Ring of nine lives qn

[hong]

From MaoF: "This ancient ring is made of ivory and carved to resemble a snarling cat's face on one end. If the wearer ever drops to 0 hit points or below, the ring expends one of its charges to cast a heal spell upon her. [...]"

Question: if the wearer takes a hit that drops her straight away from positive hp to -10 or less, does the ring have any effect?

 

[fba827]

From MaoF: "This ancient ring is made of ivory and carved to resemble a snarling cat's face on one end. If the wearer ever drops to 0 hit points or below, the ring expends one of its charges to cast a heal spell upon her. [...]"

Question: if the wearer takes a hit that drops her straight away from positive hp to -10 or less, does the ring have any effect?

Hmm - while I want to say yes it _should_ I keep thinking the answer is in fact no. Why?

at -10 hp or less the character (target) is classified as dead. The heal spells heals a living creature. Being classified as dead means that, okay, maybe the ring would be "activated" but without any effect since the target is already dead.


(Mind you, I am far from any sort of authority on these matters, just what seems to follow ...)

 

[Fade]

Strict intepretation (this is the Rules forum after all): Since you have dropped below 10 hps, the item will take effect, and cast a heal spell on you, using up a charge. However, since you are dead, said spell has no effect.

 

[hong]

Thanks, people. I'm tossing up whether I should aim to get one of these for my archer when he gets the money. Getting knocked down to -7 hp in one round was quite the experience.

The auto-success on a save thing still looks nice, though.

 

[Fade]

Much, much cheaper than a Heal spell would be Cure Light Wounds. Sure you don't get to jump straight back into the fight, but you do stop bleeding to death (magical healing autostabilises).

 

[kreynolds]

The intention of the ring was to heal you so that you didn't drop to 0 in the first place. Otherwise, it would be a waste of 48,000gp.

 

[gfunk]

Bah, this is a FR magic item after all. If it didn't give you nine True Resurrection equivalents, then it wouldn't be worthy of the MaoF. Besides, I think the ring heals you *while* you are in the process of taking damage.

 

[hong]

The intention of the ring was to heal you so that you didn't drop to 0 in the first place. Otherwise, it would be a waste of 48,000gp.

Personally, I think the 9 autosaves is worth more than the heal.

 

[Thanee]

The ring does not help, when you get knocked straight to -10.

However, the ring is still extremely valuable (c'mon, how often do you get knocked straight to -10, really) and especially the auto-success for saves can really save your life!

Bye
Thanee

 

[kreynolds]

Personally, I think the 9 autosaves is worth more than the heal.

Maybe, but you get so few charges that it doesn't really matter how expensive it normally would be. I only think the 9 autosaves are worth more than the heal if the DM rules that the Heal affect doesn't kick off until after you fully take all the damage. Either way, it's a nice item, and especially useful.