Most of the DMG's rods are insane.

[Zaq]

Seriously. We all know and love the Metamagic Rods and the Immovable Rod, and some of us love the Rod of Wonder, but basically all of the others are really weird, and I want to take a minute to appreciate that. (I mean, I know that "the DMG contains some items that are bizarre and useless" isn't exactly a blazing hot take, but still, let's have some fun.)

Absorption: We start off with the first example of "permanently consumable item that costs way the hell too much to be permanently consumable." Absorption is probably one of the relatively saner rods, but I feel like it's mostly just there to screw with the PCs, as it seems more useful on an NPC than on a PC (especially because it can't be turned off; hope you didn't need any single-target buffs or heals!). And of course, because one or more of the devs hated Sorcerers, the "battery" function only works on prepared spells, because of course it does. EDIT: It works fine for Sorcs, but the item still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Alertness: Okay, so we're starting with an 85k gp price tag. That's impressive in its own right. What do we get for the money? We get a whole buncha low-level divination spells (which the price probably includes individually or something), we get the ability to stick it in the ground and get an effect that's slightly better than Alarm but that only lasts for 10 minutes and works once per day, and then we get the apparently disconnected ability to animate Small things within 5 feet of where you stuck it in the ground. That last one just confuses the hell out of me. What is that intended to represent? Why is that a thing? Who would possibly care about it? Why are the different radii of the effects so wildly different? And who would ever pay 85k for this thing? (This is definitely up there with the Trident of Fish Command in my personal headcanon about the Githyanki Crafting Guild.) Also, the item apparently keeps tabs on who “possesses” it even when it’s stuck in the ground and not being held or attended.
Cancellation: Screw your items, the rod. Except that it also only works once. Ever. So it's a consumable treasure-destroying stick of hatred. This has Gygax written all over it. I feel like a GM intentionally putting one of these in the game should be considered an overtly hostile act. What's the best-case scenario here? Aside from selling it for 5.5k, I guess.
Enemy Detection: So you can spend an action to be able to sense if anything hates you for ten minutes. But you have to turn it on, it only works a few times per day, and it only works on things within charge range. I dunno about you, but the action cost seems even more odious to me than the gold cost, though the gold cost is pretty bad. (Also, while I can sorta-kinda see why True Seeing is involved in the creation of the rod, that's still definitely not the spell I would have associated with this.)
Flailing: Now there's a name. "Are you done casting Identify, Mr. Wizard? What did we get?" "We have obtained—a Rod of Flailing!" Anyway, we start with a "normal-seeming rod" (you know, just like all those other everyday rods you have lying around), and then it turns into an exotic weapon (you have EWP, right?) that kind of grants TWF on its own? Maybe? And then once per day you get a +4 bonus to your defenses for ten minutes. Weirdly enough, it just requires a command and not a button. Still, this seems kinda expensive for what it does, though I guess technically getting two sides of a double weapon up to +3 isn't cheap. Why is this a rod, though, rather than just, you know, a weapon?
Flame Extinguishing: I'm pleasantly surprised by the fact that this has daily charges instead of permanent charges. It's awfully specific, but at least it's cheaper than the other rods we've seen so far? Why it has Pyrotechnics as a prereq rather than Quench is entirely beyond me, though.
Immovable: I have no major complaints here.
Lordly Might: Hella heavy, unnecessarily complex, full of features that you'll never ever use, pointlessly low save DCs (yes, I know how item save DCs are normally calculated, but I assure you that I do not care), and a crazy price tag that assumes that it's worthwhile to pay full price for both a +2 light mace and a +3 longspear that you can't use at the same time. It's just trying to do so much and accomplishing so little, you know?
Metal and Mineral Detection: But why though? It's so small a radius. I guess you're supposed to spam it every 15 feet as you're walking down the hallway and it'll point you at a hidden cache of treasure? Is that what you're supposed to do?
Metamagic: This is fine.
Negation: This one is kinda okay, I guess? It's less hateful than Cancellation. It's still incredibly specific, though.
Python: Sticks to Snakes! Only you have to be Good-aligned for some reason? That's the real head-scratcher. What's up with the alignment thing?
Rulership: So this only works for less than a lifetime total of 8.5 hours, works on giant throngs of stupid things, and only works on stuff within 120 feet? It's also not clear if you can turn it off. This is weird, honestly. I can't add much to its madness.
Security: It's an unholy combination of Water Breathing and Magnificent Mansion, at least in terms of targeting? I think the once per week restriction is to prevent just Rope Tricking out and having a constant 15 minute adventuring day, but still. Kinda expensive, no?
Splendor: So first of all, the rod just makes these clothes once per day. You don't choose to do it or when it happens. It just happens. And then you have to roll dice to find out how valuable your new clothes are, but you can't access that value in any way whatsoever. And then once per week you throw a party in your own swanky tent or something? I think we've got another "Githyanki Crafting Guild" item on our hands.
Thunder and Lightning: I've seen worse than this, I suppose. I'd still never pay full price for it.
Viper: If you're Evil, you get to do CON damage for a while. I'd say "ah, that explains why Python is for Good-aligned folks!", but that would be a lie. This doesn't explain that at all.
Withering: This feels both underpowered and abusable at the same time. It's less aggressively weird than some of the others, but it's still kinda out there.
Wonder: This is fine.

Yeah. Rods. Super crazy, apparently? Discuss.

[Jack_Simth]

Python: Sticks to Snakes! Only you have to be Good-aligned for some reason? That's the real head-scratcher. What's up with the alignment thing?It's a reference to an item in a specific real-world religious text.

[Khedrac]

Most of these come from 1st Ed AD&D (or earlier) magic items (when notably Wonder was a wand).

Now I would agree that they are poorly worded, but I don't think they are as bad as you have tried to paint them - especially on activation circumstances, for example:

Splendor: So first of all, the rod just makes these clothes once per day. You don't choose to do it or when it happens. It just happens. And then you have to roll dice to find out how valuable your new clothes are, but you can't access that value in any way whatsoever. And then once per week you throw a party in your own swanky tent or something? I think we've got another "Githyanki Crafting Guild" item on our hands.
What makes you say that you cannot choose when to activate the rod? Yes the general section on activation for rods says you should see the individual item descriptions, but the absence of anthing in this section means you turn to the D&D default - a standard action.

As for the rod of absorption - there's a key line you missed "absorption requires no action on the part of the user if the rod is in hand at the time." THis means that if the rod is not in hand it requires an action - and that means you can choose not to take the action and absorb a spell if the rod is not held. (I would argue that because of the lack of further text and the way actions generally work it can only absorb if in hand.) So just don't hold the rod while buffing - simple.

[TalonOfAnathrax]

Wait, Githyanki Crafting Guild?

[PersonMan]

A bit of a nitpick: a Rod of Absorption can be used by spontaneous casters.


For casters such as bards or sorcerers who do not prepare spells, the rod’s energy can be used to cast any spell of the appropriate level or levels that they know.

[Nifft]

Cancellation: Screw your items, the rod. Except that it also only works once. Ever. So it's a consumable treasure-destroying stick of hatred. This has Gygax written all over it. I feel like a GM intentionally putting one of these in the game should be considered an overtly hostile act. What's the best-case scenario here? Aside from selling it for 5.5k, I guess.

The best-case scenario is using it to get rid of a cursed item, probably.

Maybe a cursed artifact that can't be destroyed in any other way.

Maybe an extra-unholy artifact that you don't want as loot.

[Luccan]

Something to remember regarding the Rod of Cancellation: there are a lot of things in 3e that assume you're going to try destroying enemy equipment. Sundering, Disintegrate, etc. The only thing unique about the rod in that sense is that you need to keep it away from your own magic items too.

[Vizzerdrix]

It's a reference to an item in a specific real-world religious text.

Wasnt sticks to snakes a spell at one time? :smallconfused:

[Luccan]

Wasnt sticks to snakes a spell at one time? :smallconfused:

And though I'm not entirely fond of the comparison, having it as a spell makes way more sense, if it's the reference I assume they're making. The item in question didn't do anything specifically, it was made to do that once. Otherwise just a stick.

[Jack_Simth]

Wait, Githyanki Crafting Guild?
Githyanki are a violent folk, which means lots of fighting, which means lots of XP.
However: They've got a super-powerful lich queen that offs them when they hit like 15th or 16th.

A number of people have taken to thinking about this in 3.5, and settled on a simple method by which a Githyanki could survive:
Item crafting! Lots of it! They dump the XP into items. Because if they don't, they die. So yes, they make items that are... pretty much a joke.


And though I'm not entirely fond of the comparison, having it as a spell makes way more sense, if it's the reference I assume they're making. The item in question didn't do anything specifically, it was made to do that once. Otherwise just a stick.It was used 'on screen' on at least two occasions (the first when it went from a normal staff to what it became, the second when talking to a ruler), but was instructed for use as a sign to convince folks that he was the real deal, and thus presumably used on other occasions 'off screen'. It's even called "a rod" in some translations.

[Zancloufer]

Re the Githyanki Crafting Guild: Lore states that the Githyanki has a Lich Queen that gets super paranoid when any Githyanki gains 9th level spells/powers/etc. As suck the "Githyanki Crafting Guild" is a joke, but also a decent explanation, as to why there are so many stupid magic items floating around.

Notes on some rods:

Absorbtion while specific is REALLY GOOD. Paying 50K to cast 50 spell levels of your choice isn't too shabby. It also can cancel out up to 50 spell levels of single target spells as a free action as long as you are holding it which is REALLY GOOD.

Security can only be activated once per week but has a duration of up to 200 days. 200 days. If we want to spam it as often as possible we could have it protect 20 people for 10 days but only usable once per week. Not idea what a spell caster and his 19 buddies would do with the ability to NOT AGE for 10 out of 7 days of a week. Might come in handy if you find a plane where time flows faster or something.

Flame Extinguishing isn't super niche. Odds of you encountering a Fire Type creature or spell of the Fire sub-type is decently high on any given day. Give it to the Fighter and he can swat aside fireballs and meteor swarms a few times each day.

Splendor is a +4 charisma item that costs 50% more. It also can once per day make enough food to feed 100 people. Overpriced? Maybe but mostly because of how essentric it's abilities are not it's raw power.

Withering is solid. +1 weapon that targets touch AC? Could find some use for that for sure.

[ShurikVch]

Cancellation: Screw your items, the rod. Except that it also only works once. Ever. So it's a consumable treasure-destroying stick of hatred. This has Gygax written all over it. I feel like a GM intentionally putting one of these in the game should be considered an overtly hostile act. What's the best-case scenario here? Aside from selling it for 5.5k, I guess.Well, it's able to remove such things as Forcecage (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/forcecage.htm) or Prismatic Wall (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/prismaticWall.htm), or destroy the Sphere of Annihilation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/artifacts.htm#sphereofAnnihilation)...


Githyanki are a violent folk, which means lots of fighting, which means lots of XP.
However: They've got a super-powerful lich queen that offs them when they hit like 15th or 16th.

A number of people have taken to thinking about this in 3.5, and settled on a simple method by which a Githyanki could survive:
Item crafting! Lots of it! They dump the XP into items. Because if they don't, they die. So yes, they make items that are... pretty much a joke.Well, they also could sink that XP into Ancestral Daisho, Ancestral Relics, Item Familiars, and other "Leveled Items"

The other method is - to multiclass like crazy
1/3/5/7 is already a -80% XP penalty
Should I remind about the origin of "Gish" word? :smallamused:

[SirNibbles]

Wasnt sticks to snakes a spell at one time? :smallconfused:

It still is a spell in one issue of Dragon Magazine. I'll try to find it.

EDIT: Dragon Magazine #317, page 71

EDIT 2: Sticks to Snakes stickstosnakes this is so I can find this more easily next time.

[The Viscount]

It's a reference to an item in a specific real-world religious text.

That definitely seems to be what they're going for, but it's a little strange since in that text there are others who can also turn their sticks into snakes.

Why does the rod of splendor give a monetary value to the clothes if it specifies that any attempt to sell them for their value makes them disappear?

[Psyren]

The best-case scenario is using it to get rid of a cursed item, probably.

Maybe a cursed artifact that can't be destroyed in any other way.

Maybe an extra-unholy artifact that you don't want as loot.


Something to remember regarding the Rod of Cancellation: there are a lot of things in 3e that assume you're going to try destroying enemy equipment. Sundering, Disintegrate, etc. The only thing unique about the rod in that sense is that you need to keep it away from your own magic items too.

An often-overlooked use for it is for your melee to carry so they can get through a Wall of Force or Forcecage. The best part is that the rod only becomes useless if it drains an item, so you basically get unlimited uses vs. these spells and only have to buy one.

[Vizzerdrix]

It still is a spell in one issue of Dragon Magazine. I'll try to find it.

EDIT: Dragon Magazine #317, page 71

Ooooh thanks a ton! Ill dig that gem up this afternoon!

[Lapak]

Most of these come from 1st Ed AD&D (or earlier) magic items (when notably Wonder was a wand).And this is where a lot of the apparent problems are coming from, because they were translated as faithfully as possible but the value of those functions changed drastically between editions. Take the Rod of Lordly Might as an example:


Its spell likes were all much more valuable in a 1e environment, where HP totals were lower and SoL spells were pretty likely to work
Its mechanical functions replaced half a dozen items that added encrumbrance when dungeon-crawling, plus having functions that couldn't be replicated with mundane equipment. In a game that defaults to exploration of dungeon environments, these functions may be worth more than all the others
The weapon-like functions again made it a good all-in-one tool for fighters; having a flaming sword or a lance without adding another item to your equipment was pretty handy

[mabriss lethe]

TBF, it's not just the rods that are insane. Look at the Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic. It's not that the ability isn't useful, because it is. It's an inexpensive, generally useful out of combat item. But it's a HELMET. Foreign dignitaries? VIKING TRANSLATOR! Ancient tome in a dead language? VIKING LIBRARIAN! Gathering intel on the locals when you don't speak the lingo? VIKING SPY!

[Jack_Simth]

Well, it's able to remove such things as Forcecage (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/forcecage.htm) or Prismatic Wall (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/prismaticWall.htm), or destroy the Sphere of Annihilation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/artifacts.htm#sphereofAnnihilation)...

Well, they also could sink that XP into Ancestral Daisho, Ancestral Relics, Item Familiars, and other "Leveled Items"

The other method is - to multiclass like crazy
1/3/5/7 is already a -80% XP penalty
Should I remind about the origin of "Gish" word? :smallamused:
Oh, there's more than one way to handle it, sure. Not everyone in a large society is going to pick the same route. As long as a non-trivial percentage of 'em go the crafting route, there's plenty of excuse for a bunch of items that serve little to no real purpose.

[Ghen]

Immovable: I have no major complaints here.


Is nobody else totally freaked out by how deadly the immovable rod can be? It stays in place until it takes 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it. The earth moves around the sun at approximately 19 miles per second, or 67,000 miles per hour. You click that button on the end of the rod and the rod freezes in space, best case scenario being that it rockets away from you at 67,000 mph. Worst case scenario, it goes through you/ the city you are standing in/ the whole dang planet until something puts 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it.

I know, I know... the DM can say "my world isn't hurtling through space at the same speed as the earth". But it's a scary thought.

Also, bravo to anyone pointing out the complications behind little things doing damage to pieces of big things in D&D. You know, it's hard to calculate how much a multi ton building is able to resist 8K lbs. of force on a point the size of a rod. The DM can rule one way or another, but I don't think there's any RAW to it.

[Zaq]

Is nobody else totally freaked out by how deadly the immovable rod can be? It stays in place until it takes 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it. The earth moves around the sun at approximately 19 miles per second, or 67,000 miles per hour. You click that button on the end of the rod and the rod freezes in space, best case scenario being that it rockets away from you at 67,000 mph. Worst case scenario, it goes through you/ the city you are standing in/ the whole dang planet until something puts 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it.

I know, I know... the DM can say "my world isn't hurtling through space at the same speed as the earth". But it's a scary thought.

Also, bravo to anyone pointing out the complications behind little things doing damage to pieces of big things in D&D. You know, it's hard to calculate how much a multi ton building is able to resist 8K lbs. of force on a point the size of a rod. The DM can rule one way or another, but I don't think there's any RAW to it.

Eh, that argument was amusing when I first read it years and years ago, but to be honest, it's kind of old and passe by now. No offense intended, of course. But mixing physics with D&D is something that almost never ends well in the first place, and using them as kinetic missiles (or anti-missiles, I guess, since the target crashes into them rather than the other way around) isn't so interesting that it makes sense to me to override the patently obvious function (as you can't use them as proper Immovable Rods if you're using that interpretation) in favor of the goofy one. Like, if Immovable Rods didn't have any interesting uses on their own, that'd be one thing, but they do, so why sacrifice that?

Besides, there's all kinds of magical effects that aren't necessarily physically anchored to the ground (or to anything that connects to the ground) and that are immobile once created. Do you assume that casting Silence on a point in space (which is explicitly legal and also explicitly immobile) is only useful for a fraction of a second before the planet moves away from it? And let's not even talk about how this would affect range limitations on spells. I say that the "Immovable Rod as unmoving anti-missile" joke isn't sufficiently funny to accept everything else that the interpretation breaks, so we should probably move on.

[Daefos]

Lordly Might: Hella heavy, unnecessarily complex, full of features that you'll never ever use, pointlessly low save DCs (yes, I know how item save DCs are normally calculated, but I assure you that I do not care), and a crazy price tag that assumes that it's worthwhile to pay full price for both a +2 light mace and a +3 longspear that you can't use at the same time. It's just trying to do so much and accomplishing so little, you know?

I admit, I'm rather curious how you planned to use a light mace and a longspear at the same time in the first place.

[Venger]

Is nobody else totally freaked out by how deadly the immovable rod can be? It stays in place until it takes 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it. The earth moves around the sun at approximately 19 miles per second, or 67,000 miles per hour. You click that button on the end of the rod and the rod freezes in space, best case scenario being that it rockets away from you at 67,000 mph. Worst case scenario, it goes through you/ the city you are standing in/ the whole dang planet until something puts 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it.

I know, I know... the DM can say "my world isn't hurtling through space at the same speed as the earth". But it's a scary thought.

Also, bravo to anyone pointing out the complications behind little things doing damage to pieces of big things in D&D. You know, it's hard to calculate how much a multi ton building is able to resist 8K lbs. of force on a point the size of a rod. The DM can rule one way or another, but I don't think there's any RAW to it.

the sun revolves around the oerth, so this trick doesn't actually work in faerun/greyhawk.


I admit, I'm rather curious how you planned to use a light mace and a longspear at the same time in the first place.

I have one, and give the other to my pal.

[Khedrac]

the sun revolves around the oerth, so this trick doesn't actually work in faerun/greyhawk.
Greyhawk yes (though Oerth does spin), but Toril does revolve around its sun so it could work in Faerun. Admittedly since the whole package comes in a Crystal Sphere and there is no way to generate a reference to anyting outside the sphere there could be one single immobile point anywhere within the sphere with all of the rest moving round it!

[Luccan]

I guess the easiest explanation would be it isn't truly Immovable, it's just that it only moves relative to the nearest planetary-sized body.

[Ghen]

Eh, that argument was amusing when I first read it years and years ago, but to be honest, it's kind of old and passe by now. No offense intended, of course.

It's entirely possible that my head has been in the ground, but I hadn't heard it before. In a game as old as 3.5, I guess it's rare-ish to have a true, completely new idea that no one else has ever had yet. No offense taken; I totally get you.


But mixing physics with D&D is something that almost never ends well in the first place, and using them as kinetic missiles (or anti-missiles, I guess, since the target crashes into them rather than the other way around) isn't so interesting that it makes sense to me to override the patently obvious function (as you can't use them as proper Immovable Rods if you're using that interpretation) in favor of the goofy one. Like, if Immovable Rods didn't have any interesting uses on their own, that'd be one thing, but they do, so why sacrifice that?

Yeah, physics and D&D can be odd, at best. In my group, immovable rods work as you'd imagine they would because we just try to make things work the way we think the writers intended (though sometimes that's hard to do).


Besides, there's all kinds of magical effects that aren't necessarily physically anchored to the ground (or to anything that connects to the ground) and that are immobile once created. Do you assume that casting Silence on a point in space (which is explicitly legal and also explicitly immobile) is only useful for a fraction of a second before the planet moves away from it? And let's not even talk about how this would affect range limitations on spells.

For whatever reason, I hadn't even thought about that. Go figure. :P The whole thing could be fixed by saying that effects like this that depend on a static point are made relative to whatever planet/ plane/ ship/ whatever that the caster/ initiator is standing on at the moment. Needs a lot of refining, but you get the idea.


I say that the "Immovable Rod as unmoving anti-missile" joke isn't sufficiently funny to accept everything else that the interpretation breaks, so we should probably move on.

Meh, you're probably right.

[Ghen]

I guess the easiest explanation would be it isn't truly Immovable, it's just that it only moves relative to the nearest planetary-sized body.

Yeah, what he said. It's better than the way I put it.

[ATHATH]

Do note that the rod of rulership's effect gives NO SAVE (and no SR? I don't know how rods interact with SR) to any creature with 11 or less INT (a.k.a. any PC that isn't focusing on INT in a point buy system). It also has an absurdly high HD limit and no creature type restriction (although creatures that don't respect/listen to/obey their "absolute sovereign" might ignore or attack you anyway). Do note that it also has no "no suicidal or self-harmful actions" clause- if it's in a creature's nature to lay down its life or gouge out their eyes at the whim of their absolute sovereign, they'll do that. I could see a ronin NPC using the rod of rulership to beat opposing samurai in duels by commanding them to commit seppuku being a cool antagonist or piece of background lore for the rod.

[Venger]

Do note that the rod of rulership's effect gives NO SAVE (and no SR? I don't know how rods interact with SR) to any creature with 11 or less INT (a.k.a. any PC that isn't focusing on INT in a point buy system). It also has an absurdly high HD limit and no creature type restriction (although creatures that don't respect/listen to/obey their "absolute sovereign" might ignore or attack you anyway). Do note that it also has no "no suicidal or self-harmful actions" clause- if it's in a creature's nature to lay down its life or gouge out their eyes at the whim of their absolute sovereign, they'll do that. I could see a ronin NPC using the rod of rulership to beat opposing samurai in duels by commanding them to commit seppuku being a cool antagonist or piece of background lore for the rod.

Well, that's not a sla, so it's a su. Sus don't allow sr, so yeah, no save, no sr.

It's certainly an interesting item, and it would fit very well into an oriental adventures setting for that reason.

[atemu1234]

The metamagic rods come in handy.

[Ellrin]

I guess the easiest explanation would be it isn't truly Immovable, it's just that it only moves relative to the nearest planetary-sized body.

It's immovable within any sufficiently closed frame of reference, how about that?

[Knaight]

It's a reference to an item in a specific real-world religious text.
One that wasn't particularly well read, at that.


Is nobody else totally freaked out by how deadly the immovable rod can be? It stays in place until it takes 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it. The earth moves around the sun at approximately 19 miles per second, or 67,000 miles per hour. You click that button on the end of the rod and the rod freezes in space, best case scenario being that it rockets away from you at 67,000 mph. Worst case scenario, it goes through you/ the city you are standing in/ the whole dang planet until something puts 8,000 lbs. of pressure on it.
First things first - pounds aren't a pressure unit at all. That's 8,000 pounds of force. As for the rest, see below:


I guess the easiest explanation would be it isn't truly Immovable, it's just that it only moves relative to the nearest planetary-sized body.
If we're bringing in the concept of "truly Immovable" there's an easily resolved mess. Either you just use the same reference frame as the entire rest of the game, or you start bringing in concepts of privileged reference frames that are absolutely true, which aren't in any way required by physics and can only assigned arbitrarily.

This whole line of argument is long established, and relies on deliberately misinterpreting physics to get an advantageous result, generally through defining a different reference frame. In Ghen's post that's the sun, which is itself arbitrary. You could use another planet, a different part of Earth, go out further and pick the center of the galaxy, etc.

[ericgrau]

Enemy detection is completely useless on its own, but it combines very well with a few scattered alarm spells or the like. There's also an ethereal version of alarm if you really want to be paranoid. It's nice because both work not only against invisibility but also against non-magical hiding, concealment such as fog and so on. Almost no one can sneak up on you in any way.
Flailing: The free action activation on the defensive boosts make this an amazing item for the price. For the standard 15 minute adventuring day they are almost the same as permanent. It is stupid and pointless to grant free TWF but not free EWP. Also you can't get ITWF without taking real TWF. And it is dumb it isn't a weapon... other than retractability into a smaller, less suicidal looking item is kinda cool. But oh well.
Flame extinguishing: You might be missing the part where it has no dispel check nor hardly any criteria at all besides targetting fires. It is limited, but near auto win when you use it. If I play another epic character this will be an easy choice for his bag of tricks.
Metal and Mineral Detection: Clearly your party hasn't made a trip to the plane of Earth or etc. for loot. Actually finding hidden treasure in general is a great idea too. Wow how did I miss this item? I need to keep it on record for future characters. Yes you keep spamming it.
Python: There's no duration limit on the snake ability, meaning it can follow you around all day. This is actually a really good deal on the animal companion for the gold. And it remains useful for a bit because of all the combos you can do with grappling. Such as being a sneak attacking rogue. And when it dies you don't lose it. The alignment thing might be a biblical reference.
Splendor: Unslotted cha bonus for a discount. I've used this before when my body slots were full. I actually used the tent for concealment once in a combat.


Wow, you're actually finding me all kinds of cool stuff for future characters. I'm glad I took a 2nd look at rods. There are a lot of terrible ones though. They could be fixed with better bulk discount rules for overlapping abilities.


Seriously. We all know and love the Metamagic Rods and the Immovable Rod, and some of us love the Rod of Wonder

...
Metamagic: This is fine.


Actually a lot of metamagic rods are useless for the price, at least until epic level. I only ever get lesser extend until then. That one's great. Then at epic I mostly skip over lesser and normal and go straight to greater.


That definitely seems to be what they're going for, but it's a little strange since in that text there are others who can also turn their sticks into snakes.
Their snakes were swallowed by this rod snake. I suppose that's what the viper rod is for.

[King of Nowhere]

I don't like the rod of negation because it turns a magical duel too much into an arms race of who has more rods. Like, more wealth helps you win fights in any case, but not to the point that you and your opponent do nothing but try to exhaust each other's rod before the other can. Same goes for a couple ioun stones with similar effects.


An often-overlooked use for it is for your melee to carry so they can get through a Wall of Force or Forcecage. The best part is that the rod only becomes useless if it drains an item, so you basically get unlimited uses vs. these spells and only have to buy one.
Nowhere in the item description is stated that it works on those effect. Unless you count a forcecage as a magic item, which I don't believe it is.



Do note that the rod of rulership's effect gives NO SAVE (and no SR? I don't know how rods interact with SR) to any creature with 11 or less INT (a.k.a. any PC that isn't focusing on INT in a point buy system). It also has an absurdly high HD limit and no creature type restriction (although creatures that don't respect/listen to/obey their "absolute sovereign" might ignore or attack you anyway). Do note that it also has no "no suicidal or self-harmful actions" clause- if it's in a creature's nature to lay down its life or gouge out their eyes at the whim of their absolute sovereign, they'll do that. I could see a ronin NPC using the rod of rulership to beat opposing samurai in duels by commanding them to commit seppuku being a cool antagonist or piece of background lore for the rod.
I hate things that give no save. So, all those people are suddenly going to behave like morons? And when the effect ends nothing happens? Same reason I don't like curses that randomly change alignment. All of a sudden a guy becomes the complete opposite of himself? And he won't even find it strange or try to fight it?




Should I remind about the origin of "Gish" word? :smallamused:
I don't know it. I would like to learn this little piece of lore, please

[The Viscount]

The word "Gish" is explained in the Monster Manual to be a term for multiclass Githyanki. It's presumably common as they seek multiclass XP penalties to prevent themselves from reaching level 16 too easily. For reasons that are unknown to me, it grew to become the common term as we now use it today.

Also in that entry it mentions Githyanki wizards are called warlocks. I wonder what they call warlocks?

Githzerai who multiclass are called Zerths, which is presumably where we got the name for Zerth Cenobite.

[ShurikVch]

I don't know it. I would like to learn this little piece of lore, pleaseFrom A Guide to the Astral Plane (2E):


GISH
Githyanki call those who are trained in both fighting and spellcasting gish, meaning "skilled." These talented individuals are rare and well-respected, often becoming leaden or other people of influence.
These men and women are multiclassed fighter/wizards - the only type of multiclass allowed to githyanki. Gish are rarely specialty wizards, but, like the warlocks, have the proper spell keys needed on the Astral.
Gish use the same sort of weapons that regular githwarriors use, except that they rarely use two-handed weapons and never use shields. They have the same chances for magical weapons as do their nonspellslinging brethren.



Also in that entry it mentions Githyanki wizards are called warlocks. I wonder what they call warlocks?From the very same book:


WARLOCKS
Warlocks're githyanki wizards, the title having nothing to do with gender. To the githyanki, magic's just another tool or weapon, and so these individuals gain no greater or lesser station than nonwizards.
Despite all of the utility of wizard spells, warlocks are primarily combat mages - warriors with spells rather than swords. Magic missile, Melf's acid arrow, fireball, lightning bolt, and ice storm are some of their favored spells. Direct, destructive magic is their forte, with other sorts of spells used only when necessary. Although necromancy that involves the killing or stealing of life force is also used, githyanki warlocks rarely animate the dead.Warlock class - as in the 3.5 -, AFAIK, don't existed before the Complete Arcane.

Also, in the Dungeon #100, among the Githyanki-specific PrCs, are Blackweave Warlock and Gish Mindslayer

[Psyren]

Nowhere in the item description is stated that it works on those effect. Unless you count a forcecage as a magic item, which I don't believe it is.


That's because it's stated in the spells themselves:

Wall of Force (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfForce.htm)
Forcecage (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/forcecage.htm)

[Ellrin]

From A Guide to the Astral Plane (2E):


Warlocks're


Wait, this was an official book? 2E sounds like a crazy time.

[Zaq]

Wait, this was an official book? 2E sounds like a crazy time.

Yeah, lots of Planescape books were written like that. Gave them a very distinctive style.

[Jack_Simth]

Wait, this was an official book? 2E sounds like a crazy time.
There have been a lot of funny editing problems (https://selinker.livejournal.com/32929.html) over the course of D&D's history.

[Calthropstu]

Most of the rods are not intelligent and are therefor incapable of being insane.

As for rods in general, I have only ever used the rod of maximize. A maximized disintigrate is pretty much "save or die" and is the single most effective undead killer in the game. And most gms overlook it.

[Elkad]

Do note that the rod of rulership's effect gives NO SAVE (and no SR? I don't know how rods interact with SR) to any creature with 11 or less INT (a.k.a. any PC that isn't focusing on INT in a point buy system).

People dump int? I had a half-ogre with Int:4 in 1983ish, but I think every character since then has had a minimum of 12. Especially in the skill-point era.

[ericgrau]

People dump int?
Frequently. Many builds don't have much use for skills and besides that you get jack.

The rod is more likely to be used on NPCs and monsters than PCs/BBEGs, where a lower int is much more common anyway. 10-11 is average, and there are a multitude of dumb creature types.

[Dimers]

Most of the rods are not intelligent and are therefore incapable of being insane.

Of course, if they were intelligent items, they'd still be considered constructs, and thereby immune to mind-affecting effects.