Warlock’s Apprentice: Magic Staves of Midgard

Magical staves are among the most sought-after magic items for many spellcasters. In Midgard, there are a number of unique magical staves, many with rich histories and lore.

Spell Sources: While many magical staff spells are found in the SRD, those marked with an asterisk (*) appear in the Midgard Heroes Handbook.

Crystal Staff

Staff, very rare (requires attunement by a sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)

A staff carved from a single piece of solid crystal, it has numerous reflective facets that produce a strangely hypnotic effect.

These strange magical staves were relatively common in the Valeran Empire before its fall and in Ankeshel during its golden age. Today, those few crystal staves that remain can be found almost anywhere in Midgard.

The staff has 10 charges.

Spells: While holding it, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: color spray (1 charge), hypnotic pattern (3 charges), confound senses* (3 charges), confusion (4 charges), jeweled fissure* (3 charge), prismatic ray* (5 charges), or prismatic spray (7 charges).

The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the crystal shatters, destroying the staff and dealing 2d6 piercing damage to anyone in a 10-foot radius.

Serpent Staff

Staff, rare (requires attunement by a sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)

Fashioned from twisted ash wood, this staff’s head is carved in the realistic likeness of a serpent preparing to strike.

Serpent staves are most often found in the hands of lamia sorcerers from Kush and Nuria Natal and among the serpent-scholars of Lignas.

You have resistance to poison damage while you hold this staff.

The staff has 10 charges.

Spells: While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: poisoned volley* (2 charges), or protection from poison (2 charges).

Serpent form: You can use an action and expend 2 charges to assume the shape of a beast (snake only) that has a challenge rating of 2 or lower. You can remain in this form for up to 1 minute. You can revert to your normal form before then by using an action. Otherwise, treat as the druid’s Wildshape ability.

The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the carved snake head twists and magically consumes the rest of the staff, immediately destroying it.

Spider Staff

Staff, rare (requires attunement by a druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)

Delicate web-like designs are carved into the wood of this twisted staff, which is often topped with the carved likeness of a spider.

Said to have been created in the Southlands by mages loyal to the Spider Prophet, these magical staves are occasionally encountered in regions far from that windswept desert land.

The staff has 10 charges.

Spells: While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: spider climb (2 charges) or web (2 charges).

Spider Swarm: While holding the staff, you can use an action and expend 1 charge to cause a swarm of spiders to appear in a space that you can see within 60 feet. The swarm of spiders remains for 1 minute, until you dismiss it as an action, or until you move more than 100 feet away from it.

The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, a swarm of spiders appears and consumes the staff and then vanishes.

Staff of Binding

Staff, rare (requires attunement by a sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)

Made from stout oak with steel bands and bits of chain running its entire length, the staff feels oddly heavy.

These staves were first known in the magocracies before the collapse, and there are still a few in Bemmea and Bourgund today.

This staff has 10 charges.

Spells: While holding it, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: arcane lock (2 charges), hold monster (5 charges), hold person (2 charges), lock armor* (2 charge), or planar binding (5 charges).

Unbound: While holding the staff, you can use your reaction to expend 1 charge and gain advantage on a saving throw you make to avoid being paralyzed or restrained.

The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff constricts in upon itself and is destroyed.

Staff of Scrying

Staff, rare (requires attunement by a sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)

This is a graceful, highly polished wooden staff crafted from willow. A small crystal ball tops the staff, and smooth gold bands twist around its shaft.

The first known reports of these staves come from the courts of the Grand Duchy and the Seven Cities, especially Friula, Triolo and Capleon, but they can now be found in almost every part of Midgard.

This staff has 10 charges.

Spells: While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: detect thoughts (2 charges), locate creature (4 charges), locate object (2 charges), scrying (5 charges), true seeing (6 charges).

The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, a bright flash of light erupts from the crystal ball and the staff vanishes.

Staff of the Four Winds

Staff, very rare (requires attunement by a sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)

Made of gently twisting ash and engraved with spiraling runes, the staff feels strangely lighter than its size would otherwise suggest.

First created in Kel Azjer, a secluded mountaintop city in the Southlands region known as the Dominion of the Wind Lords, these staves can be found throughout most of Midgard due to the network of magical Red Portals located within the city.

This staff has 10 charges.

Spells: While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: circle of wind* (1 charge), feather fall (1 charge), gust of wind (2 charges), Perun’s doom* (3 charges), wind wall (3 charges), wind walk (6 charges), wind tunnel* (1 charge), or wresting wind* (2 charges).

You can also use an action to cast the wind lash* cantrip from the staff without using any charges.

The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff crumbles into ashes and is taken away with the breeze…

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