Rods (DMG)

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Rods are about three feet long and as thick as your thumb. They are normally found in cases or similar storage places. Rods can be fashioned from metal, wood, ivory, or bone. They can be plain or decorated and carved, tipped, or not.
Rods are powered by charges, unless noted otherwise in the description of a particular rod. Each time the rod is used, one or more charge may be expended. Characters do not automatically know the number of charges possessed by an item when it is discovered, although research and spellcasting can reveal this.
A rod can sometimes be recharged according to the rules given for constructing magical items if its charges have not totally been used up. When a rod is drained of all charges, it loses all its magical properties and cannot be recharged ever again.
When discovered, a rod normally contains 41 to 50 (1d10+40) charges. However, while rods almost never have more charges than this, it is possible to find a rod with significantly fewer charges, particularly if it is captured from an enemy who has previously used the item.
==Command Words (Optional Rule)==
A rod is normally activated when the wielder utters a specific command word. This word acts like a trigger, unleashing the power stored within the item. Since control of a rod depends on knowledge of the command word, these are jealously guarded by the owner. An absent-minded wizard can etch the command word on the item or carry it on a piece of paper in his pocket, but this is only rarely done. Most often the character must use spells of the divination school or sages to discover the correct command to activate a rod.