Staves of Ascendance
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A fantasy d20 System sourcebook by Rich Redman.
Magic staves in d20 System games have limited charges, and thus are very expensive temporary tools. Rods often share the same high-price-tag-for-limited-utility drawback. A character buys a tool to handle a specific situation, and then keeps it only because he feels bad about selling it for half price (or less, since the item has fewer charges!). This is a far cry from wondrous tools that turn ordinary heroes into legends, from eldritch staves you'd expect to see wielded by the likes of Gandalf and Merlin.
Staves of Ascendance gives player characters reasons to cherish their magic staves and rods, just as Swords of Our Fathers gave reasons to cherish magic weapons. The legendary staves and rods found in this book are powerful enough to be useful at high levels—but they mete out their powers bit by bit, so that the GM needn't worry about putting a too powerful an item into the hands of a low-level character. The items increase in power as the wielders advance in level.
The magic staves and rods in Staves of Ascendance are always more than just sticks of wood, metal, bone, or crystal. They grant even greater abilities to those wielders who take one of four prestige classes: the staff scion classes. The wielder unlocks new abilities of the item by advancing in the item's associated prestige class. In short, the prestige classes reward the player for keeping an item.
Staves of Ascendance shows you how to make it so that no staff is just another multifunction wand, and how to ensure that every magic staff and rod in your campaign has the possibility to be the item of a lifetime for the right character.
Links and Downloads
Related Pages
Cover Images
Free Samples from the Artifacts of the Ages Series
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The Mind Scion, additional rules for psionic scions and their legendary weapons (622KB Zipped PDF)
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Mother's Venom, a legendary weapon from AotA:S&S (514KB Zipped PDF)
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Gamaliel, Keeper of the White Blade, a legendary weapon from AotA:LW (514KB Zipped PDF)
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Nyctophobos, a legendary weapon from SoOF and AotA:S&S (349KB Zipped PDF)
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Samadhi, the Staff of Transfiguration, a legendary weapon from AotA:S&S (523KB Zipped PDF)
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Ruanaidh, a free battle scion (452KB Zipped PDF)
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Zehir, the Poison Ring, a legendary ring from AotA:R (375KB Zipped PDF)
- A page of art development sketches from AotA:Rings
- A page of art development sketches from AotA:LW
Creation Rules
Online Discussion
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Discussion Boards (through ezBoard) and IRC Chatroom
Reviews for the Artifacts of the Ages Series
Reviews for Swords of Our Fathers
Reviews for Artifacts of the Ages: Swords & Staves
Reviews for Artifacts of the Ages: Rings
The Specs
41-page PDF for players and DMs (plus front cover).
Available as a 1.7MB download from RPGNow.com for only US$5.00.
Written by Rich Redman, designer of products such as the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, Defenders of the Faith, Deities & Demigods, Monster Manual II, Savage Species, and the Dark*Matter Arms & Equipment Guide. Art by Clarence Harrison. Edited by Gary M. Sarli. Layout and design by Marc Schmalz. Cover Design by Jefferson Dunlap.
Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons®, Third Edition Core Books, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision.
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