'Rod' of seven parts.....suggestions

[Coredump]

I am running a campaign, and a part of the long term story-arc is that they will start finding parts of the "Rod of Seven Parts" I am hoping to get some ideas about what the powers could be.

Campaign background: They are being (unknowingly) mentored and guided to find these parts. The "rod" is actually 7 rings that magically connect together. The smallest ring is 1" in diameter, so looks like a ring. The largest is 7" in diameter. They look similar to each other (I think) but often mistaken as various pieces of jewelry. (ring, earing, bracelet, armband, headband, etc.)

Each piece is magical, but as you bring more pieces together there is additional magic.

For instance part one gives +1 protection, part two gives elemental resistence 10, part 3 lets you levitate. But having all three also give +3 to all saves, and prot evil 10' radius. (These are just examples.)

You can say that any two, or three, or four, or.... are needed for the combo, you can make it that any two will do it, or that you need a specific two for each effect, or that any two 'in order' will do it. (or any three, etc.)

It could be that he pieces have to be attached for the 'extra' effect, or just near each other. (such as for area affects, or party affects.)

basically, my only request is that each part has a power, and that in some way, more parts give 'extra' powers.

They will be finding these over the course of many levels, from 2-12? probably. The final assembly will be 'needed' in an epic fight with a major demon-type.

I have come up with a number of different ideas, but think I am missing some cool ideas.

 

[Whisper72]

Well, the powers you listed so far are 'random' powers. The item must have been designed by someone / something at some point or other with some sort of purpose. What was this purpose? The powers invested into the item should somehow be connected to this purpose.

If you want, the item being very old and using common artifact themes, the item (or parts thereof) may have been infused with the essence of past users / enemies who died using the item / though use of the item. Maybe these essences have added other powers 'common' to these essences (i.e. a demon's essence may provide powers common to demons etc.), and they may whisper to the holders of the items, giving advice (which may or may not be to the detriment of the holder...).

As for the final assembly, have the final part not be a ring, but maybe the centre (a 'coin'? a small globe?), so that it is not at first a logical part of the set and therefore missed by searchers for the item (including the PC's) who are looking for seven 'rings'.

Just some thoughts..

 

[the Jester]

There was a 2e boxed set adventure, iirc, but I never had or read it. Don't know if it was any good or not.

I'd make its powers aimed towards Law, personally, based on its background.

 

[Steel_Wind]

The 2e boxed version is fun. It was written by Skip Williams so it's long on flexibility and conformity to the Rules and a little brief on characterization. This just makes it easy for a DM to make it their own adventure.

It's a generic campaign with very flexible chapters. It's not "out of the box" A>B>C>etc, but rather : here are 4 or 5 starting points - choose one and bring this chapter somehow to around point F for the next portion of the campaign.

It is not a campaign required to be set on any one game world setting.

It's very convertible to 3.5. I know because I was going to run it and read it for that purpose.

The key to the Rod of Seven Parts is recognizing that the artifact ACTIVELY RESISTS being assembled. You also must add pieces together in the right order, and it is not at all clear to a possessor of the pieces which is the right order.

If you get it wrong, there is an excellent chance the Rod will fly apart, with pieces randomly teleporting in various directions.

Mind you, as you possess more and more pieces assembled in the correct order, the possessor will know where the other pieces are.

Skip makes it very clear that there are others searching for the Rod and still others who will oppose you from assembling it. It is not a minor item - it is a legendary artifact with all the seriousness that implies and engages many powers who have an interest in it or who fear its being assembled.

In terms of powers...

Each Rod piece has a minor power and major power.

The Rod itself has cumulative resonating powers as pieces of it are assembled. The powers of the Rod therefore vastly outnumber that of any other item in 2E, and weighs in at 21, together with a few latent powers as well in terms of resistances and weapon uses. 25 of them or so, all-in.

The final resonating power of the Rod is a True Resurrection. It will work - for sure with no possibility of failure - and the Rod will then fly apart.

Please stop and consider the mischief one can work with a Rod which will - for an absolute certainty - resurrect someone - or something - that has been dead a VERY long time.

The Rod of Seven Parts is available on RPGnow.com for $4.95. The page count is 247. You can get it here

 

[der_kluge]

Yea, the boxed set is good. I recommend it if you come across it.

Are you still treating the "Rod" as a LN item?

If so, I'd suggest lots of anti-chaos effects like Holy Smite (or is that the anti-evil spell) and protection from chaos, etc, etc.

 

[IamTheTest]

If somebody could post the conversion to 3.x I'd definately buy this from DTRPG. ::hint hint::

 

[Coredump]

I knew about the boxed set, but wasn't bright enough to think of getting. (OMW to RPGNow...)


This, however, just based on the actual 2E rod. But I am flexible in the details. One change is that possession will not help you find the other parts. But I am open to having to put it together in order or not. Or making the last piece not a ring, or whatever.


It is being assembled to battle a powerful demon.

The party is being used (unknowingly) as pawns to gather the pieces. The 'real' powerplayers are too often being watched by 'bad guys' to try and collect pieces without large fights breaking out.
Yes bad guy minions are also looking for the rings.

So, any ideas for actual powers/combinations used?

 

[grodog]

For some additional insight into the development of the Rod', see Skip Williams' excellent "A History of the Rod of Seven Parts" (Dragon 224/December 1995). It's a tie-in to the Tomes box set.

There's also the RPGA tournament adventure "The Dwarven Quest for the Rod of Seven Parts" for which you can read info on the Acaeum at http://www.acaeum.com/DDIndexes/ModPages/R2.html (and a few tidbits in Dragon 65).

 

[Templetroll]

The group in my world met up with a Death Knight, the party battled his nightmare mount and the toughtest fighter, a Paladin, took on the knight. At one point, after the nightmare had died and the Paladin had gotten several good hits the player felt froggy about it. The character said, "You'll serve me in Hell!" and got another great shot. The DK replied, "Truer words were never spoken." thrust his glowing green sword through the torso of the paladin and crumbled into dust!

The players all had dropped jaws with this one and didn't like it that I was smiling.

The wizard teleport back to the castle, they got a momentary glimpse of a 100 years in the past, then blipped tot he present day. They saw that only one person had noticed them in that past instance, the former, evil Baron who had disappeared.

They got the sword removed, by just yanking it out, with a cleric standing by. They put it in a chest, chained the chest and put that within a Circle of Protection deep within a storeroom of the castle. During the next week, the paladin's wounds healed but he still felt badly (some hits did not heal up). They went to look at the sword and found the chest it was in had about an inch of blood in the bottom of it, apparently coming from the sword.

They sought something that might be able to help their friend. Their supposition was if the ranger was not saved the sword would turn him into a death knight (I liked that idea so jotted it down, I love when players give me ideas!) They were sent to a ki-rin; he told them he would help, if they took on a geas - he would provide them the means to get an item that could cure their friend but they could not kill anyone while they sought this artifact of Good. Destroying undead and constructs was not hindered. They accepted and got the first of seven pieces of the Staff of Life.

The adventure started on my world, went to Lanhkmar, Dragonlance, Dark Sun, Greyhawk (where they met my version of their future selves from another GMs game; they really liked ithat bit) and the future and past of my campaign world. All of the adventures had to do with gaining a piece of a stick - wand, rod or whatever they decided to call this piece of wood. During the course of it one person used a poison that he thought had been only Sleep but had 'changed' so he was suffering the effect of the Geas and the paladin was feeling poorly, so there was a great impetus to keep moving.

In my game timeline I had written, in 1979, there was a cataclysm that had caused magic to lessen from 10+ level spells (as per the DMG, that was the time artifacts were created) and destroyed the world spanning Empire of evil. This adventure was taking place in 1986.

The last scene was the party hiding in a huge chamber where the person they recognized that that ancient Emperor who was about to activate some mystic evil by placing the very staff, complete and undamaged, that they sought into a stone slab, leaving only the upper tip exposed... They sought that very same upper tip to complete their Staff of Life.

The cleric charged forward, touched the broken end to the lower-most part of exposed staff and there was a mystic explosion! The party found themselves in the past, injured but alive and with a complete staff! Due to things going on they realiazed that what they had done was cause the Decline of Magic by touching the artifact to the same artifact!

They saved the paladin, the geas-afflicted fellow and boogied on home with the time traveling device that broke just they arrived safely.... then the cleric with the staff told me he was retiring his character. He would wander the land, to be an NPC who could show up when needed to heal and cure where ever things were dire. It worked out well. The players were also pleased to now have become a part of the history of my world. ( I hadn't actually planned that when I started, btw. Just a good idea that came up as I worked up the adventures in the various worlds.)

have fun with it, it can be a great adventure!

 

[Crothian]

THe Box Set was really good, I ran it as a series of side adventures back in 2e days