How to make a good runestaff for a level 10 bard

[jedikiller]

I was thinking, for my level 10 bard/sublime chord, why not create a good run estaff that has a few versatile spells like magic missile into a runestaff so I could cast them myself because I seem to be the only arcane spellcaster on the party. What would be the cost of such a staff and what spells should be on it. (I was thinking Fly,Magic Missile, and Lightning Bolt)

[Barna13]

So you need to be level 11 to take sublime chord and level 12 to take craft staff(which is needed to make custom runestaffs).

Onto the guidelines: It is stated that the lowest level spell in the staff should be 3rd. However many runestaffs violate this rule(including the example from that section), so best to ignore it.

The runestaff should have a common theme that applies to all spells within it. It should have 2-5 spells within it(this isn't hard and fast, since several runestaffs break this limit of 5)

The price of the runestaff is: 400 times the highest spell level squared, plus 200 times the spell level squared for all other spells.

As for personal rule of thumb: You want to group a bunch of thematically similar low-cost spells together.

Examples for useful ones as follows:

Runestaff of lesser teleportation:
Dimension step(3600gp)
Benign Transposition(200gp)
Baleful transposition(800gp)
Regroup(1800gp)
Final price: 6400gp

Runestaff of lesser trasmutation:
Fly(3600gp)
Haste(1800gp)
Enlarge person(200gp)
Spider climb: (800gp)
Knock(800gp)
Final price: 7200gp

Note that you'll need help to meet many of these prerequisites, as you don't have access to many 1st-3rd level wizard spells.

For a more bardy sort of runestaff:

Runestaff of trickery:
Glibness(3600)
Invisibility(800)
Silent image(200)
Ghost sound(100)
Major image(1800)
Total price: 6500gp

That isn't to say you couldn't make ones for higher level spells, but they get pricey fast

Example:
Runestaff of fog:
Cloudkill(10,000gp)
Solid fog(3200gp)
Total price: 13,200gp. This costs twice as much as the others, with half as much variety. GP is king, and high-end runestaffs often aren't worth it.

Hope this helps!

[jedikiller]

Thanks!

[jedikiller]

Ok so I've got it. Theolin's runestaff of wizard emulation- magic missile (200gp), melf's acid arrow (200gp), fly (3600gp), lightning bolt (1800gp), and fireball (1800gp). Correct me if I'm wrong on the cost. But if you have any better spell suggestions let me know.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You can only use spells from a Runestaff if they're on the class spell list of the spell slots you're using to activate them. So you can't use a Bard spell slot to cast Magic Missile from a Runestaff. You could try using UMD to get around that, but that's entirely subject to DM interpretation.

Take a look at the Raiment of the Four set in MIC, the gloves allow you to spend 1st level spell slots to cast Magic Missile, the goggles allow you to spend 3rd level spell slots to cast Fireball, the amulet uses 4ths to cast Freedom of Movement, the belt uses 5ths to cast Teleport, in addition to the passive benefit each item grants. All of these are usable regardless of whether or not the spell is on your class spell list.

MIC p224 has the rules for Runestaff pricing. You can get Ancestral Relic (BoED) or Item Familiar to avoid needing to take Craft Staff. If it's an Ancestral Relic you don't need to meet any of the item's prerequisites at all, and you can even switch what spells it contains each time you modify it. Item Familiar gets tons of other benefits and is always worth taking on every character. With Ancestral Relic if the party would sell junk loot at half price, you can buy it from the party pool for that amount, get a portion of that back when cash is split, and sacrifice the loot's full value into your ancestral relic to improve it, so it's upgraded for less than half price.

[jedikiller]

Do you have to know the spell to cast it out of a runestaff? Haven't read the MIC, only read an article on them.

[ottdmk]

You don't need to know the spell as part of your Spells Known. It just needs to be on your spell list. Primary reason for Runestaffs to exist is to give some added versatility to those classes with small numbers of Spells Known.