1001 Uses for an Immovable Rod

[Christian]

OK, my party scored one of these tonight. What are some fun things we can do with it? It just seems like one of those items that has unlimited possibilities ...

(Party is 6th-7th level, so no ideas that include, eg., Time Stop.)

 

[Rystil Arden]

Best use ever of an immovable rod in my campaign? The party commissioned a really really long one and used it as a straight edge to perform an aerial geometry equation to triangulate the exact location of an object they knew produced a spherical field that nullified Weave magic. Then, the barbarian (this was his plan, actually) slid down the immovable rod and plummeted onto the castle straight down, sundering with his axe until he reached the orb

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Doorstop / bar
"Parachute"
Instant ladder (usually requires 2)
Improvised boot for carriage wheel
Mine / Putting holes in rapidly moving objects (ships)

EDIT: Teleport protection (see recent thread on new FAQ)

 

[Moon-Lancer]

if your swallowed, you an turn it on and the creature is stick, or its going to rip a giant hole from the inside out.

 

[Storyteller01]

Take levels in the Immovable Rod Master Prc?

 

[MarkB]

Take two of them, and place them in a pair of platform-soled boots, with the activation button situated just beneath the wearer's big toe. Presto: Boots of air walking.

Mount an adamantine spearhead on it, and activate it just below the waterline in the path of an oncoming ship.

After climbing a difficult slope, use one to attach a rope to for your less-agile friends. Faster and less noisy than hammering pitons.

 

[Christian]

After climbing a difficult slope, use one to attach a rope to for your less-agile friends. Faster and less noisy than hammering pitons.

That was one of my first ideas after the Wizard Identified it last night. We're about to hike through mountains in the dead of winter (because we're apparently a bunch of idiots, I guess). I'm thinking if we get a rough cliff, my druid can shapeshift to aerial form with the rod in his pocket, fly to the top, and lower a rope ...

 

[RigaMortus2]

If you are on a ship and want the ship to stop, activate it in mid air so the crew's cabin (for example) runs into it and prevents the ship from moving. Instant anchor.

Plant the rod in the gound or side of a mountain and activate it. There, you've just prevented the world from rotating

 

[Felix]

This fae was trying like heck to steal our chest that had some McGuffin and we just weren't getting any sleep. So we opened the chest, put one rod along one side, another on the other side, and locked the chest.

The DM didn't think of that (he thought the chest would be stolen or we would be bereft of rest/spells) and chuckled when he described the fae unsuccessfully trying to drag the thing away.

 

[serraphin]

I hate to be the moany rules lawer - but the ship stopping and (to an extent) giant creature stopping have a rather big flaw:

Immovable Rod:
An immovable rod can support up to 8,000 pounds before falling to the ground. If a creature pushes against an immovable rod, it must make a DC 30 Strength check to move the rod up to 10 feet in a single round.

If something's swallowed you whole, I'm guessing it's a bit big. Bigger than 8k lbs and strong enough to shrug off a DC 30+ roll. One could argue that if 3000lbs are 'pushed' against the rod in any direction, it drops.

Immovable rods do, however, make marvelous doorstops when you haven't got time to sprang a door and stop that horde of orcs what's chasing you

 

[MarkB]

I hate to be the moany rules lawer - but the ship stopping and (to an extent) giant creature stopping have a rather big flaw:

Immovable Rod:
An immovable rod can support up to 8,000 pounds before falling to the ground. If a creature pushes against an immovable rod, it must make a DC 30 Strength check to move the rod up to 10 feet in a single round.

Thus my suggestion of mounting a blade on the rod when using it to slice up a ship - it prevents the ship from bringing its full mass to bear against the rod.

And whilst an immovable rod won't stop a ship under sail, it should be sufficient to anchor an unpowered one in place if you should wish to do so under circumstances where dropping the anchor is impractical or undesirable.

If something's swallowed you whole, I'm guessing it's a bit big. Bigger than 8k lbs and strong enough to shrug off a DC 30+ roll. One could argue that if 3000lbs are 'pushed' against the rod in any direction, it drops.

A Behir has Strength 26. That's insufficient to succeed on the check even with a natural 20. And it may or may not weigh 8,000 lbs. Where does the 3,000 figure come from?

Immovable rods do, however, make marvelous doorstops when you haven't got time to sprang a door and stop that horde of orcs what's chasing you

They're also good for keeping doors open if you happen to suspect a 'sealed room' trap.

 

[Storyteller01]

Seriously though, take a look at the Immovable Rod Master PrC. Use the rod as a weapon (club); activate the rod as a free action; pinning; placing said object down a critters throat, then turning it on (difficult, but fun if you pull it off); aerial acrobatics (think twin bar, with no upper limit), etc.

Lots of good, clean, wholesome fun.

 

[MarkB]

Seriously though, take a look at the Immovable Rod Master PrC. Use the rod as a weapon (club); activate the rod as a free action; pinning; placing said object down a critters throat, then turning it on (difficult, but fun if you pull it off); aerial acrobatics (think twin bar, with no upper limit), etc.

Lots of good, clean, wholesome fun.

Where could we find this PrC?

 

[Laman Stahros]

A Behir has Strength 26. That's insufficient to succeed on the check even with a natural 20. And it may or may not weigh 8,000 lbs. Where does the 3,000 figure come from?

Okay, I'm confused. DC 30 Strength check, Strength 26. All a Behir needs is to roll a 4 to pass that check.

Edit: I really should wake up before posting. Sorry.

 

[werk]

Okay, I'm confused. DC 30 Strength check, Strength 26. All a Behir needs is to roll a 4 to pass that check.

Str 26 = modifier of +8

30 - 8 = ?

Behir needs to roll a 22

 

[Harmon]

Get two and hang your hammock from them; never sleep on the hard dungeon floor again.

Climbing by placing one where there are no hand holds then reach back down and grab it up.

Doorstop is my favorite.

Coat rack.

Set it in the middle of a 5’ wide pit and step across- course most adventurers could jump that.

Just a few off the cuff ideas.

Later all.

 

[MarkB]

Set it in the middle of a 5’ wide pit and step across- course most adventurers could jump that.

Set it in the middle of a 5' wide pit at chest level, then cast invisibility on it. Enemies jump the pit, slam into it, and slide off into the pit.

 

[Infiniti2000]

An immovable rod has that annoying frame of reference issue. Is it immovable with respect to the planet or other more local frame of reference? If you activate it in a ship's cabin, will it move with the ship or not? Can you dim door while holding an activated immovable rod?

 

[MarkB]

An immovable rod has that annoying frame of reference issue. Is it immovable with respect to the planet or other more local frame of reference? If you activate it in a ship's cabin, will it move with the ship or not? Can you dim door while holding an activated immovable rod?

I consider it fixed relative to the planet. Interaction with teleportation effects are open to interpretation - you could, with reasonable justification, rule that it cannot be teleported since it's immovable, that it can be teleported but counts as weighing 8,000 lb, or that it can be teleported freely (since teleportation involves no conventional movement) and will be stuck in place at its destination once teleported.

EDIT: One interesting interpretation would make it a teleport-foiler: The teleportation effect could transport it to the astral plane, but once there it would prevent movement within that plane, causing you to exit back at your starting point.

 

[Infiniti2000]

EDIT: One interesting interpretation would make it a teleport-foiler: The teleportation effect could transport it to the astral plane, but once there it would prevent movement within that plane, causing you to exit back at your starting point.

Well, if it's not immovable with respect to the plane, then how does it function in the astral plane?

That makes it very hard to adjudicate and I quite honestly don't have a good answer. I generally like to use a local frame of reference, perhaps as designated by the user. Thus, the rods in the chest from the example above would not perform the function as intended. The chest would be movable. Likewise, you could use the rods to climb up the side of a ship (you 'attach' the rods to the frame of reference of the ship, whereas others from above could not do that).