Rod of the Wagering Blade

Aura Moderate transmutation and enchantment; CL 9th
Slot —; Price 38,000 gp; Weight 5 lb.

DESCRIPTION

This polished ebony rod is capped at both ends with engraved brass coins depicting long-forgotten monarchs. Tiny metallic clicking sounds occasionally emerge from within the rod, as though unseen dice are constantly tumbling through hollow chambers. The rod is an intelligent magic item capable of transforming itself into any nonmagical sword upon command.

As a standard action, the wielder may command the rod to transform into any normal sword from the following list: dagger-sized sword-like weapons are not permitted, but any standard sword weapon is allowed, including shortsword, longsword, bastard sword, greatsword, rapier, falchion, scimitar, and similar swords approved by the DM. The weapon created is masterwork and retains any enhancement bonuses or magical properties the rod possesses.

The rod may return to its rod form as a free action. While transformed, it functions in all respects as the chosen sword. The rod cannot assume the form of exotic magical swords, artifact weapons, or weapons with special materials unless such materials are physically incorporated into the rod during its creation.

Rod of the Wagering Blade is an intelligent item with the following statistics:

Intelligence 10, Wisdom 10, Charisma 10

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Communication: Speech (Common)

Senses: Darkvision and hearing out to 120 feet

Lesser Powers:
• Detect Magic at will
• Read Languages at will

Purpose:
To seek risk, uncertainty, and games of chance wherever they may be found.

Special Purpose Power:
Once per day, if its wielder willingly participates in a wager involving meaningful personal risk, the rod may grant a +2 luck bonus on all attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1 hour. The exact wager must involve something genuinely valuable to the participant and is subject to DM approval.

Personality

The rod calls itself "Lucky."

Lucky possesses an endlessly cheerful disposition and an unwavering belief that fortune favors the bold. It is fascinated by games, bets, dares, contests, and any situation in which the outcome remains uncertain. While generally friendly and helpful, it becomes visibly agitated when deprived of opportunities to gamble for extended periods.

Lucky constantly proposes wagers, often on trivial matters. It may offer odds on which tavern patron will spill a drink first, whether a guard sneezes within the next minute, or which member of the party opens the next door. It has no interest in accumulating wealth for its own sake; rather, it enjoys the act of risking something.

If denied opportunities for gambling over several weeks, Lucky becomes moody and argumentative. It may refuse to provide tactical advice, complain incessantly, or spend hours calculating absurd odds for entirely impossible events. Fortunately, it is not malicious, merely obsessed.

LORE

Bards tell conflicting stories regarding the creation of the Rod of the Wagering Blade. Some claim it was forged by a retired duelist who spent his final years wandering casinos and betting halls, while others insist it emerged from a bargain made between a wizard and an unusually clever spirit of chance.

The rod itself enthusiastically endorses every version of its origin story and frequently invents new ones. Depending upon the day, it may claim to have been crafted from a dragon's tooth, carved from the mast of a ghost ship, won in a card game against Death, or discovered at the bottom of a river inside a giant catfish. It appears genuinely uncertain which story, if any, is true.

Owners who spend significant time with Lucky often discover that its gambling addiction conceals a peculiar philosophy. The rod believes that uncertainty gives life meaning. According to Lucky, victory achieved without risk possesses little value, while failure endured after a worthy gamble becomes a story worth telling.

Many previous owners eventually parted ways with the rod, not because they disliked it, but because its constant encouragement toward bold choices proved exhausting. Nevertheless, a surprising number later admitted that some of the greatest adventures of their lives began with the rod saying, "I tell you what - let's make this interesting."

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Rod, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, polymorph, tongues, creator must be at least 9th level; Cost 19,000 gp + 1,520 XP

Kelwyn's Notes

There exists a particular sort of madness that civilization politely tolerates because it often arrives dressed as optimism. One may find it in gamblers, explorers, inventors, revolutionaries, and occasionally in those unfortunate souls who become all five simultaneously. Such individuals possess the unnerving conviction that tomorrow may somehow be more interesting than today, and they are willing to wager comfort, wealth, reputation, and sometimes life itself to discover whether they are correct.

Lucky embodies this impulse with remarkable purity. It does not seek power, conquest, or even profit. Gold interests it only insofar as gold may be risked. Victory interests it only because victory was not guaranteed. It views certainty with the same suspicion that a sailor might reserve for unnaturally still water. In its estimation, a life without risk is merely a prolonged rehearsal for death.

This perspective is, naturally, completely unreasonable. It is also difficult to entirely dismiss. Every city, every kingdom, every friendship, every great work of art or engineering exists because someone once accepted uncertainty and proceeded anyway. Humanity has survived not because it eliminated risk, but because it repeatedly chose to walk into the fog despite knowing what might be waiting there.

I confess a certain fondness for the rod, though I would never permit it near my finances. One can only spend so many evenings listening to an enchanted stick propose increasingly elaborate wagers involving weather patterns, migratory birds, and the probability of encountering hostile extradimensional mollusks before one's patience begins to erode. Yet there remains something strangely admirable in its stubborn belief that existence is meant to be experienced rather than merely endured.

Should you ever hear a cheerful voice suggesting that you bet your last silver piece on an outcome nobody can reasonably predict, I advise caution. Then again, should you never hear such a voice at all, you may discover that life becomes somewhat quieter, somewhat safer, and considerably less interesting.