Also as far as the "Law Abiding" part goes, I would rule this in the same respect as "Divine Purpose" for the SotC. Where as the attack will not work in some way (as you have already described) and may stop working altogether for someone who is trying to use it in this respect

Exactly my intent.  It's meant to be an extra lore aspect to the item along the lines of 'Divine Purpose', which is why I didn't try to give it a refresh cost since the IoP rules state that items of power have to have some sort of methodolu/bargain etc. for their use.

Focused Practitioners max out at a +0 speciality, actually.

Specialities are only for people with Evocation and/or Thaumaturgy.

I know. But the entire point is that he's wanting to avoid Foci since it doesn't fit the concept.  To me, allowing Specializations for his Channeling (and thus the required stair stepping) is a better answer than "Okay you don't need Foci" if he absolutely doesn't want to go that route.

Though personally I'd rather just keep the Foci, there's only so much you can adapt a game to fit a concept and in this case it's probably better to adapt the concept to fit the game.

Well, no. If you want to have a +3, you need a +2 and a +1 underneath it. There has to be a base supporting the higher specialties.

Yes, but logically once you've finished the pyramid you should be able to step it up while remaining within the rules.  So with a typical 5 Element Evocator you'd only be able to have 2 of each bonus of +1-+5, this severely limits a focused practioner's ability to specialize since they would max at just a +1 and a +2 specialty since they don't have any other elements to add a +3 or another +1 to.  So once this occurs it would be logical that one you've reached this maximum you would be required to upgrade any +1s into +2s in order to support another +3 and so on.

This is a situation that few would fall into and Focused Practioner's would probably would normally a Foci anyhow, but the OP is wanting to avoid Foci so that's the best way I can see it working for him.

Circe was the 'darker' one who transformed men, and is probably how she ended up losing the staff in the first place.  I couldn't find anything that referenced Hecate to being innately evil (or moreso than any other Greek God).  She's a goddess associated with Magic and Witchcraft (and a dozen other things like all the greek gods) so it seemed more fitting. But really anything along those lines will do, it's supposed to be a staff which represents magic but not be some sort of dark wizard's relic (those are too cliche).

I didn't want the Staff to cost more than -3, and hell... if a Sword of the Cross costs that much I decided I should actually aim for lower.  Though perhaps just Inhuman Recovery would fit with the catch "someone who has violated a law of magic", that would grant a +1 and keep the overall cost the same.  The intention is just to provide a nice but thematic boost to Wizardly powers.  Sponsored Magic doesn't really fit this, and then you run into the conflict of whether or not to deduct the cost of the item if the player wielding it has Evo/Thaum.

Nice tips though.

I'm looking to create an item of power for an NPC in an upcoming game and I'm trying to make a more wizardly item of power, sort of the arcane answer to the Sword of the Cross (being a potent and rare artifact, not the exact same effects).  Here is what I've come up with so far and I'm looking for feedback.

Lore:  A powerful staff rumored to have been crafted by the Goddess Hecate and stolen by her daughter Circe in her greed for power.  The Archmage Staff is an extremely potent focus item which infuses the owner with magic.

Effects:
Arcane Recovery: The infusion of magic into the Wizard enhances his Wizard's Constitution ability to the levels of Supernatural Recovery.  The Catch is mundane electricity, which interferes with the magic infusing the wizard (doesn't quite fit I know, but best I could come up with so far).
-I chose this option because I wanted a bit of 'oomph' to the staff beyond just saying "it gives you refinement slots for cheap", since Wizard's Constitution is a result of the magic the Wizard channels I felt that upgrading that effect would be an interesting spin.  I'm really not sure about the catch, I was trying to think of a decent one and it was either this or Cold-Iron, which is already overdone with the Fae.  I'm interested in more ideas though.

Arcane Power: The staff grants the wizard enhanced power, granting him 3 Refinement skills worth of bonuses which can only be utilized for the first two options (New Elements or Specialties).  Though the staff adapts itself to the wielder and they can choose their specialties (one time only, not changing except perhaps as part of a milestone) but they must use points to gain access to any Evocation element they don't yet have.
-Using the staff to gain different focus items or enchanted items didn't make much sense, so I limited it to new evocations types and specialties (which can apply to Thaumaturgy).  I considered allowing focus item slots and making them bound to the Staff, but in the end I decided that Specialties better suited the theme of the Staff since they aren't as easily stacked and tend to be more spread out.  The 'Archmage' ideal is someone who is very good at all types of magic after-all.  This is also why I required that points first be spent to purchase elements.   To simplify this, a new element or a specialty costs 0.5pts, buy new evo elements first, then specialties, to a total of 3.

Attunement: The staff attunes itself to the wielder, consuming two focus slots.  These slots can still be used as normal but are bound to the staff.
-I felt the staff needed a bit more 'investment' from the character beyond refresh levels so I added in this, it also fits in nicely with the alternatives listed below.

Law Abiding: The staff will not allow it's owner to intentionally break one of the Laws of Magic.  Attempting to do so automatically results in backfire for the full effect of the spell and severs the bond until the end of the next session.
-The staff needed a bit more non-refresh based lore and restrictions attached to it.  Being crafted by the Goddess of Magic (I chose Hecate, but you can choose any) I felt that having the rules of magic 'built-in' was a nice touch.  However I made it 'intentional' uses only since I didn't want to overly restrict characters freedom.  This is sort-of a play on the Sword of the Cross restriction, never mind a nasty surprise for a villain who gets his hands on it.

Now for the point break-down:
When wielded by a Wizard:
Item of Power: +2
Supernatural Recovery: -4
Catch: Mundane Electricity +3
3x Refinement -3
Refresh Total: -2


Which brings up the question of, what if a non-Wizard grabs the staff?  On the one hand, I think I prefer that mortals can't use the staff.  However, it also might be interesting try to apply it's effects to a mortal, so I created the alternate version for non-Wizards which follows the same rules and even has the same refresh level.  I actually sort of like it because while it's powerful, it's not quite as potent as it would be in the hands of a true-wizard.  And, of course, it's still limited by that player's Discipline and Conviction.


When Wielded by a Mortal (or someone without Evocation):
Item of Power: +2
Evocation -3 (two free focus item slots are automatically attuned to the staff)
Refinement -1 (Grants access to the two other elements without any specialization bonuses)
Wizard's Constitution -0
Refresh Total: -2



Any suggestions or feedback?