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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

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GM Core / Chapter 5: Treasure Trove / Trappings of Power / Staves / Preparing a Staff

Spontaneous Spellcasters

Source GM Core pg. 278 2.0
A spontaneous spellcaster—such as a bard, oracle, or sorcerer—can reduce the number of charges it takes to Activate a staff by supplementing it with their own energy. When a spontaneous spellcaster Activates a staff, they can expend 1 charge from the staff and one of their spell slots to cast a spell from the staff of the same rank (or lower) as the expended spell slot. This doesn’t change the number of actions it takes to cast the spell. For example, if a sorcerer can cast 3rd-rank spells and prepared a staff, the staff would gain 3 charges. They could expend 1 charge and one of their 3rd-rank spell slots to cast a 3rd-rank spell from the staff, or 1 charge and one of their 2nd-rank spell slots to cast a 2nd-rank spell from the staff. They could still expend 3 charges from the staff to cast a 3rd-rank spell from it without using any of their own slots, just like any other spellcaster.