I was recently asked about ceremonial, imbued, and ritual weaponry. whats best to use, how to gauge power etc.
From my personal experience, The only way to accurately tell any of these is to know yourself then create your own weapon. for me this is easy, for most others its not. I've been a practicing weapon and armor smith for thirteen years. i have two separate weapons that i use for my rituals and combat.
For peace time ceremonies, and sparring i use a steel sheathed half stave with a red oak core. there is a slot inset into the head for the fixation of a blade, this would make it a Bardroche. For war time (I'm a soldier by trade) i use a Steel broadsword with a leather wrapped hilt and a blade breaker, i have war prayers and protection incantations engraved into the blade.
unfortunately i can provide no pointers for creating a blade if that happens to be your weapon of choice, however i can help with the creation of a staff.
When I build a staff i prefer to use red oak heart wood for its strength and residual characteristics/innate power. ALL WOODS HAVE DIFFERENT POWERS. that is very important to realize. If it is available to you select an old tree, i prefer 50+ years. from this you gain the residual knowledge from the parent tree while wielding the weapon. You may use a limb but i recommend that you use heart wood from the trunk, search for a recently fallen tree in a wooded area. please note that if you fell a tree just for the wood to build your staff you will anger the spirit of the tree and it will have a negative effect on your work. Always Always Always, ask the tree's spirit before taking the wood, an offering of natural tobacco or sage will often help to placate the residual spirit.
Cut a length of wood that is a length suitable for your height, you know whats comfortable for you. Cut away the bark, sap-wood, and into the heartwood. staves range any where from 1"-3" in diameter again you know whats comfortable to you. when you achieve the roughly desired diameter the finer work begins.
using a chisel & rasp refine the surface until smooth. While doing this recite the prayer of steadfastness, and the prayer of fortitude.
from here use a low temperature kiln to cure the wood, rotate occasionally to lessen warping and cracking. once dry finish out smoothing the surface and then if you wish you may inscribe prayers or spells on the weapon. return to the kiln to lock your inscriptions in place. the power of the inscriptions depends on the power of you. 5 minutes in the kiln should be sufficient to lock your inscriptions. from here you may stain the staff to the desired color. do not use a finish. for some reason it seems to nullify the effects of your enchantments. i have yet to figure out why.
i hope this post can help you along your path to furthering your pursuits in the craft.