Wizards Staves and Wands

A wizard's staff is one of his most valued tools for it is used to store magical power and act as the focus for spell casting. The wand is simply a smaller version of the staff. It has the same magical properties, but is not suitable for use as a weapon or walking stick. The Magic Point Matrix Enchantment on page 57 of the RQ III Magic Book can be used to create magic point storing staves and wands, but wizards usually use the following procedure since it does not require sacrificing POW. The knowledge of this procedure is so widespread amoung the Human Kingdoms that nearly all wizards with any training at all will own a staff capable of storing as many magic points as the wizard himself had at the time of its creation (usually equal to his Original POW characteristic since it was one of the first things done when he set out to become a wizard).

### Making a Wizard's Staff/Wand

This procedure requires: (1) the knowledge of the procedure including the First Rune of Power; (2) a suitable tree or bush, only organic matter can be used; (3) a ceremonial dagger; (4) dagorym blood; (5) the proper weather conditions on the morning of the nineteenth day of the month {the holy day of Samil and Nefthys}; (6) a lot of time.

First a suitable tree or bush must be found. The most commonly used woods are, craobh-siucar, critheach, drioghion also called sgitheach or whitethorn, seudar, and uinsean. Geinm-chno wood is also used, but only by those wizards who traffic with demons. Many colleges plant seedlings of suitable woods for use by their students. The locations of these seedlings are always carefully protected whether within the confines of the college itself or hidden in a nearby forest. The tree or bush must never have fruited.

Once the desired tree or bush has been found, the wizard must carefully cultivate it. This procedure is best done by the wizard who will use the staff, but can be done by any dagorym. The wizard must spend one hour each day working with the tree. He must water it and touch it and expend one magic point each hour spent with the tree (some wizards even talk to the tree explaining what they are doing and why). During the hour the wizard must use a ceremonial dagger to make a small cut in his skin and drip the blood onto the ground at the base of the tree. One drop of blood is needed for each point of magic storing capacity the finished staff is to have, but more will not hurt. The blood must be from a dagorym, and the blood of the wizard who will use the staff is considered best, but not necessary. One day is required for each point of magic storing capacity the finished staff is to have. A wizard cannot make a staff or wand capable of holding more magic points than his own POW characteristic.
Example: if a staff capable of storing fifteen magic points is required, the wizard must have a POW of 15 or higher and spend one hour each day for fifteen days working with the tree. Each day he must drip at least fifteen drops of dagorym blood around the tree's base.

These things done the tree is now ready to be cut down. The wizard must spend the hour before dawn on the morning of the nineteenth day of the month with the tree (some wizards talk to the tree explaining what they are about to do and why). Just before dawn the wizard must dip his ceremonial dagger in dagorym blood (usually his own). Then facing the rising sun he must cut down the tree or bush with a single stroke of the ceremonial dagger just as the first rays of sunlight strike the base of the tree. He must then peel off the bark and trim the staff or wand to its desired shape with the ceremonial dagger in the first rays of the morning sun. Sunlight is required, so the procedure will not work if it is impossible to get the light of the sun on the proper day. The staff and ceremonial dagger must then be wrapped in cloth (the color depending on the order's preferences) for three months while the wood dries slowly and naturally.

After the wood has dried, the staff and ceremonial dagger are unwrapped and the dagger's blade is cleaned. The ceremonial dagger is then dipped in dagorym blood and its tip is used to carve the First Rune of Power somewhere on the staff. It is often carved into one end of the staff and that end is then capped in silver lined iron, or bronze. The cap serves only to protect the rune and is usually left off wands. The cap also protects the end of the staff from wear if the staff is to double as the wizard's walking stick. At this point the staff is ready to be used. Spells to make the staff more useful or limit its use to its owner are generally cast at this point, but are not necessary.

If for any reason any of these steps are ommited, the staff will be merely a peice of wood with no magical properties. A wizard's staff will have a magical aura only if magic points are stored in it. A drained staff would have no aura and to determine if it was a functional wizard's staff, a wizard would have to attempt to put magic points into it.

### Storing Magic Points in a Wizard's Staff/Want

The first thing a wizard teaches an apprentice wizard is the procedure for storing magical power in a staff. At first the apprentice will charge his master's staff, but once he gets his own staff he will use it for practice. The procedure is not a skill or spell, merely a procedure which any dagorym is capable of doing once he knows how. It cannot be done under stress and requires calm and peaceful surroundings. It also takes some time. The second thing a wizard teaches an apprentice wizard is that wizards are vulnerable if their personal magic points are low. This is hammered into the apprentices until they develop a fear of having their magic points below half their normal amount.

To put magic points into a wizard's staff, the wizard must spend 30 - INT minutes preparing in a calm peaceful setting. Drugs and spells that produce calm in the target can be used, but only those that do not effect the target's ability to concentrate. Once prepared, i.e., relaxed and able to concentrate fully on the procedure, the wizard holds the staff or wand in his hands and can put one magic point into the staff each melee round. For each magic point put into the staff another must be used to supply the power for the transfer. For each magic point put into storage in the staff, the wizard expends two of his personal magic points. There is no skill roll required for this procedure. Certain spells and/or abilities may affect this procedure. The wizard can continue to put magic points into the staff until his limits are reached, the staff is fully recharged, or he is interrupted. The wizard can also choose to quit at any time. The wizard might use this procedure several times during the day to put one or two magic points in each time and rest in between to keep his personal magic points at as high a level as possible. Only personal magic points can be used to recharge a wizard's staff, never stored magic points.

A wizard's staff cannot hold more magic points than it has the capacity to store. The wizard recharging it will be able to tell when it is full, though if it were an unfamiliar staff and partially charged, he would only be able to tell how many magic points were stored in it with his Sense Aura Skill and not its capacity. To determine its capacity he would have to recharge it.

Under normal conditions a wizard who has sufficient magic points, i.e., he has not used them already to cast spells, can recharge his staff with up to 25% of his magic points each day (this requires an expenditure of 50% of his personal magic points). Due to the fear of being vulnerable to magical attacks a wizard will be extremely reluctant to use more of his personal magic points. Example: a wizard with a POW of 16 could recharge his staff with 4 magic points each day. He would actually be expending 8 magic points to do the recharging. A wizard with a natural recharging ability could put up to 50% of his magic points into his staff each day since he regains his magic points at twice the normal rate.

Under extremely safe conditions a wizard who has sufficient magic points, i.e., he has not used them already to cast spells, can recharge his staff with up to 50% of his magic points each day (this requires an expenditure of 100% of his personal magic points). A wizard with a natural recharging ability could put up to 100% of his magic points into his staff in a single day since he regains his magic points at twice the normal rate. Extremely safe conditions consist of being in a friendly castle with other friendly wizards around who could intervene if the castle were attacked by magic users. Locking oneself in a room at an inn with two fighters guarding the door is probably not an extremely safe condition, unless the inn is in Dyon or Ramon. The referee should decide if the character feels extremely safe. Example: a wizard with a POW of 16 could recharge his staff with 8 magic points each day. He would actually be expending 16 magic points to do the recharging.

#### Notes

* Wizards who have the natural ability "recharging" can double the number of magic points recharged each day.
* Wizards who use spell combinations like Solar Power and Power Transfer can recharge magic point storing devices with great effectiveness and are not governed by the normal limits since they are drawing on sources of power other than their own personal reserves.
* Star Stones and other magic items that enable wizards to combine their powers or draw magic points from others can also recharge these devices much more effectively.
* This procedure is only used on a wizard's staff or wand prepared with the ritual described above. Staves and wands can also be made using the Magic Point Matrix Enchantment (see page 57 of the RQ III Magic Book). Such staves and wands have POW sacrificed in their manufacture and are recharged at a rate of one magic point per melee round with no additional magic point cost. Such staves and wands are much more ecconomical to recharge, but are much more difficult to make and a staff capable of storing fifteen magic points would be very costly.
* This type of staff is never sold in shops. Any wizard who can use one can easily make himself another. A wizard might pay another wizard to make him a staff, but it would be a custom order and not something the wizard did regularly.

### Notes on the Woods Used in Wizard's Staves

Craobh-siucar is similar to terran maple. It is used as an ornamental and shade tree throughout the Human Kingdoms and its wood is used to make furniture. Its sweet sap is used as a sweatener throughout the Human Kingdoms and so is easy to obtain. A staff made of craobh-siucar wood has an ENC of 1.5 and 8 armor points.

Critheach is similar to terran aspen or poplar. It is used primarily by wizards as a focus for Communication spells or spirit summonings. Its wood is generally too soft and light for a general purpose wizard's staff so is primarily used to make wands. A focus made of critheach gives the wizard a +5% bonus when used to cast Communication spells or Spirit Summoning spells. A staff made of critheach wood has an ENC of 1 and 6 armor points.

Drioghion also called Sgitheach or whitethorn is very common since it is used to make hedges throughout the Human Kingdoms such hedges are commonly four to five metres (13 to 16 feet) high and keep even large kelsars out. It is the most common wood used in the making of wizard staves. The term driodheachd which means either sorcery or wizard magic is derived from the same root word as drioghion and refers to the practice of wizards who often carry staves made from this tree. The term is used only by peasants and most wizards are mildly annoyed by it since they prefer to be known as dagorym or wizards and consider themselves superior to sorcerers. The white flowers of this thorny shrub are also used by healers to make sedatives. A staff made of drioghion wood has an ENC of 1.5 and 9 armor points.

Geinm-chno is similar to terran walnut and its nuts are of similar size. (Many dagorym, about 85% actually, are allergic to the nuts, though most endoryms and negnoryms have no trouble eating them and often grind the nuts into flour and use it to make various breads and pastries.) It is also used, but only by those wizards who traffic with demons. Geimn-chno is popularly thought to attract demons and does seem to aid if used as a focus during summonings. A focus made of geinm-chno gives the wizard a +5% bonus when used to cast Arcane Arts Communication or Ritual Magic Demon Summoning spells. This wood has the undesireable side effect of giving any demon a +10% chance to break through a protective circle to reach it. There is no benefit in breaking out of such a circle if the staff is within it. A staff made of geimn-chno wood has an ENC of 1.5 and 9 armor points.

Seudar is similar to terran cedar. It is popular since it resists decay better than the others, but it is found mainly in the northern parts of the Human Kingdoms. It is one of the most common trees in the Great Forest, but it is rare in the south. Its aromatic wood is often used to make boxes and clothing chests. A staff made of seudar wood has an ENC of 1.5 and 8 armor points.
Uinsean is similar to terran ash. This wood is tough, straight-grained, and elastic which makes it difficult to break, and thus popular with wizards who must do alot of travelling. A staff made of uinsean wood has an ENC of 1.5 and 10 armor points.

### Wizard's Staff as Melee Weapon

The wizard staff can be used as a quarterstaff in melee combat, though if damaged its magic point storing capacity is lost and any magic points stored in it are lost. A Spirit Magic Repair Spell will allow it again to be used to store magic points at one less than its previous capacity unlike powerstoring devices enchanted with the Magic Point Matrix Enchantment which must be enchanted again.
The skill used is Maul or Club 2H. The base chance is 10%. The strike rank for a staff is 1. Wizard staves of this type are never sold in shops. Wands are not suitable for use as weapons. The referee will have to determine weight, armor points, etc., if a player must fight with a wand.