l am making a druid,and l think having a naturally black wooden quarterstaff would be cool,and saw ebony (which is a wood irl,not a ore to be smelted like in skyrim). However, ls this wood good for making quarterstaffs? from the googleing l have done,most people say hickory,oak or yew are the best,but l have my heart set on ebony. lts just flavour,but l want to be somewhat realistic in my wood choice and how my weapon looks..
EDIT: thanks for the advice everyone! You'll be happy to know that my druid is enjoying their ebony quarterstaff.
Well ... ebony wood is best suited to carvings and ornamental cabinetry. It is unusual in that it is heavier than water. In D&D, none of these things really matter, but the traditional use of ebony is not for quarter staves.
Hickory and oak are the normal go-to species of wood for this although there are several other species that are quite suitable. Yew is the classic wood for a longbow, so I have to believe it would also yield a good quarter staff. Black Locust is considered a good wood for hiking sticks and it resists rot. Soft woods, conifers are considered bad, but I have a fondness for cedar. For a long time after you make your cedar staff, it is great in the evening to lay it inside your tent and let it serve as an air freshener. Cedar is notorious for keeping insects away. Don't use willow or cotton woods because they don't have the strength. Ironwood is considered a good strong wood for quarterstaves but it is heavy. I have an ironwood trunk drying in my shed and it is pretty heavy.
I have a few hiking staves, as you might guess. I make finials (ornamental carvings for the tops) for the hiking staves and it would be very appropriate for you to have an ebony "topper" or finial on your quarter staff.
Best of luck.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Hickory and oak are the normal go-to species of wood for this
I am reminded of a scene from the old Western movie Pale Rider, in which a bunch of thugs were beating up a pan handler, and Clint Eastwood's character grabbed a piece of wood like a baseball bat out of a store rack, and pounded the crap out of the bullies. When it was over he said, in classic Eastwood style, "There's nothin' like a really good piece of hickory" and then tossed it at their unconscious bodies.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Well ... ebony wood is best suited to carvings and ornamental cabinetry. It is unusual in that it is heavier than water. In D&D, none of these things really matter, but the traditional use of ebony is not for quarter staves.
Hickory and oak are the normal go-to species of wood for this although there are several other species that are quite suitable. Yew is the classic wood for a longbow, so I have to believe it would also yield a good quarter staff. Black Locust is considered a good wood for hiking sticks and it resists rot. Soft woods, conifers are considered bad, but I have a fondness for cedar. For a long time after you make your cedar staff, it is great in the evening to lay it inside your tent and let it serve as an air freshener. Cedar is notorious for keeping insects away. Don't use willow or cotton woods because they don't have the strength. Ironwood is considered a good strong wood for quarterstaves but it is heavy. I have an ironwood trunk drying in my shed and it is pretty heavy.
I have a few hiking staves, as you might guess. I make finials (ornamental carvings for the tops) for the hiking staves and it would be very appropriate for you to have an ebony "topper" or finial on your quarter staff.
Best of luck.
Wow, that was a lot of cool knowledge dropped here. Thank you. Followup question regarding ebony, is its real world use as fine carving material due to particular inherent properties or its what I'm presuming is rarity making it more of a luxury as opposed to yew, cedar, etc. What I'm wondering is while in the real world, an ebony staff would be something of an extravagance, and it could well be in the a game world too if tree populations are analogous to "real world", maybe ebony is commonplace and therefore often fashioned or improvised for staffs and canes? Other question ash, cedar etc and the other walking stick woods, do they have more "give" to them than say ebony, meaning they're more conducive to being used in a fight as opposed to ebony which while weighty and has its strengths may be too stiff and leads to a de facto brittleness in a fight for one's life combat. I'm thinking of the Bruce Lee adage about needing to be both strong like oak but able to bend like willow and applying that to actual wood weapons.
I want to say I've seen ivory fashioned or used as a club, but that doesn't necessarily mean ebony works the same way despite the piano alliance.
Anyway, good info, and thanks for putting it in here, I always like when real world hobbies can be drawn in to illuminate "reality" in these fantasy worlds.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Sumatran. While caning was still legal all over the world as a means to keep wives/children “in line,” it was made illegal in some countries to use a malacca cane because it is super lightweight, and one of the hardest known woods. Does a lot of damage.
The “Greek” version you are thinking of is spelled differently. And it’s a dirty word.
Sumatran. While caning was still legal all over the world as a means to keep wives/children “in line,” it was made illegal in some countries to use a malacca cane because it is super lightweight, and one of the hardest known woods. Does a lot of damage.
The “Greek” version you are thinking of is spelled differently. And it’s a dirty word.
l know. l heard it in AC Odyssey. (also,it sounds like the word for king in a language l dont remember right now)
Okay: I love that you made this thread, I love world-building!!!!!!!!
I asked my brother, who is a woodcarver, about this, and he said that ebony would be suitable for a druid's quarterstaff. Ebony is a tropical hardwood, and it's rarity, plus it's weight, will make it a poor choice according to our real-world conventional knowledge. This is why google gave you other options.
However, your character is not of this world; their quarterstaff has to potentially stand up to combat, not just a hike through Yellowstone park. Sometimes a springy quality in wood (yew, for instance) can be nice, but ebony would pack a hard punch in a fight in real life!
And about rarity? If your druid had an ebony staff, and it was decided that ebony trees are not common in your world, don't think you can't have one. Are frostbrands or flame tongue swords common? No. So do we discard them? Uh--NO, we hold on to them for dear life! So treat your Druid to something nice. Give them the ebony staff!
Yes, I think you could either run with the idea of the ebony staff being something hard earned by the Druid, or they live in a world where there are forests of ebony (possibly hard hazard in forest chase sequences). This is a cool thread, it's like D&D shop class.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
As Legion said, Ebony is not going to show up on the Internet as a quarterstaff material because of current real world issues, but those don't apply in our D&D world, so don't take anything I said earlier as an admonition not to go ahead and use Ebony.
The qualities of wood that matter to a person that uses a hiking staff are weight, strength and cost. A quarterstaff also has to have hardness, which is not the same as strength. The quality you mentioned about being flexible (Bruce Lee) is technically called elasticity. Elasticity doesn't matter much, but I would not want a highly elastic "rubber band" of a hiking stick, and you wouldn't want a highly elastic quarterstaff either. Hardness matters because you wouldn't want your quarterstaff to show a great deal of visible damage.
Ebony is valued for two particular properties, the appeal of the color and that it may be polished to a mirror finish. Being a hard wood it is good for carving if you have the right tools.
There is nothing wrong with your druid having a beautiful ebony quarterstaff.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
There's no reason you couldn't use an ebony staff. If you're concerned about the weight and realism, perhaps your heavy, ebony staff has been bored out, and the core is a thin oak or hickory staff. That could make it have all the beauty of ebony, without a huge weight penalty, plus any benefit that you might get from a composite staff.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
This is D&D man. Don't let real world trivia like "does ebony make a good staff" ruin your idea for a druid with a black staff. You can make up a new type of black wood in this campaign world. Maybe those trees have other properties that will come up later, or they are a key component of an otherworldly biome in your world. I start thinking of a spooky black forest, which gets me thinking about what might live there...
The benefit of making stuff up like this vs. cleaving to reality is that once you create a new thing, you can branch off of it. It grows your world, makes it feel unique, and connects your character to it at the same time. I think character creation should absolutely contribute to world creation, and this would be a great example of how that can work. Not that I don't appreciate learning about RL woodworking, but I think is a lot more fun.
BIG shout out to you, by the way, DnDNewper, for asking a question about fantasy realism! It's like a breath of fresh air after all the oversized warhammers and dual wielding you see these days. Seriously, as a medieval nerd, I appreciate it. :-)
This is D&D man. Don't let real world trivia like "does ebony make a good staff" ruin your idea for a druid with a black staff.
Don't worry,its not. l just wanted to know if there was a real world president. (l even have plans for the staff to change as l level/dm allows +1,2,3 versions)
BIG shout out to you, by the way, DnDNewper, for asking a question about fantasy realism! It's like a breath of fresh air after all the oversized warhammers and dual wielding you see these days. Seriously, as a medieval nerd, I appreciate it. :-)
I was imagining a super cool unique staff before hearing the thought you wanted to modify it.
Building off the idea that the ebony would be polished to a mirror finish, what if the staff were finished into a hexagonal cross section all the way up the length so it has six flat sides, polished to a mirror finish. Then when you decided to imbue the staff with a new special quality, you could have one of the flats hollowed out just a small bit and then a metal smith could pour molten gold/silver/copper-or-platinum into the hollowed out flat. The flat could be polished and a magical property be infused into the staff from there.
Again as a practical matter, if the metal were copper or silver it would need to be polished from time to time with metal polish to eliminate the 'oxidation', but gold and platinum do not oxidize. Of course, if you use Prestidigitation that way I do, it could simply be magically cleaned every day or so.
As an alternative, holes could be drilled into the staff and the holes filled with the molten metal, but if you were going to polish the staff to a mirror finish I think a whole side filled with metal would be appealing. Or the hollowed out spaces could be glyphs or runes or just geometric shapes.
Have fun.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Strongest wood I know is Guaiacum Sanctum, also called Lingnum Vitae, but it and other Guaiacum are endangered because they take forever to grow. Best commercial wood is Brazilian Ipe wood. Supposedly you try to drive a nail through Brazilian Ipet and the nail bends, rather than go into the wood. Some of the wood used to make Coney Island boardwalk is a version of Brazilian Ipe.
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l am making a druid,and l think having a naturally black wooden quarterstaff would be cool,and saw ebony (which is a wood irl,not a ore to be smelted like in skyrim). However, ls this wood good for making quarterstaffs? from the googleing l have done,most people say hickory,oak or yew are the best,but l have my heart set on ebony. lts just flavour,but l want to be somewhat realistic in my wood choice and how my weapon looks..
EDIT: thanks for the advice everyone! You'll be happy to know that my druid is enjoying their ebony quarterstaff.
Well ... ebony wood is best suited to carvings and ornamental cabinetry. It is unusual in that it is heavier than water. In D&D, none of these things really matter, but the traditional use of ebony is not for quarter staves.
Hickory and oak are the normal go-to species of wood for this although there are several other species that are quite suitable. Yew is the classic wood for a longbow, so I have to believe it would also yield a good quarter staff. Black Locust is considered a good wood for hiking sticks and it resists rot. Soft woods, conifers are considered bad, but I have a fondness for cedar. For a long time after you make your cedar staff, it is great in the evening to lay it inside your tent and let it serve as an air freshener. Cedar is notorious for keeping insects away. Don't use willow or cotton woods because they don't have the strength. Ironwood is considered a good strong wood for quarterstaves but it is heavy. I have an ironwood trunk drying in my shed and it is pretty heavy.
I have a few hiking staves, as you might guess. I make finials (ornamental carvings for the tops) for the hiking staves and it would be very appropriate for you to have an ebony "topper" or finial on your quarter staff.
Best of luck.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Thanks. l guess maybe the staff could be oak or yew,but dyed black?
I am reminded of a scene from the old Western movie Pale Rider, in which a bunch of thugs were beating up a pan handler, and Clint Eastwood's character grabbed a piece of wood like a baseball bat out of a store rack, and pounded the crap out of the bullies. When it was over he said, in classic Eastwood style, "There's nothin' like a really good piece of hickory" and then tossed it at their unconscious bodies.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Malacca would be my go-to.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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Sounds greek. is it?
Wow, that was a lot of cool knowledge dropped here. Thank you. Followup question regarding ebony, is its real world use as fine carving material due to particular inherent properties or its what I'm presuming is rarity making it more of a luxury as opposed to yew, cedar, etc. What I'm wondering is while in the real world, an ebony staff would be something of an extravagance, and it could well be in the a game world too if tree populations are analogous to "real world", maybe ebony is commonplace and therefore often fashioned or improvised for staffs and canes? Other question ash, cedar etc and the other walking stick woods, do they have more "give" to them than say ebony, meaning they're more conducive to being used in a fight as opposed to ebony which while weighty and has its strengths may be too stiff and leads to a de facto brittleness in a fight for one's life combat. I'm thinking of the Bruce Lee adage about needing to be both strong like oak but able to bend like willow and applying that to actual wood weapons.
I want to say I've seen ivory fashioned or used as a club, but that doesn't necessarily mean ebony works the same way despite the piano alliance.
Anyway, good info, and thanks for putting it in here, I always like when real world hobbies can be drawn in to illuminate "reality" in these fantasy worlds.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Sumatran. While caning was still legal all over the world as a means to keep wives/children “in line,” it was made illegal in some countries to use a malacca cane because it is super lightweight, and one of the hardest known woods. Does a lot of damage.
The “Greek” version you are thinking of is spelled differently. And it’s a dirty word.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
l know. l heard it in AC Odyssey. (also,it sounds like the word for king in a language l dont remember right now)
Yes, I believe it is the “king cane.”
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Okay: I love that you made this thread, I love world-building!!!!!!!!
I asked my brother, who is a woodcarver, about this, and he said that ebony would be suitable for a druid's quarterstaff. Ebony is a tropical hardwood, and it's rarity, plus it's weight, will make it a poor choice according to our real-world conventional knowledge. This is why google gave you other options.
However, your character is not of this world; their quarterstaff has to potentially stand up to combat, not just a hike through Yellowstone park. Sometimes a springy quality in wood (yew, for instance) can be nice, but ebony would pack a hard punch in a fight in real life!
And about rarity? If your druid had an ebony staff, and it was decided that ebony trees are not common in your world, don't think you can't have one. Are frostbrands or flame tongue swords common? No. So do we discard them? Uh--NO, we hold on to them for dear life! So treat your Druid to something nice. Give them the ebony staff!
💙🤍~*Ravenclaw*~ 🔮
Yes, I think you could either run with the idea of the ebony staff being something hard earned by the Druid, or they live in a world where there are forests of ebony (possibly hard hazard in forest chase sequences). This is a cool thread, it's like D&D shop class.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
As Legion said, Ebony is not going to show up on the Internet as a quarterstaff material because of current real world issues, but those don't apply in our D&D world, so don't take anything I said earlier as an admonition not to go ahead and use Ebony.
The qualities of wood that matter to a person that uses a hiking staff are weight, strength and cost. A quarterstaff also has to have hardness, which is not the same as strength. The quality you mentioned about being flexible (Bruce Lee) is technically called elasticity. Elasticity doesn't matter much, but I would not want a highly elastic "rubber band" of a hiking stick, and you wouldn't want a highly elastic quarterstaff either. Hardness matters because you wouldn't want your quarterstaff to show a great deal of visible damage.
Ebony is valued for two particular properties, the appeal of the color and that it may be polished to a mirror finish. Being a hard wood it is good for carving if you have the right tools.
There is nothing wrong with your druid having a beautiful ebony quarterstaff.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
There's no reason you couldn't use an ebony staff. If you're concerned about the weight and realism, perhaps your heavy, ebony staff has been bored out, and the core is a thin oak or hickory staff. That could make it have all the beauty of ebony, without a huge weight penalty, plus any benefit that you might get from a composite staff.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
This is D&D man. Don't let real world trivia like "does ebony make a good staff" ruin your idea for a druid with a black staff. You can make up a new type of black wood in this campaign world. Maybe those trees have other properties that will come up later, or they are a key component of an otherworldly biome in your world. I start thinking of a spooky black forest, which gets me thinking about what might live there...
The benefit of making stuff up like this vs. cleaving to reality is that once you create a new thing, you can branch off of it. It grows your world, makes it feel unique, and connects your character to it at the same time. I think character creation should absolutely contribute to world creation, and this would be a great example of how that can work. Not that I don't appreciate learning about RL woodworking, but I think is a lot more fun.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
BIG shout out to you, by the way, DnDNewper, for asking a question about fantasy realism! It's like a breath of fresh air after all the oversized warhammers and dual wielding you see these days. Seriously, as a medieval nerd, I appreciate it. :-)
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Don't worry,its not. l just wanted to know if there was a real world president. (l even have plans for the staff to change as l level/dm allows +1,2,3 versions)
You're welcome.
I was imagining a super cool unique staff before hearing the thought you wanted to modify it.
Building off the idea that the ebony would be polished to a mirror finish, what if the staff were finished into a hexagonal cross section all the way up the length so it has six flat sides, polished to a mirror finish. Then when you decided to imbue the staff with a new special quality, you could have one of the flats hollowed out just a small bit and then a metal smith could pour molten gold/silver/copper-or-platinum into the hollowed out flat. The flat could be polished and a magical property be infused into the staff from there.
Again as a practical matter, if the metal were copper or silver it would need to be polished from time to time with metal polish to eliminate the 'oxidation', but gold and platinum do not oxidize. Of course, if you use Prestidigitation that way I do, it could simply be magically cleaned every day or so.
As an alternative, holes could be drilled into the staff and the holes filled with the molten metal, but if you were going to polish the staff to a mirror finish I think a whole side filled with metal would be appealing. Or the hollowed out spaces could be glyphs or runes or just geometric shapes.
Have fun.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
oh i will,and l have big plans for this staff.
Strongest wood I know is Guaiacum Sanctum, also called Lingnum Vitae, but it and other Guaiacum are endangered because they take forever to grow. Best commercial wood is Brazilian Ipe wood. Supposedly you try to drive a nail through Brazilian Ipet and the nail bends, rather than go into the wood. Some of the wood used to make Coney Island boardwalk is a version of Brazilian Ipe.