While traditional fighters will go with melee or ranged weapons, characters focused on utilizing magic may prefer the use of wands. Wands are, generally speaking, of the same basic shape and size -- a narrow stick-like weapon the approximate length of a human forearm -- however there is an impressive variety of materials from which they can be constructed. These materials create specific effects and give wands particular elemental affinities that dictate the specific spells that any one wand can cast.
Procurement and Use
Wands can be looted from dead enemies, purchased in shops, retrieved from chests, and procured in other such manner. There is no limit to the number of wands an adventurer can carry, but they can only hold one wand for each hand or functional appendage.
To use a wand, a player must hold a single 1d30 die in their hand and roll it as they speak the incantation -- thereby casting the magic stored in the wand. The incantation must be uttered before the result of the die is known. If the dice result becomes known and the phrase is still being spoken, a backfire occurs.
Wands (regardless of level) can be used in amity by anyone with an amity magic level greater than "0" and during combat by anyone with a combat magic level greater than "0". If during combat your statistics are temporarily altered to fall below these levels, you may continue to hold your wand if you wish but cannot cast incantations.
Alternative Genres
In the event your game master is running a game in a non-fantasy genre (steampunk, modern day, etc), "wands" may be referred to by some alternative noun such as "steam sticks" (in a steampunk world) or "laser wands" (in a futuristic setting). Similarly, several of the following game mechanics may change in small ways as a result.
Incantation Words and Phrases
Incantations are a single word or phrase uttered to activate a wand. They are spoken concurrently with or immediately prior to a 1d20 roll. The words used with a particular wand are engraved on the wand itself and magically change if the statistics of the wand change.
- Air - (1) Aurelium ; (2) Aura
- Earth - (1) Terraemotus ; (2) Terrae
- Electricity - (1) Ecsectus ; (2) Ecsex
- Fire - (1) Ignatia ; (2) Ignat
- Water - (1) Aquestria ; (2) Aquest
- Athletics - (1) Fugodia ; (2) Fuja
- Blaspheme - (1) Blasphemia ; (2) (none)
- Blood - (1) Sanguinus ; (2) Sangu
- Demand - (1) Territuri ; (2) Tuti
- Obedience - (1) Oboedia ; (2) Oba
- Revelation - (1) Serpico ; (2) Serpses
- Theft - (1) Fabricus ; (2) Fable
- Truth - (1) Interrogatus ; (2) Roga
- Web - (1) Textilia ; (2) Tex
For example:
- A LVL8 wand with 50% fire and 50% water would respond to both "Ignatia Aquest" and "Aquestria Ignat" for someone looking to produce a cloud of scalding steam.
- A LVL8 wand with 30% truth and 70% athletics would respond to "Interrogatus Fuja" with a torture spell and respond to "Fugodia Roga" with a spell to steady all characters who just lost their balance.
- A LVL8 wand with 40% fire, 30% water, 20% truth, and 10% athletics would respond to all four of the above incantations, but in each case would produce a weaker result because the wand can only provide less than 100% of it's total power.
- A LVL8 wand with 50%/50% revelation and blaspheme would successfully respond to "Blasphemia", "Agnosco", "Blasphemia Agno", and "Agnosco Blasphemia", but only the second two would successfully reveal all hidden religious objects ("Blasphemia" and "Agnosco" would not result in a backfire because they are correct for this wand, but the target object would -- at the game master's discretion -- probably defy their resultant spells).
Diminius
Wands are incredibly powerful and can create both amazing area of effect (AOE) spells and potent local attacks. When using AOE attacks, the damage is divided evenly between all those effected whereas local attacks deliver all of that same damage to a single enemy. To differentiate between the two, spellcasters must use the word "diminius" at the end of any incantation intended to be a local attack.
For example:
- The incantation "Aurelium" will create a tornadic windstorm that will suck up all people in a room (friend, foe, and caster) for a short time doing damage equal to the wand damage (as defined by the Xd6 dice roll) divided by the number of targets pulled into the storm. The incantation "Aurelium Diminius" will create a single blast of wind that throws a target backward (distance based on wand level) and does Xd6 air damage.
- The incantation "Serpico Tex" will reveal all the enemies in the room that fail their saving throw and then secure them in place with webs for one turn. The incantation "Serpico Tex Diminius" directed toward the end of a narrow hallway will reveal the first enemy it hits, do wand damage (from the web attack), and secure that enemy in place with webs until they hack themselves free.
- The incantation "Ignatia Sangu" will create huge areas of molten rock or flowing lava (think "poison fire") which burns anyone who stands on it. The incantation "Ignatia Sangu Diminius" used on a water elemental will turn that creature into a steaming stone statue (think "lava plus water").
- The incantation "Diminius" results in an unstoppable bolt of arcane magic that strikes a single enemy for one damage (no saving throw, no damage roll).
Memorium
Casting the same spell twice in the same fight may be prohibited by your game master if he wants you to be particularly creative in your spellcasting. However, in the event that you need to recast a spell, simply using the incantation "memorium" will re-cast the last spell used on that creature or one of it's kind.
For instance, if you are fighting two skeletons and you manage to kill the first with a "Aurelium Ecsex Diminius" spinning lightning spell, when it comes time to battle the second skeleton, you can cast "memorium" to attack the next skeleton with the same spell. However, if a zombie enters the fray, using "memorium" on the zombie will do nothing. But even if you take one or more turns to handle the zombie, when you finally turn your attention to the second skeleton you could use "memorium" to re-cast the spell you used on the first skeleton.
In all cases of "memorium", both the 1d30 roll to see if it hits and the Xd6 roll for damage in the event of a successful hit must be made again. Also, it is the player's responsibility to remember what the original spell was the the player's character is trying to re-use. After all, if you can't remember the spell you cast, then you can't cast a memory spell, now can you?
Backfires
In the event a failed dice check or a violation of casting rules occurs, the game master will enact a backfire -- an unpleasant counter-reaction -- that may injure or in some other way hinder the caster. A backfire still counts as either a major or minor action depending on whether the original wand cast was major or minor respectively (see combat attacks for more on major and minor wand actions).
Examples of backfires might be fire damage to the caster from an incorrectly cast fireball, one-turn blindness to the caster from an incorrectly cast revelation spell, or poison to the caster from a blood wand. For a player at low HP, a backfire can result in incapacitation.
Wand Names
The name of a wand is based on it's primary statistic. Blended wands should take the name of their dominant statistic. For example, a wand that is 75% fire and 25% water would be known as a Wand of Fire unless it is identified as a unique wand by your game master.
- Wand of Air - whirlwinds, gusting, and atmospheric effects
- Wand of Earth - fissures and stalagmites
- Wand of Electricity - arcs of lightning, shocks, stuns, fences
- Wand of Fire - igniting, burning, and illuminating
- Wand of Water - quenching, drowning, dousing, draining, washing, and the creation of shadows
- Wand of Athletics - levitation and balance
- Wand of Blaspheme - knowledge, insight, charisma, persuasion
- Wand of Blood - healing, poisoning, and chemistry
- Wand of Demand - dominate the mind of a humanoid, pull, manipulate objects
- Wand of Obedience - dominate the mind of a non-humanoid, growth, shrinking, nature
- Wand of Revelation - sneaking, discovering hidden objects or creatures, investigation, identification, and translation
- Wand of Theft - lock picking, securing a doorway or object, traps, forgery, or mimicry
- Wand of Truth - glows during interrogation and dispels magic
- Wand of Web - braided or woven items, patches of sticky ground or walls
Wand Damage and Immunity Mitigation
The type of damage (burning, water, etc.) may be of interest against certain monsters with listed immunities, the damage dealt is always equal to Xd6 -- where "X" is the level of the wand. So a LVL8 Wand of Fire requires a roll of eight six-sided dice on a successful attack.
In the event the creature being attacked has immunity against one or more of the stats being used in the wand attack, the game master will mitigate some of the damage caused by the above dice roll. For instance, again using the LVL8 Wand of Fire -- which also contains statistics for Athletics -- a Firebomb spell (fireball plus a levitation that throws the target across the room) that would normally do let's say 24 damage (determined by an 8d6 roll) would only do 12 damage to a target with fire immunity, 12 damage to a target with athletic immunity, and 0 damage to a target with both.
Optional Mechanic - Charges
In some cases, a game master might want to limit the number of times you can use a wand in a given battle or between trips to your town by adding charges. If a wand holds only four charges, then it can be used four times before you must switch to a melee weapon, another ranged weapon, or find a way to recharge your wand.
Crafting Wands
Wands can be crafted while in town at a forge. The level of the wand will be equal to or less than the crafting player's current player level. Unless identified as unique by your DM, all crafted wands take on the name of their primary statistic.
Crafting a wand requires a life sacrifice. The crafter must subtract a percentage of their MAX HP from their current HP in order to create their wand of choice. This damage cannot be healed while resting in town (even via healing actions, wand spells, or potions).
- Wand Level: Same as Hero Level = 50% MAX HP sacrifice
- Wand Level: Hero Level -1 = 40% MAX HP sacrifice
- Wand Level: Hero Level -2 = 30% MAX HP sacrifice
- Wand Level: Hero Level -3 = 20% MAX HP sacrifice
- Wand Level: Hero Level -4 = 10% MAX HP sacrifice
- Wand Level: Hero Level -5 or less = 5% MAX HP sacrifice
For the purposes of brevity, it is assumed that the materials needed for every wand have either been found while adventuring or were purchased in town.
Wands can be traded freely in town. To trade wands outside of town, a 1d30 die roll must occur. A roll of "5" or less causes the wand to cause full damage (Xd6) to both the giver and the recipient. As long as the recipient is still conscious at the end of the exchange, the exchange is successful. If the recipient is knocked out, the exchange fails and the wand remains with the original holder.
Blending Wands
Using a forge, you can blend together two wands of the same equipment level to create a single wand of the next equipment level. For instance, two wands of level 8 can be blended together to create one single wand of level 9. The resultant wand is a hybrid of the first two wands -- the stats of which must be determined by the game master.
The results of repeatedly blending wands on multiple occasions can create fascinating blends of magical powers. For instance, level 2 wand that has 50% ice and 50% webs can be used to cast a Chilled Web spell that injures a creature with cold damage while holding it in place OR the Frozen Feet spell which creates an ice patch that secures the feet of anyone who attempts to cross it.
These spells inherently do the same thing -- utilize the properties of both ice (elemental damage) and web (sticky) -- but can be used in unique situations to great effect. For example, if you fall into a frozen lake and cannot get out, you can use "Frozen Feet" on the surrounding ice to make it sticky -- thus giving you the leverage to pull yourself from the freezing water. A standard web-based wand could not be used in such a fashion, though it could be used to braid a web-based rope with which you could lasso a nearby object.
A blending roll occurs with 1d30. If you roll a "1", the blending option works, but the wand's stats are halved. If you roll a "30", the blending option works and the wand's stats are doubled. All other rolls will be interpreted by your game master.
Blending a unique wand destroys any unique properties it holds and reverts the name to that normally set by a wand's primary statistic.
Hiding or Destroying Wands
In the event you wish to deliberately destroy a wand, you simply introduce the wand to an element or attribute that conflicts with that wand's primary statistic. For instance, a Wand of Fire can be destroyed by dropping it into a bucket (LVL1) or lake (LVL10). Similarly,
You can abandon a wand at will by simply dropping it somewhere along your way (assuming it's not preventing you from doing so through mind control). However, this wand may be found by others who may trace it back to you, so be careful to hide it.
Under no circumstances can a wand be found or made to be invisible, though it can be housed without detection inside an invisible container or go unseen in the breast pocket of a hidden enemy.
Unique Wands
A unique wand is simply a wand with specific statistics that has been created by your game master for inclusion in the game. There is no list of "official" unique wands. The game master can simply include a wand -- which can bear any name -- and, at most, two unique slotted buffs and/or debuffs. These properties are revealed either through trial and error while using the wand or through an appropriately potent revelation spell. Unique wands do not have primary statistics in the way regular wands do.
If blended or destroyed, a unique wand will lose all of it's unique properties and it's name will revert to that of it's now primary statistic.
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