If you want to bum a player out, by all means, give them a pole of collapsing as treasure. If you really want to bum them out, get all clutchy about whether they can use a pole of collapsing as a quarterstaff, or if it can only be used as an improvised weapon.

I have yet to find a definitive answer to the burning question of whether a 10 ft. pole can be used as a quarterstaff, and I must say, I’m a little embarrassed by how much time I’ve spent looking.

Anyhoo, I think I’ll sleep better tonight if I just re-flavor that pole of collapsing at Gnomengarde into a collapsible quarterstaff.

Collapsible Quarterstaff
weapon (any staff), common
While holding this 1-foot-long rod, you can use an action to speak a command word and cause it to extend to a 7-foot-long quarterstaff, which sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet. You can use an action to speak a different command word and cause the rod to revert to a 1-foot-long rod; however, the rod will elongate only as far as the surrounding space allows.

Like a moon-touched sword, the collapsible quarterstaff is a magic weapon that bypasses resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks. And, it sheds light (though it’s more of a ghost light).

It heads off any DM decisions that need to be made the moment a player wants to use their pole of collapsing as a weapon (because of course they’ll want to use their pole of collapsing as a weapon). And it’s actually a useful weapon against Banshees, Thunder Boars, Invisible Stalkers, Will-o’-Wisps, and Wererats – bypassing the resistance to non magical damage that each monster has.

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