D&D: Five Magical Rods More Serling Than ‘The Twilight Zone’
When it comes to Dungeons & Dragons, a magic rod is – wait stop laughing. These five rods are really great!
Magic rods are some of D&D’s most powerful magic items. They’ve been a part of Dungeons & Dragons since the beginning. A good magic rod contains many powers.
When you get your hands on a powerful rod, you know it immediately. But sometimes, power comes with a price you didn’t expect to pay. And when you reach into your pocket to find exact change, you notice something’s different. That’s because sometimes a magic rod can take you on a journey. You’ll turn the corner and find you’re holding a rod straight out of The Twilight Zone.
Immovable Rod
What would you give for everything to just stop for a second? To have a lifeline to hold on to as the world rushes past?
With this rod, stillness is just the push of a button away. It doesn’t matter if you’re falling from a great height or dangling over the precipice of a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind.
This simple rod will hang immovably wherever you place it. No power on the world can move it – at least that’s how it seems at first. But nothing is ever what it seems. 7,999.99 pounds won’t crash this rod, but go a hairs breadth over to 8,000 pounds and this rod will collapse. And you might find yourself falling headlong into… the Twilight Zone.
Rod of Resurrection
This rod can defy death itself. In the right hands (a Cleric, Druid, or Paladin’s), this rod can give life back to the dead. But such power comes with temptations.
Sure you could use the rod to heal someone in need, but do that and you can’t bring them back until the morning. And every time you bring someone back, you roll the dice. Both metaphorically and literally.
Because when this rod runs out of power, it might be gone for good. So this rod comes with a built in lesson – power has its limits, roll the dice often enough and you might find that your rod vanishes, leaving you all by yourself in… the Twilight Zone.
Rod of Security
This magic rod will take you and your friends to a paradise of your own making. But the instant you go, you realize that paradise has many meanings. You get to decide what form it takes, but, is paradise to you paradise to your friends?
In this perfect place, time doesn’t pass – no one ages. But you can only stay in there for 200 days – shared among the number of people present. The more people you share paradise with, the shorter your time in it.
Until you decide to live your days in there alone. But what good is paradise with no one to share it with? Is it really paradise, or have you strayed down a little alley and turned a corner into… the Twilight Zone?
Rod of Alertness
Have you ever had the feeling that something lurks in the shadows behind you? Seen scurrying just at the corners of your vision?
This magic rod will help you see. With advantage on perception checks AND initiative rolls, you’ll know whenever something is around. Even if you can’t see it, this rod will let you cast see invisibility, detect magic, detect poison and disease, and detect evil and good. So you’ll always be able to know when that kindly stranger offering you a chance at your dreams is actually a fiend in disguise, after your very soul.
But when you start seeing devils behind every smile, and spending every moment on edge, waiting for a fight, be careful. Just because you can see it doesn’t mean you’ll avoid… the Twilight Zone.
Rod of Rulership
What would you do if you found yourself rule of the world? Consider the case of an adventurer who finds a rod of rulership. With it, they can charm a crowd into following their orders. In an instant, a total stranger becomes a trusted leader. And anyone within 120 feet will fall under their spell.
What commands would they give? How would power affect them? Would they resist the tempting power of this rod? Or would they find that people can be pushed – but only so far. Ask a person to do something against their nature and you’ll find that this rod breaks its spell. Leaving you confronted by a mob of people waiting to heave you into… the Twilight Zone.
