FoEQ p20
Magic is a part of everyday life in the Five Nations. In the wake of the Last War, wandslingers have begun to displace traditional archers. But there are no rules that make a wandslinger’s choice of weapon matter— there is no mechanical difference between using a Wand or a Staff. However, the 2024 version of the fifth edition Player’s Handbook introduces Weapon Masteries—properties that reflect the full potential of a weapon, which can be unlocked by a skilled combatant. Adding Mastery properties to Arcane Focuses is a way to embrace the concept that Wands and the like are weapons in Eberron and to provide a distinct flavour to each focus. With these rules, the Wand is swift and vexing, the Rod staggers a target with brute force, and the Staff shoves them back with the power of its blast.
This is an optional rule that must be approved by the DM. If it is used, add the following Masteries to spellcasting focuses:
- Wands have the Vex property.
- Rods have the Slow property.
- Staffs have the Push property for cantrips, and topple when used as a simple melee weapon.
- Orbs and Crystals have the Sap property.
These variants are treated just like regular weapons: a character must have the Weapon Mastery feature and choose the specific type of arcane focus to use with it. The Mastery property can only be used when the character casts a cantrip that requires an attack roll: they do not apply to any other type of spellcasting.
Any of these items imported using Charactermancer or other import tools might not reflect these properties. If you need to add one to your character sheet, let me know and I can import my edited version.