying how you regain charges...
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It says it "functions as a staff..." Unless it says otherwise, why would the Bonded Weapon not use all staff rules?
During your daily preparations, you prepare your bonded weapon just like you would a staff, including allowing you to add charges to it by expending spell slots. The "with charges equal to the highest rank of spells you can cast" language is just restating the general staff rule.
It doesn't have any exclusory language like "except" or "unlike" etc.
If I am 8th level and prepare only my Bonded Weapon, it has 4 charges. I can sacrifice spell slot to add charges equal to that slot rank to the Bonded Weapon, up to a maximum of 8 charges, 4 because that is my highest spell rank and 4 for the sacrificed spell rank.
Next time I am in town I buy a Greater Staff of Fire. The next day, I prepare my Bonded Weapon and merge it with the staff. So now it has 8 charges, 4 for each staff as that is the highest spell slot I can caste. I can sacrifice a spell slot to add additional charges to the staff for a maximum of 12, 4 charges from the Bonded Weapon, 4 from the staff and 4 from the sacrificed spell slot.
It says it "functions as a staff..." Unless it says otherwise, why would the Bonded Weapon not use all staff rules?
Why would is say it gains "charges equal to the highest rank of spells you can cast" since that's the default for staves? It does what is says and no more. It DOES NOT say it functions as a staff and stop there. It says it functions as a staff and then tells you exactly how many charges it has. Again, if it uses the staff rules, then you can never prepare that 2nd staff. As such, it by definition can't exactly function as a normal magic staff.
The thing with this feature is that it doesn't say you get charges by preparing it. You get charges when you make it: you have a personal rune, which appears on your bonded weapon. The weapon functions as a staff with charges equal to the highest rank of spells you can cast.
"Each day when you prepare your spells, you can designate a single item you own as your bonded item."
So each day you prepare you your weapon and it tells you doing so gets you charges equal to your highest slot: it never states you can re-prepare it for extra charges.
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It says it "functions as a staff..." Unless it says otherwise, why would the Bonded Weapon not use all staff rules?Why would is say it gains "charges equal to the highest rank of spells you can cast" since that's the default for staves?
That is how reminder text generally works. I don't understand why it should work differently in this case than it does in other cases where reminder text is presented.
The rest of that rule sentence still does not forbid adding additional charges to the item that 'behaves like a staff' by infusing it with a spell slot.
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I imagine part of the reason they mention that a Runelord's staff gains charges on its own is because the regular wizard's staff nexus thesis doesn't.
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Because the staff mechanic of allowing prepared spellcasters to boost the charges is a part of the base staff rules, this does end up genuinely ambiguous imo.
The problem part is still the missing info on daily preparations.
Actually, I think I'm well enough leaning toward the "cannot boost the personal rune charges" side to call it in that direction.
In place of an arcane thesis, you have a personal rune, which appears on your bonded weapon.
The weapon functions as a staff with charges equal to the highest rank of spells you can cast and contains the sin spells from your sin up to that rank (including your cantrips). Your personal rune isn’t a property rune and doesn’t count against the weapon’s limit of such runes.
IMO, this phrasing makes it so the pseduo-staff is "auto prepared" as a part of this mechanic. The flat statement of it "having" that many charges removes the ability to prepare it in a different manner that would grant more charges.
This is imo plenty RaW because the "slot boosted charges" rule is an either or result of daily preparations. You do not finish your daily prep, then boost the charges later, which would make this ambiguous. The wording means that the *only* result of prep is the staff having the normal max R charges.
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My ruling would be that a Runelord can boost a normal staff pre-merge for a possible max of 3x charges, but *cannot* also boost the personal rune for a 4x.
