I'd really rather base my decisions off of the rules if possible.
Well, that would be unwise, because the rules for Spellcasting Focuses are a mess when you drill down into them
That said, if a magical staff also qualifies as a Quarterstaff, and a Quarterstaff qualifies as a Druidic Focus*, you can back door a magical staff qualifying as a Druidic Focus if you need some kind of RAW argument. (I'm sure someone will jump in here with "That's a logical fallacy! Your dog is not a cat!", but that isn't actually what you're doing. It's not an "If A is B, and C is B, then A is B" argument, it's an "if A is B, and B is C, then A is C" argument, which is pretty reasonable)
* - Just don't ask what the quarterstaff costs
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
My take on a magical staff becoming a nonmagical quarterstaff is that it means the spell attack bonuses you might get from a magical staff don’t apply if you try to use it as a melee weapon. I’d imagine that would work in the other direction, too. A +1 quarterstaff would apply the bonus to your attack and damage rolls, but not to your spell save DCs, for example.
Isn't that kind of thing already differentiated in each Magic Item? (EDIT: sorry! I added double "??" by mistake, not fitting for my humble question or my friendly adventurer here :))
Some examples:
- Robe of the Archmagi: "Your spell save DC and spell attack bonus each increase by 2." - Staff of Striking: "This staff can be wielded as a magic Quarterstaff that grants a +3 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls made with it." - Staff of Power: "While holding it, you gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class, saving throws, and spell attack rolls."
I have to agree that RAW, a magic quarterstaff does not qualify as a Druidic Focus. That said, I see very little reason why it would be a problem to allow this to work.
In the end, DMs and players can always change a rule. Also we always consider quarterstafffs as wood on our table. So no reason it wouldn’t work. Also won’t break the game as OP.
Isn't that kind of thing already differentiated in each Magic Item? (EDIT: sorry! I added double "??" by mistake, not fitting for my humble question or my friendly adventurer here :))
Some examples:
- Robe of the Archmagi: "Your spell save DC and spell attack bonus each increase by 2." - Staff of Striking: "This staff can be wielded as a magic Quarterstaff that grants a +3 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls made with it." - Staff of Power: "While holding it, you gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class, saving throws, and spell attack rolls."
Probably but not clearly. It's a case of the designers, once again, trying to get a lot of mileage out of very little text.
Look for example at the Staff of Striking you mentioned. It says "This staff can be wielded as a magic Quarterstaff that grants a +3 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls made with it." and now we have to figure out exactly what those bonuses apply too. Looking at the "attack rolls and damage rolls" part helps us very little because "attack roll" (or "damage roll" for that matter) doesn't discriminate between a melee attack or a ranged attack or, what matters more here, a spell attack in the same way as "melee attack" doesn't discriminate between a melee weapon attack or a melee spell attack.
So what we are left with is the "made with it" part and that really isn't that clear. Don't get me wrong, I think that it means that you have to make the actual attack with the item (in this case a weapon) and not just hold it/use it as a focus when you make an attack as part of a spell. But this has led to quite long discussions previously and it would have been helpful if they had been a bit clearer on the distinction.
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Well, that would be unwise, because the rules for Spellcasting Focuses are a mess when you drill down into them
That said, if a magical staff also qualifies as a Quarterstaff, and a Quarterstaff qualifies as a Druidic Focus*, you can back door a magical staff qualifying as a Druidic Focus if you need some kind of RAW argument. (I'm sure someone will jump in here with "That's a logical fallacy! Your dog is not a cat!", but that isn't actually what you're doing. It's not an "If A is B, and C is B, then A is B" argument, it's an "if A is B, and B is C, then A is C" argument, which is pretty reasonable)
* - Just don't ask what the quarterstaff costs
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Isn't that kind of thing already differentiated in each Magic Item? (EDIT: sorry! I added double "??" by mistake, not fitting for my humble question or my friendly adventurer here :))
Some examples:
- Robe of the Archmagi: "Your spell save DC and spell attack bonus each increase by 2."
- Staff of Striking: "This staff can be wielded as a magic Quarterstaff that grants a +3 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls made with it."
- Staff of Power: "While holding it, you gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class, saving throws, and spell attack rolls."
In the end, DMs and players can always change a rule. Also we always consider quarterstafffs as wood on our table. So no reason it wouldn’t work. Also won’t break the game as OP.
Probably but not clearly. It's a case of the designers, once again, trying to get a lot of mileage out of very little text.
Look for example at the Staff of Striking you mentioned. It says "This staff can be wielded as a magic Quarterstaff that grants a +3 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls made with it." and now we have to figure out exactly what those bonuses apply too. Looking at the "attack rolls and damage rolls" part helps us very little because "attack roll" (or "damage roll" for that matter) doesn't discriminate between a melee attack or a ranged attack or, what matters more here, a spell attack in the same way as "melee attack" doesn't discriminate between a melee weapon attack or a melee spell attack.
So what we are left with is the "made with it" part and that really isn't that clear. Don't get me wrong, I think that it means that you have to make the actual attack with the item (in this case a weapon) and not just hold it/use it as a focus when you make an attack as part of a spell. But this has led to quite long discussions previously and it would have been helpful if they had been a bit clearer on the distinction.