This installment of the Treasures of Neoxodus-series is 4 pages long, 1 page RD and 1 page devoted to item-cards, so what is this staff all about?

The Red Mage's Staff is essentially an unofficial badge of honor - named after the very first Red Mage, who was a pioneer in adventuring for the good of the people instead of for personal gain, the staff has survived the centuries and countless near or full-blown destructions - today, it is in the hands of a Cynean seeking to end the Quickslaver-threat (Still waiting for the sourcebook on them! ;] ).

Mechanically, the staff is a +1 flaming/+1 frost quarterstaff that can cats Good Hope, Heroism, Greater Heroism and Haste and which can be reconstructed at 1/3 of its price by the current Red Mage and teleport back to the Red Mage's hand. Unfortunately, the staff does not mention how many charges it usually comes with when found, which is a minor bummer.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are good, though not perfect - I noticed e.g. plural-s-glitches and the fact that the staff lacks information about its charges sucks. Layout adheres to the beautiful parchment-background-style 2-column standard of the NeoExodus line and the printer-friendly version's old full-color NeoExodus layout is no less beautiful. The artwork of the Staff, as we've come to expect from LPJr Design, is up to the highest standard one can have. I liked the background story of the staff, but mechanically it utterly underwhelmed me. If all the Red Mages were such powerful figure, how come their staff is that weak? +1 on both ends? This limited array of spells? Not even one unique offensive or defensive quality? Just lame teleporting back and easier reconstruction? LPJr Design products have awesome ideas that sometimes stumble in their mechanical execution. This is the opposite - mostly sound in mechanical execution, the staff's crunch is just boring as hell and doesn't stand up to the story. Combined with the minor glitches, especially this relative blandness makes me settle on a final verdict of 2.5 stars, rounded up o 3 for the purpose of this platform due to the low price. You guys can do better and you have shown so in the series!

Endzeitgeist out.