D&D 5E Simple Weapons as Spellcasting Foci...

[JohnnyNitro]

Curious what y'all think about Quarterstaves vs. Wands as Spellcasting Foci (and really Rods and Orbs as well). Is it just me not reading the PHB right, but it seems as if the Quarterstaff is the only Weapon which doubles as a Spellcasting Focus. What's the thought on a Club as a Wand or Rod Focus?

 

[psychophipps]

I fail to see an issue with it. You could even go with true weapons, to be honest.

Custom work isn't cheap, though. I would call it as a 5x cost option plus the cost of the actual focus type.

 

[Salamandyr]

Not every staff is a quarterstaff. A quarterstaff is considerably longer, thicker, and heavier than your average walking, or wizard's staff.

However, I don't really see an issue with an adventuring wizard having a particularly long, thick, and heavy wizard staff.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

It will break little in the grand scheme of things. And really, who wants to play a wizard if they can't bonk NPCs on the head with a stick.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Wands are generally short and potentially fragile, so I'd probably not allow their use as a weapon. Rods are generally longer and more solid. Those would probably be fine to treat as a club or mace depending upon their construction.

Not every staff is a quarterstaff. A quarterstaff is considerably longer, thicker, and heavier than your average walking, or wizard's staff.

However, I don't really see an issue with an adventuring wizard having a particularly long, thick, and heavy wizard staff.

5th ed definition of a quarterstaff says that it can be happily used in one hand. So I'm fairly sure that it actually means anything from a walking stick up to something closer to a real quarterstaff. That fits fine with a focus-type staff.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Seeing as how I see the "spellcasting focus" as basically the handwave the game gives us to avoid dealing with material components... at that point who gives a damn what that "spellcasting focus" is? At that point, in my mind anything a player might want could be a "spellcasting focus"-- a weapon, a magic item, a familiar... ANYTHING. All it is is the DM saying "I don't care to use Material Components in my game, so cast spells however you want."

 

[JohnnyNitro]

Thanks again, ye wonderful posters of ENWorld!

 

[Ganymede81]

I'd allow it, and the rules for various foci are certainly written loosely enough to accommodate foci beyond those specifically listed.

Back in 4E, some classes were able to use a dagger as their arcane focus. They called it a Pact Dagger.

 

[Ganymede81]

I'd allow it, and the rules for various foci are certainly written loosely enough to accommodate foci beyond those specifically listed.

Back in 4E, some classes were able to use a dagger as their arcane focus. They called it a Pact Dagger.