Staff of Wizardry (Larkins Spell Book)

This spell is used by wizards to create a staff suitable for enchanting. Each Staff of Wizardry is unique as no two wizards are alike nor does an individual wizard create the same staff twice as styles and tastes change over their lifetime.

Staff of Wizardry: Ob 5, 705 Actions
Origin: Personal
Area of Effect: Single Target
Elements: Arcana / Earth
Impeti: Create / Control
Duration: Permanent
Resource Points: 10

The spell creates a staff suitable for enchanting that counts as a named vessel “(mages name) Staff of (fill in the blank)”

The spell was created with one extension and a spell cap in finalization as this is a creation spell not to be used under stress or duress and there are no benefits for having extra successes.

Facets: Spell caster (Personal) is Controlling Arcana to Create his Staff (SingleTarget / Earth / Permanent)

The Staff is considered to be of “superior quality” only as far as workmanship and sturdiness is concerned. And even though it is fashioned from and with Arcana it does not count as a spirit weapon unless it becomes enchanted as such.

Staff of Wizardry:
Add 2 / Pow 2 / VA- / Spd 2 /
2-Handed / Long / Suitable for Enchanting

  1. Magic should not replace craftsman skills. Especially not for the purposes of other magic intended to rely on craftsmanship. Yes, staffs are missing an explicit skill. Magic is not a substitute.

  2. This is what Practical Magic is for.

  3. This is a boring, boring spell. You will probably cast it once and only once. Bleh.

I appreciate the spells you’re posting Lankin Starr. Your write ups are helping me understand the rules of spell creation better.

I didn’t want to be the first one in to come down negatively on this particular spell. I agree with Wayfarer. In D&D the only way a wizard can do anything is by making a spell, but in BW there are so many other options available, I mean the budding wizard can practice his woodworking skills making furnature for his tower and walking staves during his downtime. I would rather try and FoRK sorcery into a crafting skill rather than spending the months required to learn this spell.

Learning a new spell is a long, difficult, dangerous and complicated process.

To go through first reading, practicals, second reading just to make a spell that makes an unenchanted staff seems a bit off. It’s like Luke Skywalker using the force to build his own lightsaber instead of learning how to build one, if you catch my analogy. I think a good baseline for a spell (as wayfarer mentioned in another thread) is something that cannot be done naturally, aka performed by mundane tasks.

P.S. Where exactly are the spell creation rules in BWG again? I see the learning new spells section and buying spells, but I don’t remember where the creation rules are for figuring out resource points etc.

This would be cast whenever the mage wanted or needed to make a new enchanted staff and would become necessary before applying any antecedents to the staff (it should become a part of the whole enchanting process, that way if you fail your spellcasting you could lose your antecedents as well. Much more at stake that way), as it stands without this spell, all you need is to circle up your local craftsman and pass a resource test to obtain your staff/wand/boots/fill in the blank. This at least gives the caster a chance for spell failure and possible tax along with the resource and circle tests (not to mention the possible adventure) just to get the antecedents (which ideally could be ruined as part of the complications from failure either from spell or the enchanting process). Regarding whether or not it would only be cast once in a mages life I think that would depend upon the individual mage. Some may never use it, some msy only have used it once pre game as part of receiving their Wizards Staff (10 Rps in character burning) while those who favor Enchanting may use it quite often as they make staffs for others.
Even if it were only cast once in a wizards life it would be no different in that regard than the Elven Sword Singers Song of Bonding which is typically sang only once in a sword singers life to bind him to his master (had to paraphrase that as I do not have my books handy at the moment).
Also there is a precedent in the spell Minor Maker that allows magic to create objects from a scrap of material.
It Would make it more interesting in play if the rare components to make the staff had to be aquired via circles/resources/adventure and such before the spell could be cast (triggering BITs along the way).
Much more burning wheel like.

What do you think?

Well, the spell is Ob5 wizardry, why can’t the resource test be Ob5 and then therefore it wouldn’t be a matter of “just circling up your local craftsman” (I think you are implying that passing a resource test is somehow not as challenging as casting a spell). Maybe I’m misunderstanding something, but why couldn’t crafting a staff by hand be an Ob5 woodworking skill FoRKed with sorcery?

It’s not that it isn’t a well designed spell, it is! It just seems to be a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

It Would make it more interesting in play if the rare components to make the staff had to be aquired via circles/resources/adventure and such before the spell could be cast (triggering BITs along the way).

Absolutely, but those can all be done along with service of a sharp knife and a long piece of oak. The “spell” part seems like a sorcery FoRK to me, not an actual spell.

There are a lot of ways to aquire a staff for enchanting
Sorcerous Tools are a suggested Ob 6 Resource Test
Weaponsmith Spear (closest thing to a Staff on the list) is an Ob 2, Ob 4 to make a Superior Quality one. (Requires a workshop)

Carving is an Ob 1 for simple shapes and an Ob 3 for complex ones (seems to follow the same +2 logic for superior quality as weaponsmith does) Carving only requires Traveling Gear.

An Enchanter could probably circle up a craftsman who makes staves and wands for enchanters (perhaps a +1 to +3 obstacle).

There are many ways to aquire a proper staff for enchanting, this spell is simply one more.

There’s nothing terribly wrong with the spell. It’ll work. Like Opcero, I just don’t think it really helps much. Increasing risks for getting a staff doesn’t strike me as especially interesting, especially if they’re just spell failure risks. There are already other solutions and I think they’re actually more interesting than making Sorcery the hammer that turns every problem into a nail. Needing to use Circles or Carving or whatever means wizards actually do something other than roll Sorcery all day, and that’s important!

This is also either a way to blow 12 RP for very little or a very long time spent learning a spell that does very little. It still looks like a sucker’s game to take this over almost anything other option.

Song of Bonding strikes me as exceptionally boring too, but at least it makes an important point about Elves, seconds, and how bonding works. I’d still probably be happier if it were just rolled into the Lesson of One trait.

Opcero, the rules for making new spells are the Abstractions chapter of the Magic Burner.