Specifically, are magical staffs that don't confer a + whatever to hit or damage "magic weapons?" If I whack a ghost with a Staff of Healing, does that overcome its resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning damage?
Note that I am assuming that any magical staff may be used as a quarterstaff. This may be wrong. Also, the Staff of Charming has a sentence that says "The staff can also be used as a magic quarterstaff," which could indicate that quarterstaff attacks with magic staffs are only magical weapon attacks if the description explicitly says so. Still, it seems odd that a Staff of Charming could be used as a magic weapon but a Staff of Fire couldn't.
If a magic item is in the weapon category, it is, indeed, a magic weapon.
That is more the source of my confusion than an answer to it. I guess it boils down to these possibilities:
All magical staffs may be used as quaterstaffs -> quaterstaffs are a category of weapon -> all magical staffs are weapons; or
Magical staffs are magic items -> some may be used as quarterstaffs if the description specifically says so or includes an attack or damage bonus -> otherwise, a magical staff may not be used as a weapon
Unless a staff’s description says otherwise, a staff can be used as a quarterstaff.
So, all the staffs in Magic items, are considered magical quarterstaffs, unless otherwise specified.
Thanks. I guess I got hung up on the Staff of Charming's (seemingly redundant) specific statement that it can be used as a magic quarterstaff. Thanks to Stormknight as well.
Several magic staves have a sentence beginning: "This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff...". Magic quarterstaves are magical weapons.
Magic staves that do not have this sentence do not qualify as magical weapons, even if you use one as a quarterstaff, any more than punching someone with a magic glove counts as a magical unarmed strike.
Yes, exactly the source of my confusion. This seems like a valid interpretation, as does combining what Stormknight and Filcat posted to say that any magic staff that can be wielded as quarterstaff counts as a magic weapon.
So, I'm just going to go with my initial instinct that any magical staff is a magical weapon for purposes of damage resistance.
Magic staves that do not have this sentence do not qualify as magical weapons, even if you use one as a quarterstaff, any more than punching someone with a magic glove counts as a magical unarmed strike.
This is incorrect. The DMG says that a magic staff can be used as a quarterstaff unless it says otherwise.
Unless a staff’s description says otherwise, a staff can be used as a quarterstaff.
So, all the staffs in Magic items, are considered magical quarterstaffs, unless otherwise specified.
"a staff can be used as a quarterstaff" is not the same as "a staff can be used as a magical quarterstaff". Inferring that from the quote would be like saying that any magic item used as an improvised weapon is considered a magic weapon.
Unless a staff’s description says otherwise, a staff can be used as a quarterstaff.
So, all the staffs in Magic items, are considered magical quarterstaffs, unless otherwise specified.
"a staff can be used as a quarterstaff" is not the same as "a staff can be used as a magical quarterstaff". Inferring that from the quote would be like saying that any magic item used as an improvised weapon is considered a magic weapon.
I would allow any magic item as an improvised weapon to be considered as a magic weapon.
And Stack Exchange, while an excellent source for getting answers, does not trump the actual rulebooks, which state that any magic staff can be used as a quarterstaff, and, being magic, is the very definition of a magic quarterstaff, and hence a magic weapon. Nor does it trump the game designer's explicit statement, as pointed out by Stormknight above.
Specifically, are magical staffs that don't confer a + whatever to hit or damage "magic weapons?" If I whack a ghost with a Staff of Healing, does that overcome its resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning damage?
Note that I am assuming that any magical staff may be used as a quarterstaff. This may be wrong. Also, the Staff of Charming has a sentence that says "The staff can also be used as a magic quarterstaff," which could indicate that quarterstaff attacks with magic staffs are only magical weapon attacks if the description explicitly says so. Still, it seems odd that a Staff of Charming could be used as a magic weapon but a Staff of Fire couldn't.
Here's an easy answer for you from Jeremy Crawford:
https://www.sageadvice.eu/2017/05/21/does-the-weapon-have-to-distinctly-say-magical-weapon-in-its-text-to-be-considered-a-magical-weapon/
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In the Magic Items section of the DMG, it says:
So, all the staffs in Magic items, are considered magical quarterstaffs, unless otherwise specified.
Edit: deleted incorrect information wherein I assumed the DMG would be internally consistent.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Here's another one for you all:
https://www.sageadvice.eu/2017/01/13/can-i-use-a-staff-of-frost-as-quarterstaff/
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Does Dragongleam (HotDQ chapter 7) count as magic when overcoming magic resistance?
"a staff can be used as a quarterstaff" is not the same as "a staff can be used as a magical quarterstaff". Inferring that from the quote would be like saying that any magic item used as an improvised weapon is considered a magic weapon.
The correct answer is here.
I would allow any magic item as an improvised weapon to be considered as a magic weapon.
And Stack Exchange, while an excellent source for getting answers, does not trump the actual rulebooks, which state that any magic staff can be used as a quarterstaff, and, being magic, is the very definition of a magic quarterstaff, and hence a magic weapon. Nor does it trump the game designer's explicit statement, as pointed out by Stormknight above.