Staves are for Mages? Why not Melee?

Technical an mage can already use every weapon
I have seen the mage staff/wand just as another distance weapon like the bow really.
Maybe make it so that an enchantet weapon becomes functional an "wand" and mellee animations borrow from its roots

What concerns me more is that it would allow the route to tank mage, and i do not really see the point in having an plate armored mage who wields the jewelled sword of one hit dragon slaying in one hand and the shield of stopping all damage in the other.

There should be tradeoffs for powers, and that trade offs should be substantial.

Small magic or divine powers like for paladin ok, but if you want to go all gandalf then no plate for u!

I make an druid, so leather armor and 2hand pole weapon, earth life and sun/moon magic, and consider it an point of honor not to run around in an tin can.

 

agreed, there should always be tradeoffs, but there is a large group of people who have always enjoyed playing battlemages.. they can be VERY fun solo, or with another battlemage at your side.

 

Both Gandalf and Harry Dresden use Staff and Sword, depending on the need. The staff is usually associated with magic, either by runes, magic crystal, or just as a focus. The swords usually have a permanent enchantment.

I hope there is use for a staff/wand for some ranged type effects, switching to another weapon for close in work. Although the wizard-monk would have appeal, if enough damage avoidance came with cloth armor, and the fire fist type spells worked with some weaponless form of combat.

 

i paid less attention to gandalf than harry, bones, so i'll only speak on that here.

harry, as you said as the need arises, would use his staff as a focus for his magic. blunt and not precise, but able to dose out lots of damage.. he'd also use his staff like a baseball bat at times, or later on when he learned a bit of aikido from karrin murphy, as an actual melee weapon. usually they were defensive skills or surprise attacks when they expected him to use magic in a situation.

i always found staves to be a very useful well rounded weapon.

swords too, but only when needs must, he much preferred his staff .