darthkilmor
First Post
Something I made for my group in an adventure that turned out to be semi-boring short dungeon crawl and almost a TPK thanks to the lich wielding this, combined with the late nite finish made their interest in this item pretty lackluster. So what do you guys think , worth using again for seomthing else or too powerful/useless/specialized ?
Rod of Undead Mastery(Major Artifact)
Description
An unremarkable rust-pitted steel rod, 2 1/2 feet long, 1 inch thick.
(Need to add some background info here)
Once per day, the Rod can be used to summon an undead creature, see below.
The rod allows you to rebuke undead as if you were a cleric equal to your highest level in a single class. ( ex. Lidda is a level 7 mage/level 3 ranger. Wielding the Rod, she may rebuke undead as a 7th level cleric.) While in possession of the Rod, there is no limit to the number of times per day you maybe rebuke undead or the total HD of undead you can control. Any undead that are summoned with the Rod and you successfully rebuke are instead controlled. (Check control in phb.) Controlled undead will follow your commands to the best of its ability, even destroying itself if so ordered. You can actively control the summoned undead if they are within a 1 mile radius. If they are beyond that they will continue to follow your last commands to the best of their ability.
While wielding the Rod and concentrating for 1 round, you instantly know the exact location of every undead summoned with the Rod, range 1 mile radius. Whenever an undead that you have summoned and control is within 1 mile and is destroyed, you are instantly aware of this though cannot discern anything else other than that it is destroyed.
While wielding the Rod and concentrating for 1 minute, you can discern the location and status of any undead on the same plane as you that you have summoned with the Rod.
While wielding the Rod and concentrating for 3 minutes, you can percieve through any undead that you have summoned as if you were standing where it is, and command it as if it were within range to do so, ordering it to speak specific words, attack a particular foe, etc.
Any undead summoned with the Rod that you fail to rebuke, purposefully attack (even after establishing control), or fail to rebuke after 1 minute, will attack you instantly. Any subsequent attempts to rebuke it are ineffective. The summoned undead can sense your location and track you down if you are within 1 mile of it. If a summoned undead kills the wielder who summoned it, it ceases to exist. All other summoned undead are no longer controlled (as the wielder is dead), and will follow their own agenda.
The Rod may be wielded as a mace, the wielder is automatically proficent and suffers no penalties. It acts as a +5 disruption, ghost touch mace, crit 18-20, 3x. The fort save against disruption is enchanced to DC 20, the Rod is unmerciful against undead that would challenge its wielder. If the Rod crits undead, the disruption DC is 40(undead immunity to crits does not apply, check to see if you crit as you normally would). If the Rod crits any other living creature of medium size or greater, they must save fort DC 18 or die instantly(immunity to crits does not apply, check to see if you crit as you would normally).
Any intellegent living creature slain with the Rod will rise in 1d6 rounds as a Spectre. The Spectre is controlled by the wielder of the Rod, no rebuke check is needed.
Any good creature attempting to wield the Rod immediately recognizes that it is wholly evil and have a strong compulsion to drop it. If they wield the Rod for more than 1 round, must save Will and Fort DC 18 or be slain instantly, to rise again in 1 hour as a vampire(if they meet the vampire prerequisites) or a spectre(if they do not meet the vampire requisites).
Any spellcaster wielding the Rod who has rolled higher than 80 at least 5 times or defeated a solar that has appeared, may use the Rod to become a Lich, if they meet the prerequisites to become one. If the wielder so chooses to use the Rod for this, he may forego the gp cost to become a lich. Such a process irrevocably bonds the lich to the Rod. The lich must affix his phylactery to the Rod in some manner. If the phylactery is ever parted from the Rod for more than an hour, the Lich and phylactery are both destroyed.
Any non-spellcaster can use the Rod to turn themselves into a vampire. Such a process irrevocably bonds the vampire to the Rod. If the vampire and Rod are ever parted for more than an hour, the vampire is destroyed. If the Rod is exposed to sunlight, the vampire is affected as if it were exposed as well.
The Rod is unaffected by an antimagic field, dispel magic, disintegrate, or any other form of mortal magic that would cease its functionality or destroy it. It cannot be broken, bent, or otherwise altered. A spellcaster with the Create Rod feat may spend 10,000 XP, 20,000 gp and 1 months uninterrupted time to permantely mount a phylactery to one end of the Rod in the process of becoming a Lich, usually made of some ultrahard material such as adamantine or other appropriate medium. It need not be a box as described in the MM, anything that can be scribed with the necessary magical writings is sufficient. GM discretion where needed. (Specific GM's rules. If the Lich is destroyed but the phylactery is not, when the lich reappears, it will reappear 400 yards - 1 mile within the phylactery, with the same spells it had memorized when it was destroyed, and full HP. The MM is unspecific as to this so I am putting my own rules in.)
Every time the wielder of the Rod attempts to create an undead, he must save will DC 15 for the Rod to function normally. If he fails, the Rod still creates an undead but of one catagory higher, and the undead attacks the wielder 1 round after being summoned, and it cannot be rebuked be the power to rebuke granted by the Rod. If the wielder is neutral, the will save DC is 25. If the wielder is good, the will save is DC 35.
Roll percentage on Table 1 to determine CR catagory, then roll on that catagory chart the appropriate die to determine which undead is created.
For every roll above 80, there is a 1% cumulative chance a Solar (see Monster Manual) will appear instead of the expected undead. It will immediately attack the wielder of the Rod on the same round that it appears. If the Solar kills the wielder of the Rod it will also destroy any undead in the area. It will not take the Rod or any possessions of the wielder. It will not attack the wielder's companions unless atacked first. If a Solar appears the %chance drops 10%.
If the undead is too large to fit in the area that it was summoned(ex. a colossal zombie in a 10'x10'x10' room), the wielder must still save as appropriate (and risk the chance of a Solar appearing) but the undead simply does not appear, instead a loud popping sound is heard. The Solar is unaffected by this requirement, and will simply appear in the closest area in can move freely in, up to a 1 mile range.
Table 1:
Category Percentage(%)
1 01-13
2 14-27
3 28-43
4 44-57
5 58-69
6 70-79
7 80-87
8 88-93
9 93-97
10 98-99
11 00
Category 1(CR 1-2): Roll d8,reroll 8 Found In Book*
BaneGuard 1 MoF
Bone Bat 2 MoF
Ghoul 3 MM
Huge Skeleton 4 MM
Huge Zombie 5 MM
Large Skeleton 6 MM
Large Zombie 7 MM
Category 2(CR 3-4): Roll d12,reroll 12. Found In Book*
Allip 1 MM
BaneDead 2 MoF
Huge Zombie 3 MM
Ghast 4 MM
Mummy 5 MM
Wight 6 MM
Crypt Thing 7 FF
Dread Warrior 8 MoF
Zombie, Tyrantfog 9 MoF
Shadow 10 MM
Vampire Spawn 11 MM
Category 3(CR 5-6): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Gargantuan Zombie 1,2 MM
Spawn of Kyuss 3,4 MM2
Wraith 5,6 MM
Category 4(CR 7): Roll d10 Found In Book*
Huecuva 1,2 FF
Gargantuan Skeleton 3,4 MM
Quth-Maren 5,6 FF
Spectre 7,8 MM
Swordwraith 9,0 FF
Category 5(CR 8-9): Roll d6 Found In Book*
All-Consuming Hunger 1 U
Bhut 2 FF
Bodak 3 MM
Colossal Skeleton 4 MM
Mohrg 5 MM
Vilewight 6 BoVD
Category 6(CR 10-12): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Abyssal Ghoul 1 FF
Bone Naga 2 MM2
Colossal Zombie 3 MM
Crimson Death 4 MM2
Devourer 5 MM
Ulgurstasta 6 FF
Category 7(CR 13-15): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Blood Fiend 1,2 FF
Hullathoin 3,4 FF
NightWing 5,6 MM
Category 8(CR 16): Roll d6 Found In Book*
GraveCrawler 1,2 MM2
Jahi 3,4 MM2
NightWalker 5,6 MM
Category 9(CR 17-18): Roll d4 Found In Book*
Banshee 1 MM2
DeathBringer 2 MM2
Effigy 3 MM2
NightCrawler 4 MM
Category 10(CR 19): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Corpse Gatherer 1,2 MM2
Famine Spirit 3,4 MM2
Ragewind 5,6 MM2
Category 11(CR 20+): Roll x Found In Book*
Crawling Head Automatic FF
*MM = Monster Manual, MM2 = Monster Manual 2, BoVD = Book of Vile Darkness,
U = Underdark, MoF = Monsters of Faerun,
FF = Fiend Folio
New undead can be added to this list, insert them in the appropriate
catagory for the creature's CR and adjust the dice roll so that each undead
in a catagory has an equal chance of appearing.
Rod of Undead Mastery(Major Artifact)
Description
An unremarkable rust-pitted steel rod, 2 1/2 feet long, 1 inch thick.
(Need to add some background info here)
Once per day, the Rod can be used to summon an undead creature, see below.
The rod allows you to rebuke undead as if you were a cleric equal to your highest level in a single class. ( ex. Lidda is a level 7 mage/level 3 ranger. Wielding the Rod, she may rebuke undead as a 7th level cleric.) While in possession of the Rod, there is no limit to the number of times per day you maybe rebuke undead or the total HD of undead you can control. Any undead that are summoned with the Rod and you successfully rebuke are instead controlled. (Check control in phb.) Controlled undead will follow your commands to the best of its ability, even destroying itself if so ordered. You can actively control the summoned undead if they are within a 1 mile radius. If they are beyond that they will continue to follow your last commands to the best of their ability.
While wielding the Rod and concentrating for 1 round, you instantly know the exact location of every undead summoned with the Rod, range 1 mile radius. Whenever an undead that you have summoned and control is within 1 mile and is destroyed, you are instantly aware of this though cannot discern anything else other than that it is destroyed.
While wielding the Rod and concentrating for 1 minute, you can discern the location and status of any undead on the same plane as you that you have summoned with the Rod.
While wielding the Rod and concentrating for 3 minutes, you can percieve through any undead that you have summoned as if you were standing where it is, and command it as if it were within range to do so, ordering it to speak specific words, attack a particular foe, etc.
Any undead summoned with the Rod that you fail to rebuke, purposefully attack (even after establishing control), or fail to rebuke after 1 minute, will attack you instantly. Any subsequent attempts to rebuke it are ineffective. The summoned undead can sense your location and track you down if you are within 1 mile of it. If a summoned undead kills the wielder who summoned it, it ceases to exist. All other summoned undead are no longer controlled (as the wielder is dead), and will follow their own agenda.
The Rod may be wielded as a mace, the wielder is automatically proficent and suffers no penalties. It acts as a +5 disruption, ghost touch mace, crit 18-20, 3x. The fort save against disruption is enchanced to DC 20, the Rod is unmerciful against undead that would challenge its wielder. If the Rod crits undead, the disruption DC is 40(undead immunity to crits does not apply, check to see if you crit as you normally would). If the Rod crits any other living creature of medium size or greater, they must save fort DC 18 or die instantly(immunity to crits does not apply, check to see if you crit as you would normally).
Any intellegent living creature slain with the Rod will rise in 1d6 rounds as a Spectre. The Spectre is controlled by the wielder of the Rod, no rebuke check is needed.
Any good creature attempting to wield the Rod immediately recognizes that it is wholly evil and have a strong compulsion to drop it. If they wield the Rod for more than 1 round, must save Will and Fort DC 18 or be slain instantly, to rise again in 1 hour as a vampire(if they meet the vampire prerequisites) or a spectre(if they do not meet the vampire requisites).
Any spellcaster wielding the Rod who has rolled higher than 80 at least 5 times or defeated a solar that has appeared, may use the Rod to become a Lich, if they meet the prerequisites to become one. If the wielder so chooses to use the Rod for this, he may forego the gp cost to become a lich. Such a process irrevocably bonds the lich to the Rod. The lich must affix his phylactery to the Rod in some manner. If the phylactery is ever parted from the Rod for more than an hour, the Lich and phylactery are both destroyed.
Any non-spellcaster can use the Rod to turn themselves into a vampire. Such a process irrevocably bonds the vampire to the Rod. If the vampire and Rod are ever parted for more than an hour, the vampire is destroyed. If the Rod is exposed to sunlight, the vampire is affected as if it were exposed as well.
The Rod is unaffected by an antimagic field, dispel magic, disintegrate, or any other form of mortal magic that would cease its functionality or destroy it. It cannot be broken, bent, or otherwise altered. A spellcaster with the Create Rod feat may spend 10,000 XP, 20,000 gp and 1 months uninterrupted time to permantely mount a phylactery to one end of the Rod in the process of becoming a Lich, usually made of some ultrahard material such as adamantine or other appropriate medium. It need not be a box as described in the MM, anything that can be scribed with the necessary magical writings is sufficient. GM discretion where needed. (Specific GM's rules. If the Lich is destroyed but the phylactery is not, when the lich reappears, it will reappear 400 yards - 1 mile within the phylactery, with the same spells it had memorized when it was destroyed, and full HP. The MM is unspecific as to this so I am putting my own rules in.)
Every time the wielder of the Rod attempts to create an undead, he must save will DC 15 for the Rod to function normally. If he fails, the Rod still creates an undead but of one catagory higher, and the undead attacks the wielder 1 round after being summoned, and it cannot be rebuked be the power to rebuke granted by the Rod. If the wielder is neutral, the will save DC is 25. If the wielder is good, the will save is DC 35.
Roll percentage on Table 1 to determine CR catagory, then roll on that catagory chart the appropriate die to determine which undead is created.
For every roll above 80, there is a 1% cumulative chance a Solar (see Monster Manual) will appear instead of the expected undead. It will immediately attack the wielder of the Rod on the same round that it appears. If the Solar kills the wielder of the Rod it will also destroy any undead in the area. It will not take the Rod or any possessions of the wielder. It will not attack the wielder's companions unless atacked first. If a Solar appears the %chance drops 10%.
If the undead is too large to fit in the area that it was summoned(ex. a colossal zombie in a 10'x10'x10' room), the wielder must still save as appropriate (and risk the chance of a Solar appearing) but the undead simply does not appear, instead a loud popping sound is heard. The Solar is unaffected by this requirement, and will simply appear in the closest area in can move freely in, up to a 1 mile range.
Table 1:
Category Percentage(%)
1 01-13
2 14-27
3 28-43
4 44-57
5 58-69
6 70-79
7 80-87
8 88-93
9 93-97
10 98-99
11 00
Category 1(CR 1-2): Roll d8,reroll 8 Found In Book*
BaneGuard 1 MoF
Bone Bat 2 MoF
Ghoul 3 MM
Huge Skeleton 4 MM
Huge Zombie 5 MM
Large Skeleton 6 MM
Large Zombie 7 MM
Category 2(CR 3-4): Roll d12,reroll 12. Found In Book*
Allip 1 MM
BaneDead 2 MoF
Huge Zombie 3 MM
Ghast 4 MM
Mummy 5 MM
Wight 6 MM
Crypt Thing 7 FF
Dread Warrior 8 MoF
Zombie, Tyrantfog 9 MoF
Shadow 10 MM
Vampire Spawn 11 MM
Category 3(CR 5-6): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Gargantuan Zombie 1,2 MM
Spawn of Kyuss 3,4 MM2
Wraith 5,6 MM
Category 4(CR 7): Roll d10 Found In Book*
Huecuva 1,2 FF
Gargantuan Skeleton 3,4 MM
Quth-Maren 5,6 FF
Spectre 7,8 MM
Swordwraith 9,0 FF
Category 5(CR 8-9): Roll d6 Found In Book*
All-Consuming Hunger 1 U
Bhut 2 FF
Bodak 3 MM
Colossal Skeleton 4 MM
Mohrg 5 MM
Vilewight 6 BoVD
Category 6(CR 10-12): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Abyssal Ghoul 1 FF
Bone Naga 2 MM2
Colossal Zombie 3 MM
Crimson Death 4 MM2
Devourer 5 MM
Ulgurstasta 6 FF
Category 7(CR 13-15): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Blood Fiend 1,2 FF
Hullathoin 3,4 FF
NightWing 5,6 MM
Category 8(CR 16): Roll d6 Found In Book*
GraveCrawler 1,2 MM2
Jahi 3,4 MM2
NightWalker 5,6 MM
Category 9(CR 17-18): Roll d4 Found In Book*
Banshee 1 MM2
DeathBringer 2 MM2
Effigy 3 MM2
NightCrawler 4 MM
Category 10(CR 19): Roll d6 Found In Book*
Corpse Gatherer 1,2 MM2
Famine Spirit 3,4 MM2
Ragewind 5,6 MM2
Category 11(CR 20+): Roll x Found In Book*
Crawling Head Automatic FF
*MM = Monster Manual, MM2 = Monster Manual 2, BoVD = Book of Vile Darkness,
U = Underdark, MoF = Monsters of Faerun,
FF = Fiend Folio
New undead can be added to this list, insert them in the appropriate
catagory for the creature's CR and adjust the dice roll so that each undead
in a catagory has an equal chance of appearing.
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So it's just up to the DM to choose how many undead there are in the lair serving their master, no matter how the master managed to create them. It would be very different if it created undead 1/round, that would be terribly powerful...
