Hehe...
During a long-running 2E Forgotten Realms campaign I ran, the mid-level PCs were in the midst of plane-hopping, time-travel adventure and up against some advanced lost-world lizardmen, with shamans and dino-mounts. After the foolish gnome PC decided to explore some monolithic ruins alone while the rest of the party slept and was uncerimoniously snacked on by a pack of mini-velociraptors, the balance of the party went up against the main enemy force.
The lizardmen shamans were using "rune-sticks" - intricately carved staves with lots of runes on them. As they cast spells, the rune on the staff would flare brightly and slowly fade away. About midway through the combat, they cornered one of the shamans, slew his guards and closed in for the kill. The shaman broke the rune-stick over his knee and it released its remaining spell injury, causing moderate damage to those close by. I took great pains in describing how the staff was almost bare, with only a few runes remaining.
During the climax of the combat, with a series of fortunate rolls, the PCs managed to quickly dispatch the main shaman and his bodyguard. One player - notorious for his inattention to detail and overall spotty play - retrieved the shaman's rune-covered staff. Now this player's PC, a fighter-barbarian type, had been injured by the earlier mild detonation.
When I asked what he planned to do with it, he replied, "I break it over my knee."
The whole table looked at him in amazement. Incredulous, I asked, "You do what?!?"
"I break it over my knee!" (with gusto this time)
Angry muttering arose around the table, since several other PCs where in close proximity.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
I shrugged, grabbed a huge handful of d6s and sent them spinning across the table. The release of spell energy caused something like 15d6 at ground zero (no save) and less as the radius expanded. Needless to say, the offending warrior was reduced to fighter-puree and 2 other PCs were killed.
His comment? "Oh...I didn't think that is what would happen!"
~ Old One
