Identifying a fragment of a magical item?

[Harlot]

Hi

As part of a campaign I am writing, I've decided to fragment the Staff of Fiendish Darkness (Complete Arcane p 146) into four pieces for the players to find and assemble. (I don't know if it is against any rule to do this, do bear with me)

I am sure they'll use Identify to figure out what kind of object they are dealing with - but what exactly can they figure out if they just have 1/4th of the staff as object for the spell?
I reckon they'll know it's evil, but what more?
Also the staff (in it's entirety) will bestow a negative level while wielded by a good-aligned carrier. What sort of drain/damage would/should I reasonably apply if only parts of the wand were held? If any.

Thanks in advance for help and opinions
/Harlot

[nedz]

I was going to say that you could model this on the old Rod of Seven parts — but that doesn't appear to be in the SRD.

This is an artefact so you should feel free to re-work it anyway you want.

I'd make each part a separate item with some power(s), and when you combine them they gain further, and more powerful, powers. You may need to add more powers to do this — they can be quite minor.


Also the staff (in it's entirety) will bestow a negative level while wielded by a good-aligned carrier. What sort of drain/damage would/should I reasonably apply if only parts of the wand were held? If any.

Each, and any number of, part(s) should bestow a negative level.

Ed:
OK, now having looked the item up: it's not an artefact, it's just a Staff. This makes it much harder to split up other than as four staffs each of one power, and this still leaves the question of how to allocate the charges ? I think you should choose a more complex item to do this with.

[Harlot]

Thanks for your reply.
The players are only Level 5, så I'd rather not give them artifacts or epic items.

Any other item could do, really. I liked this staff specifically because the villain is a necromancer, but the type of item is not very important. The idea is for the villain to have one piece and the group to find the other pieces ... I'd prefer an item that does not function without all of the pieces.

Anyhow, the main question was and is how identify would work on the item(s) - I take your answer to mean that it would pretty much be up to the DM?

[nedz]

The players are only Level 5, so I'd rather not give them artefacts or epic items.
Artefacts are just unique items, they could be quite weak and not necessarily epic at all. Also, they are only getting one part of it at level 5.


Anyhow, the main question was and is how identify would work on the item(s) - I take your answer to mean that it would pretty much be up to the DM?
It depends upon how it is split up, but yes it is DM dependant.

Each part could be identified separately. It is unclear if Identify would reveal that it's only a part of a whole — though other divinations could revel this

Also:

Identify does not function when used on an artefact
If relevant.

[Harlot]

OK, thanks for the clarifications and your help.

I reckon I'll simply make up an artifact then - one that mechanically is clearly part of a greather whole, but can't be identified.
And very evil. And cursed maybe.

[Debihuman]

Arms & Equipment Guide has the 3.0 stats for the Rod of Seven Parts pg 154.

[Harlot]

OK, I looked up the Rod of 7 parts and I see what you both mean, refering to that.
I'll build an evil rod/item on that template. Thank you both.

[Aleolus]

Maybe put in a redeption clause, that only someone who knows the story of that specific item (makes a Knowledge (History) check) has a clue regarding how to do. AEG's book Relics has something like this in reverse, a flail that's been split into three and each piece can be corrupted/redeemed, until all three are put together one way or the other

[Harlot]

Will look it up. Thanks again.