Re: (TFT) House Rules: Staves?

[Thorn <edt@dopey.ne.mediaone.net>]

dhrobert@uctpc10.directlink.net wrote:
> 
> What if he accidentally drops it from a multi-story building and if falls on
> some one?

Without the prospective victim's will to touch, to handle, there is
nothing for the staff to trigger on.  Neither can a staff be used as a
land mine.  The victim must be complicit ("touches it"), and the mage
must not be ("against his will").  So the person struck by the falling
staff gets a nasty bump.  Then, whoever tries to pick up that staff
takes whatever effect.  The mage, watching from the top of the building,
might allow that person, or any number of others, to touch the staff,
but would have to do so deliberately for each person.  He cannot order
the staff to 'stand down'.

> Can he turn an entire tree into a staff?  if so, when someone tried to climb
> it, would it explode?

Ah, I missed this in my braindump of house rules.  Thanks for the
reminder.

"Turn any piece of wood into a staff"

This one gives us fits, but we finally went with B), below.

a) change above to : "Empower any piece of wood to inflict damage as,
and explode as, a Staff.  The shape of the wood does not change."

b) change above to : "Empower any piece of wood to inflict damage as,
and explode as, a Staff.  The piece of wood changes shape to either
wand, rod, or staff, as desired by the mage, but may not be changed back
as part of this spell, or change again without another casting of this
spell."

So, can a mage turn a dungeon door into a staff?  Any one piece of
wood.  Most doors are several pieces, but you could defeat the door if
you were attentive and chose your target 'hunk of wood' wisely.  A tree,
then?  GM's option; is living treeflesh 'wood'?  Protective of my
vegepygmies, I would rule not.  I would also allow druids to perhaps
affect live treeflesh, respectfully, and perhaps dark sorcerors might
have a ritual of three for the transformation of the odd treat or
vegepygmy.

The Codex throws us a curve.  It's shaped like a bow.  :)  Which means
that either a) is the only interpretation, or b) must include the option
to leave the shape unchanged.  Having serious dislike for wood-paneled
doors or wooden boxes (possibly containing explosive gems?) that explode
when touched, and finding little aesthetic benefit to bow-shaped Staffs,
I chose to ignore the Codex on this point.
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