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Southern Cross
2014-08-10, 09:17 PM
Introduction: The arcane bond feature can replace the wizard familiar class feature in Pathfinder.
However, the effectiveness of the arcane bond depends on what object the caster uses as an arcane bond - most wizards uses rings or amulets as arcane bonds. This post is intended to provide feats for the wizard who uses a staff for his arcane bond.

Staff Feats:
Staff Focus [Special]
You can use the stored magic power of your staff to strengthen your spellcasting.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff)
Benefit: When you cast a spell while pointing with your arcane bond, you can gain either a +1 to the attack roll (if the spell requires an attack roll) or a +1 to your caster level (if the spell does not require an attack roll).

Brandish Staff [Special]
By brandishing your arcane bond , you can perform powerful magical feats .
Prerequisites: Caster level 3rd , Staff Focus, and an Intelligence of 17 or higher.
Benefit: By strongly gesturing with his (or her) staff, the wizard can by taking a readied action and rolling Int modifier + wizard levels + d20 roll vs. a set DC either break spells such as hold portal (DC of 35) or counterspell a specific spell (DC of 25 plus the spell level). A wizard can counterspell any spell within sight provided he could add it to his (or her) spellbook, and it is not in one of his (or her) opposition schools. Unlike standard counterspelling, brandish staff does not cost the counterspeller any spell slots of his own. Once per two caster levels, the caster can add his (or her) Intelligence modifier to the caster level check when trying to overcome a creature's spell resistance.
Example: A wizard with this feat, and levels in the Magaambyan arcanist prestige class is attacked by a cleric with flame strike. As he selected flame strike as a bonus spell from the druid spell list, he was able to counterspell it using brandish staff, but a standard wizard or sorceror would be unable to do so.

Recharge Staff [Special]
Your strong attunement to your staff makes it easy for you to recharge it.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff), your arcane bond must have been enchanted to have charges.
Benefit: When you prepare spells, you gain an extra spell slot at your highest spell level, which may only be used to recharge your arcane bond. The extra spell slot is regained whenever you rest to regain spells.

Spell Key [Special]
Your strong attunement to your arcane bond enables you to use it to swap your prepared spells.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff), plus this feat may only be taken when taking your first wizard level.
Benefit: When you prepare spells, you may key any and all of your prepared spells to your arcane bond. As long as you have the staff in hand, you may switch a prepared spell slot for any keyed spell of the same level. The wizard must select the spell(s) to be keyed whenever he (or she) prepares spells.
Example: A 5th- level wizard has both fireball and lightning bolt in her spellbook. If she used her arcane bond as a spell key while preparing them, she would be able to cast either spell from any of her 3rd- level spell slots, provided she had her staff in hand. If she keyed any other spells while preparing them, she would be able to do the same thing with any other spells she had keyed to her staff, provided she was holding her arcane bond while casting them.

Carl
2014-08-11, 12:35 AM
Brandish Staff [Special]
By brandishing your arcane bond , you can perform powerful magical feats .
Prerequisites: Caster level 3rd , Staff Focus, and an Intelligence of 17 or higher.
Benefit: By strongly gesturing with his (or her) staff, the wizard can either break spells such as hold portal (by rolling Int modifier + wizard levels + d20 roll vs. a DC of 35) or counterspell with a readied action and a successful caster power check. A wizard can counterspell any spell within sight on the sorceror/wizard spell list provided the wizard is of high enough level to cast the spell, but spells on other spell lists require the wizard to somehow be able to cast the spell in question. Unlike standard counterspelling, brandish staff does not cost the counterspeller any spell slots of his own. Once per two caster levels, the caster can add his (or her) Intelligence modifier to the caster level check when trying to overcome a creature's spell resistance.
Example: A wizard with this feat, and levels in the Magaambyan arcanist prestige class is attacked by a cleric with flame strike. As he selected flame strike as a bonus spell from the druid spell list, he was able to counterspell it using brandish staff, but a standard wizard or sorceror would be unable to do so.

Ok

1. What is a Caster Power check, do you mean a caster level check like a normal Dispel Magic counter spell?

2. What do they have to beat to dispel a spell, again does it function as dispel magic.

3. Does the targeted dispel function like Dispel Magic for targeting restrictions?

Overall if it functions like dispel magic it's insanely overpowered. Letting them use Dispel Magic once per encounter, wit extra feat expenditures increasing it by 1 use per encounter would be ok if a tad powerful. This with unlimited uses and the half caster level x Int Modifier bonus to the checks is just obscene.


Spell Key [Special]
Your strong attunement to your arcane bond enables you to use it to swap your prepared spells.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff), plus this feat may only be taken when taking your first wizard level.
Benefit: When you prepare spells, you may key any and all of your prepared spells to your arcane bond. As long as you have the staff in hand, you may switch a prepared spell slot for any keyed spell of the same level. The wizard must select the spell(s) to be keyed whenever he (or she) prepares spells.
Example: A 5th- level wizard has both fireball and lightning bolt in her spellbook. If she used her arcane bond as a spell key while preparing them, she would be able to cast either spell from any of her 3rd- level spell slots, provided she had her staff in hand. If she keyed any other spells while preparing them, she would be able to do the same thing with any other spells she had keyed to her staff, provided she was holding her arcane bond while casting them.

If i understand this right this lets you convert any one spell you have prepared to any other spell you prepared at the start of the day.

Inanely overpowered.

Drop the first level requirement and change it to selecting a spell when you choose the feat, then allow them to spontaneously convert any spell to that selected spell, (with metemagic if in a high enough level slot). Still probably too powerful for a feat, but not a god mode button.

Southern Cross
2014-08-11, 04:40 AM
I have rewritten brandish staff to make more sense. It uses a modified version of the counterspell rules, not dispel magic, and the wizard has to be able to learn to cast the spell in question.

As for Spell Key, the idea was that a wizard would not have to memorise multiple copies of the same spell(s), as long as they hold their arcane bond.

Carl
2014-08-11, 08:30 AM
As for Spell Key, the idea was that a wizard would not have to memorise multiple copies of the same spell(s), as long as they hold their arcane bond.

Yes i know, and like i said it's insanely overpowered. Kill it with fire. It basically makes every spell you prepare a domain spell. Clerics get a handful of those and get a much more limited spell list going in, (at least on paper, bad design means it barely matters), to get that capability.


I have rewritten brandish staff to make more sense. It uses a modified version of the counterspell rules, not dispel magic, and the wizard has to be able to learn to cast the spell in question.

It still copies the effects of dispel magic, only the average Dispel DC is higher and the average roll to dispel is higher. Certainly at the lowest levels dispelling or countering anything is going to be nigh impossible, but as both Int modifier and wizard level rise that's going to become much less of an issue, and by 20th you really should be close to the "automatic success" range, if Int stat tomes are in then it will be an auto success with many builds.

Even if it was only a modest chance of success though. It's at will with no spell slot cost. Again Insanely overpowered. Again Kill it with Fire.

jqavins
2014-08-11, 12:05 PM
If i understand [Spell Key] right this lets you convert any one spell you have prepared to any other spell you prepared at the start of the day.

Inanely overpowered.

Drop the first level requirement and change it to selecting a spell when you choose the feat, then allow them to spontaneously convert any spell to that selected spell, (with metemagic if in a high enough level slot). Still probably too powerful for a feat, but not a god mode button.
I must agree, even though I like Carl's reduced version. If you're looking for a campaign operating at high power levels it may not be too much. And this way, it could be taken multiple times for multiple non-prepped spells, but there needs to be a limit.

I like the basic idea of these feats, as the bonded object looks like a bad deal to me without something like this; isn't it a lot of restriction to gain one extra spell per day?


Recharge Staff [Special]
Your strong attunement to your staff makes it easy for you to recharge it.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff), your arcane bond must have been enchanted to have charges.
Benefit: When you prepare spells, you gain an extra spell slot at your highest spell level, which may only be used to recharge your arcane bond. The extra spell slot is regained whenever you rest to regain spells.

Seems like this is only helpful when your highest level spell is the same level as the effect to be rechanged. Say you want to use this to replenish Fireball charges. You reach 7th level, the feat gives you a 4th level recharge-only slot, and you can't cast Fireball from that slot.

Here's another one, stolen directly from GURPS:

Reaching Staff [Special]
You can deliver touch spells through your staff and launch ranged spells from its end.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff)
Benefit: You can deliver a touch spell by making a touch attack with your staff instead of your hand. This allows such a spell to be delivered at 5 feet range. You also can also "shoot" ranged spells from the staff, which allows for casting from partial cover, 5 feet extra range, etc.

OK, the extra 5 foot range doesn't mean much, but it let's you pull off the Tim the Enchanter look.

Southern Cross
2014-08-13, 06:50 PM
O.K., here is a revised version of Recharge Staff:

Recharge Staff [Special]
Your strong attunement to your staff makes it easy for you to recharge it.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff), your wizard must have enchanted the arcane bond to have charges.
Benefit: If you hold your arcane bond when you prepare spells, your staff regains an expended charge, without the wizard having to sacrifice any spell slots to do so. Essentially, the wizard gains a bonus spell slot, which is only usable to recharge the staff in question, and is only regained whenever you rest to regain spells.

Southern Cross
2014-08-17, 04:14 AM
O.K. here is a revised, (and hopefully more reasonable) version of the Spell Key feat.
Spell Key (revised version) [Special]
Your strong attunement to your arcane bond enables you to use it to swap your prepared spells.
Prerequisites: Arcane Bond (Staff), Scribe Scroll, plus the ability to cast arcane mark.
Benefit: A wizard with this feat has inscribed at least one arcane mark upon his (or her) arcane bond.This enables the wizard to key any spells recorded in his (or her) spellbook to the staff. This costs the same amount of money as purchasing the spell in question. The advantage of doing this is the staff can, if held while casting, convert a prepared spell of equal level into the keyed spell. (This ignores metamagic modifiers! If the sacrificed spell is affected by a metamagic feat, the keyed spell is also affected by the same metamagic. The only other way for a keyed spell to be affected by metamagic feats, is for it to be prepared with that metamagic feat before being used as a keyed spell.).
(For game purposes, for spell keying purposes, a wizard can cast up to nine arcane marks on the same staff. Each arcane mark must be used to key a different arcane spell.)
Changing keyed spells: It is possible to change keyed spells, but this requires the wizard to cast erase on the arcane mark that keys the spell, and the wizard must pay the cost of the new spell.
Example 1: A 5th- level wizard has both fireball and lightning bolt in her spellbook. If she used her arcane bond as a spell key after preparing fireball, she would be able to cast fireball from any of her unused 3rd-level spell slots, provided she had her staff in hand. If she keyed any other spells from her spellbook, she would be able to do the same thing with any other spells she had keyed to her staff, provided she was holding her arcane bond while casting them.
Example 2: After several adventures, the wizard in the previous example has advanced to 10th level, and has taken Empower Spell as her bonus feat. After preparing an Empowered lightning bolt, she goes off on her next adventure. Eventually, with most of her spells exhausted, she is fighting a band of trolls. As her only remaining offensive spell is the Empowered lightning bolt, she decides to use the spell slot to cast her keyed fireball spell. As the lightning bolt was affected by Empower Spell, the keyed
fireball spell is also Empowered, and does 15d6 of damage.