The fourth edition Monster Manual describes the Wand as 'a heavy mace tipped with an enormous skull' and states that its smooth obsidian haft is studded with blood rubies.
The adventure Dead Gods describes the wand as 'a 3-foot long iron scepter with a human skull set into one end', while the Book of Vile Darkness describes the wand, with third edition statistics, as a 'black obsidian and iron rod' which is 'topped with the skull of a human hero slain by Orcus'. The Wand of Orcus appears in the 5th edition Dungeon Masters Guide 2014. Third edition game statistics for the wand appear in the Book of Vile Darkness 2002 by Monte Cook, on page 122. Another illustration of the wand appears on page 101 of the second edition boxed set Planes of Chaos 1994 by Lester Smith and Wolfgang Baur for the Planescape setting, in the section on Pandemonium. The wand was further detailed on page 162 of the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide, also by Gygax, in the section on treasure artifacts and relics. It was mentioned in the first Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual by Gary Gygax, with an illustration by David C. There, it is also called 'the wand of death' or 'Orcuss Wand', and is described as 'a rod of obsidian topped by a skull. The Wand of Orcus is first presented in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement in 1976, by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume, for the original white box Dungeons & Dragons game.
