Booty Time: The Whacking Wand

When Ofro found the mysterious rune-engraven stick in the hollow beneath the alter he thought very little of it. He was just a burglar and such an obvious arcane implement was certainly destined to be designated "party treasure" - a fancy way to say it was meant for spellcasters like Krogan the Evoker or Sister Morisha. But then he remembered the way those two stick-in-the-muds had upbraided him over that tavern incident the previous night and keeping the wand hidden away for his favorite fence was starting to sound pretty good. Some two-bit prestidigitator in Queenstown was sure to pay handsomely for it.

It was only later, when Ofro's companions were being overwhelmed by Redcaps on the Greenstone Bridge, that he decided keep the wand for himself. With both Sister Morisha and Krogan the Evoker down for the count and the rest of his companions facing imminent death, Ofro reached for the wand and out of shear desperation gave Krogan solid whack to the side of the head. Feeling a surge of blue energy travel down his arms, Krogan immediately stood up and obliterated the remaining foes with a barage of magical missiles. The party was saved and Ofro was the hero. That Krogan's ear spewed yellow puss for weeks was icing on the cake.

THE WHACKING WAND
Appearance: A slender, tapered ash wand covered in minute runic proverbs of the Trickster God, it mildly radiates an aura of divine magic. It is rather long as far as wands go and it has a comfortable and easy-to-hold grip. Anyone holding the wand will feel a slight urge to smack somebody with it.

Function: The Whacking Wand requires no fancy words of invocation nor any particular occult skill or talent. A solid "thwack" delivered to the intended target is sufficient to activate its magic. Upon such a strike, life energy travels from the user to the victim/target. This energy restores physical, mental, emotional, or even spiritual damage [cliche dice lost in combat] in proportion to the amount of life energy transfered [cliche dice sacrificed by the user].

Unfortunately for both parties, the Trickster exacts a price for such healing. In addition to a period of general weakness, the user who sacrificed their life energy will be cursed with minor misfortunes for an indeterminate period of time [i.e. the cliche loss lasts for the entire session]. The recipient of the healing magic, while restored to full fighting capability, will suffer a minor and potentially embarrassing side-effect. The effect is usually cosmetic in nature but almost anything is possible. [This will not reduce dice in combat but it can affect Target Number rolls and cause a wide range of amusing inconveniences.]