I have an idea I want to try out, where I give my players a Ring of Mind Shielding that has the soul of Djinni inside it (but I want to play it slow and have the Djinni offer a wish to whoever ends up wearing the ring, but at a crucial moment).
If the players cast Identify on the ring, would it tell them if there was a soul already inside the ring? And if so, would it be able to tell what kind of creature the soul belonged to? Or would it be considered similar to a curse, and Identify wouldn't tell them about that part of the ring?
My party has an item, an heirloom of one of the PCs, that they cast Identify on, and I didn't want to reveal the whole nature of the thing yet. There is a story to it. So I told them one thing it could do (cast Clairvoyance 1/day), and said "there seem to be other things it can do but its nature defies the ID spell to fully characterize." Nobody was upset. (Quite the contrary, they were intrigued.)
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Personally I’d leave the Djinn’s soul out of the description if they use Identify, especially since it’s only a level I spell. Maybe it’s the wrong way to look at it but I think using a level I spell slot to know about the potential to get a Wish is too low of an investment in their part. Plus it kills some of the mystery for the PC who puts it on.
Personally I’d leave the Djinn’s soul out of the description if they use Identify, especially since it’s only a level I spell. Maybe it’s the wrong way to look at it but I think using a level I spell slot to know about the potential to get a Wish is too low of an investment in their part. Plus it kills some of the mystery for the PC who puts it on.
That is the perfect way to look at it, thank you! I was trying to think of if Identify could tell the players, rather than should it.
I think Identify should tell you that at the very least, the ring has a soul already in it. It is a key feature of the ring. Imagine the horror of buying a Ring of Mind Shielding to protect you from a soul stealing item and finding out too late it is full. Sorry, no room at the Inn. Also, anyone in the ring can telepathically communicate with the wearer. I would suggest you do that, giving the player a chance to realize who is in the ring. He won't admit anything until too late, but perhaps he will give a clue - such as asking "Why didn't you detect evil?" because he forgets that not everyone can do that.
I would also suggest/imply that the ring is not a usual ring of mind shielding. Say perhaps that it has something written in Primordial on it - the old languages of the Elementals. Djinni speak Auran, a kind of sub-language of Primordial similar to how English, French, Spanish, etc. are all sublanguages of Latin.
Primordial is written using Dwarvish script, so I would describe it as follows:
If they make an easy Int Check of 10, tell them there appears to be something written in dwarvish runes on the ring of Mind Shielding. If they fail, tell them some 'unkown' writing.
If someone reads dwarvish, tell them it is gibberish. If someone reads Primordial or uses Comprehend Languages, it says "To Keep my Love Safe, even unto Death".
I had a player with a cursed sword so I purposely sent the party on a haunted house adventure where the house/miniboss was using spells to telepathically send messages to the players to try and make them leave. I used this opportunity to have the cursed item talk to the player for the first time so it was hidden among the rest.
then in a later fight when the player missed with an attack I casually asked them “would you like advantage for that attack” which they took happily, then when the second hit landed I had the cursed item repeat what it said in the haunted house. Freaked them out!
you really want to draw out stuff like this a bit otherwise they will work it sooner than you are ready and it loses its weight and consequences.
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I have an idea I want to try out, where I give my players a Ring of Mind Shielding that has the soul of Djinni inside it (but I want to play it slow and have the Djinni offer a wish to whoever ends up wearing the ring, but at a crucial moment).
If the players cast Identify on the ring, would it tell them if there was a soul already inside the ring? And if so, would it be able to tell what kind of creature the soul belonged to? Or would it be considered similar to a curse, and Identify wouldn't tell them about that part of the ring?
You can do whatever you want.
My party has an item, an heirloom of one of the PCs, that they cast Identify on, and I didn't want to reveal the whole nature of the thing yet. There is a story to it. So I told them one thing it could do (cast Clairvoyance 1/day), and said "there seem to be other things it can do but its nature defies the ID spell to fully characterize." Nobody was upset. (Quite the contrary, they were intrigued.)
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Personally I’d leave the Djinn’s soul out of the description if they use Identify, especially since it’s only a level I spell. Maybe it’s the wrong way to look at it but I think using a level I spell slot to know about the potential to get a Wish is too low of an investment in their part. Plus it kills some of the mystery for the PC who puts it on.
That is the perfect way to look at it, thank you! I was trying to think of if Identify could tell the players, rather than should it.
I think Identify should tell you that at the very least, the ring has a soul already in it. It is a key feature of the ring. Imagine the horror of buying a Ring of Mind Shielding to protect you from a soul stealing item and finding out too late it is full. Sorry, no room at the Inn. Also, anyone in the ring can telepathically communicate with the wearer. I would suggest you do that, giving the player a chance to realize who is in the ring. He won't admit anything until too late, but perhaps he will give a clue - such as asking "Why didn't you detect evil?" because he forgets that not everyone can do that.
I would also suggest/imply that the ring is not a usual ring of mind shielding. Say perhaps that it has something written in Primordial on it - the old languages of the Elementals. Djinni speak Auran, a kind of sub-language of Primordial similar to how English, French, Spanish, etc. are all sublanguages of Latin.
Primordial is written using Dwarvish script, so I would describe it as follows:
If they make an easy Int Check of 10, tell them there appears to be something written in dwarvish runes on the ring of Mind Shielding. If they fail, tell them some 'unkown' writing.
If someone reads dwarvish, tell them it is gibberish. If someone reads Primordial or uses Comprehend Languages, it says "To Keep my Love Safe, even unto Death".
I had a player with a cursed sword so I purposely sent the party on a haunted house adventure where the house/miniboss was using spells to telepathically send messages to the players to try and make them leave. I used this opportunity to have the cursed item talk to the player for the first time so it was hidden among the rest.
then in a later fight when the player missed with an attack I casually asked them “would you like advantage for that attack” which they took happily, then when the second hit landed I had the cursed item repeat what it said in the haunted house. Freaked them out!
you really want to draw out stuff like this a bit otherwise they will work it sooner than you are ready and it loses its weight and consequences.