This is for posting rules and descriptions of special items and equipment for quick reference:
ROD OF ABSORPTION (original): This is a 3 foot long rod with a scabbard-like loop for holding it on a belt. Here is what Kahzir told you:
Kahzir:
Kahzir takes a seat to rest his pained head. "That rod is a special type of Rod of Absorption. It has spells cast into it by mages or priests, and it can be used by either mages or priests, regardless of the spell put inside it. It is activated by a series of maneuvers like a conductor conducting an orchestra. Depending on the movements of the hand, one of the spells will be released. Besides being purely a simple wrist action, this allows the caster to cast a spell himself, or take some other action, even while using the rod." (I.e., this gives an extra attack for the user in the round.) "Its ability feeds on the will of the user, such that other spells requiring gestures only require the spoken words and the will of the user."
He laughs. "The key is knowing how to use it to release the spells. Darwen has a book on him that details the movements for each spell. However, once the spell is gone from the rod, it has to be put back in. Otherwise, you'll just be shaking a stick and nothing will happen." (The rod requires you to either memorize the hand action -- by substituting any level spell for the day (memorized or prayed for) to instead memorize the routine -- or by holding the book and following its diagrams. The latter requires concentration and will negate the extra attack otherwise gained.
The book in Darwen's bag of holding describes each action. The rod holds up to 10 spells.
Therefore, it still has five spells in it. The problem is that, if you want to put your own spells in it, you will negate the spells that Darwen put in if you don't use the empty slots. You just don't know which 5 slots are empty and what spells Darwen has in the other 5! They could be powerful...or not.</purple>
OOC: Darwen was a higher level cleric than Kahan, so likely he keeps powerful spells inside. This gives you a choice of taking chances for fun or just putting all your own spells in there. The battle will give a good shot at trying it out.
You remember Darwen used it for:
Teleportation
Cure Critical Wounds
Walk On Air
Improved Invisibility
Magic Missiles
CLARIFICATION ON ROD OF ABSORPTION
10 slots
5 currently filled (but you don't know which ones or which spells).
You can put a spell for the day into a slot. Result: you lose that spell for the day, but can cast two spells in one round using the rod. The spell will hold over for future days, so you can reload it when you have a few days break. (Obviously, healing spells would be one idea for loading over several days' period, since you can load the same spell on it to store in different slots.)
For "loading" by a previous owner, there is an X in 10 chance that the slot is already filled, replacing the previous spell (X being the number of spells currently loaded), but when you put your own spells into it, you know which slots they are in.
Darwen's book contains a list spells (cleric and mage), so that you know what gestures to use for which spells. Did I ever give you a list of spells from the book? If not, I will give you that.
One thing Kahan's exceptional wisdom will probably divine is that Darwen can only have so many spells on him that are worth putting in the rod and gets only so many per day, so he may have duplicated his favorite spells over several days' time.
The rod holds both cleric and mage spells, and can be used by anyone. However, when used by a non-magic user/cleric, a slot is permanently deleted for each use.
SPELLS IN DARWEN'S BOOK WITH GESTURES OUTLINED (i.e., spells that can be used):
Spells Used by Darwen
Teleportation
Cure Critical Wounds
Walk On Air
Improved Invisibility
Magic Missiles
Wizard Spells
Enlarge
Feather Fall
Darkness, 15' Radius
Fog Cloud
Mirror Image
Stinking Cloud
Fireball
Vampiric Touch
Charm Monster
Monster Summoning II
Wizard Eye
Domination
Death Fog
Chain Lightning
Invisible Stalker
Reincarnation
Stone to Flesh
True Seeing
Cleric Spells
Create Water
Cure Light Wounds
Detect Evil
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Invisibility to Undead
Aid
Augury
Resist Fire/Resist Cold
Silence, 15' Radius
Slow Poison
Animate Dead
Create Food & Water
Cure Blindness or Deafness
Cure Disease
Dispel Magic
Feign Death
Flame Walk
Remove Curse
Remove Paralysis
Cure Serious Wounds
Free Action
Protection From Lightning
Air Walk
Animal Growth
Animal Summoning II
Cure Critical Wounds
Dispel Evil
Flame Strike
Insect Plague
Raise Dead
Spike Stones
Conjure Fire Elemental
Heal
Heroes' Feast
Speak With Monsters
Transport Via Plants
Turn Wood
Wall of Thorns
Weather Summoning
Word of Recall
There is no penalty for trying one of the spells above. You can try a specific type of spell. The only downside is that you lose the round to try out the action.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 20:54, Tue 13 Dec 2011.
