Immovable Rod Shenanigans

[moonfly7]

We do a lot of these at my table and I thought I'd share some of my favourites and see if anybody has any they want to share.

One of my favourites is how we utilized 2 rods. We'd use them to claim through the air, put one up, activate it, deactivate the other rod, pull yourself up, activate the new rod, and repeat. Combined with this is a floating archery platform made by laying some boards over 2 rods, about 50 feet in the air. Sometimes we would throw a gnome with a rod tied to a rope, or use a flying familiar, they would hit the button when they were in the right spot to make a perfect "grappling hook".
One time we were on a sinking ship that belonged to a villain from our rangers backstory, he jammed his immovable rod into the man's sternum and told him "all good captains go down with their ship". The thing held him till the entire ship pressed down on the rod, and then it just ripped through him and the boat. We were actually able to recover the thing. It was later used to sink a boat, we jammed it into the side and clicked a button, when it took off, it was cut in half.

So that's some of my favorites, anybody got a good one?

[Chalkarts]

Dragon gulp.
Get swallowed, escape by triggering the rod in it's gut.

[Iskande]

I was DM'ing Storm Kings Thunder and this took place shortly after they got the airship.

I had the party be attacked by two young dragons, who were rocking the ship by latching their claws onto one side, flying up, and letting go. The players were making various saves and checks to stay on board the ship.

My one player, a young kid in middle school who is a good but quiet player, fails his saves multiple times and falls off the ship, plummeting to his death.

He then looks over his character sheet and says "I want to activate my immovable rod."

I had completely forgotten that they received one a few sessions back.

He ended up just hanging there until the rest of the party scared the dragons off and circled back around to pick him up.

It's not the most epic story of all time, but I was really impressed with how quickly the kid fixed his situation.

[Wraith]

I have a few that spring to mind - one as a particularly fatal speedbump and the other as a trap.

I forget the context, but we were involved in a wagon chase - two of our party up front, two inside, one on the roof, while being pursued by another wagon full of crossbow/magic wielding antagonists. As he hit a long straight road, a player with an Immovable Rod handed it to the guy on the roof, told him to lean over the back of the wagon and to activate it. Then enemies' were going so fast that they had no chance to avoid it, and their entire vehicle was ripped in half and most of them were killed in the resulting collision.

The 'trap' was essentially the same thing - in a dungeon the player set the rod to hover in mid-air at about chest height and affixed a dagger to the end. They then goaded an enemy to chase them at high speed down the corridor, around a blind corner and then ducked so that the enemy ran heart-first into the immovable spike.

Lastly, another player tried to use one as an improvised weapon - we let it count as a club or something, I think. The idea was he would duel an enemy Inigo-Montoya-style and back them into a corner or up against a wall.... then trigger it and leave them pinned there while he could draw another weapon and finish them off at leisure. I don't think it ever quite worked out, but it was a neat idea.

[Damon_Tor]

As an anti-falling measure, I built one into a suit of armor with a Tiny Servant inside ordered to constantly ready an action which would trigger the rod whenever I feel at least 5 feet. Then on my turn I could take appropriate measures to prevent further falling and order the TS to deactivate the rod.

[Damon_Tor]

One time we were on a sinking ship that belonged to a villain from our rangers backstory, he jammed his immovable rod into the man's sternum and told him "all good captains go down with their ship". The thing held him till the entire ship pressed down on the rod, and then it just ripped through him and the boat. We were actually able to recover the thing. It was later used to sink a boat, we jammed it into the side and clicked a button, when it took off, it was cut in half.

I would expect a ship would exceed the weight limit of the rod and deactivate it.

[moonfly7]

I would expect a ship would exceed the weight limit of the rod and deactivate it.

If you mean the sinking one, half of it was already under water. Also it wasn't exactly a massive galley.

[Dr. Cliché]

I would expect a ship would exceed the weight limit of the rod and deactivate it.

It depends how you calculate it.

If you just take the weight of the ship, then sure.

However, in more practical terms, only a fraction of that weight will be applied to the rod at any one time. Furthermore, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So as the ship's weight applies force to the rod, the rod applies the same force to the ship. This turns it into a question of whether the relevant structural elements of the ship can withstand 8000lb of weight, applied in a very small area. If not, then they will break before the rod reaches its limit.

[moonfly7]

It depends how you calculate it.

If you just take the weight of the ship, then sure.

However, in more practical terms, only a fraction of that weight will be applied to the rod at any one time. Furthermore, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So as the ship's weight applies force to the rod, the rod applies the same force to the ship. This turns it into a question of whether the relevant structural elements of the ship can withstand 8000lb of weight, applied in a very small area. If not, then they will break before the rod reaches its limit.

Also keep in mind my DM was making a split second decision and generally opts on the side of "coolest mental image". When hard mathematical facts arent really important to the outcome story.

[kaervaak]

Use Sovereign Glue to attach the rod to the BBEG's armor (right in that spot in the middle of the back that's really hard to reach). Push the button and immobilize them. Even better if you can get them up off the ground a little bit when you hit the button so they're left dangling.

[Dr. Cliché]

I remember a favourite technique from past editions involved using Etherealness (or a similar spell/ability).

While ethereal/incorporeal and holding the rod, move through an enemy. Then, when the rod is inside them, press the button and let go.

[J-H]

What's everyone using for damage numbers based on a swallowed rod, hitting a rod, etc.?

[Dr. Cliché]

What's everyone using for damage numbers based on a swallowed rod, hitting a rod, etc.?

For hitting a rod, I'd probably use falling damage as a benchmark and go from there.

For swallowing a rod, I think I'd have to improvise based on the monster and the situation. For example, the rod would likely be more of a problem for a guard captain than for a gelatinous cube. :smallwink: