Is a ring of anti-magic field possible?

bret said:
I wouldn't allow it.

I would allow someone to try and use a Ring of Spell Storing for that though.

The reason I wouldn't allow it is simple: what mage is going to hand such a ring over to anyone. Most mages wish the spell was never created, it makes them so helpless. Now you want one to create a ring that would allow any country bumpkin with a sword to shut down their magic?

Not likely to happen.

A mage could always make it for himself. Or his Party.
 

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Sixchan said:


A mage could always make it for himself. Or his Party.

Think about it a moment.

If he needs the spell, he can put in on a scroll. Much easier and cheaper. It isn't like he is going to want to be in an Anti-Magic Field that often.

As for his party, items have a way of getting lost or traded. If he makes the item, eventually someone that he doesn't necessarily agree with is going to find it and use it.

Look at most adventurer's magical equipment. Quite a bit of it is from trading or capturing off opponents. Why shouldn't the same apply to that ring that the wizard is trying to forge?

Start thinking about how much people would hate if a Giant or something got a ring like that. Only takes one mistake, and all those items that the party is carrying are suddenly in someone else's possession.
 

The reason I wouldn't allow it is simple: what mage is going to hand such a ring over to anyone. Most mages wish the spell was never created, it makes them so helpless.

Just out of curiosity, can you quote anything in the core rules that states that the spell is hated by mages?

Also, adding a RP limitation to justify why something is impossible just never works. What if you find a caster who is in so much debt that he's willing to create anything for you if you pay him enough? There are just too many loopholes for your reasoning to work.
 

Or, take a casters loved ones hostage... you make a very specific ransom offer, and walla! Ring of Antimagic. I would say it's perfect for a Forsaker, except that it's a magic item... :D Now, a monk could be really evil with one of them, though.
 

Clerics can cast the spell too you know. Since they aren't as helpless in an AM as your average mage, yeah, I could see one of these rings being created...especially if there's a history of Arcane abuse (Mages Gone Wild!) in the region.
 

One of my characters actually uses an ioun stone (the one that can store up to six levels of spells) and has found it handy to store an anti-magic field spell in it. I see no reason why a ring of spell storing couldn't do the same.

A permanent item though would be tricky. By activating the spell, it immediately negates all magic within it's radius of effect. A spell storing item simply releases the spell, but a permanent item is negated within the effect of the spell. So, yes, you can activate such a permenently enchanted item, but it would immediately shut itself off if you tried to "turn it on." You are effectively short circuiting your own magic item.

This could make a good infomercial :)
Say, would you like to buy this ring of anti-magic field? It turns itself off whenever you activate it. Only 500gp! Buy one and get the second one free!

I have a wand of elephant warding for sale too...what? No elephants around these parts, eh? Well, that just proves it works!
 

Deset Gled said:


Just out of curiosity, can you quote anything in the core rules that states that the spell is hated by mages?

Also, adding a RP limitation to justify why something is impossible just never works. What if you find a caster who is in so much debt that he's willing to create anything for you if you pay him enough? There are just too many loopholes for your reasoning to work.

I'm sorry. I should have stated that in my experience mages don't like spells that shut off all magic. Of course I can't point to anything in the rules that say mages like or dislike any particular spell. I can only go by my experiences.

As for a 12th level mage being in debt (need that level to forge a ring), although it is possible for this to happen there are so many other ways to make money that I have my doubts someone crafty enough to make it to that level would get into such a situation.

I'll stand by my original statement, that I would never allow it.

As for if it is legal, that depends on if you are the GM or not. If you are the GM, then you can create any magical item you wish. You've got lots of stuff in the DMG and Tome & Blood that will help you judge how much such an item should cost and what feats would be required. It should certainly make mages and sorcerers rare in your campaign, as it now becomes much easier to hunt them down and kill them all.
 

bret said:


Think about it a moment.

If he needs the spell, he can put in on a scroll. Much easier and cheaper. It isn't like he is going to want to be in an Anti-Magic Field that often.

As for his party, items have a way of getting lost or traded. If he makes the item, eventually someone that he doesn't necessarily agree with is going to find it and use it.

Look at most adventurer's magical equipment. Quite a bit of it is from trading or capturing off opponents. Why shouldn't the same apply to that ring that the wizard is trying to forge?

Start thinking about how much people would hate if a Giant or something got a ring like that. Only takes one mistake, and all those items that the party is carrying are suddenly in someone else's possession.

Well, yeah, but just because the Wizard is smart doesn't mean the player is.
 

Painfully said:
One of my characters actually uses an ioun stone (the one that can store up to six levels of spells) and has found it handy to store an anti-magic field spell in it.
Heh. That's a funny mental picture, since ioun stones are held in place by magic. When the field comes up, do you need a Dex check to catch the stone as it falls out of the air?
 

Paradox and Anti-magic

The spell itself has an implicit paradox, use magic to create an anti-magic field.

Once you accept that the spell can do that, there is no reason why you couldn't create a permanent magic item to generate the field (ring of anti-magic, stone of anti-magic, etc.).

I would think there would be lots of Barbarians, Fighters, Rogues, etc. lining up to buy these items. So I have no problem whatsoever rationalizing the idea of Clerics or Wizards making the items. Spellcasters may not want to make it, but as long as they have a boss, they really don't have a choice.

I have no idea what the price would be, but I'm guessing more than 100,000 GP. Possibly requiring artifact or epic level spellcasting to create.

Tom
 

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