Ring of Blinking question

[hammymchamham]

In my opinion, a ring of blinking or invisibility works when you put it on. It stays on until it is stopped (invisible person attacks) or the ring is taken off.

I think the text about working as the spell blink means just that, the effect it gives you is like the spell blink. It doesn't mean it has the casting time, duration, area of effect, or range of blink, just that when you put it on, you blink as per the spell description.

There are plenty of other ways to interpret it, but no rules, errata, FAQ advice, or Sage advice that handle it so it's pretty much whatever sounds right to your DM.

I'll just quote from the DMG and we'll see how true your statements are...

pg 192

Blinking: On command, this ring makes the wearer blink, as with the blink spell

earlier in the ring section discription

Activation: Usually, a ring's ability is activated by a command word (a standard action that does not provoke an attack of oppurtunity) or it works continually. Some rings have exceptional activation methods, according to their descriptions.

Blinking stats its a command activated item. If someone is wearing a ring of blinking, they aren't always blinking. They have to say the command word, and begin to blink. Now, does speaking the command word cause

A. The person with the ring to blink for 42 seconds (7 rounds)
or
B. The person with the ring blinks until the ring is taken off
or
C. The person with the ring blinks until the command word is spoken again

?

 

[Dinkeldog]

A.

 

[kreynolds]

C.

 

[aliensex]

Well, lets say A and C are correct, just not in the same campaign? That should avoid conflict. The individual item descriptions do not say continuously, as do all command activated rings. It simply says "as the spell", so it would seem to imply that it is the same as casting the spell on yourself (meaning a duration). The counter argument could be made that an amount of XP has been put into this item, so the duration could be continuous.

Well, the answere is....

I don't know. The duration is long enough (as mentioned above) for most spells, that this is rarely going to be a factor, so letting them be continuous is probably not an unbalancing thing, and removes some needless book keeping. But probably the "as the spell" lending the item a duration is probably correct.

 

[hammymchamham]

I prefer answer C just because one of my charecters has the ring... and I don't need it going out on my in the middle of combat

 

[jontherev]

Blinking: On command, this ring makes the wearer blink, as with the blink spell

earlier in the ring section discription

Activation: Usually, a ring's ability is activated by a command word (a standard action that does not provoke an attack of oppurtunity) or it works continually. Some rings have exceptional activation methods, according to their descriptions.

Blinking stats its a command activated item. If someone is wearing a ring of blinking, they aren't always blinking. They have to say the command word, and begin to blink. Now, does speaking the command word cause

A. The person with the ring to blink for 42 seconds (7 rounds)
or
B. The person with the ring blinks until the ring is taken off
or
C. The person with the ring blinks until the command word is spoken again

?

I think you answered your own question with the above information. What else is needed? Let's review...the ring is command activated, and it works AS THE SPELL. We therefore know that it is NOT one of the continuous varieties of rings.

Here is a list of Continuous rings (found by simply reading the descriptions): Climbing, Counterspells, Elemental Command (some abilities of SOME of the rings), Elemental Resistance, Evasion, Feather Falling, Freedom of Movement, Jumping, Mind Shielding, Protection, Regeneration, Sustenance, Swimming, Warmth, Water Walking, Wizardry. That's it for the DMG rings. The Ring of Wizardry is the only continuous ring that doesn't specifically state that it works continuously; however, use common sense on this one...I guess if you take it off, you lose your bonus spells?

I see absolutely no evidence to support the Ring of Blinking working continuously. And, in case you think I am biased, my rogue has one. If they wanted the Ring of Blinking or Invisibility to work continuously, they would have put the word CONTINUOUSLY (or some derivative of the word) into the item's description, much like they did for the 14 rings I listed above. What is the confusion again? Barring any errata, I just don't see a good reason why this is even debatable.

 

[kreynolds]

Here is a list of Continuous rings (found by simply reading the descriptions): Climbing, Counterspells, Elemental Command (some abilities of SOME of the rings), Elemental Resistance, Evasion, Feather Falling, Freedom of Movement, Jumping, Mind Shielding, Protection, Regeneration, Sustenance, Swimming, Warmth, Water Walking, Wizardry.

Ah. I see the problem. You misunderstand the main argument. I'm not arguing whether or not a Ring of Blinking continuously bestows the blink spell upon the wearer like those rings you mentioned. Every single one of the rings you listed does not require activation for the continuous effects. They function while worn. Period. I'm not arguing that aspect of the Ring of Blinking at all. I'm arguing about the duration. This was never about activation methods. Just duration.

Barring any errata, I just don't see a good reason why this is even debatable.

Yet here we are. It's a mystery, I know.

 

[James McMurray]

Well, if you can't show me where this...

Any item that works as per spell X, will function in all ways like spell X.

...is stated in the rules, FAQ, errata, or anywhere else...or if you can't show me where this...

Thus, a ring of Blinking with a caster level of 7 will ast 7 rounds. A ring of invisibility with a caster level of 3 will last 30 minutes.

...is stated in the item descriptions, then you'll have your answer.

DMG pg. 178, column 2:

Caster Level: The power of the item (just as a spell's caster level measures its power). The caster level determines and item's saving throw bonuses, as well as range or other level-dependent aspects of the powers of the item (if variable).

A Ring of Blinking functions as the blink spell, whose variable duration is one round per level. A ring of blinking has a caster level of 7, thus 7 rounds.

You mentioned reading that rings are constant effects. There is a section on pg. 173 of the DMG that mentions this. However, it states that rings are often a constant effect, not that they always are.

 

[kreynolds]

A Ring of Blinking functions as the blink spell, whose variable duration is one round per level. A ring of blinking has a caster level of 7, thus 7 rounds.

And I already showed the irregularities of this argument early on in the thread with the price breakdown of the item. I knoiw that the price of an item isn't a 100% solid argument, but it can't just be summarily ignored and dismissed with impunity either.

You mentioned reading that rings are constant effects. There is a section on pg. 173 of the DMG that mentions this.

It's mentioned in a couple of places, but that's not the passage I was thinking of. There's even a relevant question in the FAQ where someone asks, "How many times can a Ring of Invisibility be used?" and it's skipped right over. Remember, I'm not talking about "continuous" as in "Ring of Sustenance". I'm just talking about duration.

 

[hammymchamham]

I bought Dragon 301 today, and this is what Skip says on page 108

Does a ring require an "activate a magic item" action? Also, how frequently can one use a ring?

A ring is a command activated (see page 195 in the Dungeon Master's Guide), unless the ring's description says otherwise. Any such item requires a standard action to activate.

Unless otherwise stated in the ring's description, there are no limits to the number of times it can be used. Since activating a ring requires an action, it usually cannot be activated more than once a round. Note that most rings function continuously once activated, allowing for virtually unlimited use unless the ring produces an effect that can be broken.