The Rings of Power

The Rings of Power

All of the Rings of Power bear 'their proper gem' except the One.  Lesser rings may or may not be adorned.

  These abilities are a suggestion only.  The power of each ring is partly dependent upon the wearer and thus a 1^st level commoner will benefit less than a 10^th level fighter would with the same ring.  Furthermore the rings affect each race differently.  Indeed, there is a question in my mind as to whether a Man with one of the Dwarven rings would gain powers like those I ascribe to the Seven, or if he would gain abilities more akin to those suggested for the Nine. 

  Only a few things seem sure.  First is the fact that powers should be subtracted, diminished or enhanced as the GM feels appropriate.  Also, the Three seem be incapable of seducing their wearers on behalf of Sauron (though he can still dominate them with the One).  Dwarves can’t be dominated, become invisible, or be turned into Ringwraiths due to their natures.  Finally, the Calaquendi can use the invisibility power of the rings to appear only in the physical or invisible world rather than both at the same time.



Doh!

 The Three Greater Rings

The Three are very unlikely to fall into player character hands as they are born by mighty Elves (and later Gandlaf bears Narya).  These powers are common to the Three:

• The ring is invisible except to another bearer of one of the Three or of the One
• The wearer gains a +5 bonus on all Craft, Diplomacy, Heal and Knowledge checks
• The wearer is immune to any attacks made by incorporeal undead
• The wearer is immune to fear
• The wearer may channel positive energy as if she had the Turn Undead feat as a cleric of the wearer’s level, but only to cause undead to flee (the wearer cannot heal living things or damage undead), and only within her lawful domain.  This power can be used at will.
• The wearer is immune to the physical effects of aging as long as the ring is worn.  When the ring is removed, the creature continues aging from the point when the ring was put on, but the longer the ring was worn, the slower the rate of the creature’s aging will be
• The wearer’s lawful domain, be it the size of a house or the size of a kingdom, is permanently affected as by the consecrate spell.  Furthermore, that domain, and the bordering land up to 10 miles out, is affected by a blessing of life if the wearer chooses.  This causes all plant life to live as long as the ring exists and the wearer remains there, and doubles the rate of reproduction for the animal life therein
• There is a constant magic circle against evil effect emanating from the ring (this effect is suppressed while Sauron wears the One)

Narya

In addition to those common to the Three, Narya has the following additional powers:

Narya functions as a ring of sustenance, and major ring of fire resistance. 

• +3 deflection bonus to AC
• +4 enhancement bonus to charisma
• +3 resistance bonus to saving throws
• Allies within 30 ft. receive a +2 sacred bonus against fear effects.
• Wearer may cast bless 1/day
• Wearer may use the ring to cast any spell with the fire descriptor as well as lightning bolt and chain lightning provided Gandalf expends a number of spell slots with a total of spell levels equal to the level of the spell being cast (i.e. one 1^st and one 2^nd level spell slot are both emptied in order to cast the 3^rd level spell fireball)

The Seven

The Seven are also fairly unlikely to fall into player character hands depending on the era of play.  At some point, four of them are destroyed by Dragon-fire, and the others are collected by Sauron.  If a character comes to bear one of the Seven, she would do well to keep that fact from the Dwarves.

• +2 deflection bonus to AC
• +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma
• +4 enhancement bonus to Constitution
• +2 resistance bonus to saving throws
• The wearer gains a +5 bonus to Perception checks made to find treasure, concealed or secret doors, or to locate traps
• The wearer gains a +5 bonus to Knowledge (dungeoneering) checks
• The wearer gains Darkvision up to 60’
• The wearer is invisible as if under the effect of the greater invisibility spell*
• All characters within 10 miles of the wearer become extremely loyal to their own race.  Their attitudes improve by one step towards members of their own race, and worsen by one step towards anyone not showing the proper respect for their race.
• The wearer ceases aging, but begins to feel ‘worn out’ or ‘drawn thin’ as he approaches the end of his natural lifespan.  Once the character reaches an age that places him roughly half way between the old and venerable age categories, he suffers a -2 penalty to will saving throws.  The penalty increases to -5 when he reaches venerable age.  If the character reaches the age when he would normally die, he instead lives a number of additional years equal to the duration of middle age for characters of the same species.  At the end of that time, the character becomes a wraith under Sauron’s complete control**
• The wearer must make a DC 5 will save upon putting on the ring or fall under the control of Sauron (as though affected by the dominate monster spell).  After a year passes the wearer must repeat the saving throw, but the DC increases by 1.  At the end of every four years thereafter, the character makes another save with a cumulative +1 increase to the DC***

Notes:
*This ability has no effect on Dwarves

**This effect functions differently for Dwarves.  Rather than ceasing to age, they double the number of years spent in each age category, as well as their life-expectancy.  This has no effect on aging that has already occurred
***This effect functions differently for Dwarves.  Their nature makes them immune to falling under the sway of Sauron.  Instead, with each year the wearer becomes more covetous of material wealth, willing to go to greater and greater ends to seek more.  They settle in one local only long enough to strip mine it’s valuable resources and then they uproot and seek more (Since the first bearers were kings, the rings’ effect on loyalty ensured that whole communities would aid the wearer’s endeavors)

The Nine

Depending on how a MIddle-earth game is run, one (or more) of the Nine could fall into player hands.  Gandalf says that the Nazgul keep the Nine, but other sources indicate that Sauron holds them.  Assuming the former, one of the Nine could be found should a player group defeat one of the Ringwraiths.  Of course keeping it for long would surely create a new wraith to take the place of the defeated one.

• +2 enhancement bonus to Constitution
• +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma
• The wearer gains a +5 bonus to Perception checks
• The wearer gains Darkvision up to 60’
• The wearer gains a competence bonus equal to 1/3 his character level (minimum of +1) on all ability checks, attack rolls, caster level checks, saving throws, and skill checks, and to armor class.
• The wearer is invisible as if under the effects of the greater invisibility spell, except that at the height of day, the wearer’s shadow can barely be seen (Perception DC 30)
• The wearer may apply the Maximize Spell feat to any spell cast without increasing the spell’s level.
• The wearer ceases aging, but begins to feel ‘worn out’ or ‘drawn thin’ as he approaches the end of his natural lifespan.  Once the character reaches an age that places him roughly half way between the old and venerable age categories, he suffers a -2 penalty to will saving throws.  The penalty increases to -5 when he reaches venerable age.  If the character reaches the age when he would normally die, he instead lives a number of additional years equal to the duration of middle age for characters of the same species.  At the end of that time, the character becomes a wraith under Sauron’s complete control.
• The wearer must make a DC 5 will save upon putting on the ring or fall under the control of Sauron (as though affected by the dominate monster spell).  After a year passes the wearer must repeat the saving throw, but the DC increases by 1.  At the end of every four years thereafter, the character makes another save with a cumulative +1 increase to the DC.

The One Ring

Unlike the other rings the One is intelligent and of lawful evil alignment.  Its purpose is to dominate all Middle-earth.  Of the Great Rings, the One is probably the most likely to fall into player hands at some point as it tries to find its way to Mordor.

Int 9 Wis 12 Cha 19; Ego 25

Communication: empathy, speech (Black Speech), telepathy

Senses: Blindsense

The One confers the following benefits to its wearer, and may confer some them to a bearer.  The Ring can suppress some of these abilities (but not the invisibility or true seeing effects).  Unlike other intelligent magic items, the One does not confer a negative level on a bearer of different, or even opposing, alignment.  Furthermore, the ring rarely enters into ego contests with the wearer (but when carried, it may enter into an ego contest to force the bearer to put it on).

  Though the One seeks to return to its master, it is possible for another character to master the ring.  This has numerous roleplaying requirements which will likely make the character unplayable long before mastery occurs.  The GM is free to determine the mechanical requirements of mastering the One, but at the very least the character must have an intelligence score of 23, 15 ranks in each of Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (history), and Spellcraft, and be of lawful evil alignment.

• The wearer gains an enhancement bonus equal to 1/3 his character level to all ability scores
• The wearer has all the benefits of the true seeing spell
• The wearer gains a competence bonus equal to 1/3 their character level (minimum of +1) on all ability checks, attack rolls, caster level checks, saving throws, and skill checks, and to armor class.
• The wearer is invisible as if under the effects of the greater invisibility spell, except that at the height of day, the wearer’s shadow can barely be seen (Perception DC 30)
• The wearer gains the benefits of a number of metamagic feats determined by his highest level spellcasting class: 3^rd) enlarge spell, extend spell; 4^th) silent spell, still spell; 6^th) heighten spell; 8^th) empower spell; 10^th) maximize spell, widen spell; 12^th) quicken spell.  If the wearer already has one of these feats, he may apply its effect spontaneously without using a higher level spell slot 1/day (a heightened spell it treated as a spell of the highest level the character can cast)
• The wearer ceases aging, but begins to feel ‘worn out’ or ‘drawn thin’ as he approaches the end of his natural lifespan.  Once the character reaches an age that places him roughly half way between the old and venerable age categories, he suffers a -2 penalty to will saving throws.  The penalty increases to -5 when he reaches venerable age.  If the character reaches the age when he would normally die, he instead lives a number of additional years equal to the duration of middle age for characters of the same species.  At the end of that time, the character becomes a wraith under Sauron’s complete control.
• The wearer must make a DC 5 will save upon putting on the ring or fall under the control of Sauron (as though affected by the dominate monster spell).  After a year passes the wearer must repeat the saving throw, but the DC increases by 1.  At the end of every four years thereafter, the character makes another save with a cumulative +1 increase to the DC.