I do so enjoy wielding a staff, as a mage. They are a tried and true symbol of power, and knowledge.



Except they aren't, in Skyrim.



I've been poking around, on and off the Nexus, looking for a good staff overhaul mod. Staves of Skyrim is okay, but I'm looking more for magic gameplay changes, rather than combat changes and retextures.



Primarily, a good, standalone staff scaling mod would be great. There are magic scaling mods, some of which include staves, others that do not. Empowered Magic includes staves, but his conjuration mechanics just aren't what I'm looking for. I'm running a myriad of other mods that are what I'm looking for, but would most definitely conflict.



But that's just my Occam's razor suggestion-- Relatively easy (Based on it's success in other mods), and satisfactory for gameplay.



What I would -really- enjoy, is a complete overhaul. I don't want a single spell taped onto my staff, to be evoked without skill or elegance.

I've always thought of staves as focus tools-- implements designed to empower magic being cast through them. Any magic. To that end, I think that staves shouldn't be classified as weapons, but as clothing. Weird-- but from my very basic understanding of the game mechanics as they are, it's the only way to accomplish what I have in mind.



They'd equip to a slot made just for staves-- to be gripped in the hand of the player/wielder, probably left since that's what hotkeys default spells to. (Ideally, they would also stop vanishing into the nether upon sheathing, but that's another request for another time). Staves would be organized as they are now-- Destruction, restoration, alteration, etc-- but with Novice - Master variants of all of them. And once equipped, the staff would Increase the magnitude of the respective school that is being cast through them. Novice, a 20% increase, apprentice 40%, Adept 60%, Expert 80%, and Master 100%.



For instance-- A basic flames spell focused through a Master Staff of Destruction would double in power.

A Dread Zombie spell focused through a Master Staff of Conjuration would almost hit the level cap for raised summons.

Mage armor focused through an Alteration Staff would be more powerful.

Illusion spells would be valid at higher levels.



Now, I greatly regret not taking the time to learn how to use the CK. I've got fifteen credit hours occupying my time now, or I'd wade through all the tutorials just to do this one mod. Maybe I'll take it up over the summer. But for now, All I can do is post this, and hope that a capable modder, or a friend of a capable modder sees this and gets some steam behind it.



Thank you for the read. I appreciate it.