Rings of Invisibility

[kreynolds]

A large number of the opponents we fought had some way of dealing with the invisibility (Blind fighting, Blindsight, See Invis., Dispel Magic, etc.).

Sounds an awful lot like "DM Scripting" to me.

Player: "Cool! I have a ring of invisibility!"
DM: "How wonderful for you. This entire 97 level dungeon is filled with nothing but assassin vines and nalfeshnees."

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Player: "Cool! I have a ring of invisibility!"
DM: "How wonderful for you. This entire 97 level dungeon is filled with nothing but assassin vines and nalfeshnees."

LOL! He did say it was still fairly useful, though.

 

[Gromm]

Well at 13th level invisiblity is something every one has to deal with or die. If your party can't handle a flying, imp invisible wizard your toast. Same applys for NPCs. See invisible is a cheap and easy to get counter, and tons of creatures have scent/blindsight of some sort.

 

[Elocin]

Levels

I'm curious as to what level the rogues are at. The one game I played in where the party rogue had a ring of invisiblity, we were all 13th level. A large number of the opponents we fought had some way of dealing with the invisibility (Blind fighting, Blindsight, See Invis., Dispel Magic, etc.). It was still fairly useful, but hardly overpowered at that level.

sotmh

Well one is a Human Monk 4/Rogue 4/Nija of the Crescent Moon 1, while the other is a Tiefling Ranger 1/Rogue 8, and they both have a Ring of Invisibility and they can't wait to get the Rings of Blinking. I do know of many ways to negate the Invisibility part (scnet, blindsight, etc., etc.) bu the people that were attacking them were either Human Assassin or rogues, a Human Cleric, an Improved Invisible Sorcerer, a Grimlock Ranger/Assassin, and then an Ogrea Mage Fighter 4. It was am ambush that the party was supposed to run away with, but I forgot to add in the Ogre Mage's HP for his monster levels (so he only had like 44 HP) and then the problem me not working the Rings of Invisibility right, the fight went there way. Oh well I have since told the group and things will be a lot different from now on.

Thanks again for all your help everyone.

 

[Astlin]

Henh.

So a Ring of Invisibility is essentially a item that allows anyone to cast Invisibility as often as they like.

I had always thought that the spell equivalent was
Improved Invisibility, but in some senses that spell is actually better than the ring.

Hunh. Minor point, I know, but very interesting. And actually, thinking of rings that way helps me understand why "Create Ring" is a 12th level feat, and higher than "Create Wand/Rod/Staff", which (IIRC) are all spell-completion items.

Things you learn...

There is NO reason for Craft Ring to be a 12th level feat. As I pointed out in another thread, you can do the same thing with a Cloak of Invisibility or a Sword of Invisibility.
The balance of a Command Activated/Use Activated item vs a Spell Completion item is figured into the cost.
If I am missing something I would love to know what it is.

Astlin

 

[sotmh]

Re: Levels

the people that were attacking them were either Human Assassin or rogues, a Human Cleric, an Improved Invisible Sorcerer, a Grimlock Ranger/Assassin, and then an Ogrea Mage Fighter 4.

Don't forget that characters with Uncanny Dodge don't lose their Dex bonus against invisible attackers, thus making the invisibility only somewhat better than Displacement. Plus, how come the Sorcerer didn't have Glitterdust? Every PC Sorc seems to take it and with good reason. Finally, you can make a Spot check (DC 20) to become aware of an invisible creature near you. (PHB p.74).

Still, two Rings of Invisibility in a 9th level group is pretty strong. The list price for each ring is 20,000gp, if you're going by the chart on DMG pg. 43, these characters should have approx. 36,000gp worth of equipment. That means 56% of their character's estimated worth is coming from those rings. IMO, that's an awful lot of value in any single item for a character to have.

sotmh

 

[TrizzlWizzl]

Researching them I have found that they take a "Standard Action" to activate the rings power. So what does this actually mean combat wise? They are level 9 - 10 Rogues so have a couple attacks a round. So if they wanted to activate thier rings every round, what would they be capable of doing?

They would be capable of taking a move equivalent action every round (in addition to activating their rings). So if they attack, you have one round before they're going to be able to turn invisible again.

If you're still having problems laying the proverbial smack down, your NPCs could ready an action to strike a suddenly re-visible PC.