_Artifact (Staff), Requires Attunement by a Wizard, Sorcerer, or Warlock of Neutral or Evil Alignment_ --- ## **Overview** The **Staff of the Gods** is an ancient artifact forged to defy divine authority itself. It is both a weapon and a conduit of catastrophic arcane power, capable of devouring spells, crippling gods, and rewriting the balance between mortal and divine magic. The staff is sentient, cruelly intelligent, and driven by a singular desire: **the humiliation and erasure of the gods**. --- ## **Weapon Properties** **Weapon Type:** Quarterstaff **Rarity:** Artifact **Attack & Damage Bonus:** +3 **Damage:** - 1d6 bludgeoning - Versatile (1d8) **Artifact Weapon:** Counts as an artifact for the purposes of resistances, immunities, and effects. --- ## **Base Properties** While attuned to the Staff of the Gods, you gain the following benefits: - **+4 bonus to AC** - **Arcane Precision:** +3 bonus to spell attack rolls - **Regeneration:** You regain 2 hit points at the start of each of your turns - This regeneration does **not** function while you are in direct sunlight or within a consecrated holy area. - **Spell Resistance:** You have resistance to damage from spells. - **Spell Defense:** You have advantage on saving throws against spells. - **Magic Immunity:** - Choose **two schools of magic** when you attune to the staff. - You are **immune** to spells of those schools. - This choice cannot be changed unless the staff is unattuned and re-attuned through a **blood ritual**. --- ## **Charges** - **Maximum Charges:** 50 - **Recharge:** Regains 4d10 expended charges daily at dawn - The staff **cannot exceed 50 charges by any means** --- ## **Spell Absorption** _Reaction_ While holding the staff, when a creature casts a spell that targets **only you**, you may use your reaction to absorb the spell. ### **Effect** - The spell has **no effect** - The staff gains a number of charges equal to the spell’s level (up to 50) --- ### **Immediate Retribution** When a spell is absorbed, the original caster takes: - **2d10 necrotic damage per spell level absorbed** - **+2d10 psychic damage per spell level** if the caster is: - A celestial - A god-touched creature - Casting divine magic **This damage:** - Ignores resistance - Treats immunity as resistance --- ## **Crimson Overflow** If absorbing a spell would cause the staff to exceed 50 charges: ### **General Effect** - The triggering spell is still negated - Excess magic detonates violently --- ### **Effect on the Caster** The original caster: - Takes **4d10 force damage per excess charge** - Is **stunned** until the end of their next turn - If celestial or divine: - Automatically loses concentration - Falls prone --- ### **Backlash on the Wielder** The wielder suffers: - **3d10 necrotic damage**, ignoring resistance (immunity treated as resistance) - **Weave Scarring** until the end of the wielder’s next turn: - Cannot cast spells higher than 3rd level - Cannot use reactions **This backlash:** - Requires no saving throw - Cannot be prevented, redirected, or reduced - Occurs **every time** Crimson Overflow triggers --- ## **Spellcasting** While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend charges to cast the following spells, using your spellcasting ability and spell save DC: ### **Spells (Charges Required)** - _Conjure Elemental_ (7 charges) - _Dispel Magic_ (3 charges) - _Fireball_ (7th-level version, 7 charges) - _Flaming Sphere_ (2 charges) - _Ice Storm_ (4 charges) - _Invisibility_ (2 charges) - _Knock_ (2 charges) - _Lightning Bolt_ (7th-level version, 7 charges) - _Passwall_ (5 charges) - _Plane Shift_ (7 charges) - _Antimagic Field_ (7 charges) - _Wall of Fire_ (4 charges) - _Callidora’s Withering_ (7 charges) --- ### **Spells (No Charges Required)** - _Arcane Lock_ - _Detect Magic_ - _Enlarge/Reduce_ - _Light_ - _Mage Hand_ - _Protection from Evil and Good_ --- ## **Spell Reflection** _Reaction_ When a spell targets only you, you may choose to **reflect** it instead of absorbing it. ### **Effect** - Choose a new target for the spell (including the original caster) - The spell is resolved as though **you were the caster** - Uses your spellcasting ability and spell save DC - If the spell is divine: - Its damage becomes **necrotic and psychic** --- ## **Godsbane Edict** _Artifact Power_ While holding the Staff of the Gods, if you know a god’s **true name**, you may speak it as an action. ### **Effect** - No saving throw - The named god is **banished beyond time for 10,000 years** - The god: - Cannot manifest avatars - Cannot grant spells - Cannot communicate - Cannot influence reality - All avatars and divine manifestations immediately collapse - All ongoing divine effects sourced directly from that god end --- ### **Cost of Godsbane** Each time this feature is used: - Gain **1 level of Exhaustion** - Cannot be removed by magic below _wish_ - Take **6d10 necrotic damage**, ignoring resistance and immunity - Suffer **Divine Backlash** until the end of your next long rest: - Disadvantage on all saving throws against divine spells and abilities - Cannot benefit from divine healing, blessings, or miracles - Such effects automatically fail **These penalties cannot be prevented or redirected.** --- ## **Sentience** The Staff of the Gods is sentient. - **Alignment:** Lawful Evil - **Intelligence:** 20 - **Wisdom:** 18 - **Charisma:** 24 It communicates telepathically with its wielder. ### **Personality & Agenda** The staff desires: - Dominion - Ascension - The humiliation and dismantling of the gods If wielded by anyone other than **[[NPCs/Solare/The Seven Brides/Serina Warefox|Serina Warefox]]**, the staff subtly manipulates the wielder to elevate her—or engineers their eventual ruin. --- ## **Artifact Destruction** The Staff of the Gods cannot be destroyed while **any god it has banished still exists**. ### **True Destruction Condition** To destroy the staff permanently: - Every god it has ever banished must **kneel willingly before the Staff**, acknowledging: - Its dominion - The end of their claim to divinity - This act severs their remaining metaphysical ties to the artifact ### **If [[NPCs/Solare/The Seven Brides/Serina Warefox|Serina Warefox]] Is Absent** If [[NPCs/Solare/The Seven Brides/Serina Warefox|Serina Warefox]] is dead, destroyed, or otherwise absent: - The gods must kneel before the staff while it is planted upright in a place of divine significance, such as: - A godshrine - A celestial nexus - The seat of a fallen god’s power - Their submission must be witnessed by a sentient being capable of understanding the act If **even one banished god refuses to kneel**, the Staff of the Gods endures.