Ring of Winter in Play

[Nebulous]

Maybe have the frost giants catch up with the group and Artus (along with Dragonbait if you don't want him around) flee so that he does not endanger the group. He knows that as long as he has the ring they can find him and hunt him down.

Then have him pop in occasionally as an ally to help the group - even if it's just a set piece where the group is facing overwhelmingly deadly foes that under normal circumstances would be a TPK. Have them fight part of the group while Artus fights others. As long as you don't overdo it, this can be fun. Artus doesn't stay long of course, he has to keep on the move ahead of the frost giants.

And THAT Oofta, is probably what I was thinking of doing. The giants are after the Ring, they wanna smash Artus, and the longer the PCs are around, they're going to get squished too. But then I can have Artus pop in here and there for some surprise deus ex machina!

 

[TheSword]

Do the players need to know the full capabilities of the ring of winter? I presume not, I would just have Cimbar display the rings power when it is absolutely essential.

The most obvious reason for not using it whimsically is that he doesn’t want people to know he carries an extremely powerful artifact. I mean can he really trust the PCs won’t kill him to take it? Or another group learn of it through the PCs discussions.

Loose lips sink ships. I think he would keep his cards very close to his chest with the ring.

[Edit] Another consideration is to have creatures associated with elemental fire or cold feel the ring being used, at a radius of 1 mile per level of spell used. Fire creatures feel a sense of pain and loathing while frost creatures as sense of attraction and possession. Perhaps Artus has guessed this effect.

 

[Sebastrd]

That's the problem my friend, the Ring casts about 10 different spells, from damage to battlefield control to utility. A 6th level Wall of Ice cast SIX TIMES a day (per the book rules, I could change that, but that's as written) would change ever encounter from now through forever. And frankly, I guess I just don't want to rebalance encounters just to accommodate a super powerful artifact.

One of my FAVORITE things about low level D&D is that I can throw an encounter together with zero preparation. At higher levels I can't do that as easily.

I read you loud and clear. My advice then? Artus listened to Gandalf.

"There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them should be used lightly."

 

[Oofta]

If this issue was just the ring, it could be avoided any number of ways such as using it's power has some hidden cost that's not obvious. Maybe the more he uses it, the easier it is for the frost giants to find him for example. Or he feels like every time he uses it, a piece of his soul is "frozen" and there's a limit on how often he can use it's powers before the ring is in control. He has no idea how many charges he can use but he will only use the more powerful abilities if absolutely necessary.

But my take is that the issue is that the NPCs are overshadowing the PCs even without the ring, or are at least stealing some of their thunder. This is a very legitimate concern; the PCs should be Batman, not Robin. So the best option seems to be to have the NPCs fade into the background and only show up occasionally when the party really needs them.

 

[Nebulous]

If this issue was just the ring, it could be avoided any number of ways such as using it's power has some hidden cost that's not obvious. Maybe the more he uses it, the easier it is for the frost giants to find him for example. Or he feels like every time he uses it, a piece of his soul is "frozen" and there's a limit on how often he can use it's powers before the ring is in control. He has no idea how many charges he can use but he will only use the more powerful abilities if absolutely necessary.

But my take is that the issue is that the NPCs are overshadowing the PCs even without the ring, or are at least stealing some of their thunder. This is a very legitimate concern; the PCs should be Batman, not Robin. So the best option seems to be to have the NPCs fade into the background and only show up occasionally when the party really needs them.

Yes, I think that the more he uses it, the frost giants have a way of zeroing in on the Ring. That alone should scare the PCs into parting ways with Artus. And yes, they're going to steal the thunder from the group, and I don't like that. It's fine for he and Dragonbait to show up occasionally, but they cannot be permanent fixtures in the party.

 

[Quickleaf]

That's the problem my friend, the Ring casts about 10 different spells, from damage to battlefield control to utility. A 6th level Wall of Ice cast SIX TIMES a day (per the book rules, I could change that, but that's as written) would change ever encounter from now through forever. And frankly, I guess I just don't want to rebalance encounters just to accommodate a super powerful artifact.

One of my FAVORITE things about low level D&D is that I can throw an encounter together with zero preparation. At higher levels I can't do that as easily.

The main dungeons account for this: Fane of the Night Serpent with a stealth mission & overwhelming opposition, the Tomb with sheer size & lots of traps (which the Ring's powers rarely do much to bypass/resolve). However, everywhere else (jungles, Omu, Nangalore, etc.) you'll need to come up with more complex/challenging/multi-layered battles if you wish to maintain a higher degree of challenge. Yes, the ring provides a little utility with ice creature "advance scouts" & temperature lowering & wall of ice, but it's other powers are really combat-focused (Bigby's hand, cone of cold, flesh to ice, ice storm, Otiluke's freezing sphere, sleet storm, spike growth). Honestly, I see ice creatures as being the most disruptive & would use those sparingly.

Also, Artus has to make a Charisma save vs. being controlled by the ring as per sentient magic item rules in the DMG. So he's a tentative ally at best. I play Dragonbait as his "moral compass", warning when Artus is close to losing control & reminding him of who he is when he's coming out of being ring-controlled. If Artus ends up in conflict with PCs, *that's* when I'd use the ice creatures.

Finally, the ring may have nondetection on it, but neither Dragonbait nor the PCs do. Frost giants, Zhentarim, Harpers, Xandala, and Red Wizards are all scheming to get the ring & could show up at in opportune moments.

 

[hawkeyefan]

YEah, it's a greater artifact, it's like boiling it in the lava of Mordor difficult to destroy. They have seen him use it several times with no ill effects. They don't know it's full range of powers or charges. I think if I want to keep him around I will need to drastically limit how much he can use it. Maybe the presence of the Soulmonger influences it?

But then, even without the Ring, there's Artus and Dragonbait's raw combat ability also heaped on. I think it would be best to find a good, story driven reason to have them leave. Stay long enough to keep things interesting, but then they're off.

Oh yeah, the PCs know that Frost Giants are chasing Artus, and now Artus knows. A couple frost giant attacks would probably convince them to part ways with him!

If I remember correctly, the Ring is intelligent and doesn’t like Artus. So I would play it as every time he uses a certain amount of charges, he has to make a check to not be possessed by the Ring. This will make him reluctant to use it as often.

If you need him and Dragonbait to leave, then perhaps have Xandala or the Frost Giants successfully steal the Ring from Artus, and he and Dragonbait need to get it back, leaving the PCs to their quest.

Then, they can always show back up later on if you find the PCs need some help or what have you.

 

[Herosmith14]

The way it played out for me was that didn't completely trust the party, and held back in some of the much more powerful stuff, fearing he'd give himself away and the part could still beat him if they ganged up.

 

[Eltab]

If Artus leaves a lot of those perma-frozen zones in the tropical jungle, somebody will figure out 2 + 2 = 4 and then the hunt will be on. Artus is tied to a fixed place (Mezro); he can't wander the world at will. Therefore he has to be stealthy in a strategic sense: not leave a lot of signs of his presence, let alone his position. He will be most reluctant to use the powers of his Ring in front of witnesses, and he will only use the things that never melt because he or Dragonbait are going to die if he doesn't.

If you haven't already, don't use most of the Ring's powers. Maybe the PCs will find that Random Encounter with a frozen zone after they meet Artus (who can predict the dice?), and figure it out themselves. But he should be played as a "sorcerer" (of approximately the party's level) dependent on his focus instead of his blood. He should not behave like 'Arctus Cimber, King of Winter' in a decidedly not-winter setting.

 

[Nebulous]

The main dungeons account for this: Fane of the Night Serpent with a stealth mission & overwhelming opposition, the Tomb with sheer size & lots of traps (which the Ring's powers rarely do much to bypass/resolve). However, everywhere else (jungles, Omu, Nangalore, etc.) you'll need to come up with more complex/challenging/multi-layered battles if you wish to maintain a higher degree of challenge. Yes, the ring provides a little utility with ice creature "advance scouts" & temperature lowering & wall of ice, but it's other powers are really combat-focused (Bigby's hand, cone of cold, flesh to ice, ice storm, Otiluke's freezing sphere, sleet storm, spike growth). Honestly, I see ice creatures as being the most disruptive & would use those sparingly.

Also, Artus has to make a Charisma save vs. being controlled by the ring as per sentient magic item rules in the DMG. So he's a tentative ally at best. I play Dragonbait as his "moral compass", warning when Artus is close to losing control & reminding him of who he is when he's coming out of being ring-controlled. If Artus ends up in conflict with PCs, *that's* when I'd use the ice creatures.

Finally, the ring may have nondetection on it, but neither Dragonbait nor the PCs do. Frost giants, Zhentarim, Harpers, Xandala, and Red Wizards are all scheming to get the ring & could show up at in opportune moments.

Now that's a GREAT idea! I hadn't even considered the Ring as sentient and able to control him. Is that in the description of the statblock? Either way, yeah, I'm going to use it. The Ring doesn't care about Mezro really, or the Death Curse, or even Artus. I guess it has its own unfathomable agenda. Maybe it wants to unite with the Quasi Elemental Prince of Evil Cold!