I'm a mage, and I want to get the warlock's ring and staff of magnus. Is there any way i can get these without being in a knightly order? I think it's dumb that the most powerful artifacts for wizards would be given to a knight. Why would a knight want a staff that's a "metaphysical battery"?

Main quest reward gives the warlock's ring I thought.

You can get the Warlock's Ring as a reward at the end of the game... there are several rewards you can get depending on what you do. You can also do the quest for summoning the Daedra Nocturnal. He actually has 3 different rewards to give you depending on what artifacts you already have. You can get Auriel's Bow, the Warlock's Ring, and the Staff of Magnus. For example, if you already have the Bow and you complete his quest, he will give you the Warlock's Ring instead. If you have both the ring and bow, you'll get the Staff. Unfortunately, the Daedra quest and the Knight's quest are the only two ways to get the Staff.

Also,

Cool, thanks for the info. I still think it's dumb that the knightly order gives these things as rewards...they're just not fitting, I don't think. Chrysamere and the Lord's Mail would be better fits for knights I think.