Wands and Staffs: Impliment or Spell Containers

[hafrogman]

There is nothing "traditional" about a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. That is purely an artifact of 3e, and it's not an artifact I'd like to see in D&DN. The rule that you can put any ole' spell into a wand is a great example of the law of unintended consequences.

-KS

My apologies, you're correct. It's been a while since I looked at 2e wands. Looking back now I see that there's really very little distinction between wands, rods and staves. I was tricked by memories of the wand of magic missile which is really quite unique.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

I want them to improve casters, but in a different way. They should not improve your caster level or DC of the saving throws against your spells, for instance, because that would make them mandatory.

For a different take, think of a wand of fire allowing any wizard to cast burning hands from his 1st level slots and fireball from his 3rd level slots spontaneously. Improve spellcasting without making the item mandatory for spellcasters, that's the way I want it to go.

Cheers,

 

[Herremann the Wise]

I suggested this thread on the L&L one as I think this is a really important question and so have voted other.

Like most things with D&D, I prefer to have the fiction first and meld the mechanics around that fiction. The touchstones I would like wands to hit are:

• A wand is highly personal to the wizard. The wizard crafts it or has a wandmaster or master artificer specifically craft it for them. A wand should say something about it's owner.
• Using a wand as against an orb, tome, staff or other implement is a core decision a magic-user makes. I would suggest that a wand-user focuses on spellcasting as against rituals, sorceries, alchemy or other fields of the arcane.
• I don't want wizards to have a golfbag of wands. A wizard should bond to a specific wand as against other arcane equipment or possibly even a familiar.
• A wand might focus on a particular field of spells such as fire or shadows and assist the caster in being more effective in that focus area. A wand might have one or possibly more spells impressed into it that can be cast through the wand using a spare vancian spell slot that the wizard may leave open.
• Continuing with that wand theme, a wand might give access to a particular spell that cannot be cast except through that wand; it simply cannot be cast or brought into effect otherwise.
• And perhaps most importantly, different wands should be different rather than all of them following the same template. Perhaps some could store magical energy (although that feels more something that a staff or orb should do) while others might assist casting in general (making the caster level higher if such a thing is part of the new ruleset). Others are highly focused around a theme while some might improve the flexibility of the wand-user while others might assist with ranged touch attack spells. [The hidden aim here is to push the caster in a particular arcane direction rather than being good at everything.]

The thing I do know is that a wand as spell storage is not consistent with many of the above; so I'm firmly in the implement camp but with extra diverse stuff thrown in (that could include a smattering of spell storage).

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[BobTheNob]

I want no part of required implements.

Much prefer the Basic, 1e, 2e, 3e way of doing it, wands have charges and hold spells.

Im sorry, I might have missed the post. Did someone say they should be required? The posts I read simply said they should enhance.

Or are you inferring that the fact they enhance implies they are required?

 

[KidSnide]

• A wand is highly personal to the wizard. The wizard crafts it or has a wandmaster or master artificer specifically craft it for them. A wand should say something about it's owner.

I really like the idea that implements are different from weapons because they are personal to the caster. Breaking or stealing a caster's implement shouldn't be permanently debilitating, but I really like the idea that it is a serious problem that is much greater than breaking a fighter's sword. Between Tolkien and Harry Potter, I think this is a wizard concept that spans generations and is a 4e-ism that should be welcome in D&DN.

-KS

 

[Incenjucar]

I chose the 4E option, but only because the "implement or storage device" question is in that direction. I dislike the vast majority of "container" concepts.

However, I don't like +X items, and I'd much rather see implements function as tools to modify what you do. A wand of accuracy might ignore concealment. An orb of warped space might change the shape of a spell. A staff of deflection might grant a bonus against opportunity attacks, a tome of hungry fire might allow you to add ongoing fire damage on a crit.

The POWER should come from the character, while the tool helps to shape it. I want PCs to be John Henry with his hammer, not the dude operating the steam-powered hammer while sitting in a lawn chair. Unless they're artificers.

 

[variant]

What if wands and staffs weren't throw aways like 3e, but not like 4e either, instead held 'known spells' for Wizards and let them cast a larger variety of spells? Another option is to give wizards bonus spells per level to cast.

 

[Incenjucar]

I really like the idea that implements are different from weapons because they are personal to the caster. Breaking or stealing a caster's implement shouldn't be permanently debilitating, but I really like the idea that it is a serious problem that is much greater than breaking a fighter's sword. Between Tolkien and Harry Potter, I think this is a wizard concept that spans generations and is a 4e-ism that should be welcome in D&DN.

-KS

Eh. We have warriors that have bonded with their weapon, so we can do the same with implements, but I wouldn't force that on anyone.

 

[Wiseblood]

I used to like +x weapons and armor for older editions but moving foreward I would rather avoid the math. I feel the implement is the way to go and there are some really good ideas in this thread. I think they should be used to define the magic user much like weapon specialization can do for fighters. (not the same but similar and also not required)

 

[variant]

I think overall it might be best to designate them in the magical item category with everything else and have a large variety of different kinds. If you want a wand that helps focus your power, you get a Wand of Power +3 that gives a +3 bonus to attack with spells. If you want a wand that gives you access to fireball, you get a Wand of Fire that casts fireball at the cost of a level 3 spell.