Staff of Swarming Insects 5e
Staff, rare (requires attunement by a Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard)
This staff has 10 charges and regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, a swarm of insects consumes and destroys the staff, then disperses.
Spells. While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend some of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: Giant Insect (4 charges) or Insect Plague (5 charges).
Insect Cloud. While holding the staff, you can use an action and expend 1 charge to cause a swarm of harmless flying insects to spread out in a 30-foot radius from you. The insects remain for 10 minutes, making the area heavily obscured for creatures other than you. The swarm moves with you, remaining centered on you. A wind of at least 10 miles per hour disperses the swarm and ends the effect.
Commentary by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
I can envision dozens of grimy little guys that would adore this staff. You’re all buggy and gross, spewing arachnids and insects alike all about, causing mischief, mayhem, and sometimes devastation in your wake!
Staffs can be both druidic focuses and arcane focuses, but aren’t holy symbols, making them work as focuses for every spellcasting class except cleric and paladin.
When casting spells with magic items, you don’t need to provide any spell components, but you do need to concentrate on the effects if they require concentration, and you can only cast them at their lowest level.
Giant Insect is a criminally under cast spell, but does require you keep on you the insects you’d like to enlarge, as they aren’t material components required by the spell.
The cloud of insects providing one-sided Heavy Obscurity is debilitating for some DMs- Eldritch Blaster warlocks can leverage it to gain advantage on all of their attack rolls while imposing disadvantage on all attack rolls against them, all for a single charge!
Generally, you don’t want to expend the last charge; why risk losing your cool insect stick?
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