Staff of Light
(Alteration, Evocation)
Reversible

Range:  0
Components:  V, S, M
Duration:  1 round per level
Casting Time:  6
Area of Effect:  Special
Saving Throw:  Special

By means of this spell, the wizard creates a powerful magical weapon which only he can wield. Wizards of good alignment can create a staff of light; those of evil alignment can use the reverse of this spell to create a staff of darkness; those of neutral alignment (with respect to good and evil) can create either form of the spell, but with reduced effectiveness. The verbal component of this spell consists of but a single word, which creates in the wizard's hand a sphere of light (or darkness), a few inches in diameter; the remainder of the casting time is then spent carefully pulling and shaping this sphere into a full-sized staff. Spell duration is considered to begin on the following round, so that the wizard can make at least as many attacks as he has levels.
The glowing staff of light will brightly illuminate a 30-foot radius, and when cast by a good aligned wizard this illumination will be painful to supernatural evil creatures such as undead, demons, devils, etc. (these take 2 HP of damage per round, saving versus spell each round for half damage). A darkness cast in the area of the staff of light will eliminate this painful effect for the duration of the darkness, but does not actually make the area dark, rather the illumination is reduced to the level of dim torchlight.
Whether cast by a good or neutral wizard, the staff of light strikes as a weapon, +2 (for purposes of what can be hit by it; there is no actual to-hit bonus) and does a base damage of 1d6 points. This damage can be increased by 1d6 for each round of spell duration that remains; every such increase shortens the duration of the spell by one round. Intent to increase damage must be stated before the to-Hit Die is rolled, but spell duration is not affected if the attack is a miss. If the staff of light is used to strike a creature with a strong negative material existence (wights, spectres, xeg-yi, etc.) there is a 50% chance that the remaining spell duration will be expended as damage whether or not the wizard wishes it.
The staff of darkness sheds deep shadows in a 30-foot radius, through which only the wizard can see clearly; shades (the monster) and other wizards using staff of darkness are at -1 to-hit when within these shadows, and all others (even those with infravision) are at -3 to-hit and +3 to their Armour Class when in these shadows (note that two wizards within 30 feet of each other and each holding as staff of darkness will both be at -1 to-hit, but the effects of multiple staves are not otherwise cumulative).
In addition, when cast by an evil aligned wizard, this sphere of shadow will affect supernatural creatures of good alignment (shedu, lammasu, devas, etc.) as if they were affected by a stinking cloud (saving throw versus death magic reduces the effect to mild nausea, -1 to-hit and to damage; this penalty is cumulative with the -3 to-hit penalty for poor visibility). A light cast in the area of the staff of darkness will remove this nauseating effect and reduce the to-hit penalty to -1 and the Armour Class penalty to +1, but will not significantly brighten the area.
The staff of darkness strikes as a +2 weapon (for purposes of what can be hit), doing 1d6 points of damage. For each round of spell duration that remains, the wizard can choose to inflict numbing cold on his victim; this cold has a 5% chance per round of spell duration expended, cumulative, of causing loss of use of a limb for 1d6 rounds, and otherwise causes the victim to lose one point each of Strength and Dexterity per round of duration expended, also for 1d6 rounds; thereafter the lost Strength and Dexterity return at the rate of one point each per round, or the limb becomes usable immediately. Cold-resistant and cold-using creatures get a saving throw against this effect, and its duration is halved for them in any case.
If the areas of radiance and shadow of a staff of light and a staff of darkness intersect, the effects of both are negated in the overlapping region. If the staves are within 30 feet of one another, both cease to shed their light or darkness, but their powers are otherwise unaffected. Neither staff has any physical substance, and thus cannot be parried except by another staff of the opposite type or by a rod of force; wall of force, forcecage, or similar force barrier will stop a staff. If two staves of opposite type touch one another for any reason, both are destroyed in an explosion of 40-foot radius causing 1d6 points damage for each round of duration remaining in the two spells, cumulative. The wizards holding the staves automatically take full damage, all others within 40 feet save versus spell to take half damage.
The material component of this spell is a pearl (a black pearl for the dark version) of no less than 500 gp value, which is held in one hand when the command word is uttered. The pearl is transformed into a small sphere of light or darkness; the somatic component is the stretching and moulding of this sphere into a staff. There is rumoured to be a variant of this spell that allows the sphere formed from the pearl to be hurled as a missile, but the specific details have been lost.

