This question contains spoilers for Out of the Abyss, hence why this question’s title is quite ambiguous as well. If you do not want this adventure spoiled, avoid this question.
Date Title Sil: 1989— Silvesti (Eric Stone, John Owens, Michael Burrage): DMG: 2014 Dec. Dungeon Master’s Guide: LMP: 2014 July “Lost Mine of Phandelver” (Starter Set) HDR: 2014 Aug. Horde of the Dragon Queen. Wand of Orcus.The wand has 7 charges, and any of its properties that require a saving throw have a save DC of 18. While holding it, Orcus can use an action to cast animate dead, blight, or speak with dead.
So, the Wand of Orcus has this to say about attuning to it (DMG, pg. 227):
Any creature besides Orcus that tries to attune to the wand must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, the creature takes 10d6 necrotic damage. On a failed save, the creature dies and rises as a zombie.
Wand Of Orcus 5e
And in Out of the Abyss, it says this about the Wand of Orcus (pg. 219):
My question is this:
Wand Of Orcus Dmg 3
Would the quote from the DMG still apply? If the Wand of Orcus wants to be attuned to someone (because it wants to aid whoever is going to fight Demogorgon), would it still try to kill whoever it attempts to attune to?
Or at the very least would the person attuning to it automatically succeed the Constitution saving throw so that they just take some damage rather than being killed outright, since “the Wand of Orcus tries to attune itself”, implying it doesn’t try to resist, which is presumably what the failed save represents?
I know it doesn’t explicitly say this anywhere, but it seem against the intention of the plot that the wand is trying to attune to someone to help them in the fight if it just kills them and thus aids Demogorgon by doing so…
![Dmg Dmg](/uploads/1/3/4/3/134356593/722599244.jpg)
Or is this simply one of those cases where, as the DM, I could choose to just waive the negative effects of attuning to the wand or have the PC succeed the saving throw automatically or whatever else I choose?
Wand Of Orcus Dmg Free
- This shard is just a fragment of what was once Orcus' wand, but it still seems to possess formidable sentient power. At the wielder's command, the shard summons a volatile Sphere of Death to pursue and obliterate nearby enemies.
- So, the Wand of Orcus has this to say about attuning to it (DMG, pg. 227): Any creature besides Orcus that tries to attune to the wand must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, the creature takes 10d6 necrotic damage. On a failed save, the creature dies and rises as a zombie.
- On the first note, the 'Wand of Orcus' isn't really a 'wand.' Even shrinking down to a mortal's size, it's more of a mace or a morningstar than a 'wand.' I'd say it is certainly over 5 or 10 lbs. On the second note, in any event, I would definitely not rule that a Mage Hand counts as a 'user' of anything.