Staff of the Woodlands 5e: Our Full Player & DM Use Guide

Last Updated on January 22, 2023

Players can find many magical items around the Forgotten Realms to enhance their abilities and grant them boons beyond their wildest dreams.

For example, the Staff of the Woodlands is a Druid-specific Quarterstaff that gives bonuses to attack rolls and damage and allows players to cast powerful spells using its charges.

What Is the Staff of the Woodlands?

The Staff of the Woodlands is a Rare magical quarterstaff that can only be attuned to a Druidic character. Druids who attune to the Staff of the Woodlands will gain several boons from attuning to the staff.

Is the Staff of the Woodlands Good? How Do You Use It?

Right away, the Staff of the Woodlands grants a +2 bonus to Attack rolls and Attack damage – a very potent ability, and it’s given immediately upon attunement.

This bonus alone makes the Staff of the Woodlands quite strong. It’s essentially a +2 Sword but for magic. 

Additionally, the Staff of the Woodlands has charges that can be used for many different spells that allow Druids to choose more thoroughly combat-centric spells to prepare each day.

They will be able to use the Staff’s charges for most of their utility spells like Speak with Animals and Locate Animals or Plants.

Furthermore, the Staff of the Woodlands allows players to cast Awaken without the material components needed and without the necessary cast time.

Players who are particularly conscientious Druids may find that they can amass an army of trees if they keep the trees they make on their good side.

Lastly, the Staff can turn into a tree, which can be an excellent option for traveling since it doesn’t require any charges. The Staff’s tree form is a great way to create shelter and enrich the lives of your companions.

It’s worth noting that if you have some companions who love tree climbing, they will fall out of the tree if you transform the Staff back into its Staff form while they’re climbing the tree.

How Much Does the Staff of the Woodlands Cost?

Item costs in Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition are determined by rarity. Using these rules, the Staff of the Woodlands costs 5,000 gold pieces.

This is a steep cost decrease from the 3.5 costs, which would have been determined by the item’s functions, exceeding 8,600 GP, which is the base price for a +2 Quarterstaff.

When Should I Introduce the Staff of the Woodlands to My Party? How Do I Do It?

The Staff of the Woodlands is a Rare Magical weapon that is not meant to be introduced to the party at early levels.

Seeings as the Staff provides the ability to cast level 5 and 6 spells instantaneously, you’ll want to wait until your party can organically access these spells in order to avoid overpowering them with their own gear. 

If your party’s gear is too strong for them, they may lose interest in the campaign since the campaign won’t be challenging for them.

Additionally, they may feel like the sideshow to their own gear! Overall, you want to ensure the staff isn’t over or underpowered for their relative levels.

Once they go past the 15th level or so, they should be seeking out more powerful items than the Staff of the Woodlands. Its usefulness will wane based solely on the fact that your party has outgrown it.

Introducing the Staff of the Woodlands depends on the setting in which your players are playing.

If there are a lot of Druidic influences in the world in which they’re adventuring, consider having a relatively powerful Druid who owns a Staff of the Woodlands. 

The most logical place for a Staff of the Woodlands to be is in the hands of a Druid, but that doesn’t mean that the only place you can find one is with a Druid.

You could also have the Staff in the hands of someone who has recently accosted a Druid and come out the victor.

Perhaps a Monk who defeated a Druid and took his Staff without knowing what powers the Staff held or a brigade of anti-magic protestors who confiscated the Staff from a Druid.

Your Army of Awakened Trees and You

One thing that pernicious Druids can do is start amassing an army of trees.

Not only does the Staff of the Woodlands bypass the material costs of the Awaken spell (which can be rather steep if you don’t have the Staff!), but also the Staff bypasses the 8-hour casting time of Awaken and allows a player to cast the spell instantaneously.

Since Awaken is also an Instantaneous cast, there is no duration for which the tree is “Awakened.” Instead, the tree permanently comes to life until killed as a sentient creature.

An Awakened Tree has the following stat block.

The key to making a thriving army of trees is that your Staff of the Woodlands Druid can’t make more than one per day.

Since the Staff of the Woodlands gains back 1d6 + 4 charges at dawn, the Staff’s charge uses and gain will always zero out as long as making a tree is the only thing the Druid does with the Staff that day.

Since Awaken costs quite a few charges, save the Awaken spell until the end of the day when you know whether you can safely use those charges.

Additionally, the Awakened Trees made by the Awaken spell are charmed by the caster for 30 days. So as long as you and your party members treat the trees well, you’ll have a consistent flow of tree allies.

Final Thoughts About the Staff of the Woodlands

The Staff of the Woodlands is an excellent addition to any Druid’s kit. It provides excellent boons to the already strong skillset afforded to Druids and allows for more depth of play for the Druid who is attuned to it.

The Staff of the Woodlands has a lot of potential as a damage and utility-boosting item for mid-leveled parties.

However, as always, the most important thing for any game is that you and your party are having fun! Don’t be afraid to make changes or bend the rules to improve the play experience for you and your party; homebrew exists for a reason!

Good luck, have fun, and happy questing!