Ring of Winter in Play

[Eltab]

So, after hundreds of years of possession by a Chaotic Evil greater artifact, why the hell isn't Artus Cimber chaotic evil??? I mean, that Ring messed Gollum up big time! Lol

One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them
in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
(emphasis added)

The Ring of Winter is a tool to some other end. It can let you do your own thing.

 

[Yes]

I had the players meet Artus and hang around for a while. I introduced the powers of the Ring of Winter (I thought about nerfing it to 6 charges instead of 12. It still would be very powerful. But the rules are not so relevant for an artifact of this magnitude.)... then Cimber having his own agenda, I had them part ways.

The Ring of Winter is a very coveted item (Frost Giants, Zentharim, Red Mages, Xandala...) , so Arthus might want to get away from the players for their own good. In the book "The Ring of Winter" (An excellent book.) a curse is attached to the Ring: friends and other people close to those who wield or seek the ring tend to meet a premature death. So you might want to have one or two of the minor npc in the group die to emphasise that fact and have a guilt striken Arthus discretly part ways, leaving a note or something...

Point is, I don't think Arthus is meant to be hanging with the players for ever. Any npc so powerful that he can repeatedly steal the spotlight from the players has to go away and take care of his own business at some point, the sooner the better

 

[Nebulous]

I had the players meet Artus and hang around for a while. I introduced the powers of the Ring of Winter (I thought about nerfing it to 6 charges instead of 12. It still would be very powerful. But the rules are not so relevant for an artifact of this magnitude.)... then Cimber having his own agenda, I had them part ways.

The Ring of Winter is a very coveted item (Frost Giants, Zentharim, Red Mages, Xandala...) , so Arthus might want to get away from the players for their own good. In the book "The Ring of Winter" (An excellent book.) a curse is attached to the Ring: friends and other people close to those who wield or seek the ring tend to meet a premature death. So you might want to have one or two of the minor npc in the group die to emphasise that fact and have a guilt striken Arthus discretly part ways, leaving a note or something...

Point is, I don't think Arthus is meant to be hanging with the players for ever. Any npc so powerful that he can repeatedly steal the spotlight from the players has to go away and take care of his own business at some point, the sooner the better

That's neat, a death curse (besides the Chultan Death Curse) hangs around the Ring. Besides, once he tells them that a lot of different powerful factions are after the Ring, the PCs will be less inclined to have him around. I'm going to have the Frost Giants attack probably next session.

 

[Nebulous]

So we got to play, and the Ring part worked out really well. Artus leveled with them, saying how the Ring is intelligent and evil, and has its own agenda. I added a twist (and maybe it's in the stablock, I'm not sure) but the "possession" aspect of the Ring usually comes if Artus uses it for violent ends, such as casting Cone of Cold. So far the party has only seen him use it for utility. He told them that besides the Frost Giants, the Red Wizards and the Zhentarim have hunted it in the past, and he has had former comrades either die or leave, as he is a dangerous friend to have.