History of Magic Rings in D&D

Inspired by Telecanter's Story of Potions I tried to do the same thing with Magic Rings.

Rings as Gygaxian Building Blocks:              
A Ring is a magical piece of jewelry that imbues the wearer with a magical effect for as long as they wear the ring. Effects are generally limited to the person of the wearer, and primarily defensive or evasive rather than offensive. A character can't wear more than 1 or 2 rings at a time.

              
A few of the classic and evergreen rings that don't meet this building block test are:              

• Three Wishes--Limited Uses is not a permanent effect
• Djinni Summoning--Summoning is not a permanent or personal effect
• Many Wishes--Limited uses is not a permanent effect
• Plant Control--Animating sessile plants is not a personal effect
• Elemental Control--Summoning is not a personal or permanent effect
• Shooting Stars--A fancy wand of fireballs is not a personal or permanent effect.

There were also a few rings in the Cyclopedia that had charged protective effects, but anything with charges shouldn't be a magic ring under this rubric. And there are alternative platforms for these effects anyway.

The genie ring does have folklore behind it, but summoning spirits and animating objects doesn't fit the idea of a magical aura the way invisibility or water walking does.

Rings for controlling/befriending Animals and Humans do fit, just barely, in that they change the way other beings percieve the wearer.

I also gave the Telekinesis Ring a pass, because I imagine the ability to move objects with the mind is different from animating a plant or object.

As you can see from the Table, most of the magic rings survive relatively unchanged from the original 3 books all the way through to 3rd Edition. Most of the rings on my selected list come straight from OD&D+Blackmoor, except:              

• Feather Falling (AD&D)
• Wizardry         (AD&D)
• Sustenance      (Cyclopedia/2nd Edition)
• Jumping           (2nd Edition)
• Mind Shielding (2nd Edition) 
• Melding           (3rd Edition)  

I did squeeze a few rings together for what I thought was simplification.
Fire Resistance, Elemental Adaptation and Warmth become a single Ring of Resistance to Elements.
Rather than have item trade-in syndrome for Rings of Protection, I turned it into a scaling effect.

Arms Race
Without mandating an attunement period to benefit from a ring, GMs can give ring overuse a bite similar to potion miscibility by having characters who overload on rings, or who swap rings out too often have to make saving throws to avoid thematic side effects.

 

Ring	Ability	Side Effect	Metal	Jewel
Invisibility	Wearer is invisible as long as they wear ring.	Only partly visible	Silver	None
Weakness	Wearer is enfeebled, their Strength is now as low as possible. Takes remove curse or similar to remove ring.	NA	Gold	Diamond
Protection	Wearer gets bonus to Armor Class and all Saving Throws equal to 1/3 their class level (minimum =1)	Penalty to Armor Class	Silver	Ruby
Delusion	No Powers. Roll Again. Wearer thinks that result is true	NA	Gold	Diamond
Water Walking	Wearer can walk on water as if it was solid ground.	Wearer sinks into ground like its mud.	Silver	Pearl
Resistance to Elements	Immune to hardships of natural environment (cold, heat, wind, rain, etc.) +2 on Saving Throws against “energy” attacks (Fire, Ice, Lightning, etc.)	Wearer extra sensitive to temperature/light/humidity	Iron	Emerald
Beastmastery	Automatic Friendly reaction from animals and beasts. Can have animals and beasts as loyal retainers	Animals react poorly	Copper	Jade
Enchantress' Ring	Wearer's charisma is now effectively the maximum possible, automatic friendly reaction from human(s) and can cast Charm Person 3/day	People react poorly	Gold	Diamond
Regeneration	Wearer regenerates wounds like a troll.	Hemophelia	Quicksilver	Opal
Telekenisis	Wearer can move objects with their mind. As the spell telekenisis	Clumsiness	Steel	Diamond
X-Ray Vision	Wearer can see through walls and things up to 30 ft range. Blocked by lead.	Blindness	Lead	Sapphire
Spell Turning	Any spell or similar effect which targets the wearer will be reflected back to the caster or source.	Spell effects double	Tin	None
Spell Storing	A spellcaster can store any spell in the ring. The wearer can cast the stored spell as if they were the original caster.	NA	Iron	Amber
Freedom	Wearer can swim like a fish and is immune to any slowing, entangling, or physically hindering effects.	Clumsiness	Quicksilver	Coral
Feather Fall	If wearer falls of a cliff or somesuch they float like a feather.	Wearer is heavy, like high-gravity	Quicksilver	Moonstone
Wizardry	Wearer can memorize double usual number of spells. Magic-Users/Wizards Only	Wearer forgets spell levels	Gold	Diamond
Sustaining Energy	Wearer does not need to breathe, drink, eat, sleep	Gluttonous and Slothful	Copper	None
Jumping	Wearer can jump really high, like chanbara.	Clumsiness	Tin	Moonstone
Mind Shielding	Wearer is immune or at least resistant to telepathy/esp/mind blasts etc.	Wearer accidentally broadcasts thoughts	Iron	Quartz
Melding	Wearer can hide in or walk through walls, stone, and other matter, but not forcefields	Wearer sinks into ground like its mud.	Silver	Obsidian

History of Rings in D&D
OD&D	HOLMES	Moldavay/Cook	AD&D	2nd Edition	3rd Edition
Invisibility	Invisibility	Invisibility	Invisibility	Invisibility	Invisibility
Weakness	Weakness	Weakness	Weakness	Weakness
Protection	Protection +1	Protection +1	Protection	Protection	Protection 1
Three Wishes	Three Wishes	(Wishes 1-4)	Three Wishes	Wishes 3	3 Wishes
Delusion		(Delusion)	Delusion	Delusion
Water Walking	Water Walking	Water Walking	Water Walking	Water Walking	Water Walking
Fire Resistance	Fire Resistance	Fire Resistance	Fire Resistance	Fire Resistance	Energy Resistance
Mammal Control	Animal Control	Animal Control	Mammal Control	Animal Friendship/Mammal Control	Animal Friend
	Plant Control	(Plant Control)
Human Control		(Human Control)	Human Influence	Human Influence
Protection, 5' r.		(Protection +1,5'r)
Regeneration	Regeneration	(Regeneration)	Regeneration	Regeneration	Regeneration
Djinn Summoning		(Djinni Summoning)	Djinni SUmmoning	Djinni Summoning	Djinn Calling
Telekenisis		(Telekenisis)	Telekenesis	Telekenisis	Telekenisis
X-Ray Vision		(X-Ray Vision)	X-Ray Vision	X-Ray Vision	X-Ray Vision
Spell Turning		(Spell Turning)	Spell Turning	Spell Turning	Spell Turning
Spell Storing		(Spell Storing)	Spell Storing	Spell Storing	Spell Storing
Many Wishes (4-24)			Multiple Wishes	Wishes Multiple
Supplements
{G}Protection+2, 5'r					Protection 2-5
{G}Protection +3					Force Shield
{G}Shooting Stars			Shooting Stars	Shooting Stars	Shooting Stars
{G}Contrariness			Contrariness	Contrariness
{B}Freedom (Underwater action)			Free Action	Free Action
{B}Movement (Swimming)			Swimming	Swimming	Swimming
			Elemental Command	Elemental Command	Elemental Command
			Feather Falling	Feather Falling	Feather Fall
			Warmth	Warmth
			Wizardry	Wizardry	Wizardry (I-IV)
				Sustenance	Sustenance
				Truth
				Blinking	Blinking
				Chameleon Power	Chameleon Power
				Jumping	Jumping
				Mind Shielding	Mind Shielding
				Ram	Ram
				Clumsiness
				Schocking Grasp
					Climbing
					Counterspells
					Evasion
					Meld Into Stone
					Friend Shield

Minimal Monsters IV

In 1977, TSR began to split their efforts into sustaining the introductory "Basic" dungeons and dragons, and catering to newly experienced role-players with the Advanced line of products.

One of the first items in the Basic line, after the supplements, was Dr. Holmes' restatement of the original game in the blue dragon book. The blue dragon book is interesting in that the rules only supported characters of up to 3rd level, but included 10hit die monsters and other deadly threats that would challenge even high level characters in other versions of the game.

What low-level monsters did Dr. Holmes omnibus include?

Less than 1 Hit Die
Goblin(1-1)
Kobold (1/2)
Skeleton (1/2)

One Hit Die
Bandit (1 HD)
Dwarf (1)
Gnome(1)
Nixie (1)
Orc (1)
Pixie (1)
Stirge (1)


1+ Hit Die
Berserker (1+1)
Elf (1+1)


Hobgoblin (1+1)

2 Hit Die
Ghoul (2)
Green Slime (2)

2+Hit Die
Lizard Man (2+1)
Pegasi (2+2)
Shadow (2+2)
Zombie (2)

3 Hit Die
Giant Tick (3)
Gray Ooze (3)
Harpy (3)
Wight (3)

3+ Hit Die
Bugbear (3+1)
Carrion Crawler (3+1)

Hippogriff (3+1)

4 Hit Die
Blink Dogs (4)
Doppleganger (4)
Gargoyle (4)

Gelatinous Cube (4)

Medusa (4)
Unicorn (4)
Wraith (4)


Variable
Hell Hound (3-7)

Horse (2-3)

Hydra (1 per head)
Yellow Mold (2 per 10 sq ft)




Ogre (4+1)

Impressions
Looking at the monster list, it's clear the Holmes Blue Dragon Book is mostly a compilation of the 3 LBB.
The new entries for the sub-Ogre weight class are the Stirge (1), Lizard Man (2+1), Shadow (2+2), Wight (3), Bugbear (3+1), and Carrion Crawler (3+1). Nothing surprising, mostly new soldier humanoids and variant undead.

The barely sub-ogre weight class adds Blink Dogs (4), Dopplegangers (4), Wraiths (4), and Hellhounds (3-7), as well as new members of the clean up crew; the Gelatinous Cubes (4),  and Yellow mold (2 per square).

The new additions do add to the impression that Holmes world is designed to be brutal and difficult for the mortal men who dwell in it. The aberrations like the stirge and carrion crawler would soon find their place in the toolbox of "unfair" monsters.

Minimal Monsters Part III

Next up is the First edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. The first Dungeons & Dragons book to say Advanced on the cover has more low hit-die monsters than the entire bestiary so far.

To make sense of this in my head, I reorganized the creatures by hit die rather than alphabetically.

1 Hit-Point Wonders

Brain Mole (1 hp)

Ear Seekers (1 hp)

Rot Grub (1 hp)

Gas Spore (1 hp)

These creatures really aren't encounters, more environmental threats or traps in the form of a monster similar to the jellies, slimes, and fungi.

Despite their lack of hit points, they aren't really introductory threats. The belong on levels 3-5 of the dungeon, to passive aggressively punish players who have gotten into a groove of proceeding cautiously (listening or using ESP at doors) and thoroughly (searching every pile of rubbish for treasure).

I could also see using them for foreshadowing, place some of them in room 1 of a lair, to spur the cleric to pray for remove curse/disease in preparation for the Mummy Lord in room 9. Or using these and other nuisance creatures (rust monsters, magic eaters) and weird effects (reverse gravity room, laughing gas trap) in a funhouse sub-level based on the Hellraiser films.

Less than 1 Hit Die

Jackal (1-4 hp)-For when rat-killing isn't fun anymore.

Rat, Giant Sumatran (1-4 hp)-Hooray for the un-gettable Sherlock Holmes reference

Kobold (1-4 hp-Tucker help you

Pixie (1-4 hp)

Halfling (1-6 hp)

Men: Bandit, Buccanneer, Dervish, Merchant, Pilgrim (1-6 hp); Berserker (2-7 hp)

Goblin (1-7 hp)-

Leprechaun (2-5 hp)

Brownie (½ HD)

1 Hit Die

Orc (1 HD)

Gnome (1 HD)

Men: Tribesman (1 HD)

Sting Ray (1 HD)

Skeleton (1 HD)

Hobgoblin (1+1 HD)

1+Hit Dice

IXITXACHITL (1+1 HD)

Badger (1+2 HD)

Wild Dog (1+1 HD)

Merman (1+1 HD)

Piercer (1-4 HD)

Barracuda (1-3 HD)

Herd Animals (1-3 HD)

Horses (1-3 HD)

2 Hit Dice

Giant Ant

Dryad

Ghoul

Gnoll

Green Slime

HOMONCULOUS

LOCATHAH

Cavemen

Pseudo Dragon

Trogolydte

Zombie

2+ Hit Dice

Lizard Man (2+1 HD)

Dolphin (2+2 HD)

Imp (2+2 HD)

Giant Lynx (2+2 HD)

SAHUAGIN (2+2 HD)

Wolf (2+2 HD)

War Dog (2+2 HD)

Sea Horse (2-4 HD)

Strangle Weed (2-4 HD)

Giant Tick (2-4 HD)

3 Hit Dice

Anhkheg

Axe Beak

Giant Badger

Wild Camel

Giant Crab

Mule

Devile: Lemure

Shrieker

Violet Fungi

Nymph

Quasit

Sea Hag

Sylph

Thought Eater

Triton

Harpy

3+1 Hit Dice

Giant Lizard (3+1 HD)

Giant Goat (3+1 HD)

Bugbear (3+1 HD)

3+3 Hit Dice

Dinosaur: Pteranodon (3+3 HD)

Gray Ooze (3+3 HD)

Hippogriff (3+3 HD)

Leopard (3+3 HD)

Shadow (3+3 HD)

Water Weird (3+3 HD)

Giant Weasel (3+3 HD)

Mankind, Humanoids, Demihumans, and Fish-Men

Humanoids and demi-humans range from 1/2 to 3 HD each, and cover all the classics (elves, dwarves, gnomes, halfings, pixies, orcs, goblins, gnolls, kobolds) a few new ones (leprechaun, several kinds of humans, lizardmen, nymphs) and four! kinds of fish-man (Mermen, Tritons, Sahuagin, and Locathah).

Most of the entries for humanoids and demihumans include charts and statistics for describing strongholds and warbands, complete with leader-types, dependants, domestic animals, and allies. Giving us such gems as: “Gnomes are 80% likely to have tamed animals to serve as guards in their lairs: 5-30 Badgers (70%), or 3-12 Giant Badgers (20%), or 2-8 Wolverines (10%)”. Combining the likely presence of angry burrowing mammals with the 25% chance for gnomes to dwell in earthen burrows, you've got a recipe to give lots of trouble to any unwelcome visitors, and a feature that makes gnomish strongholds unlike other.

I wonder how much of these leader-type to warrior ratios are taken from Chainmail or other miniatures rules/painting guides of the period. And how does the ratio of warriors to leaders and sub-chieftans vary between the different kinds of humanoid, are they the same ratios used in the town design guidelines from the DMG? what does that tell us about these societies?

Other Categories

On the undead front, the three basic types (zombie, skeleton, ghoul.) make their appearances with few changes from the original books.

When it comes to animals, we start at 1 hit die or less with wild dogs and giant rats and range up to 3 Hit Dice for giant lizards, giraffes, and anything else you like.

The roster of traditional mythological creatures grows, bringing back the hippogriff and harpy, and adding the nymphs, slyphs, and sea hags.

The big D categories make their fist appearances, dinosaurs (pteredon), demons (lemures, imps, quasits), and dragons (pseudodragon), promising more adventures in Lost Worlds, the Great Wheel and epic fantasy.

Closing Thoughts

20 years ago, when I first read my father's Monstrous Compendium, I was flabbergasted at the breadth of creatures this game of ours contains. I thought I was expected to use each and every one of them AND make such a journey make sense.

Now that I have a day-job, I realize that the thing to do is let someone else, like the wizards from Geneva or Seattle, come up with billions of ideas (good and bad) and I can pick out a few at a time to make something of.

Not that I don't want to someday run an eschtalogical dreamscape dungeon where the player's are expected to face down every creature from every monster manual, in alphabetical order.

Minimal Monsters II

Welcome back to Minimal Monsters Part II Electric Boogaloo featuring the lowest hit-die monsters from  

Dungeons & Dragons Volume 2: Monsters & Treasure

Name (Hit Dice)

Men (Variable)

Goblins/Kobolds (1 to 1.5)

Orcs (1)

Hobgoblins/Gnolls (1.5)

Skeletons/Zombies (0.5-1)
Ghouls (2)
Wights (3)
Sea Monsters (Variable)
Pixies/Nixies (1)
Dryads (2)
Gnomes/Dwarves (1)
Elves (1+1)
Pegasi (2+2)
Hippogriff (3+1)
Green Slime (2)
Gray Ooze (3)
Yellow Mold (Variable/Non-hit dice)
Light Horse (2)
Medium Horse (2+1)
Heavy Horse (3)
Draft Horse (2+1)
Mule (2+1)
Normal/Giant Insects/Animals (Variable)

Not much new in this version compared to the fantasy supplement. Mankind, the fairy tale demihumans, evil humanoids, and basic undead return.

New this time are the pegasi, hippogriffs, and mules joining the cavalry and draft horses.

The first hint of weirdness arrives in the form of green slime, gray ooze, and yellow mold.

Honorable mentions go to the wraith, Medusa, gargoyle, centaur, and unicorn, who all weigh in at 4 hit-dice, just under the Ogres 4+1 hit dice. These newcomers come from folk-lore and myth, counterbalancing the Tolkenien humanoids.

In Volume 3: The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures, Gygax gives us our first charts for wandering monsters and dungeon stocking.

The first three levels of monster (out of six) include the expected humanoids, demi-humans and undead from the minimal monster index, but no normal or folkloric animals. What we get instead are giant insects/animals (spiders, centipedes, lizards, hogs, ants, snakes, and weasels), NPC types and Ochre Jelly.

Minimal Monsters Part I

A few years ago Jeff wrote a series of blog posts listing the Mightiest Monsters from the classic editions of our favorite game, comparing the different choices made by the early designers, and musing on what implied worlds these beasts ruled.

My imitation flattering spin on this idea is to review the least of the monsters, rather than the biggest, to see what sort of worlds they imply, and how the introductory levels of the early campaigns played out.

For the purposes of this list, a "minimal" monster is any creature with less than 4 Hit Dice or equivalent, i.e. smaller than an Ogre.

Chainmail
In Chainmal, a unit of professional soldiers (i.e. pikemen, mounted knights or longbowman) is 4-5 points,  poorly armed peasant levies are 1/2 to 2 points each, and a cannon or Giant is 15-20 points. The following entries from the fantasy supplement are 5 points or less

Hobbits (no point value)

Sprites (4 points)

Dwarves/Gnomes (2 points)

Goblins/Kobolds (1.5 points)

Elves/Fairies (4 points)

Orcs (2 points)

Giant Wolves (5 points)

Zombies (2 points)

Giant Spiders and Insects (Variable)


Gygax did not give point values for Hobbits because "these little chaps have small place in the wargame, but you may want them for recreation of certain battles.' So halfings, like basilisks, are unpriceable "story" units, and not suitable for skirmishes or random encounters.


Giant wolves and zombies aren't given individual point values, the descriptions say they fight like cavalry or orcs, so they are priced accordingly.


My favorite sentence is in the description of Giant Spiders and Insects: "The possibilities for employing such creatures are almost endless, and the abilities and weaknesses of each should be decided upon prior to the game they are to be used in."

No surprises here in the fantasy supplement to the rules for medieval combat, all the units you need to recreate the Battle of 5 armies, the siege of Minas Tirith, and other clashes from Appendix N.

3d6 in order as lifepath

The two great old-school rpgs are D&D and Traveler.
To recap, creating a character in classic D&D involves rolling a handful of d6s a few times, and making a few choices from short menus. Afterwards, the sheet has 6-7 ability scores roughly describing (and ranking on a bell-curve) the phsyical, mental, social, and metaphysical attributes of the character. A profession (class), implied allegience (alignment), social position (starting gold/languages spoken), and some useful gear (weapons, rations, spells).

Whereas creating a character in classic Traveller involves...rolling a handful of d6s a few times, and making a few choices from short menus. Afterwards the sheet has 6-7 ability scores roughly describing (and ranking on a bell-curve) the phsyical, mental, social, and metaphysical (psionics) attributes of the character. A profession (service), implied allegience (service again), social position (starting credits, social standing, rank), and some useful gear (weapons, TAS membership, maybe a ship).

It is widely recognized that Traveler gave us one of the first life-path character creation systems. When you sit down to make a Traveler character, you can be surprised by who you meet. You start with an alphanumeric code (A758B) and watch this cipher develop into a realized person as they progress through their service terms.

I think there is some useful headspace to take this same attitude to rolling up a classic D&D character. When I roll my starting attributes, I can be surprised at the person I meet at the end.
Jeff Reints some time ago (can't find old link) added random tables for race/class/alignment and starting gear to the character creation rules for his old-school pick up games. Taking hte Traveler/life-path/let me be surprised by the character I start with attitude, these extra randoms make sense.

The essential part of the life-path character creation system is that the life-path is what happened before the game started. As soon as the character is created, it is up to the player to pilot that avatar to whatever goals they set themselves.

It can be a very satisfying challenge to take a bad hand and play a winning game; i.e. taking a character with all low stats, and through cunning, perseverance, and luck turning them into a name-level warlord.

To-wit, I will add ability re-training rules to the next game of classic D&D that I play. If the player wants to spend adventuring time and hard-earned treasure to increase a fighter's strength, or a thieves dexterity, or a clerics charisma, then that makes as much or more sense as building a stronghold or crafting magic items.

Why ability retraining/increasing is a good idea in classic D&D:
--With a hard cap of 18, and the benefits of high ability scores muted relative to more recent additions, high scores are more insurance and bragging rights than needful for success.
--It gives the martial classes something to do on those months the wizards sit back to craft items of power
--It gives players something to do with large treasure troves. Would you rather they hire a hundred mercenaries or increase their strength by a single point and maybe get an extra plus here and there
--It returns agency to the player, while you may be "unlucky" to start, if you play your cards right you can make yourself into a Conan of a Gandalf someday
--For some players, going to the gym or the library for a month may be a less unbelievable way to increase strength or intelligence than picking up a glowing trinket in a dungeon.

How would it work?
It doesn't have to be a sure thing.

Assuming a B/X array where bonuses don't start until 13 and an 18 gives a +3 , an equipment list where platemail and spellbooks are chump change for a starting character, and treasure troves average in the thousands of gold pieces, it wouldn't be unreasonable to charge 1,000 gold pieces per ability increase...up to somewhere around 9-13, then some larger number (5k, 10k?) for a CHANCE to increase the score.

Every time you level up, or spend a month and 5k GP training, you may select an ability score and roll 3d6, if the roll is greater than the ability score, increase your ability score to the next tier. (3/4/6/9/13/16/18)

Necrotic Miasmi

On the other side of the great mountains of Shiv is Liliania Swamp. A horrid, decaying place, filled with the smell of death and the gibberings of madness. Travelers to the swamp are few, and always foolish or foolhardy. Travelers from the swamp are fewer and always walk hand in hand with death.

The more stable portions of the swamp is the ream of Baron Sengir and his court of vampires. The only true humans in the land are cowering peasants on the edge of starvation, and a few sergeants kept as useful pets by the family Sengir. These gentry act as overseers, blackguard warriors, and assassins.

In the wastes around the Barony, the swamp falls even more apart, deathly mists rise up and sicken the unprepared. Those who survive the sickness are driven so mad by whispering spirits and hideous specters they forget their own names. Insects and rats rend the flesh of those who stumble for even a moment.

The necromancer Liliana dwells in the heart of the bog, surrounded by the walking dead in all shapes and sizes. Casting death on all those who venture near her tower. She bargains and deals with unholy forces, trading blood, lives and even souls for secret knowledge.

Do not enter the swamp,unless you seek death or the lore of madness. Best to pass by, or fly over.