Rod of Alertness

A rod of alertness is a magic rod found on UA 94.

Surprise modifier

The +1 to surprise rolls means the possessor's party's surprise die is improved by one step (see Surprise for more info). Of course, this magic stacks with any surprise bonus granted from other sources, such as the presence of a weasel familiar or a ranger.

All powers of this rod, including the surprise bonus, are only in effect when the possessor is holding the rod firmly in one hand, and nothing else in that hand.1) Though UA 94 reads “bestows +1 to the possessor's die rolls…” and then later talks about being grasped, this one rod being the single wand/staff/rod that worked when not held would be unprecedented, so we don't think the sentence structure is meant to indicate an exception.

Who gets the prayer spell

It must be noted that the text says that the prayer specially targets all allies within 2“. Therefore, it functions unlike the prayer spell which also targets enemies to give them penalties. Put another way, this rod grants allies the boons of prayer, but does not apply the “debuff” to any enemies.