Rings of Invisibility

[Elocin]

This past weekend I was running a game where two of the Rogue's in the group had Rings of Invisibility. I was unsure how to conduct combat with said rings and how the power of the rings were supposed to be used. Every round the Rogues would attack from being Invisible (using full attack option, unless they moved as well) and then activate the rings once more to become invisibile. I had no defense for this what so ever with the forces that were attacking them. I am thinking we were using the Rings of Invisibility wrong and would like some clarification on them.

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?

I would grealty appreciate the help on this.

Thank you

 

[Ace32]

From the way I understand the rules, a standard action is the same kind of action used to attack or fire a spell, and you only get one standard action a round (without special conditions, like haste), so, it would be impossible to attack and then activate a ring of invisibility again on the same round.

 

[kreynolds]

Well, they could activate the ring (standard action) and take a full move, but they couldn't make an attack unless they were hasted. They could also activate the ring (standard action) and reload a hand crossbow (move-equivalent), but not move.

 

[Artoomis]

Assuming you start your actions already invisible and wish to end that way, too, you can:

Forget it.

You can't do it without something special, like Haste.

You can take a Standard Action with a Move, but not an Attack (much less a Full Attack).

So you gave them a WHOLE LOT of extra power. *shrug* Live and learn - explain the rules and do it right next time.

 

[Andor of the Blade]

So if they wanted to activate thier rings every round, what would they be capable of doing?

They could also move and take any free actions that they had available. Unless one of their free actions granted an attack, they could not attack in the same round as activating the ring (Exceptions: AoOs, if they are Hasted, Expertise feat?).

Note: They would still be able to take attacks of opportunity.

Every round the Rogues would attack from being Invisible (using full attack option, unless they moved as well) and then activate the rings once more to become invisibile.

This is a valid tactic only if they are Hasted.

 

[Elocin]

Thank you

I knew I was doing something wrong but I didn't want to take the time out of gaming and figure out the correct way of doing it.

Thank you everyone for all your help.

 

[Zenon]

This past weekend I was running a game where two of the Rogue's in the group had Rings of Invisibility. I was unsure how to conduct combat with said rings and how the power of the rings were supposed to be used. Every round the Rogues would attack from being Invisible (using full attack option, unless they moved as well) and then activate the rings once more to become invisibile. I had no defense for this what so ever with the forces that were attacking them. I am thinking we were using the Rings of Invisibility wrong and would like some clarification on them.

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?

I would grealty appreciate the help on this.

Thank you

Well, a couple of things to think on:

Assuming the rogues moved in invisible to the targets, the targets would get Spot and Listen rolls to detect them. The rules for spoting invisible creatures are in the DMG pg 79(?)(I don't have it with me so might have wrong page number). Also remember creature may have abilities that negate the benefits of Invisibility (Blindsight, tremorsense, etc). Certain class features like Uncanny Dodge (barbarians and other rogues) may stop sneak attacks. Also, being an undead creature means you cannot be sneak attacked.

Actionwise, lets look at this:

Rogues invisible pre combat.
1st round: Move in towards target (MEA), moving 1/2 speed so they don't incure -5 to move silent rolls. Full round movement will give a normal move [lets assume 30' = normal MEA]. Targets get rolls to detect the rogues.

2nd round: Rogues attack with Full Round action. Their invisibility drops when they attack. They will get all of their attacks and a 5' step. THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BECOME INVISIBLE AGAIN in the same round (unless they are hasted)

Any round that they take a single attack (which is a standard action) or a full attack action, they will not be able to become invisible (again, unless they are hasted and getting an extra partial action).

3rd round: Rogue uses standard action to activate ring, then MEA to move away. He annot activate the ring again and attack in the same round and move unless he has been hasted.

All this is just going by the core books, there might be feats, etc. in a splat book that might enable something different.

Hope this helps!

 

[GuardianLurker]

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...

 

[Grendel]

just wait till they catch on the rings of blinking
the rogues best friend.

 

[sotmh]

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