The Genius Guide to Apeiron Staves by Will McCardell is a role playing game supplement published by Rogue Genius Games (originally Super Genius Games) 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 16-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $3.99 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two thirds of a page is the front cover and one is the Open Game License and Credits.
The opening paragraphs explain that apeiron staves are intended to be for spellcasters what the magic sword is for the fighter. They are magical implements whose most basic function can be used without draining their magical reserves, as would be the case with a normal staff They don’t cast spells, but have augmentations as their basic effect. This is followed by some paragraphs explaining the origin of the name.
Why Apeiron Staves? explains that the core rules treat staves as spells in a can, and there are already plenty of items that do this. It then looks at what effect this might have on spells; it’s expected that casters will select more interesting spells for slots that would normally be used for more offensive power. The basic description of the staves follows. They have an unlimited effect, the staff’s primary use, and can have augmentations, which can be added by using charges. They may also have special uses and uses where a spell can be sacrificed for an additional effect.
A sidebar, The Design Philosophy Behind Apeiron Staves explains decisions that were made so that the staves don’t change game balance too much. The first was to ensure that they don’t side-line martial characters; by the time a spellcaster can afford an apeiron staff, it is useful but not as effective as the primary attack of a martial character of the same level. The second was to alter the action used to make the staves easier to compare with other attacks. Utility-based apeiron staves also had to balance with offensive ones.
There are 21 different apeiron staves described next, though some of these are variations, making ten different types of staves in all. For example, the apeiron staff of force comes in four kinds. The primary function of this is a force attack that functions similarly to magic missile. As the staves become more powerful, the force attack does more damage, takes less time to cool down and there are more options to enhance the attack with augmentations.
The Genius Guide to Apeiron Staves in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. Navigation is decent. The text follows Super Genius Games’ old three column landscape format that was intended to be easier to read on tablets and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of colour and black and white staff-related stock illustrations. Presentation is okay.
As the supplement mentions, magic staves being essentially another kind of spell in a can makes them less interesting, especially when there are already plenty of those. The apeiron staves add another option, and it looks like some thought has gone into balancing them. Unlimited number of uses and magic don’t tend to go together that well, but as long as spellcasters don’t somehow get one of these staves at far too low a level, they are unlikely to unbalance the game. The beginner’s apeiron staff of force, for instance, does damage that is similar to a cantrip; given that, the logic is that the spellcaster is more likely to memorise other cantrips to the damaging ones. The Genius Guide to Apeiron Staves has some interesting changes to the idea of the magic staff and it can be found by clicking here.
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