Your characters must worry about more than just physical injury in the world of Faerun.
Although a fireball or an axe to the stomach can hurt, those are easily seen coming.
Psionic attacks, mind control, and charm spells are the most difficult to manage.
They often depend on one saving throw to determine success or failure.
Then the result begins.
You can improve your mental defenses by using an item like the Ring Of Mind Shielding.
This is designed to protect your mind against any intrusive thoughts.
You should also take a look at its other capabilities.
This is our Ring of Mind Shielding guide!
What is the Ring of Mind Shielding and How Does It Work?
The coolest thing about this ring is its ability to produce a number of different effects.
The Player’s Handbook states that this ring makes it immune to magic.
This allows other creatures to read your thoughts and determine if you are lying.
It also lets them know your alignment or your type.
Only you can allow other creatures to communicate telepathically with you.
An action can cause the ring’s visibility to disappear until another action is used to make it visible until the ring is removed or until you die.
Your soul will enter the ring if you are unable to breathe, or if it is already occupied by a soul.
The ring can either be worn or you can leave it for the afterlife.
You can communicate telepathically with any creature that wears the ring as long as your soul remains in it.
This telepathic communication can’t be blocked by the wearer.
There is a lot to take in, so let’s get going.
This ring protects your mind against outside interference.
It protects you from the harmful effects of many spells including the ‘Zone of Truth’ spell and ‘Detect Alignment’ spells.
This ring is valuable if you have a low Wisdom score, which is often required to protect your mind.
An action can be used to make the ring invisible.
This is useful if you are being interrogated, or dealing with enemies such as Itlithids.
It can still be detected using spells that counter invisible, and enemies may know that something is shielding them if they use detect magically, but it’s still very useful.
They won’t force you to tell the truth or read your thoughts.
Instead, they will question why you resist them.
This could give you some time to escape.
The last skill is truly cool.
Your soul can enter the ring if you are unable to breathe while wearing it.
They can then either go to their afterlife or stay there.
They can then communicate telepathically to anyone wearing the ring.
Character Death and The Ring
Character death can occur due to poor decisions or unlucky dice rolls.
Your dungeon master may have a rule on what to do if that happens.
Some simply say “roll a new person” and the new character joins at the first chance.
Some people let the old character live on until their bodies are returned.
Others throw death savers to keep the character from dying.
The Ring of Mind Shielding now offers another option for character suicide.
The ring can be placed in the soul of the party member, and they might take it home with them.
There are many ways to bring a soul back into a person’s body.
This could be an optional side quest.
Is there a Ring of Mind Shielding available?
Surprisingly this ring is considered rare.
D&D legends say that the rings were worn by people who needed protection against magical attacks and probes.
This could include nobles who want to keep secrets, rebel forces that don’t want their location revealed, shopkeepers who fear being threatened with robbery, and members of magical black markets.
A ring is a symbol that a character will keep their thoughts and secrets private.
If you are able to locate a Ring of Mind Shielding, you should know where to look.
These rings are not allowed to be worn by law enforcement officers, so they won’t be sold.
It is very costly and most rings are around 16,000 GP without any modifiable.
You will need to save money for this ring.
Tuning to The Ring
Attunement is required for the Ring of Mind Shielding.
You will need to spend a brief rest while wearing the ring, and also meditate on the ring.
This ring may be able to talk back to you, unlike other items.
You will not only get the benefits of the ring that is suited to your personality, but you also have the company of another soul.
The Ring of Mind Shielding has a lot of potential for storytelling.
Here are some things to look at if that interests you.
Finding The Ring
Let’s take a moment to consider how “uncommon” the ring really is.
This ring is uncommon but not rare.
These rings are available to many people, with most likely a few who have died wearing them.
There’s a good chance that someone has the ring, whether it’s found on a dead adventurer or in a strange merchant shop.
If the soul within the ring hasn’t passed to the afterlife, it can communicate with the person wearing the ring via telepathic communication.
The talking can’t be stopped.
This ring has many story hooks.
The DM can make any kind of ring they want.
A benevolent adventurer could be available to offer advice and support.
You can also find a voice that gives bad advice or just prattles about random topics.
Or the ring could be home to an evil spirit looking to overtake the character.
A mentor figure could also be housed in the ring.
Although it’s only a voice in a ring, the voice may have unfinished business and requires someone to take care of it.
This could lead to a quest for your characters, and the soul may leave them with treasure or secrets.
Your characters might even meet an old friend or someone they know through the ring and start a quest.
You can do a lot with this ring.
It’s possible to imagine that 75% of the ring’s contents could contain a soul.
These ideas can be taken by a good DM and used to create a story hook for the PCs.
The description clearly states that the soul can choose to leave the ring empty.
The soul can choose to leave the ring or remain with it.
A ring owned by a religious figure might be empty while they seek their God.
When should you use this ring?
Mind Flayers and Ilithids are two of the most dangerous enemies you can use this ring against.
These squid-like enemies aim to get inside your brain, sometimes even eating it.
If they are able to interrogate your brain they will use their physical skills to gain access to your brain.
The ring can also be used against Paladins or holy orders that may try to use holy magic to change your character’s mind.
The ring can also be used against telepaths.
You can just deny them access.
What happens to the soul if the ring is removed or destroyed?
We’ve already discussed how magical items can be destroyed.
They are extremely durable and can withstand all kinds of damage, so items that cause damage to standard non-magical objects won’t be able to do much to magical items.
The Ring of Mind Shielding is still possible to destroy with enough force and damage.
If that happens, then the soul inside can go into the afterlife.
The effects of the ring is removed from the person to whom it is attuned will vanish.
While the soul is still in the ring, it can no longer telepathically communicate or interact with any other person.
The soul within the ring will then be able to speak again once it is returned to its owner.
FAQs
What is the Time of Day in The Ring?
A valid question could be asked if an NPC, or a player character, finds themselves in the ring. Let’s suppose Barbarian Bob, an NPC character, wore the ring to fight a monster, and his soul hasn’t left the ring. Bob’s soul remains inside the ring even though it has been lost for many decades. Since souls technically are dead, Bob’s soul is still the same as it was on the day of his death. For a PC like Randolph the Rogue, the time will freeze if he passes away and enters the ring. He could, for example, be 33 when his soul enters the ring. He will still be 33 if it takes the party 2 years to get him back in a body.This is a complicated process that might require some DM homebrewing intervention.However, most people find the ring freezes in time.
Can multiple souls share the same ring?
A ring with a soul is only allowed to be worn by one person at a time. This can be manipulated by a savvy DM. If the owner is not attuned, the characters can swap places. The soul can also be banished from the ring, or the ring may remain in the person’s afterlife. If you’re having fun with the ring, you can do almost anything. A wizard might try to take control of the character, and a fallen adventurer might look for closure before he leaves for the afterlife. This ring is full of storytelling potential, so think about how you might approach it when you give it to the player.
What about Technology?
The ring claims that it protects you from magic intrusions: ” You are immune to magic that permits” Although most Faerun is magic-based. However, there are races and cities that embrace technology over magic. It is possible to use a non-magical interrogation or a steampunk-esque lie detector to obtain the information. If you are in this situation, the ring won’t help. It protects against magical intrusion. It is rare to find places not based on magic in D&D, so it is more common to find them in homebrew games. If you’re a DM looking to circumvent the Ring of Mind Shielding, this is the best way.
