The Staff of Frost's Cheapest Trick
The Staff of Frost in D&D 5e carries 10 charges and four spells at wildly different prices. Cone of Cold runs 5 charges. Ice Storm and Wall of Ice cost 4 each. Fog Cloud costs 1. Attuning to the staff also grants resistance to cold damage for as long as you hold it, and that costs nothing at all. It is passive, permanent while held, and easy to forget you have.
The math punishes greed. The staff regains only 1d6 + 4 charges at dawn, so a single Cone of Cold empties more than half your reserve. Spend the last charge and roll a 1, and the staff crumbles to ice. That risk exists solely on the final charge, which means the expensive spells are also the ones most likely to end the item.
Fog Cloud is the exception worth remembering. One charge for a 20-foot-radius sphere of heavy obscurement is a genuine bargain, and it never comes close to triggering the destruction check. Blocking sightlines, breaking pursuit, or covering a retreat rarely calls for the big guns.
At the table: Drop Fog Cloud across a chokepoint to cover the party’s exit, keeping the four remaining charges intact for one Ice Storm when the fight actually turns.
Related
Daily field notes, weekly Issues. Follow @ItsAlrdyWritten or subscribe via RSS.