Staves vs. Wands
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In the isometric fantasy RPG I am designing at the moment I have a spellcasting system that is like a mathematical language.
All sorts of things in the game world can have spells associated with them, at the moment I have been trying to figure out what would distinguish between staves and wands, or if I should dump one and concentrate on the other.
Pretty much staves and wands are able to be activated at will, and contain their own source of mana, in contrast to scrolls and spellbooks where the source of mana is the caster. In addition spells on staves and wands cannot be copied into spellbooks.
I have been thinking about staves having the ability to be recharged with the casters mana, kind of like a battery, whereas with wands you can't.
Is this a significant distinction?
Quote:Original post by Platinum314
I have been thinking about staves having the ability to be recharged with the casters mana, kind of like a battery, whereas with wands you can't.
Is this a significant distinction?
From a powergamer point of view, and without further knowledge of the game; this is translated in my mind as:
"Sell wands to buy staves".
An also switches on the idea: "Try spell-less staff-recharger mage. ASAP".
Quote:Original post by Zanshibumi
From a powergamer point of view, and without further knowledge of the game; this is translated in my mind as:
"Sell wands to buy staves".
An also switches on the idea: "Try spell-less staff-recharger mage. ASAP".
This could be balanced by giving wands more powerful magic. Then someone would be more likely to have a primary staff, and some wands as backup/emergencies.
Quote:Original post by tstrimp
This could be balanced by giving wands more powerful magic. Then someone would be more likely to have a primary staff, and some wands as backup/emergencies.
Yes, it could. I didn't say I wouldn't like it:).
You just have to be careful in not comparing both again after this change, wands and staves become completely different kind of items (grenades vs rifles).
[Edited by - Zanshibumi on May 22, 2007 1:49:39 PM]
Just from their nature, that staves are big sticks, I would give staves a physical attack for use against monsters resistant to magic. But that wouldn't work if the game has no physical attacks.
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Quote:Original post by ZanshibumiQuote:Original post by Platinum314
I have been thinking about staves having the ability to be recharged with the casters mana, kind of like a battery, whereas with wands you can't.
Is this a significant distinction?
From a powergamer point of view, and without further knowledge of the game; this is translated in my mind as:
"Sell wands to buy staves".
An also switches on the idea: "Try spell-less staff-recharger mage. ASAP".
This is one of the main things bothering me.
However I do think I can minimize this by making wands more cost effective than staves, either by making staves much more expensive than wands, or by making wands hold more mana or something. Wands would also be lighter than staves, and thus you could hold more, so maybe staves would be used for spells you cast a lot. You probably won't see a mage running around with two dozen staves.
I also have plenty of reasons to cast spells that you design out of your spellbook, so it wouldn't be smart to use only staves anyway.
Bringing up the idea of selling and buying brings up another problem.
If you can copy scrolls, should you be allowed to sell them? This can be fixed if I make it cost some sort of resource to create/copy scrolls.
Quote:Original post by sunandshadow/i]
Just from their nature, that staves are big sticks, I would give staves a physical attack for use against monsters resistant to magic. But that wouldn't work if the game has no physical attacks.
Using a staff as a weapon is something I am considering, but that is a different problem.
I tend to think of staves as casting more area-effect spells (e.g. light spells, earthquakes, shielding, and the like) while wands cast more directed spells (fireball, magic missile, and the like). That's largely due to my experiences playing Angband, but it seems a reasonable way to make a distinction between the two types.
Mind you, that effectively means that the wand-stave dichotomy is purely for flavor.
Mind you, that effectively means that the wand-stave dichotomy is purely for flavor.
Sounds like you have approached this design backward. You started with a list of weapon types, and are now trying to figure out how each type of weapon fits into the gameplay, instead of looking at the desired gameplay and deciding what weapons you should make.
If you don't need both Staves and Wands, then don't waste your time on creating both. There's not forced rule saying that every RPG "requires" X number of weapon types.
If you don't need both Staves and Wands, then don't waste your time on creating both. There's not forced rule saying that every RPG "requires" X number of weapon types.
Three words.
DUAL
WIELDING
WANDS
Wands are the pistols of high fantasy, staffs a are similar but of a much bigger caliber, sorta...
DUAL
WIELDING
WANDS
Wands are the pistols of high fantasy, staffs a are similar but of a much bigger caliber, sorta...
I've always like to view staffs and wands as simply things to channel and focus magic through.
A staff being larger may be more likely to allow channelling more magic over a given period, meaning more powerful spells, but wands being smaller are easier to focus on a given target quickly.
Over all, the differences shouldn't be that great, let the player tailor them to the look they want.
And a big no to dual wielding wands. That just doesn't sit well with classic fantasy.
A staff being larger may be more likely to allow channelling more magic over a given period, meaning more powerful spells, but wands being smaller are easier to focus on a given target quickly.
Over all, the differences shouldn't be that great, let the player tailor them to the look they want.
And a big no to dual wielding wands. That just doesn't sit well with classic fantasy.
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