The Sceptre of Might

)   The Sceptre of Might
Base item	mace
Damage vs. small	1d6+1 ×2
Damage vs. large	1d6 ×2
To-hit bonus	+1d5
Bonus versus	cross-aligned
Weapon skill	mace
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	lawful Caveman intelligent
When carried	(none)
When wielded	magic resistance
When invoked	toggles conflict
Base price	2500 zm
Weight	30
Material	iron

The Sceptre of Might is the Caveman quest artifact. It is the prize for completing the Caveman quest, and is lawful for wishing purposes. Its base item type is a mace.

Effects

When wielded, the Sceptre confers magic resistance; it has +d5 to-hit and deals double damage against monsters with a different alignment than the Sceptre. Invoking the Sceptre toggles conflict on or off; if the Sceptre leaves your main inventory, it will also stop causing conflict. Conflict caused by the Sceptre does not cause the usual nutrition drain.

Strategy

See also: Invoke § Optimum invocation schedule

Thanks to its alignment-based double damage, the Sceptre is one of the best weapons in the game versus cross-aligned monsters, and your quest artifact is always co-aligned. Since most monsters in the game are either neutral or chaotic, for lawful characters the Sceptre is a great weapon, comparable even with a similarly enchanted Grayswandir against most non-silver hating monsters. However, the Sceptre is a somewhat weaker artifact for neutral Cavepeople; this becomes particularly noticeable in Gehennom. Erosion-proofing is recommended in either case, as quest artifacts are not generated damage-proof like sacrifice gifts.

The magic resistance, damage bonuses, and toggleable conflict also make the Sceptre of Might a viable artifact for Knights and lawful Priests that have an early wish to spare.

Average damage calculation

The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from weapon skills, strength, or from using a blessed weapon against undead or demons.

Weapon	Coaligned to the Sceptre		Cross-aligned to the Sceptre
	Small monster	Large monster	Small monster	Large monster
+0 Sceptre of Might	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1=\bold{4.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}=\bold{3.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+1 \right )\times{2}=\bold{9}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2} \right )\times{2}=\bold{7}$
+7 Sceptre of Might	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+7=\bold{11.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+7=\bold{10.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+1+7 \right )\times{2}=\bold{23}$	$\left (\frac{1+6}{2}+7 \right )\times{2}=\bold{21}$

History

The Sceptre of Might is introduced along with most of the other quest artifacts in NetHack 3.1.0; from this version to NetHack 3.1.3, its base item type was a quarterstaff. Until NetHack 3.6.0, the Sceptre of Might's magic resistance was conferred when carried.

Messages

You feel like a rabble-rouser.

You invoked the Sceptre of Might and are now causing conflict.

You feel the tension decrease around you.

You invoked the Sceptre of Might (or it left your main inventory), and you are no longer causing conflict.

You feel a surge of power, but nothing happens.

You invoked the Sceptre, but you were already causing conflict by other means.

Variants

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.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, the Sceptre of Might is now the Priest quest artifact; Cavemen have a new quest artifact called Big Stick, and the old Priest quest artifact, the Mitre of Holiness, is removed. The Sceptre confers drain resistance when wielded instead of magic resistance, and invoking it provides an energy boost instead of toggling conflict.

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 wields it from magic missile attacks. When invoked, it causes conflict in the area around it.