I would say no, seeing shillelagh, it magicafies a quarterstaff or club, and since staff of the adder is a magical staff that does damage, I would say no.
If it didn't do damage, you could use it as an improvised weapon and shillelagh it (improvised it would take the statistics of a quarter staff).
So, no, but it would depend on your DM.
EDIT: I agree with what is below. Changed my mind.
I completely disagree. All staves can be used to make a melee staff attack. The spell says “becomes magical, if it isn’t already.”
I’m not sure on whether the special ability die would become a d8 and use your spell casting ability, but it doesn’t seem overly powerful anyway compared to the staff as is.
I completely disagree. All staves can be used to make a melee staff attack. The spell says “becomes magical, if it isn’t already.”
I’m not sure on whether the special ability die would become a d8 and use your spell casting ability, but it doesn’t seem overly powerful anyway compared to the staff as is.
The tricky part is that some magic staves explicitly say they can be wielded as a quarterstaff, the Staff Of The Adder does not. The wording of Shillelagh explicitly says it works on a club or quarterstaff. So RAW, it doesn't appear you can. However I don't think it would be game-breaking to allow Shillelagh to be cast on it solely for allowing the wielder's casting stat to be used for the attack instead of Strength. I would rule that the wielder has to choose between the standard 1d8+mod from Shillelagh or the 1d6 plus poison, but they can't mix them together. Druids and Warlocks especially tend not to pump their Strength scores, if I as a DM am going to give them a Staff Of The Adder, I want them to feel like they can actually use it effectively.
Staff and Quarterstaff are listed separately with no mention of them being interchangeable. I personally don't see any reason why all staffs shouldn't be able to be used as quarterstaffs, and vice versa, but ymmv with your DM. I think SA has opinions on it, but they're no more relevant than your own DM's take on it.
I don’t know how to link it on mobile, but the magic items section of chapter 7 has a section called “Staff” that describes them. It is the last sentence.
But the DMG says “unless a staff’s description says otherwise, a staff can be used as a quarterstaff.”
Well that definitely changes things :) I would still say that casting Shillelagh on a Staff Of The Adder doesn't affect the damage of the Staff's unique attack, but it would allow the option of hitting for Shillelagh's basic 1d8+mod damage, as long as the wielder declares before the attack.
A magic staff is about 5 or 6 feet long. Staffs vary widely in appearance: some are of nearly equal diameter throughout and smooth, others are gnarled and twisted, some are made of wood, and others are composed of polished metal or crystal. Depending on the material, a staff weighs between 2 and 7 pounds.
Unless a staff’s description says otherwise, a staff can be used as a quarterstaff.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Yeah and that bit is tricky. I think I’d allow it just because you may have taken shillelagh because you dumped STR. If so, then having a staff of the adder that you can’t attack with using your spellcasting mod would be about as useful to you as having a mundane quarterstaff. It sure wouldn’t feel magical to use.
also, it would be 1d8 +3d6 vs 1d6 +3d6 damage, since the staff doesn’t say to add any modifier to damage. Not too OP.
RAW, under the effect of Shillelagh "you can use your spellcasting ability instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of melee attacks using that weapon, and the weapon's damage die becomes a d8." That would be all melee attack and damage rolls.
The wiggle room within RAW to not allowing the snake head to deal d8, or to not adding spellcasting mod to the damage roll, would be to define the magical snake head as a different weapon created by the Staff of the Adder and not an extension of the weapon that is the staff/quarterstaff. That would be a decent take for a DM to make, since the staff describes making "a melee attack using the snake head," not "a melee attack using the staff."
You use your spellcasting ability for attack and damage rolls with the weapon
The special attack with the animate snake is made using your stats
You use make an attack roll the same way you would with the inanimate form--using your spellcasting ability via Shillelagh
The damage from the special attack does not use your stats.
The ability deals 1d6 piercing, and 3d6 poison if the creature fails their Con save.
It's a special ability. You don't add any damage bonuses that aren't explicitly mentioned by the ability, or directly applicable from a feature.
Shillelagh doesn't directly apply to the damage of the ability as your non-Shillelaghed Strength modifier wouldn't apply either.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I suppose the snake head is not specifically a melee weapon attack like I had thought. Only melee weapon attacks automatically apply stat modifier to damage, so you're right that Shillelagh doesn't necessarily entitle you to add your spellcasting mod to that 1d6+3d6, nor change it to a 1d8. I had been wiggling out by saying that the snake head was a seperate weapon from the quarterstaff, but this is approaching it froma different angle and saying that the head is not a weapon at all.
Yeah, I think that part is reasonable no matter what. You make a melee attack with the staff when you use the snake's head, so you can use your spellcasting ability to do it.
Huh, I had no idea the Staff rules actually said that. Learned something new today!
Of course, they don't really need to specify. The Improvised Weapons rules state that "Often, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the DM's option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus." I typically allow Rods to be used as Clubs as well because of this.
However, some staves could very well be made of types of wood or other materials not at all suited for hitting things, so it's nice to have a specific rule saying all staves can be quarterstaves unless they say otherwise. On that note, what staves say they can't be?
Well, even if your magical staff is made of paper mache and balsa wood, its magical nature means that smashing it into a wall (or an enemy knight) isn't sufficient to break it, right?
I'm not sure if any staffs say that they can't be used as a quarterstaff.
I was referring to plain old Staves, not magic ones. Magic items typically cannot be destroyed so yes, they would not break. Not breaking doesn't necessarily mean it could do decent damage, though.
The Gulthias Staff specifies that it can be used as a quarterstaff, but if it didn't it would probably be safe to assume that a spongy staff of mostly dead wood wouldn't hurt that much to get hit by.*
*Of course, this is under the assumption that not all staves count as quarterstaves, which I now know isn't the case.
Ah, I was thinking of staffs as magical ones in this case. But I guess based on the price difference and the rules differences, you could make an in world argument that actually a spell focus has to be more substantial than a quarterstaff due to the power being channeled through it while casting.
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Can I get a Staff of the Adder, and use Shillelagh with it?
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/fist-of-maara-eden144/a/staff-of-the-adder-article
https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/shillelagh
I would say no, seeing shillelagh, it magicafies a quarterstaff or club, and since staff of the adder is a magical staff that does damage, I would say no.
If it didn't do damage, you could use it as an improvised weapon and shillelagh it (improvised it would take the statistics of a quarter staff).
So, no, but it would depend on your DM.
EDIT: I agree with what is below. Changed my mind.
D&D is a game for nerds... so I guess I'm one :p
I completely disagree. All staves can be used to make a melee staff attack. The spell says “becomes magical, if it isn’t already.”
I’m not sure on whether the special ability die would become a d8 and use your spell casting ability, but it doesn’t seem overly powerful anyway compared to the staff as is.
The tricky part is that some magic staves explicitly say they can be wielded as a quarterstaff, the Staff Of The Adder does not. The wording of Shillelagh explicitly says it works on a club or quarterstaff. So RAW, it doesn't appear you can. However I don't think it would be game-breaking to allow Shillelagh to be cast on it solely for allowing the wielder's casting stat to be used for the attack instead of Strength. I would rule that the wielder has to choose between the standard 1d8+mod from Shillelagh or the 1d6 plus poison, but they can't mix them together. Druids and Warlocks especially tend not to pump their Strength scores, if I as a DM am going to give them a Staff Of The Adder, I want them to feel like they can actually use it effectively.
Staff and Quarterstaff are listed separately with no mention of them being interchangeable. I personally don't see any reason why all staffs shouldn't be able to be used as quarterstaffs, and vice versa, but ymmv with your DM. I think SA has opinions on it, but they're no more relevant than your own DM's take on it.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
But the DMG says “unless a staff’s description says otherwise, a staff can be used as a quarterstaff.”
Oh it does??? Where? Excellent!
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I don’t know how to link it on mobile, but the magic items section of chapter 7 has a section called “Staff” that describes them. It is the last sentence.
Well that definitely changes things :) I would still say that casting Shillelagh on a Staff Of The Adder doesn't affect the damage of the Staff's unique attack, but it would allow the option of hitting for Shillelagh's basic 1d8+mod damage, as long as the wielder declares before the attack.
From DMG chapter 7: Magic Item Categories
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Yeah and that bit is tricky. I think I’d allow it just because you may have taken shillelagh because you dumped STR. If so, then having a staff of the adder that you can’t attack with using your spellcasting mod would be about as useful to you as having a mundane quarterstaff. It sure wouldn’t feel magical to use.
also, it would be 1d8 +3d6 vs 1d6 +3d6 damage, since the staff doesn’t say to add any modifier to damage. Not too OP.
RAW, under the effect of Shillelagh "you can use your spellcasting ability instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of melee attacks using that weapon, and the weapon's damage die becomes a d8." That would be all melee attack and damage rolls.
The wiggle room within RAW to not allowing the snake head to deal d8, or to not adding spellcasting mod to the damage roll, would be to define the magical snake head as a different weapon created by the Staff of the Adder and not an extension of the weapon that is the staff/quarterstaff. That would be a decent take for a DM to make, since the staff describes making "a melee attack using the snake head," not "a melee attack using the staff."
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I don't think there's anything to allow or disallow. Staff of the Adder counts as a Quarterstaff.
Shillelagh works on the staff:
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I suppose the snake head is not specifically a melee weapon attack like I had thought. Only melee weapon attacks automatically apply stat modifier to damage, so you're right that Shillelagh doesn't necessarily entitle you to add your spellcasting mod to that 1d6+3d6, nor change it to a 1d8. I had been wiggling out by saying that the snake head was a seperate weapon from the quarterstaff, but this is approaching it froma different angle and saying that the head is not a weapon at all.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I was mostly just looking for the spellcasting ability
Yeah, I think that part is reasonable no matter what. You make a melee attack with the staff when you use the snake's head, so you can use your spellcasting ability to do it.
Huh, I had no idea the Staff rules actually said that. Learned something new today!
Of course, they don't really need to specify. The Improvised Weapons rules state that "Often, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the DM's option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus." I typically allow Rods to be used as Clubs as well because of this.
However, some staves could very well be made of types of wood or other materials not at all suited for hitting things, so it's nice to have a specific rule saying all staves can be quarterstaves unless they say otherwise. On that note, what staves say they can't be?
Well, even if your magical staff is made of paper mache and balsa wood, its magical nature means that smashing it into a wall (or an enemy knight) isn't sufficient to break it, right?
I'm not sure if any staffs say that they can't be used as a quarterstaff.
I was referring to plain old Staves, not magic ones. Magic items typically cannot be destroyed so yes, they would not break. Not breaking doesn't necessarily mean it could do decent damage, though.
The Gulthias Staff specifies that it can be used as a quarterstaff, but if it didn't it would probably be safe to assume that a spongy staff of mostly dead wood wouldn't hurt that much to get hit by.*
*Of course, this is under the assumption that not all staves count as quarterstaves, which I now know isn't the case.
Ah, I was thinking of staffs as magical ones in this case. But I guess based on the price difference and the rules differences, you could make an in world argument that actually a spell focus has to be more substantial than a quarterstaff due to the power being channeled through it while casting.