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Staves of Ascendance
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Staves of Ascendance
by Rich Redman
Credits
Editing: Gary M. Sarli
Creative Direction: Stan!
Proofreading: JD Wiker, Vincent Szopa
Art Direction: Stan!
Layout and Typesetting: Marc Schmalz
Front & Back Cover Design: Jefferson Dunlap
Cover Artist: Clarence Harrison
Interior Artist: Clarence Harrison
Special thanks to Margaret Redman, Sean K Reynolds, and Mat Smith
Contents
What’s in This Book?................................................2
How to Use This Book..............................................2
For the GM................................................................2
Staff Scions...............................................................3
Rules and Restrictions..........................................3
Battlestaff Scion...................................................4
Spellstaff Scion.....................................................5
Faithstaff Scion.....................................................5
Swiftstaff Scion....................................................6
Bramblethorn , the Arm of the Woods................10
Lumen , the Diviner’s Staff.................................12
Sidebar: Legendary School Staves.....................14
Barra , the Staff of Wands...................................16
La Sombra , the Staff of Shadows.......................18
The Puissant Rod ................................................20
Stormachtig , the Staff of Storms........................22
The Staff of Doors ..............................................24
Faithstaves...............................................................26
Bonegrinder ........................................................26
The Rod of the Inquisitor ....................................28
Swiftstaves..............................................................30
Astuto , the Sly Rod.............................................30
Balade , the Trickster Staff..................................32
Étincelle , the Rod of Shock ...............................34
Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons ® , Third Edition Core Books, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
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‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and are used according to the
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Staves of Ascendance ©2003 The Game Mechanics, Inc. All rights reserved.
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T HE G AME M ECHANICS and The Game Mechanics logo are trademarks of The Game Mechanics, Inc. All rights reserved.
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This product is a work of i ction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.
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Introduction
Welcome to Staves of Ascendance —a sourcebook for
magic staves and rods for d20 System fantasy games.
The staf is a i xture in many depictions of
wizards, including Merlin and Gandalf. Combative
characters, like Robin Hood and Li� le John, were
also famed for their mastery of the staf . Rods are
multipurpose tools, coveted for their adaptability
and usefulness, but o� en passed over due to their
expense compared to armor or weapons.
In d20 System games, staves and rods such as
the ones in this book would be considered minor
artifacts. They possess mighty magical abilities,
enough to make an ordinary man into a hero,
an ordinary hero into a master of worlds—and
ordinary player characters into someone special.
powers, might not let a character in until 9th level,
at the earliest. The be� er the item, the harder it is to
get into the prestige class for wielding it.
How to Use This Book
Because the items in this book are designed to last
a character throughout most of a campaign, a GM
who wishes to use the items and prestige classes
in this book should try to plan ahead. If you are
just beginning a campaign, you can work one of
these items in fairly easily. The player characters
could discover it in a treasure hoard, or their
religious or mystical orders could bestow such
items on the characters. The quest for the item
could be one of the party’s earliest adventures. If
the campaign has already begun, you can have an
existing item in the game begin to manifest proof
that it is a legendary staf . Or you could simply
adjust the item’s enhancement bonus upward for
higher-level characters.
In either case, your goal as GM should be to
i nd a staf or rod in this book that i ts into your
campaign—or use these rules to invent one of your
own—and of er it to your players as incentive
to take one of the associated prestige classes:
ba� lestaf scion, spellstaf scion, faithstaf scion,
or swi� staf scion. If you know your players’
preferences, you should not only be able to i nd a
player who would thoroughly enjoy uncovering
the mysteries of a legendary staf , but also a
legendary staf that matches that player’s tastes.
What’s in This Book?
Magic staves and rods in fantasy games are usually
temporary tools, at best. A player character gets a
magic staf , uses up the charges, then discards it
and seeks another. But you just don’t see this sort of
thing in legends and folklore. Those wizards tend
to keep the same staf for most of their careers.
Staves of Ascendance gives player characters
reasons to hang onto those magic items. The
legendary staves and rods found in this book
are powerful enough to still be useful at higher
levels—but they mete out
their powers bit by bit, so
that the DM needn’t worry
about pu� ing too powerful
a weapon into the hands of a
low-level character. The items
grow in power as the wielders
advance in level. Additionally,
these staves don’t use
charges, so their powers are always available to
their wielders.
The magic items in Staves of Ascendance of er
minor powers to any wielder, but grant their
be� er abilities to those wielders who take one of
four new prestige classes: the staf scion classes.
The wielder unlocks new abilities of the item by
advancing in the item’s associated prestige class.
In short, the prestige classes reward players for
keeping the items.
The staf scion classes—ba� lestaf scion,
spellstaf scion, faithstaf scion, and swi� staf
scion—work slightly dif erently from item to item.
One ba� lestaf ’s prestige class requirements might
allow a character to get into the class as early as
third level; another, with correspondingly greater
For the GM
Staves of Ascendance makes use of prestige classes in
the truest sense: taking one of these classes makes
a character someone special in the grand scheme
of things. Consequently, you, as the GM, must be
prepared to utilize these prestige classes—and the
legendary staves and rods that go with them—in
your campaign. If you’re not prepared to do so,
then you should make it especially clear to your
players that these items, and thus these prestige
classes, aren’t available to them.
On the other hand, if you’re willing to take this
plunge, the characters in your game can wield
magic staves that more or less automatically scale
to the level of the characters’ power—running the
gamut from minor magic item to minor artifact.
And you can use the very existence of these items
to make your campaign world that much more a
magical place, full of adventure and mystery—
which is what heroic fantasy is ultimately all about.
Web Enhancement
Additional material for use with Staves
of Ascendance , including Samadhi— an
additional legendary staff—and any
discovered errata, can be found at The
Game Mechanics’ website
(www.thegamemechanics.com).
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Chapter One: The Basics
Legendary staves and rods use a very simple system
to allow their abilities to improve along with their
wielders’ abilities. A character wielding a legendary
staf or rod is eligible for one of the staf scion
prestige classes. This allows the character to begin
unlocking the staf ’s advanced abilities simply by
taking levels of the prestige class.
Without taking the prestige class, the legendary
staf or rod is an ordinary magic item, usually
with a small enhancement bonus (+1 or +2, or as
high as +3 for truly powerful legendary items) and
some minor spells or spell-like abilities.At each
level of the prestige class, though, the wielder can
utilize another ability of the item. This might be an
increase in the a previous enhancement or ability,
but more commonly it grants the wielder access to
a suite of powers, special abilities tied to the item’s
purpose, or perhaps magical enhancements to the
character’s own skills and abilities.
In every case, the staf scion prestige classes
simply describe those abilities for which the
wielder is now eligible. The legendary staf and
rod entries (found in Chapter Two) list what
those abilities are. Thus, every staf scion prestige
class is dif erent, even though there are only four
variations to the staf scion prestige class.
Staff Scions
Staf scions come in as many varieties as there are
legendary items. However, they distill down to one
of four distinct types, based on the intended wielder
of the weapon. Each staf and rod in Chapter Two
falls under one of these four prestige classes:
The ba� lestaf scion prestige class is for
ba� lestaves: legendary staves and rods made for
the hands of i ghters, barbarians, and rangers (and
the occasional paladin).
The spellstaf scion is for spellstaves: legendary
staves and rods made to be wielded by arcane
spellcasters, such as wizards and sorcerers, and
sometimes bards.
The faithstaf scion is meant for characters who
wield faithstaves: legendary staves and rods of
divine power, used by clerics, druids, and paladins.
And, i nally, the swi� staf scion prestige
class is for those wield swi� staves: legendary
staves and rods that make use of or improve
the wielder’s stealth, speed, or just good old-
fashioned dexterity. This usually means rogues,
but sometimes bards and monks as well.
Losing Legendary Items
Legendary items, as explained
in Chapter Two, should never
become permanently lost.
Fate has a way of bringing
these items back to their
rightful wielders. As the GM,
it is your job to ensure that
the legendary item and its
wielder do not stay separated
for long (unless, of course, the
purpose of the adventure is
to recover the item). The item
should turn up, by default,
at the end of an encounter,
or should be near enough at
hand that the wielder need
only make a reasonable ef ort
to reclaim his staf or rod.
Unbreakable
Under ordinary circumstances,
legendary staves and rods do not break:
any attempt to sunder such an item
automatically fails. The combatants
should still make the opposed attack rolls,
however. If the staff scion wins, the staff
scion may immediately deal damage to
the attacker’s weapon as though the staff
scion had initiated the attack.
The only exception to this is if the
person attacking the legendary item
is herself wielding a legendary staff
(or other legendary item). In this case,
the attacker may inl ict damage to the
defender’s item if she wins the opposed
attack roll. However, the defender also
immediately makes his own attack on the
attacker’s legendary item. If the defender
wins this second opposed attack roll, he
may inl ict damage on the attacker’s item
– even if his own item was damaged or
destroyed by the attacker.
Each legendary item’s hardness and
hit points, listed in each entry in Chapter
Two, include any maximum enhancement
bonus—even if the wielder has not yet
qualii ed to benei t from that high a
bonus. Repairing a broken legendary
item should never be an easy thing. It
should be the result of an epic quest,
perhaps involving aid from other planes,
arduous rituals, and perilous voyages.
Gaining Additional Legendary Items
If the wielder of a legendary
staf or rod somehow gains
another legendary item, he
may only access its special
abilities if he meets the
following conditions:
• He must meet the
requirements for the new legendary item.
• The new item must be a dif erent type than
any of the wielder’s other legendary items.
Because legendary staves and rods demand a
certain level of commitment from their wielders,
they do not support their wielders spli� ing their
a� ention. Thus, the wielder of a legendary staf
or rod chooses which commitment he wishes to
focus on when he advances a level, by virtue of his
class selection. For example, if a ba� lestaf scion
somehow acquires another ba� lestaf , he cannot
simply transfer over to the new item. But if he were
to acquire a swi� staf , he could begin advancing in
the swi� staf scion prestige class.
Ex-Scions
If the wielder no longer meets the prerequisites
of the scion prestige class, she loses access to the
special abilities of her legendary staf or rod. She
retains the basic features of the prestige class (Base
A� ack Bonus, base saves, and even spellcaster
levels, where appropriate), but the staf or rod
supplies only the magical abilities it grants to any
wielder. The ex-scion may not progress in levels
of the prestige class until she corrects the problem
and once again meets the prerequisites of the class.
This does not prevent a staf scion from taking
levels of another class, or from using the abilities
of the legendary staf if she does so. Unless the
Rules and Restrictions
In addition to meeting the prerequisites of the
prestige class (which are dictated by the items
themselves, as shown in Chapter Two), characters
who take one of these prestige classes have
certain other rules and restrictions to follow.
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Chapter One: The Basics
4
new class is in some way
in violation of the staf
scion prerequisites (such
as requiring a dif erent
alignment), then the only
drawback is that the scion
is not advancing in the staf
scion prestige class. For
example, a ba� lestaf scion
of Étincelle may choose to
take levels of monk. The only
drawback is that the scion is
not advancing as a ba� lestaf
scion. As a counter example,
a ba� lestaf scion of Étincelle
may choose to take levels
of barbarian, but he would then lose access to the
special abilities of Étincelle because his alignment
would no longer be lawful.
The Battlestaff Scion
Sometimes a magic staf is not so much a device
for storing spells as it is a magic weapon in
the shape of a staf . For such legendary staves,
the ba� lestaf scion is the ideal wielder. Their
weapons are items of immense arcane power, and
o� en have a great magical destiny. They might be
wielders of fey staves, or of demon rods, or the
item might actually be an important symbol of a
military order.
Wielding an arcane legendary staf is a great
responsibility, because the item contains so much
magical power. Those combat specialists who
recognize the item af ord the wielder more respect—
or perhaps fear—than they might another of their ilk.
Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills
The ba� lestaf scion’s class skills (and the key
ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Cra�
(Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha),
Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str). Certain
legendary staf special abilities grant additional
class skills (and sometimes additional skill
points); see the entries in Chapter Two.
See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player’s Handbook for
skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modii er.
Class Features
The following are class features of the ba� lestaf
scion prestige class.
Bonus Feats: The ba� lestaf scion gains a
bonus feat at 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th level. These
bonus feats must be drawn from the following
list: Blind-Fight, Combat Rel exes, Expertise
(Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Whirlwind
A� ack), Improved Critical*, Improved Initiative,
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Power A� ack
(Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Great
Cleave), Quick Draw, Weapon Focus.
Some of the bonus feats available to a ba� lestaf
scion cannot be acquired until the ba� lestaf
scion has gained one or more prerequisite feats;
these feats are listed parenthetically a� er the
prerequisite feat. A ba� lestaf scion can select
feats marked with an asterisk (*)more than once,
but it must be for a dif erent weapon each time. A
ba� lestaf scion must still meet all prerequisites
for a feat, including ability score and base a� ack
bonus minimums.
Two-Weapon Fighting: If the ba� lestaf scion
does not already have the Two-Weapon Fighting
feat, he gains it now. The wielder does not benei t
from the Two-Weapon Fighting feat unless he
meets the feat’s prerequisites, however.
Requirements
To qualify to become a ba� lestaf scion, a character
must fuli ll the criteria listed for the specii c
ba� lestaf (see Chapter Two for examples).
Table 1–1: The Battlestaff Scion
Will
Save Special
1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Bonus feat, Two-Weapon Fighting
2nd +2 +3 +0 +0
3rd +3 +3 +1 +1
4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Bonus feat
5th +5 +4 +1 +1
6th +6 +5 +2 +2
7th +7 +5 +2 +2 Bonus feat
8th +8 +6 +2 +2
9th +9 +6 +3 +3
10th +10 +7 +3 +3 Bonus feat
Base
Attack Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Designing Scion Prestige
Classes
The general guideline for designing
prestige classes found in the DMG in
Chapter 2: Characters is that characters
should qualify for them around 5th or
6th level. The prestige classes in this
book stretch that rule on purpose. In
general, the abilities granted by a scion
prestige class take into account lower or
higher than usual character levels, thus
presenting a balanced class.
The class descriptions in this chapter
have general entry requirements. The
entry requirements that set minimum
character level appear in the individual
staff and rod descriptions.
Class
Level
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