The Sceptre of Might

)   The Sceptre of Might
Base item	mace
Damage vs. small	1d6+1 x2
Damage vs. large	1d6 x2
To-hit bonus	+1d5
Bonus versus	cross-aligned
Weapon skill	mace
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	lawful Caveman intelligent
When carried	magic resistance
When wielded	(none)
When invoked	toggles conflict
Base price	2500 zm
Weight	30
Material	iron

The Sceptre of Might is the caveman quest artifact. It is lawful for wishing purposes. Its base item type is a mace.

When carried, the Sceptre confers magic resistance. When wielded, you get +d5 to hit and deal double damage against monsters with alignment different than the Sceptre. Invoking the Sceptre toggles conflict on or off. Conflict confered by the Sceptre does not cause the usual hunger.

The slotless magic resistance and toggleable conflict make the Sceptre a great wish for lawful non-Cavemen, especially in the early game.

Average damage calculation

We assume the player has expert skill in mace, which gives a +2 damage bonus. A blessed weapon deals 1d4 extra damage against demons and undead. The worst case scenario is against a lawful, non-undead, non-demon, large monster. The best case scenario is against a non-lawful undead/demon small monster.

Weapon	Against regular lawful small monsters	Against regular lawful large monsters	Against regular non-lawful small monsters	Against regular non-lawful large monsters	Worst case scenario	Best case scenario
Uncursed Sceptre of Might +0	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+2=\bold{6.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+2=\bold{5.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+1 \right )\times{2}+2=\bold{11}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2} \right )\times{2}+2=\bold{9}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2} \right )+2=\bold{5.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+1 \right )\times{2}+2=\bold{11}$
Blessed Sceptre of Might +7	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+7+2=\bold{13.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+7+2=\bold{12.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+1+7 \right )\times{2}+2=\bold{25}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+7 \right )\times{2}+2=\bold{23}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+7+2=\bold{12.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+1+7 \right )\times{2}+2+\frac{1+4}{2}=\bold{27.5}$

SLASH'EM

The Sceptre of Might does significantly less damage in Slash'EM. Its to-hit bonus has been reduced to a set +3, and it does an additional 5 points of damage versus cross-aligned creatures instead of double damage.

Encyclopedia entry

This mace was created aeons ago in some unknown cave,
and has been passed down from generation to generation of
cave dwellers.  It is a very mighty mace indeed, and in
addition will protect anyone who carries it from magic
missile attacks.  When invoked, it causes conflict in the
area around it.