Hi all! New DM here, and this is my first time posting in the forums so do tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.
I'm running a low-leveled campaign, my party is just hitting level 4, and the campaign should end around level 6. I'm thinking of giving the party Warlock the following item, and I'd like to know if it's over-powered or not.
It's essentially a magical ring. If an Identify spell is casted on it, it will reveal its name as a Ring of Mind Shielding, but it will also reveal that a soul is already inhabiting the ring. If the user attunes to it anyway, after a scene where the soul inside speaks to the user, it will transform into a Majestic's Ring (rare). The text is as follows:
While wearing this ring, you are immune to magic that allows other creatures to read your thoughts, determine whether you are lying, know your alignment, or know your creature type. Creatures can telepathically communicate with you only if you allow it.
You can use an action to cause the ring to become invisible until you use another action to make it visible, until you remove the ring, or until you die.
This ring contains the soul of a once-mighty wizard. Betrayed by his acolytes, he was killed, but before they could bind his soul in their service he had escaped into the relative safety of this ring. He bids the wearer to aid him in regaining his mortal body. He will also provide assistance during spellcasting, at a cost to the caster.
When casting a spell that deals damage (egs Fireball, Fire Bolt), the wearer can choose to deal an additional 1d6 necrotic damage to up to one target already being affected by the spell. The wearer also takes 1d6 necrotic damage.
When casting a spell that does not deal damage (egs. Charm, Hold Person), the wearer can choose to cast it at one level higher. The wearer takes 1d6 necrotic damage.
When casting a spell that does not deal damage nor has any effect when cast at a higher level (egs Identify), the wizard cannot assist.
If at any point, the wearer expresses that they are no longer going to aid the wizard, or the wizard senses that they are taking too long to complete his quest (up to the DM's discretion), the ring will become cursed. The wearer will not be able to remove the ring or un-attune from it. Whenever the wearer casts a spell while wearing the cursed ring, roll a d6. On a 1, the wizard automatically assists in the spell, if possible, with effects similar to those detailed above. They can no longer choose if the wizard assists or not.
The curse can be removed by a 3rd-level Remove Curse. However in doing so, the wizard's soul is destroyed, and the ring reverts back to being an ordinary Ring of Mind Shielding.
Imho it's op like this, there should be a limit to the upcasting, even if the spell doesn't do damage. Like "You can upcast spells from 1st to 4th level by 1" because it's still a pretty powerful feat later on (free high level spell slots) and at a certain point the 1d6 caster damage doesn't have any weight anymore, except when the caster is at extremely low hp. Also you might want to consider adding charges per day, so they can't upcast anything all day long. Rp wise the ring's entity needs to recharge his spell slots, too.
I think it has merit as long as your ok with the OP nature of the ring. The story is good and has some great roleplay aspects. I would however change a few mechanical things.
1st the curse. That is good but I think it should be even more OP and not be removed by a simple 3rd level spell. A caster must be even higher say 12th or 15th. Also, it does not destroy the soul inside. It only separates the ring from the wielder. This makes it a tougher choice to help or make tons of money to pay for the removal. All that said I think there should be a warning with this ring. During the Attunement the Wizard inside the ring will talk with the PC and explain his situation. If the player is not interested in his deal the ring can't be attuned with. So the player knows to get the ring they must accept his deal plus know if they do and then turn against the Wizard a heavy price will be paid until someone knew can be found to accept the wizard's bargain. So the option will be Help the Wizard. Pay for a remove curse. Or Find someone new for it to attune with. Two quest options and one requires money.
2nd I would change the cost of the necrotic damage to just plain damage. The reason for this is eventually PCs can become immune to necrotic damage. Elimination of the cost feature.
3rd I would up the damage by D6 for every level of spell slot you boost the spell. By this I mean if I cast a level 1 spell then the payment is 1d6 damage. But if the spell I'm casting is a 3rd level slot and I want to make it a 4th level slot with the ring it would be 3d6. As the PCs level, they will all start sharing temporary hit points and such. Making it easier to burn a 1d6. So to make it hurt more they must pay more.
The backstory and concept of the ring are really good. I would totally use it if I wasn't running a model right now. Keep up the great work. And lastly, these are just my thoughts I hope they help give you an idea of what you might need to think about in addition to the cool ring. It's your game. Have fun with it and run it your way.
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I live my life like a West Marches campaign, A swirling vortex of Ambitions and Insecurities.
Thank you both for your input! Truth be told I was a little bit worried it would be too game-breaking later on, especially with the higher-levelled spells, so I was wondering if I should add some restrictions.
I originally planned it this way because well, the party's low level, if they're capable of casting high-level spells and still in possession of the ring, most likely they have no intention of helping the wizard out. The wizard would probably stop providing assistance at that point, taking up a valuable attunement slot for a ring that does nothing other than the basic Mind Shielding effect, so the party's only choice now would be to lift the curse and get rid of it.
But I'll definitely give it a think. Thanks again! :)
I don't think it's overpowered at all in your specific scenario of giving it to a Warlock currently at level 4 and maxing out at level 6. The only concern is the free upcasting for nondamaging spells, everything else there is balanced just fine. But Warlocks already get free upcasting on all spells but only have 2 spell slots per short rest - what's the worst that could happen if that upcast is an additional level higher?
I could see that maybe being busted at higher levels, and certainly the 1d6 damage would be negligible at higher levels, but you're talking about upcasting Level 3 spells to Level 4, not really a huge deal.
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Hi all! New DM here, and this is my first time posting in the forums so do tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.
I'm running a low-leveled campaign, my party is just hitting level 4, and the campaign should end around level 6. I'm thinking of giving the party Warlock the following item, and I'd like to know if it's over-powered or not.
It's essentially a magical ring. If an Identify spell is casted on it, it will reveal its name as a Ring of Mind Shielding, but it will also reveal that a soul is already inhabiting the ring. If the user attunes to it anyway, after a scene where the soul inside speaks to the user, it will transform into a Majestic's Ring (rare). The text is as follows:
If at any point, the wearer expresses that they are no longer going to aid the wizard, or the wizard senses that they are taking too long to complete his quest (up to the DM's discretion), the ring will become cursed. The wearer will not be able to remove the ring or un-attune from it. Whenever the wearer casts a spell while wearing the cursed ring, roll a d6. On a 1, the wizard automatically assists in the spell, if possible, with effects similar to those detailed above. They can no longer choose if the wizard assists or not.
The curse can be removed by a 3rd-level Remove Curse. However in doing so, the wizard's soul is destroyed, and the ring reverts back to being an ordinary Ring of Mind Shielding.
What do you guys think?
Imho it's op like this, there should be a limit to the upcasting, even if the spell doesn't do damage. Like "You can upcast spells from 1st to 4th level by 1" because it's still a pretty powerful feat later on (free high level spell slots) and at a certain point the 1d6 caster damage doesn't have any weight anymore, except when the caster is at extremely low hp. Also you might want to consider adding charges per day, so they can't upcast anything all day long. Rp wise the ring's entity needs to recharge his spell slots, too.
I think it has merit as long as your ok with the OP nature of the ring. The story is good and has some great roleplay aspects. I would however change a few mechanical things.
1st the curse. That is good but I think it should be even more OP and not be removed by a simple 3rd level spell. A caster must be even higher say 12th or 15th. Also, it does not destroy the soul inside. It only separates the ring from the wielder. This makes it a tougher choice to help or make tons of money to pay for the removal. All that said I think there should be a warning with this ring. During the Attunement the Wizard inside the ring will talk with the PC and explain his situation. If the player is not interested in his deal the ring can't be attuned with. So the player knows to get the ring they must accept his deal plus know if they do and then turn against the Wizard a heavy price will be paid until someone knew can be found to accept the wizard's bargain. So the option will be Help the Wizard. Pay for a remove curse. Or Find someone new for it to attune with. Two quest options and one requires money.
2nd I would change the cost of the necrotic damage to just plain damage. The reason for this is eventually PCs can become immune to necrotic damage. Elimination of the cost feature.
3rd I would up the damage by D6 for every level of spell slot you boost the spell. By this I mean if I cast a level 1 spell then the payment is 1d6 damage. But if the spell I'm casting is a 3rd level slot and I want to make it a 4th level slot with the ring it would be 3d6. As the PCs level, they will all start sharing temporary hit points and such. Making it easier to burn a 1d6. So to make it hurt more they must pay more.
The backstory and concept of the ring are really good. I would totally use it if I wasn't running a model right now. Keep up the great work. And lastly, these are just my thoughts I hope they help give you an idea of what you might need to think about in addition to the cool ring. It's your game. Have fun with it and run it your way.
I live my life like a West Marches campaign, A swirling vortex of Ambitions and Insecurities.
Thank you both for your input! Truth be told I was a little bit worried it would be too game-breaking later on, especially with the higher-levelled spells, so I was wondering if I should add some restrictions.
I originally planned it this way because well, the party's low level, if they're capable of casting high-level spells and still in possession of the ring, most likely they have no intention of helping the wizard out. The wizard would probably stop providing assistance at that point, taking up a valuable attunement slot for a ring that does nothing other than the basic Mind Shielding effect, so the party's only choice now would be to lift the curse and get rid of it.
But I'll definitely give it a think. Thanks again! :)
I don't think it's overpowered at all in your specific scenario of giving it to a Warlock currently at level 4 and maxing out at level 6. The only concern is the free upcasting for nondamaging spells, everything else there is balanced just fine. But Warlocks already get free upcasting on all spells but only have 2 spell slots per short rest - what's the worst that could happen if that upcast is an additional level higher?
I could see that maybe being busted at higher levels, and certainly the 1d6 damage would be negligible at higher levels, but you're talking about upcasting Level 3 spells to Level 4, not really a huge deal.