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!
Yeah, it's in the stat block, though ToA should have called it out in the text. Chris Perkins actually depicted Artus Cimber possessed by the ring with glowing blue eyes in an episode of Dice Camera Action, Season 2. Here are the relevant quotes...
[SECTION]
ToA 207: SENTIENCE. The Ring of Winter is a sentient chaotic evil item with an Intelligence of 14, a Wisdom of 14, and a Charisma of 17. The ring communicates by transmitting emotion to the creature carrying or wielding it, and it has hearing and normal vision out to a range of 60 feet. The ring craves destruction, and it likes inflicting indiscriminate harm on others.[/SECTION]
[SECTION]
DMG 216: CONFLICT. A sentient item has a will of its own, shaped by its personality and alignment. If its wielder acts in a manner opposed to the item's alignment or purpose, conflict can arise. When such a conflict occurs, the item makes a Charisma check contested by the wielder's Charisma check. If the item wins the contest, it makeone or more of the following demands:
- The item insists on being carried or worn at all times.
- The item demands that its wielder dispose of anything the item finds repugnant.
- The item demands that its wielder pursue the item's goals to the exclusion of all other goals.
- The item demands to be given to someone else.
If its wielder refuses to comply with the item's wishes the item can do any or all of the following:
- Make it impossible for its wielder to attune to it.
- Suppress one or more of its activated properties.
- Attempt to take control of its wielder.
If a sentient item attempts to take control of its wielder, the wielder must make a Charisma saving throw, with a DC equal to 12 +the item's Charisma modifier (DC 15 for
Ring of Winter). On a failed save, the wielder is charmed by item for ld12 hours. While charmed, the wielder must try to follow the item's commands. If the wielder takes damage, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. Whether the attempt to control its user succeeds or fails, the item can't use this power again until the next dawn.[/SECTION]
The glaring flaw I see with the presentation of the
Ring of Winter in ToA is that it's actual goals aren't described. Its motivation to inflict "indiscriminate harm" is boring & doesn't give the DM anything to build upon nor any way to tie the ring more closely to the ToA adventure. Now, I suspect why they handled the ring this way is because the designers have future plans for it in a future product, and they don't want to spoil the ring's true purpose yet.
Which is all well in good for their multi-media marketing & building hype for the brand, but ToA as an adventure suffers for it. In my opinion.
Here's what I've done in my own campaign:
[SBLOCK=My campaign secrets]The atropal is Kyuss, The Worm That Waits, and Acererak is "ripening" the atropal in order to soul-drain Kyuss in a ritual that will make Acererak into Undeath itself, allowing him to possess undead anywhere (essentially making all undead his phylactery & letting him speak through them). The
Ring of Winter was used by the eladrin to defeat Kyuss long ago in his bid for divine ascension at the ancient city Kuluth-Mar (part of the
Age of Worms adventure path from Paizo's DUNGEON).
I'm equating these eladrin with the first green elves to immigrate to Faerûn, landing planar-traveling ships on the shores of Chult before colonizing mainland and establishing ancient "Crown Wars" kingdoms like Keltormir, Thaernytaar, Ilythiir, etc. They joined a force of Chultan druids/shamans/spiritlords & wild dwarves organized by couatl, and the
Ring of Winter was instrumental in freezing over Kyuss' resting place so his spirit could never return. However, Acererak has found a way around this by locating Kyuss' physical form in the Negative Energy Plane and channeling souls into it. After being used by the eladrin against Kyuss, however, the ring has a strange connection to Kyuss (now the atropal), and its goal is to make its bearer travel to Kuluth-Mar (located in eastern jungles of Chult) and place it in a special receptacle which will grant Kyuss sentience/willpower to outmaneuver Acererak so that in the endgame Acererak can't soul-drain him & Kyuss can claim the ring and pursue his aims of making all living things undead.
This builds on a LOT of obscure past edition lore & ties it all together in one tighter story bundle, allowing me to portray a ring-possessed Artus Cimber more clearly and evocatively. However, the inclusion of Kyuss isn't for everyone. My group is still in the early stages of ToA, but if all goes well, I may put together a DM's Guild supplement of my playtested material expanding on the ToA storyline in what I feel makes for a more compelling & cohesive story.
It does hint at a connection to the Gloaming Court (which 5e equates largely to Unseelie led by Queen of Air and Darkness...at least so far). So I've also introduced the Maiden of the Moon (a lycanthrope hunting/redeeming archfey from 4e) as an ancient elven queen who once ruled first elves on Material Plane of Faerûn; she ruled over elves of Chult, disagreeing with kin who made grand kingdoms as she preferred a simpler life, but ultimately the Maiden of the Moon returned to the Feywild ("spirit world" in Chultan belief) after events with the
Ring of Winter left her disillusioned. I'm hinting that the ring is, in a way, responsible for creation of the Gloaming Court. In the AD&D
Jungles of Chult there are references to several half-elves but few elven tribes & there are clockwork globes of light in the library of Mezro which are powered/operated by little "elf-like beings" (which I read as coure eladrin in ball-of-light form). This in turn feeds into the FR lore about original green/wild elves being culturally & technologically more advanced than current wild elves of FR, which I'm playing as a "fallen Wakanda" (from Marvel's
Black Panther).
I chose the Maiden of the Moon for her connection to lycanthropes. You'll recall that weretigers have a significant presence as one of Chult's "hidden races." Drawing on old lore about Katashka & Maztica (where humans & tabaxi emigrated from), I've alluded to a being/monster/demon known as The Sleeper. It was just mentioned in FR lore briefly in the story about the emigration of first human tribes to Chult & the first
bara (chosen of Ubtao). I've made The Sleeper an enemy of the Maiden of the Moon, with it attempting to possess tabaxi who are born with the "rakshasa paw" (an inverted paw) as it pursues the human & tabaxi tribes which escaped its reign of terror. This builds on the idea of dream magic being a "Chultan thing" what with Saja N'baza's dream-like encounter & Dendar the Night Serpent feeding on nightmares.
I've equated the Feywild with the "spirit world" which has a big role to play in Chultan beliefs & is hinted at in several DM's Guild Adept products. Mezro is in the "spirit world" in what is essentially a Feywild equivalent of a "domain of dread" demiplane...maybe I'll call it a "domain of wonder"?
This way the DM isn't left hanging with what to do with the ring, and adds a lot to story (plus gives a reason to explore eastern Chult...which I'm detailing in my own game), but neither does it infringe upon the ring's ultimate purpose. [/SBLOCK]
