I'm definitely on the side of wands here. Nothing beats the feeling of whipping out your wand and then playing with it public. You'd be amazed how many people are impressed by seeing a large wand.
LoadingReadyRun: Wizard Chat
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No offense to the orb-users, but I really haven't seen their practical use outside of the laboratory. Yes, they're more powerful than either staves or wands, but they're unwieldy. Also, slippery. If you can spring for the expensive kind, then maybe the several hundred-thousand extra units of channeling power's worth it, but otherwise I find it difficult to aim and use in a combat situation. Unlike the wand for its occasional quick-draw uses, or the staff for its on-hand nature, any orb, blood diamond or otherwise tends to be buried in a pocket in your robes, wrapped in some slick silk thing that's difficult to get a hold of, and- well, it's a mess to deal with when you're being attacked by undead servants of the insane necromancer you're fighting.
I'm really more of a fan of moderation. Due to a trans-dimensional decade long quest, I managed to scrape together enough gold to buy both a wand, and a staff - both are good in different situations. If you can take the time to learn proper shielding, you can prevent their resonances from interfering with each other, and causing spells to fizzle. Mind you, that took a LOT of work - just trying to pin down what frequency each one's resonance was took half a century. If anyone wants to try the same trick, let me know and I'll give you a few pointers, maybe save you a decade or two. Anything to put a stop to this incessant wand-stave debate.
Except going with magic cards. That's just silly.
I'm really more of a fan of moderation. Due to a trans-dimensional decade long quest, I managed to scrape together enough gold to buy both a wand, and a staff - both are good in different situations. If you can take the time to learn proper shielding, you can prevent their resonances from interfering with each other, and causing spells to fizzle. Mind you, that took a LOT of work - just trying to pin down what frequency each one's resonance was took half a century. If anyone wants to try the same trick, let me know and I'll give you a few pointers, maybe save you a decade or two. Anything to put a stop to this incessant wand-stave debate.
Except going with magic cards. That's just silly.
sumanoskae said:
By the Phantom Plane, you young pups are either idiots or insane. Blood runes on your body? What will they think of next, banshee essence injections?jakjawagon said:
These aren't your everyday enchanted ink tattoos that you can dispel and wash off when you're done with them. This is blood, magical blood in most cases. Putting that on your body is like giving yourself a permanent fireworks aura spelling out "Kill me to avenge your fallen and ensure the survival of your species!" Ever had a unicorn that wanted you dead? How about every unicorn in the area? Those horns aren't for show, you know. They'll rip through your protections, magical or otherwise, like a dwarf squad through a goblin. That's not even getting into the nature wizards that will be all over you at the mere sniff of the mixed magics you'll be giving off.
Hope you two don't travel much. There's a reason these stupid fads, quite literally, die off.
You used Kn'droth's Method, didn't you? Iteratively working through every known frequency until you find the right one? Gathering the complete set of tuning crystals alone (from 2.718 mP to 6.04 mP) must have taken you a decade.Amaria said:
Try this instead. Assuming you have a [strong]complete[/strong] set of tuning crystals with Belden Standard Ordinal Designations, select the following crystals and array them around the artifact whose resonance you're trying to isolate: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59. (Yes, there are way more than this, but these will help you narrow down the search considerably. And yes, I deliberately excluded #1.) Let sit for a fortnight as usual. When you come back, some of the crystals will be in sympathetic resonance, others will not. Those that are resonating represent what I call the "prime resonators." If, for example, two is resonating, then so also will be four, six, eight, ten, and so on. Contrariwise, if three is [em]not[/em] resonating, then neither will be six, nine, twelve, fifteen, etc. In other words, this first measurement lets you prune your search space considerably. What you're hoping for is for a small handful of higher-order crystals to be humming. (If number two is resonating, then I'm sorry, you'll only be able to eliminate at most half of the search space.)
Note that if [em]none[/em] of above prime resonators are humming, then you'll need to repeat this step with another, higher-order set; send me aethermail for a complete list.
...Or you could wait for my monograph on the subject, which I hope to complete and publish as soon as I learn LaTeX.
(By the way, why does no one ever seem to share a set of tuning crystals? I mean, you're going to use them maybe five times, and then they gather dust. Why not make them available at your local guild? I mean, sure, I suppose there's [em]some[/em] value in making an acolyte go through the long, arduous slog of collecting their own set, but once you've got your Black Cord, it's just nothing more than annoying busywork.)
[strong]*snicker*[/strong] I once met a youngster who was messing with that. To be fair, his theory was interesting -- that the fibers in the paper each formed resonance sites, and therefore should be able to hold magic power. But unless [em]all[/em] the fibers in the card were [em]exactly[/em] the same length, any power present would fizzle out in the resultant noise. Poor fella got fried a couple of times before he figured it out...
ewhac said:
Sorry to butt in Sir ewhac, but I see you've got a complex system you want to predict the behaviour of? I'm not expert on Magicka Particulate Resonance in wands and staves and things but you could always just model it as a simple object using Narpothelop's Paradigm and then add some secondary terms to account for complications and variables. So why do you Transmuters need a whole journal again?
Just an observation from a Mage of Conjuration.
I didn't start off at the top either; I can still remember the stink of the Essence of Gelatinous Cube Wizard Axelcranz made me use to scrub his floors when I was an apprentice. I just don't see the point in buying sub-standard equipment, especially if you're going to be adventuring on a regular basis; invest your shares of the loot in appropriate equipment befitting a mage, or be prepared to watch your spells bounce off even the most basic magic-resistance spells.ewhac said:
If you are conducting experiments, that's a whole different ritual. I need a weekly delivery from the Glassblowers Guild just to keep me in supply. Still, there is a fine line between cost-effective and cheap. I'd recommend making a deal with the local fey; a little bread and honey and they're happy to inscribe delicate runes all day (and the pixie dust that falls off doesn't do any harm either).
You are right in that the orb is not the least cumbersome instrument on the market, but it shouldn't have to be. You have fighters for a reason, don't you? The mercenary companies still operate, don't they? I know one archmage who stored his lackeys in extradimensional pockets; he'd just release a few periodically, and he had enough time and safety to conduct a ritual right there on the battlefield!
And sure, you can buy diamonds, but where's the history? Where's the intrigue? Where's the hidden curse that perverts your psyche and forces you into a deal with Asomodeus? Casters these days have no respect for the Art, it's all "conjure" this and "convenience" that. At least when I pry the diamonds from the fabled Lost Crown of the Daewar I know I'm getting a quality focal point.
As for the cane issue... I'm not even going to touch that. What kind of wizard carries any weapon bigger than a silver knife? In my day, you learned the grease spell or got devoured, and deservedly so. Carrying a sword around, you might as well be a *shudder* warlock.
I was actually using Ar'leatir's updated method rather than Kn'droth's. It's a little faster, but yeah - not the fastest thing ever.ewhac said:
Gathering the tuning crystals was a fun little side project, actually - it took me about twelve years, in total. Even if it was occasionally a headache to get - especially finding tuning crystal 83, after that shortage caused by those bloody goblins - I find that it's worth it. Not having a complete set's really just half-assing it. It's the long slow method, but no one's going to deny that it's better in the long run.
Hmmm... I'll give that method a shot, yeah. Sounds like it would have saved me some long nights and a boring century dealing with pinning down the exact resonance. If I might ask, how'd you compensate for the tuning crystal quantity offset? I always found that having more than six tuning crystals arrayed together caused the reading on the resonance to shift a bit - six-thousand and twelve going to six-thousand and fourteen, for instance. (It's not a problem with lower resonances, but when you start getting into the larger ones, things start getting skewed.)ewhac said:
Personally, I don't like the idea of idiotic apprentices and acolytes working with my quality tuning crystals - some guilds are good about keeping idiots away from the nice toys, but any of those already have half a dozen sets. If I need to use them to judge the resonance of a new focus I splurged on, I don't want to have to deal with cracked tuning crystals and smudged runes. Friends, colleagues, even hated arch-nemeses (at least I know they're intelligent) I'll lend them out to, but if an apprentice touches my tuning crystals, there will be several dozen lightning storms in the general area. Also a corpse, but the thralls will clean that up.ewhac said:
That's pretty clever, but it seems like too much work to me. Dealing with fiber length and their respective resonances was what made magic carpets go out of fashion, and I don't miss those days one bit.ewhac said:
Hey now, we're all friends, here. There is absolutely no reason to start calling people names. You know as well as I do that even a young and naive spellsword knows their cantrips better than a warlock ever could. Be nice.Thunderous Cacophony said:
I hear what everyone is saying with regard to wand vs. stave, but in the interests of fair journalism I did a little scrying, a little mesmerising, a little bribery, and you know what I discovered? Lord Tholmerous Dragonsoul has controlling stocks in Hollander, Skrullak and Leap; this plane's leading wand production workshop. If that's not a conflict of interest, I don't know what is.
Oh and by-the-by, friends, there's quite a large and completely unguarded enchanted forest I know of on a plane not a quater-turnwise around the wheel. It's on a different planetoid than the Prima Terra. I can give you the precise degree and constellation to find it. The wood is really excellent for both wands and staves.
Also, with regard to sword-canes, you've got to be extremely careful. Unfortunately, the best materials for making swords with are also amongst the best for disrupting magic, plus the fact that by hollowing out your cane to accommodate you're drastically reducing it's magical capacity. You might as well just carry two wands and a sword, and keep them separate to avoid the problem of anti-magical and resonance interferences.
I will also say that while (non sword-) canes are technically a fair compromise betwixt wand and stave, they rather unfortunately call to mind that disastrous vogue we had a couple of centuries back for ironically imitating Corporeal Realm mortal magicians. I think we can all agree that the sooner that phase of magical fashion is forgotten, the better.
Oh and by-the-by, friends, there's quite a large and completely unguarded enchanted forest I know of on a plane not a quater-turnwise around the wheel. It's on a different planetoid than the Prima Terra. I can give you the precise degree and constellation to find it. The wood is really excellent for both wands and staves.
Also, with regard to sword-canes, you've got to be extremely careful. Unfortunately, the best materials for making swords with are also amongst the best for disrupting magic, plus the fact that by hollowing out your cane to accommodate you're drastically reducing it's magical capacity. You might as well just carry two wands and a sword, and keep them separate to avoid the problem of anti-magical and resonance interferences.
I will also say that while (non sword-) canes are technically a fair compromise betwixt wand and stave, they rather unfortunately call to mind that disastrous vogue we had a couple of centuries back for ironically imitating Corporeal Realm mortal magicians. I think we can all agree that the sooner that phase of magical fashion is forgotten, the better.
I hate to tell you this, but where the hell is 29?ewhac said:
As to everyone else... Staves, wands, canes, scepters... what about rods? Where do THEY fit in?
Anyway, clever stinger, LRR. I knew it was about Mr. Wizard the moment I heard "Don Herbert". ^_^
you realize that this now needs to become a regular segment on a show?
it's just too good to be lost, and that guy that listens in needs to be called a nutcase by everyone else that tries to listen in every week..
it's literally comedy gold.. you could add a magical system that prevents him recording it with a tape, a fail safe that cuts off the radio in a public space and just make him look totally eyeball rolling head spinning mad to everyone around him
it would be fantastic.
it's just too good to be lost, and that guy that listens in needs to be called a nutcase by everyone else that tries to listen in every week..
it's literally comedy gold.. you could add a magical system that prevents him recording it with a tape, a fail safe that cuts off the radio in a public space and just make him look totally eyeball rolling head spinning mad to everyone around him
it would be fantastic.
Ah, you've happened on the exact reason why I can no longer enter the demon realms. Acquiring demonic blood was far from easy, but as long as I avoid that particular plane of existence, those blood etchings are worth the weight of the blood in... well... demonic blood.Jakale said:
Of course, I do need to vanish the moment that anyone accidentally mixes up their Plane Transference Geometry and opens a portal to the 5th Dimension, but then, no one likes to hang around in those circumstances...
In any case, on the stave/wand debate, I'm weighing in on... a runic dagger. Of course, I am a Shadow Mage. (On which note: Hat?! No. A close fitting dark grey robe to blend into the darkness, with a hood to hide the face. Then one surprise attack with the dagger, and I'll have enough life-blood on my hands to summon a 4th degree Shadow Storm...)
'dons 26" wizard hat'
i think many wizards are forgetting the immense power that is an orb married to a stave, for area casting it is simply unbeatable although i will admit it does suffer some long range radian accuracy problems
but i assure you if an enemy sees three boulders next to him vaporize he'll be too busy running to worry about
doing anything else
and let's be serious if you are inside an arcane shell cast by such a powerful device no mere strip of enchanted 6th dimensional wartoak is going to cut through it
that's what those pesky pocket universe frequency hoppers will sell you if you let them
i'm speaking of-course, of a battlemage's baton if you're serious about fighting there is no other option!
and the range you can get on a portal from this device is literally otherworldly
but lugz, you cry i'm not royalty how can i get such a tool?
they're pricey to the point of ludicrousness so you'll have to make one.
the downside.. well obviously you'll need a dragon heart-stone or similar for the orb's power core
mature dragon heart-stones are prohibitively expensive it's true but you can still get good results from one aged a mere 600 years. if you cant afford it, you're going mining for a fossilized dragon and believe me they're rare.
the upside is any outer cage will do just fine so-long as it doesn't spoil the energy density transfer rate
simple malachite would work! then you don't get it all scuffed up if someone gets a wand blast off at it
and dropping your weapon? there are hover charms for that! be a practical caster
i admit, it may be hard to afford one of the fancier orb carrying models of stave to attach it to which would be required
but as-long as you've got a minion or two raiding goblin camps is plausible, if dangerous.
many inexperienced wizards waste all their cash on the biggest staff and rush off to test it only to realize they have no experience using one.. finding one as loot is fairly likely but of course practice safe looting, examine any casting device to exhaustion before touching it, it's very tricky to tell if they're damaged or cursed from looking at them
if not wander on down to your local witch doctor and ask him if he can weave you one from root
and no, i don't discriminate against witch doctors, they're people too and they are a productive part of the magical community! a little mojo can go a long way but remember mixing magic can be dangerous and if your going to combine
magicks be aware of the 5 point rule and casting auras of the two magicks you may need a sealing spell to bind the orb to the staff but that's child's play
and you'll want to take something to trade with obviously, i suggest fire salts or crystalline benzeum they always seem to run low on those
the next serious upgrade would be transtemporaldimensionfolding filigreeing to pull more C/ev's
but seriously, that stuff's too experimental for practical use right now
changing the runes is time consuming so unless you want to be 'that wizard'
who always casts the shields
you'd be better off with the classic, but still good triaxilating mini orbs providing you know a good
axalising charm you can get a good boost from even small, cheap orbs
try it yourself, you'll be swearing by those little fellows soon enough
a good friend of mine keal used these to great effect
so now you have a robust, if eclectic battlemage's baton root woven staves aren't the best and without
a magic dam capping the stave tip it will loose power eventually but with
a serious power core and axilating orbs to store more juice only a fool would question your casting
potential your wizard pals may smirk at first but collapse a few wards with an implosion spell and they'll
soon realize it's a force to be reckoned with even if it isn't the most powerful stave in your
particular dimension remember hand made tools are always impressive and fashionable!
'removes wizard hat'
i think many wizards are forgetting the immense power that is an orb married to a stave, for area casting it is simply unbeatable although i will admit it does suffer some long range radian accuracy problems
but i assure you if an enemy sees three boulders next to him vaporize he'll be too busy running to worry about
doing anything else
and let's be serious if you are inside an arcane shell cast by such a powerful device no mere strip of enchanted 6th dimensional wartoak is going to cut through it
that's what those pesky pocket universe frequency hoppers will sell you if you let them
i'm speaking of-course, of a battlemage's baton if you're serious about fighting there is no other option!
and the range you can get on a portal from this device is literally otherworldly
but lugz, you cry i'm not royalty how can i get such a tool?
they're pricey to the point of ludicrousness so you'll have to make one.
the downside.. well obviously you'll need a dragon heart-stone or similar for the orb's power core
mature dragon heart-stones are prohibitively expensive it's true but you can still get good results from one aged a mere 600 years. if you cant afford it, you're going mining for a fossilized dragon and believe me they're rare.
the upside is any outer cage will do just fine so-long as it doesn't spoil the energy density transfer rate
simple malachite would work! then you don't get it all scuffed up if someone gets a wand blast off at it
and dropping your weapon? there are hover charms for that! be a practical caster
i admit, it may be hard to afford one of the fancier orb carrying models of stave to attach it to which would be required
but as-long as you've got a minion or two raiding goblin camps is plausible, if dangerous.
many inexperienced wizards waste all their cash on the biggest staff and rush off to test it only to realize they have no experience using one.. finding one as loot is fairly likely but of course practice safe looting, examine any casting device to exhaustion before touching it, it's very tricky to tell if they're damaged or cursed from looking at them
if not wander on down to your local witch doctor and ask him if he can weave you one from root
and no, i don't discriminate against witch doctors, they're people too and they are a productive part of the magical community! a little mojo can go a long way but remember mixing magic can be dangerous and if your going to combine
magicks be aware of the 5 point rule and casting auras of the two magicks you may need a sealing spell to bind the orb to the staff but that's child's play
and you'll want to take something to trade with obviously, i suggest fire salts or crystalline benzeum they always seem to run low on those
the next serious upgrade would be transtemporaldimensionfolding filigreeing to pull more C/ev's
but seriously, that stuff's too experimental for practical use right now
changing the runes is time consuming so unless you want to be 'that wizard'
who always casts the shields
you'd be better off with the classic, but still good triaxilating mini orbs providing you know a good
axalising charm you can get a good boost from even small, cheap orbs
try it yourself, you'll be swearing by those little fellows soon enough
a good friend of mine keal used these to great effect
so now you have a robust, if eclectic battlemage's baton root woven staves aren't the best and without
a magic dam capping the stave tip it will loose power eventually but with
a serious power core and axilating orbs to store more juice only a fool would question your casting
potential your wizard pals may smirk at first but collapse a few wards with an implosion spell and they'll
soon realize it's a force to be reckoned with even if it isn't the most powerful stave in your
particular dimension remember hand made tools are always impressive and fashionable!
'removes wizard hat'
if only magic were real 
Great G'ltanroth, you're right!Mydnyght said:
Finding these prime resonances has been the biggest difficulty of the whole affair. There seems to be no simple way to reliably isolate them. It looks like my monograph will be delayed yet again. Thank you for pointing this out; you've saved me considerable embarrassment.
Wands and staves provide different situational benefits. Wands are for sqiddling your way out of a tricky situation. Accidentally summoned too many imps and they're rampaging all over your laboratory? The wand's just your thing. On the other hand, I would be loathe to attempt a grand incantation without the help of a trusty old staff. If you want the ruin of a town, city, or even a province, you should stick with staves.