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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Core Rulebook / Chapter 11: Crafting & Treasure

Staves

Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 4.0
A magical staff is an indispensable accessory for an elite spellcaster. A staff is tied to one person during a preparation process, after which the preparer, and only the preparer, can harness the staff to cast a variety of spells throughout the day. The spells that can be cast from a staff are listed in bullet points organized by level under each version of the staff. Many staves can be found in multiple versions, with more powerful versions that contain more spells—such a staff always contains the spells of all lower-level versions, in addition to the spells listed in its own entry. All magical staves have the staff trait.

Casting Spells from a Staff

Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 4.0
A staff gains charges when someone prepares it for the day. The person who prepared a staff can expend the charges to cast spells from it. You can Cast a Spell from a staff only if you have that spell on your spell list, are able to cast spells of the appropriate level, and expend a number of charges from the staff equal to the spell’s level. Casting a Spell from a staff requires holding the staff (typically in one hand) and Activating the staff by Casting the Spell, which takes the spell’s normal number of actions.

Use your spell attack roll and spell DC when Casting a Spell from a staff. The spell gains the appropriate trait for your magical tradition (arcane, divine, occult, or primal) and can be affected by any modifications you can normally make when casting spells, such as metamagic feats. You must provide any material components, cost, or focus required by the spell, or you fail to cast it.

Prepared spellcasters and spontaneous spellcasters each have a unique way of altering how their staves gain charges and the ways they can be used (see the Prepared Spellcasters and Spontaneous Spellcasters sections below).

Casting Cantrips from a Staff

Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 4.0
If a staff contains a cantrip, you can cast that cantrip using the staff without expending any charges. The cantrip’s level is heightened to the same level as cantrips you cast.

Preparing a Staff

Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 4.0
During your daily preparations, you can prepare a staff to add charges to it for free. When you do so, that staff gains a number of charges equal to the level of your highest-level spell slot. You don't need to expend any spells to add charges in this way. No one can prepare more than one staff per day, nor can a staff be prepared by more than one person per day. If the charges aren't used within 24 hours, they're lost, and preparing the staff anew removes any charges previously stored in it. You can prepare a staff only if you have at least one of the staff's spells on your spell list.

Prepared Spellcasters

Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 4.0
A prepared spellcaster—such as a cleric, druid, or wizard—can place some of their own magic in a staff to increase its number of charges. When a prepared spellcaster prepares a staff, they can expend a spell slot to add a number of charges to the staff equal to the level of the spell. They can’t expend more than one spell in this way each day. For example, if Ezren can cast 3rd-level spells and prepared a staff, the staff would gain 3 charges, but Ezren could increase this to 6 by expending one of his 3rd-level spells, 5 by expending a 2nd-level spell, or 4 by expending a 1st-level spell.

Spontaneous Spellcasters

Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 4.0
A spontaneous spellcaster, such as a bard or sorcerer, can reduce the number of charges it takes to Activate a staff by supplementing 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 level (or lower) as the expended spell slot. This doesn’t change the number of actions it takes to cast the spell. For example, if Seoni can cast 3rd-level spells and prepared a staff, the staff would gain 3 charges. She could expend 1 charge and one of her 3rd-level spell slots to cast a 3rd-level spell from the staff, or 1 charge and one of her 2nd-level spell slots to cast a 2nd-level spell from the staff. She could still expend 3 charges from the staff to cast a 3rd-level spell from it without using any of her own slots, just like any other spellcaster.

Attacking with a Staff

Source Core Rulebook pg. 592 4.0
Staves are also staff weapons. They can be etched with fundamental runes but not property runes. This doesn't alter any of their spellcasting abilities.

Related Rules

Personal Staves (Source Secrets of Magic pg. 166 1.1)