A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement #30 Staves (PFRPG)

#30 Staves (PFRPG) by T. H. Gulliver is a role playing game supplement published by Rite Publishing for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as a 15-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $2.95 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover, one the front matter, one the Open Game License and one is an ad.

The opening paragraphs are some in-character fluff regarding one of the staves.

Next are Staves. There are two normal staves; essentially, spells in a can. These are fine but nothing special; there’s not a lot you can do with the standard staff design.

Wondrous Staves follow. There are nineteen of these and each has an added benefit, similar to those of wondrous items, on top of the included spells. In each case, this is thematically appropriate for the staff in question.

Staves as Weapons adds another type of interesting feature. These are staves that have been specifically enhanced to be useful as weapons. There are three of these, though one is simply a more powerful version of another, and each has a feature allowing it to be used as a weapon.

Staves of Legend starts with details on what these are; they increase in power and ability and their high-level spells will need a wielder capable of casting spells at that level. Each comes in a lesser, standard and greater variety and may be treated as minor artefacts, which will then need a specific method of destruction. They can also require specific rituals to gain a staff’s full powers, and there’s a new feat for creating them. There are five of these staves, and each has history, advancement ritual and method of destruction if these are used as minor artefacts.

Finally, there is a single major artefact. Its history is given, and its part of the phylactery of the Necromancer Pharoah who created it. This is the only extra power, the ability to restore the creator, the staff has. Its means of destruction are given.

#30 Staves (PFRPG) in Review

The PDF is bookmarked but close to half of the staves are not linked, making it less useful. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a two-column format and some minor errors were noticed. There are a few pieces of appropriate colour stock art. Presentation is okay.

Staffs, on the whole, are boring magic items. They are a way of casting more spells and that’s it. Fortunately, only two of the staffs in this supplement fall into that category, but it does seem that those two could just have been omitted and some of the other types included.

The wondrous staves are better, with their additional ability, but it would have been nice to have even more abilities. Similarly, the weapon staves are better, but there are only a limited number of them. The staves of legend are far more interesting, with their histories, though again they are just spells in a can. The final artefact is powerful, but once again it’s a spell in a can. The various staffs are decent, but many lack that certain something to make them special, or are not special enough (combining the staffs with the material from The Genius Guide to Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands would make some far more interesting creations). #30 Staves (PFRPG) is a decent, but not spectacular, collection of magic staffs and it can be found by clicking here.