Would You Let a Halfling Rog1 Have this Magic Item?

A little thing about the ring and its powers, especially invisibility: the ring could deny these powers at will by simply changing ring sizes.

When Isildur took the ring, he was later ambushed by orcs, as read in the book and seen in the movie. In the book, however, he dons the ring when the battle seems against him, and dives into the river to escape, using the invisibility of the ring to hide from the orcs view. The ring then slipped off his finger, revealing him to be killed by orc arrows, as it drifted down into the riverbed to be found by Smeagol many years later. So, the question you must consider is this: how do you determine when the ring will betray the wearer by just sliding off his finger?

Also, Sam wore the ring and was totally unaffected beyond the granted invisibility. What special powers did Sam posses that kept him from the corruption and power of the ring that seemed to grasp hold of Frodo as soon as he got the thing? He was, after all, right on Mordor's doorstoop when he donned it, thinking Frodo dead...

Re: Re: Great detail

ColonelHardisson said:

This would be OK for the 9, and maybe the 7, but not for the 3. The 3 were the ones untouched by Sauron during their creation. Basically, if Sauron revcovered the One, he would know where the Three and their wearers were, and know everything that was done with them, but he wouldn't control them. However, just knowing all that would give him a tremendous advantage, letting him concentrate his efforts. The powers of all of them are linked, though, so when the One was destroyed, the powers of all the Rings faded.

Click to expand...

Sauron wasnt able to control the 3 because they took them off as soon as they felt sauron put the ring on for the first time.

The 3 were wise to remove them... the 7 and the 9 were not. The 3 made a pact to never wear the rings unless the whereabouts of the ring is known to be safe. Its in the silmirilion. Otherwise they too would have been controlled by Sauron.

Gandalf was entrusted one of the 3 rings, particularly the Ring of Fire.

-Tim

I love the work on the Ring. I think it is very accurate and works within the parameters of 3E.

On a seperate issue; yes I would give an item LIKE this to a first level character if I wanted it to be part of the overall campaign.

Much like the Hobbit/LoTR, I would probably do it with out revealing it right away.

In fact I did this last year with a leveled version of a staff of power. The player stole it from his father thinking it a simple staff that would let him cast light at will. As the campaign progressed he became aware of the true nature of what he held. It freaked him out. He became paranoid and started using the staff less and less for fear of someone finding out what he had and taking it away from him.

Unfortunately the campaign ended when they were around 5th level (I moved) before he got to play some of the really cool powers.

Here is how I wrote the staff up:

Required Level Total XP Needed Power
0 0 Operates as a +1 Quarter Staff. Allows you to cast Detect Magic, Light and Mage Hand at will (as a standard action) per caster level.
3 800 Allows you to cast, Knock, Hold Portal and Mage Armor at will per caster level
5 1,600 By expending 1 charge (41 currently) you can cast Dispel Magic, Pyrotechnics or enlarge per your caster level.
7 3,600 The staff can absorb spells cast at you to recharge itself. By expending 1 charge you can cast Non-Detection or Passwall.
9 6,400 By expending 1 charge you can cast Fireball or Lighting Bolt.
11 10,000 By expending 1 charge you can cast Ice Storm or Teleport.
13 14,400 By expending 2 charges you can cast Telekinesis or Wall of Fire.
15 19,600 By expending 2 charges you may cast Plane Shift.
17 25,600 By Expending 2 charges you may cast Whirlwind
19 32,400 Your staff now grants you spell resistance 23. By expending 2 charges you may cast Summon Monster IX.

Of course this item doesn't have the scope or feel of an artifact like the One Ring but you get the idea.

Re: Re: Re: Great detail

trix said:

Sauron wasnt able to control the 3 because they took them off as soon as they felt sauron put the ring on for the first time.

The 3 were wise to remove them... the 7 and the 9 were not. The 3 made a pact to never wear the rings unless the whereabouts of the ring is known to be safe. Its in the silmirilion. Otherwise they too would have been controlled by Sauron.

Gandalf was entrusted one of the 3 rings, particularly the Ring of Fire.

-Tim

Click to expand...

Gandalf had Narya, the Ring of Fire.

Galadriel had Nenya, the Ring of Water.

Elrond had Vilya, the Ring of Air.

Here is a quote from The Silmarillion about the Rings. I was mistaken about the Elven Rings (on an important point, as trix noted):

...for the power of the Elven-rings was very great, and that which should govern them must be a thing of surpassing potency; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Shadow. And while he wore the One Ring he could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them.
But the Elves were not so lightly to be caught. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and perceived that he would be master of them, and of all that they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. But he, finding that he was betrayed and that the Elves were not deceived, was filled with wrath; and he came against them with open war, demanding that all the the rings should be delivered to him, since the Elven-smiths could not have attained to their making without his lore and counsel. But the Elves fled from him; and three of their rings they saved, and bore them away, and hid them.
Now these were the Three that had last been made, and they possessed the greatest power. Narya, Nenya, and Vilya, they were named, the Rings of Fire, and of Water, and of Air, set with ruby and adamant and sapphire; and of all the Elven-rings Sauron most desired to possess them, for those who had them in their keeping could ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world. But Sauron could not discover them, for they were given over into the hands of the Wise, who concealed them and never again used them openly while Sauron kept the Ruling Ring. Therefore the Three remained unsullied, for they were forged by Celebrimbor alone, and the hand of Sauron had never touched them; yet they also were subject to the One.

Click to expand...

What's interesting, though, is that it is strongly implied that the Three granted powers without even being worn.

I'd give to a second level Rogue, it's too much for a first level character .

What became of the seven dwarven rings?

Dark Psion said:

What became of the seven dwarven rings?

Click to expand...

IIRC 3 was destroyed by dragon fire, and 4 were retaken by Sauron or vice versa.

Some were destroyed, some Sauron gathered up. He tried to bribe the dwarves at Erebor with them, in exchange for information that would lead him to where the One Ring was.

I really hope we are refering entirely to the books...

"What special powers did Sam posses that kept him from the corruption and power of the ring that seemed to grasp hold of Frodo as soon as he got the thing?"

Humility, Wisdom, and (as Tolkien explicitly states) Love. Frodo is humble, but unfortunately knows that he is special, whereas Sam never quite believes this. Even so, Sam is not uneffected.

"...as it drew near the great furnaces where, in the deeps of time, it had been shaped and forged, the Ring's power grew, and it became more fell, untamable except for some might will. As Sam stood there, even though the Ring was not on him but hanging by a chain about his neck, he felt himself enlarged, as if he were robed in a great distorted shadow of himself, a vast and ominous threat halted upon the walls of Mordor. He felt now that he had only two choices: to forbear the Ring, though it would torment him: or to claim it, and challenge the Power that sat in its dark hold beyond the valley of shadows. Already the Ring tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw himself Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to overthrow Barad-Dur. And then the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of trees and flowers and brought forth fruit. He had only to put on the ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be."

I think Sam probably was least effected by the ring of all the ones who wore it, but that is not to say that he wasn't tempted as the above passage indicates. Sam undergoes several temptation crisises, but because of the short time he has it and the good purpose in which he takes it he isn't severely effected. One critical point is that Sam _NEVER_ claimed the ring for himself. So, he was able to relinquish it by far the most easily (though not without being tempted). Note the lines: "Now that it had come to it, Sam felt reluctant to give up the ring and burden his master with it again... 'You'll find the ring is very dangerous now, and very hard to bear. If it's too hard of a job, I could share it with you maybe?'"

I think Sam also acquired powers from the ring beyond that of Invisibility. He certainly conveyed an aura of awe and power, scaring or intimidating an otherwise potent orc warrior, and so we can assume that his native strengths were enhanced just as anyones would be (see my above post).

OK, I had to watch LoR on video again and Gandalf does call on his ring on the bridge facing the Balrog. I guess I missed that.

As to the powers of the One Ring, it apears to enhance other magic items as well. Sting seemed much more powerful when Bilbo wielded it while wearing he ring and I have always assumed it was the ring's enhancement that "Broke the Will" of the Guardians when they were using the Vial.