Rod Of The Pact Keeper DND 5e Guide

There are a lot of things that need to be considered when a magic item is involved. Its rarity, abilities, attunements, drawbacks, etc. Rod of the Pact Keeper is such a magic item that is deemed powerful for warlocks.

The ability to enhance a warlock’s spellcasting abilities and increase their potency in combat. With its ability to restore spell slots and increase spell save DCs, the Rod of the Pact Keeper is a must-have item for any warlock seeking to maximize their potential on the battlefield.

This guide will give you a complete overview of the Rod of the Pact Keeper 5e including its history, mechanics, cost, and how to use them on the battlefield.

Rod Of The Pact Keeper Description & Attributes

Rod of the pact keeper is a D&D fifth edition (5e) magic item designed to enhance warlocks’ eldritch powers. Because this is not a legendary item, there is not much in-game narrative behind the rod of the pact keeper available. Thus the DM will be responsible for crafting the tale behind the item. 

The Rod of the Pact Keeper (RPK) is a shadow-black rod roughly an inch wide and two feet long. It has dwarven and demonic binding runes. It’s one of Phandelver Pact’s final products.

The Phandevler Pact was a group of mages that partnered with a dwarf tribe and used Spellforge’s ability to construct a variety of magical devices, including the RPK.

They were completely decimated when an Orcish horde assaulted their base in Wave Echo Cave.

Attributes of the Rod of the Pact Keeper

Item Type	Magical Item
Rarity	Very Rare, Rare and Uncommon
Cost (Very Rare)	50,000 gold pieces
Cost (Rare)	5,000 gold pieces
Cost (Uncommon)	500 gold pieces

Rod Of The Pact Keeper Working

After your warlock has been attuned to this energizer battery for warlock powers, they will keep it close at hand at all times.

What Does The Rod Of The Pact Keeper Do?

This rod offers a boost to spell attack rolls and spell saving throw DCs for your warlock spells when attuned by a warlock. The rod is available in three rarities (very rare, rare, and uncommon), each of which provides an increased benefit based on how difficult it is to find:

• Very Rare: +3
• Rare: +2
• Uncommon: +1

The rod of the pact keeper also comes with a secondary ability, allowing you to regain 1 warlock spell slot as an action as long as you’re holding the rod. You can use this property once per long rest.

What Does Rod Of The Pact Keeper Doesn’t Do?

The Rod of the Pact Keeper doesn’t have any effect on the damage of a Warlock spell. Instead, the rod improves the chances that a spell will hit the target (spell attack) while decreasing the chances that the target will avoid or resist the spell (saving throw).

Rod Of The Pact Keeper +1 And Other Bonuses

Depending on the rarity of the item, Rod of the Pact Keeper can provide a bonus of +1, +2, or +3. This bonus is +1 at Uncommon, +2 at Rare, and +3 at Very Rare. This is done so that you can subsequently replace the Rod of the Pact Keeper with an enhanced version. This item’s usefulness and power are substantial enough that the unique uses of other things in the same tier can only be on par, not stronger.

While the boost may appear little, keep in mind that the only options to increase your spell save DC or spell attack bonus are to use magic items or enhance your primary casting stat. Even so, items normally only increase one or the other, not both.

Leaving aside the rarity, even a +1 in each of these features is comparable to a +2 to your major stat; it raises the maximum attainable spell casting from +9 to +13. It means you’ll never miss a villager or goblin-level opponent and will very certainly strike stronger ones.

The Wand of the War Mage is the closest item that provides a benefit to spell attack rolls, but it does not grant a bonus to spell save DC. This is a powerful effect, and because you may locate copies of it with increasing rarity, you might argue it scales with the player.

Rod Of The Pact Keeper Attunement

The magical RPK requires attunement by a Warlock. Attuning to this item requires a 1-hour ritual performed by a spellcaster. Once attuned, the Warlock gains the bonus benefits, plus the ability to regain one Warlock spell slot per day.

A Warlock can regain another spell slot after a long rest (8 hours). You receive a +1 to spell attack rolls and the saving throw DCs of your warlock spells when holding this rod. The rarity of the rod determines the bonus.

Rod Of The Pact Keeper Cost

Rods of the Pact Keeper are available in three distinct rarities, making this item suited for almost any level of play. According to the table in the Dungeon Master’s Handbook, the various rarities should be rewarded at particular levels and, if purchased, should have an escalating cost:

• Rare (+1): 1st or higher level – 101-500 gold pieces
• Rare (+2): 5th or higher level – 501-5,000 gold pieces
• Very Rare (+3): 11th level or higher – 5,001-50,000 gold pieces

If the player possesses the requisite tools (such as Arcana proficiency) and wants to manufacture their own rod of the pact keeper, they can do so by investing the following time and gold:

• Uncommon (+1): 2 workweeks + 200 gold pieces
• Rare (+2): 10 workweeks + 2000 gold pieces
• Very Rare (+3): 25 workweeks + 20,000 gold pieces

Rod Of The Pact Keeper Stack With Other Weapons

Items and abilities with the same name cannot be stacked; however, items with comparable effects that do not share ability names can be applied. In this sense, you can significantly improve your spell attack or spell save DC compared to other classes.

Is Rod Of The Pact Keeper A Good Weapon To Have?

The rod of the pact keeper is undoubtedly the most powerful thing a warlock can wield. While some magical items may be more entertaining, receiving a direct boost to your spell attacks and saving throws, along with an additional spell every long rest, is quite strong. 

The increase to spell attacks is especially strong on warlocks, who have a lot of them owing to their eldritch blasts. When it comes to regaining a spell slot, warlocks should use this function after battle if they are unable to take a brief rest. This allows them to replenish their spell slot without losing a valuable initiative round.

Warlocks don’t generally need to carry weapons or shields (unless they’ve chosen the Pact of the Sword Eldritch Boon), thus the free hand and attunement slot required to wield the pact keeper’s rod is a modest price to pay for an extraordinarily effective enhancement to your spellcasting.

Is Rod Of The Pact Keeper Craftable?

Surprisingly, there isn’t much lore about this item. Unless it was renamed and remastered from a prior item, I believe WoTC introduced this item in the 5th edition. As there is nothing to rely back on, the crafting processes would have to be created from the start.

The Rod of Pact Keeper can be viewed as a mix of the Pearl of Power and the Wand of the Warmage. You can use this crafting method if you like or skip it.

• A pearl extracted from an oyster that has been guarded by water spirits or a faerie heart.
• Shards of a Magi Staff or wood from an older Treant
• Will’o wisp essence or Spined Devil horns
• Shards from a Flameskull or a Bearded Devil’s beard.

Is Rod Of The Pact Keeper An Overpowered Weapon?

While the Rod of the Pact Keeper is a powerful and potent item for a warlock, it is not overpowered as it has a few drawbacks which limit its power.

To begin with, it is a class-exclusive item; although not exactly a disadvantage, its effects will only be applied to that class limitation. Even if you multiclass, its powers can only affect your character’s Warlock side. This implies that as time passes and you achieve more levels, your investment in Warlock will decrease.

Second, it is an object of attunement. While not intrinsically bad, I would argue that it is nevertheless a disadvantage because it is typically used to balance off powerful impacts. In this situation, it is more difficult for a Warlock because many of their items are attunement-based, therefore attuning to this would lock away one of your three valuable slots.

Finally, it has a once-per-long rest item as its second effect. In comparison to some of the newer items, which are only activated once per day or at a specified time of day (Dawn, Noon, Dusk), this makes it difficult to recover when its single charge has been depleted.

While these drawbacks are not too overbearing, it helps in making the Rod of the Pact Keeper “not-so-overpowered”.

Where To Get The Rod Of The Pact Keeper in D&D 5E?

You can obtain it in Elemental Evils by completing the DDEX2-8 or the Foulness under Mulmaster Adventures. It is for levels 1-4, thus it is a short yet delightful adventure that most people can complete.

Wrath of Demons includes it as a +2 Rod of the Pact keeper in the tier 2 adventure DDEX 3-13: Writhing in the Dark. It is an even shorter adventure, clocking in about two hours of playing for level 8 gamers.

One Curse of Strahd Hardcover is concealed deep within Castle Ravenloft. It’s a +1 rod, so pick it up along the road, as you’ll be about level 9 by then.

In season 0, you can obtain this item via the Soulbound Tomb, a DDAL Open, or a tier-one open event. This applies to both rounds of the Soulbound Tomb, and the tier 3 edition of this adventure also grants you a Rod of the Pact Keeper +2.

DDAL 05-18: The Mysterious Island, amongst the Storm King’s Thunder. As part of your prize, you will receive a Rod of the Pact Keeper +3. Just be prepared to battle for your life, since this adventure is rated as Tier 4 for level 17 gamers.

This item is available in DDAL 09-20: Where Devils Fear to Tread for Baldur’s Gate: Decent into Avernus. A level 18 quest that includes a Rod of the Pact Keeper +2 as one of your many fantastic prizes.

Conclusion

There you go! Now you know everything about the Rod of the Pact Keeper. While it is a very powerful magic item, it is not overpowered because of its limitations. It also doesn’t have much in-game lore, so you can make up your own little origin story to make it more unique and fun.

d&d 5e Rod of the Pact Keeper is an invaluable asset to a warlock and if learned how to use it effectively, RPK is one of the best magic items in the game.