Rod of Wonder

The Rod of Wonder is an artifact from Dungeons & Dragons that does either something benevolent, malevolent, or ambivalent for the person using it. The effect is always random and usually chosen by rolling a d100 and looking at a table to determine the effect. There are many different tables (all with different effects) out there with which to refer to. Also, some choose to make their own tables.

Some "hilarious" effects include:

• Mass invisibility affects every creature within 900 ft. of the wielder.
• Reverse gravity affects 150 ft., centered on the rod wielder.
• The most recent adversary the wielder killed that has an equal or greater number of Hit Dice is returned to life at the exact location where it was slain, and it immediately becomes obsessed with evening the score.
• Wielder is teleported to the location where he was at exactly one day ago.
• Any other random effect your DM can think of.

Various editions of D&D call it the Wand of Wonder (including the current one), which in that case is a typical magic item instead of an artefact. Although functionally the same, The practical difference is a wand can be pointed, whereas a rod is something you hold in your fist and wave in a vague direction. Oh, and wands can be broken, which releases all the remaining charges (may the gods have mercy on your character's soul).

It is called the Staff of Chaos in Dungeon Crawl. Here, it's a weapon that does random things to its target, like for instance turning them into a mermaid, or a berserker.

D&D 3.5e stat block

A rod of wonder is a strange and unpredictable device that randomly generates any number of weird effects each time it is used. (Activating the rod is a standard action.) Typical powers of the rod include the following.

d%	Wondrous Effect
01-05	Slow creature pointed at for 10 rounds (Will DC 15 negates).
06-10	Faerie fire surrounds the target.
11-15	Deludes wielder for 1 round into believing the rod functions as indicated by a second die roll (no save).
16-20	Gust of wind, but at windstorm force (Fort DC 14 negates).
21-25	Wielder learns target's surface thoughts (as with detect thoughts) for 1d4 rounds (no save).
26-30	Stinking cloud at 30' range (Fort DC 15 negates).
31-33	Heavy rain falls for 1 round in 60' radius centered on rod wielder.
34-36	Summon an animal: a rhino (01-25 on d%), elephant (26-50), or mouse (51-100).
37-46	Lightning bolt (70' long, 5' wide), 6d6 damage (Reflex DC 15 for half).
47-49	Stream of 600 large butterflies pours forth and flutters around for 2 rounds, blinding everyone (including wielder) within 25 ft. (Ref DC 14 negates).
50-53	Enlarge person if within 60' of rod (Fort DC 13 negates).
54-58	Darkness, 30' diameter hemisphere, centred 30' away from rod.
59-62	Grass grows in 160 sq.ft. area before the rod, or grass existing there grows to ten times normal size.
63-65	Turn ethereal any nonliving object of up to 1,000 lbs. mass and up to 30 cu.ft. in size.
66-69	Reduce wielder to 1/12 height (no save).
70-79	Fireball at target or 100' straight ahead, 6d6 damage (Reflex DC 15 for half).
80-84	Invisibility covers rod wielder.
85-87	Leaves grow from target if within 60' of rod. These last 24 hours.
88-90	10-40 gems, value 1 gp each, shoot forth in a 30' long stream. Each gem deals 1 point of damage to any creature in its path: Roll 5d4 for the number of hits and divide them among the available targets.
91-95	Shimmering colours dance and play over a 40'x30' area in front of rod. Creatures therein are blinded for 1d6 rounds (Fort DC 15 negates).
96-97	Wielder or target (50%/50% chance) turns permanently blue, green, or purple (no save).
98-100	Flesh to stone (or stone to flesh if target is stone already) if target is within 60' (Fort DC 18 negates).

Moderate enchantment; Crafter must be 10th level; Craft Rod feat, confusion spell, creator must be chaotic; Price for materials: 12,000 gp.

Links

Here's a link to the Wizards Rod of Wonder Effect Generator.

See Also

• Deck of Many Things