The One Ring DFRPG Stats

[Richard_Chilton]

When ICE had its MERP license they published the One Ring, using Rolemaster Stats...

The ring seems to have part of Sauron's "soul" in it as well as his power.  It definitely boosts the power of any wielder, but only if the wielder had power to boost.  Bilbo, who had no power, got the default "you can't see me" but if Galadriel took it up than she (who was relatively mortal) could have replaced the maia Sauron and ruled the world.

Maybe a variable cost? One for those who lack the power to use it (say wizard level or above) and one for the average person picks it up?

I would definitely add something like
[-0] Chooses its owner.
- just based on how it wiggled off people's fingers...

Richard

[Richard_Chilton]

One Ring To Rule Them All is at the very least worded incorrectly.  Players can never 'inflict compels' on any others' characters, but only ever invoke-for-effect to trigger a compel that is then adjudicated by the GM (who serves as arbiter over, among other things, what is a reasonable compel).

We are really seeing only half that power - the other half is attached to 16 other rings.  The 9 for mortal men and 7 for the dwarves.  Their rings would have a [-X] feature saying "cannot resist compels from the Master of the One True Ring".  System wise it's a thaumaturgical effect that says assigns the consequence "you must obey me" to the Ringwriath in question.

Notice the wording of "Master of the One True Ring".  Bilbo and Frodo couldn't have been able to command others (because they never mastered the ring) but if Galadriel wore it then the Nine would have been all "Yes Mistress.  Whatever you say Mistress.".

Richard

[Tedronai]

assigns the consequence "you must obey me" to the Ringwriath in question.

Consequences only affect the game by way of being tagged, invoked (including invoking-for-effect), and compelled, and compels can be negotiated or outright refused (with accompanying cost).

There is no mechanism within this system for mandatory compliance with a compel.
And that is a good thing.

[Richard_Chilton]

Again we are only seeing half the power...  There's what the other Rings do...

None of the Nine were the types to serve blindly but they all ended up as slaves as the Rings drained their freewill.

Hmmm.... Maybe they are increasingly powerful and thus increasing expensive IoP - so much so that the owner has to decided to somehow discard his Ring or go into negative refresh.  If the owners lacks freewill and their nature demands they obey the Master of the One Ring then they would have to accept the compels, just as Sidhe have to bargain.  Of course they'd be NPCs at this point, but no one ever dreams about finding one of the Nine and the Doom they bring, they just dream about finding the One Ring...

Richard

[ARedthorn]

And I like that idea too... if it needs to be represented in play, you could put a +0 power on the One Ring that allows you to increase the refresh cost of all of the rings (9, 7 and 1) by however much you want (maybe even the 3, but elves are studly enough to be able to afford the cost hike?), with no other benefit to any of them (9/7/3/1).
Someone with a lot of spare refresh can drive the cost up on all of them, and possibly end up forcing the owners of the 9/7/3 into negative refresh while remaining above themselves... a bunch of slaves being worth the increased cost?

[Tedronai]

Even Lawbreaker doesn't force you to pay refresh for no benefit (with the possible exception of non-casters breaching the Outer Gates).

I would find it entirely reasonable for the wielder of the One Ring to act as Sponsor to the wielders of lesser Rings, granting credit (and collecting debt) and potentially any Power they themselves are capable of manifesting with the accompanying refresh cost (and potentially using compels to push those powers on the 15, resulting in 'forceful' refresh loss).

[Becq]

My suggestions are as follows.

1) Add this power (partially replacing the text listed as 'purpose'):
[+1] My precious. Those who are aware of the Ring's proximity are drawn to possess it.  This power is treated as a scene aspect that is always present wherever the Ring is, and anyone present is potentially subject to a compel to desire it (treat this a bit like Blood Drinker's Blood Frenzy or Emotional Vampire's Feeding Frenzy).

2) I think that the combination of Corrupting Influence and Demonic Co-pilot both hitting the unrecoverable hunger track is too much.  Instead, have Demonic Co-pilot hitting the hunger track, and simplify Corrupting Influence:
[+1] Corrupting Influence. The One Ring slowly takes over the mind of its wearer. The wearer may not recover the Hunger stress cause by Demonic Co-pilot by any means.
2b) Another option to consider is to use a 'Corruption' stress track instead of the Hunger track.  This would be basically a cosmetic change.
2c) When taking stress from this power, the bearer of the One Ring may choose to accept a point of Debt to the Ring; this reduces stress taken by 2 in much the same way taking a minor consequence would.  (Note: a point of Debt is almost the same as a minor consequence in the sense that it results in a 'free' compel, but Debt allows for more flexibility in terms of accumulation and duration.)

3) Change the 'One Ring To Rule Them All' power as follows:
[-2?] One Ring To Rule Them All. If the bearer of any of the Lesser Rings is ever in the presence of the bearer of the One Ring, the bearer of the Lesser Ring's aspect that relates to their possession of the Lesser Ring is treated as though it was worded 'My will belongs to the One Ring' until he is able to seperate himself from the One Ring's presence.  Any time the bearer of the One Ring inflicts a mental consequence against any bearer of a Lesser Ring, he may always dictate that the consequence be worded 'My will belongs to the One Ring'.  Note that this power does not grant any special ability to inflict mental stress (though powerful bearers of the One Ring will often possess other powers that enable them to do so), and that such consequences are otherwise treated as normal mental consequences and can be recovered from normally.

[Richard_Chilton]

maybe even the 3, but elves are studly enough to be able to afford the cost hike?

The three were part of a separate "batch".  Sauron "taught" how to make Rings and "helped" in making the Nine and the Seven, but the Three were made out of his Sight and kept from him.

Sauron's plan for the Three was to sweep their wielders away - not enslave them.  And he had plans for how to deal with the ones whose location he suspected.  For example, Smaug  was supposed to fly into Galadriel's stronghold and keep her busy (or kill her) while the orcs overran her land.  Then, with her weakened, Sauron would destroy her and corrupt her Ring...  Only someone thought that one of the Five Rings might be in the dragon's lair and started a plan that ended up killing Smaug before the War of the Ring.  He didn't find a Ring there, but he did get rid of the dragon...

And that's the sort of long ranged planning that inspires how Jim has Uriel acting in the Dresden Files...

Richard

[Tedronai]

2) I think that the combination of Corrupting Influence and Demonic Co-pilot both hitting the unrecoverable hunger track is too much.  Instead, have Demonic Co-pilot hitting the hunger track, and simplify Corrupting Influence:
[+1] Corrupting Influence. The One Ring slowly takes over the mind of its wearer. The wearer may not recover the Hunger stress cause by Demonic Co-pilot by any means.
2b) Another option to consider is to use a 'Corruption' stress track instead of the Hunger track.  This would be basically a cosmetic change.
2c) When taking stress from this power, the bearer of the One Ring may choose to accept a point of Debt to the Ring; this reduces stress taken by 2 in much the same way taking a minor consequence would.  (Note: a point of Debt is almost the same as a minor consequence in the sense that it results in a 'free' compel, but Debt allows for more flexibility in terms of accumulation and duration.)

While this would likely be a noticeable improvement, I still feel that it would undervalue the unrecoverable stress.

3) Change the 'One Ring To Rule Them All' power as follows:
[-2?] One Ring To Rule Them All. If the bearer of any of the Lesser Rings is ever in the presence of the bearer of the One Ring, the bearer of the Lesser Ring's aspect that relates to their possession of the Lesser Ring is treated as though it was worded 'My will belongs to the One Ring' until he is able to seperate himself from the One Ring's presence.  Any time the bearer of the One Ring inflicts a mental consequence against any bearer of a Lesser Ring, he may always dictate that the consequence be worded 'My will belongs to the One Ring'.  Note that this power does not grant any special ability to inflict mental stress (though powerful bearers of the One Ring will often possess other powers that enable them to do so), and that such consequences are otherwise treated as normal mental consequences and can be recovered from normally.

Entirely aside from the issues of mandated consequences, how, precisely, does an infuriating insult render the victim subject to the will of the Ringbearer?

[Cyberchihuahua]

I would also put in Sponsored Magic of some sort. Otherwise how would Boramir have used it as a weapon for Gondor? The ring is a conduit of Sauron's strength, so it seems like someone who succumbed to the ring would be granted power beyond just bossing around the other ring bearers.

[Richard_Chilton]

Another way of looking at is as a plot device level artefact.  Something beyond numbers.  Something on the level of the Summer Lady or maybe even Mab.

Powerful items can rarely translate well into balanced games.  Even relatively minor ones like Saberhagen's 12 Swords.  None of them were as powerful as the One Ring, but each of them were "rule breakers".  Hold Townsaver in your hand while defending a town (or at least a building with women and children in it) and you became an unbeatable swordsman.  Even if you were overwhelmed and critically injured you wouldn't feel the pain until the battle was over.  Then you might fall over dead, but you won the battle.

Or Farslayer - recite a verse, throw the Sword in the air, and it would fly off and kill any enemy you named.  The target could hundreds of miles away inside a steel vault and he would die.  Of course the sword would stay in the corpse and if your victim's friends guessed who had used it then they could throw the sword back at you and you would die.  Nothing earth shaping like the One Ring, but it's effects are almost impossible to map to any game system.

In Lord of the Rings the forces of good had four "wizards" (spirit beings sent to aid the mortal races), the Three Elf Rings, Elf Lords, armies, fortresses, and if Sauron ever got his Ring back then none of that would matter.  If Gandalf, Galadriel, or even Elrond had claimed then all of that could have been added to Sauron might and it wouldn't have mattered - if a being of power had the Ring it was game over for everyone else.  That's a "you win the game" type thing.

Here's how ICE statted the Ring in MERP (the benefits, not the bad stuff):
The Ring takes (600 - wearer's level) days to Master.
It multiples the amount of magic energy you have by 18 times.
It can control or resist any device made with the Ring's aid.
It controls all wearers of the Nine Rings of Power regardless of range (if mastered).
The wearer can cast spells at three times normal range or against any target the wearer can see (even when the target is aided by some device) - whichever is greater.
The Ring-wearer's spells, physical attacks, and maneuvers cannot fail.

Um, that last doesn't mean "always hits".  In Rolemaster, if you failed a roll sometimes bad things happen.  This result is more of "inflict 0 damage while taking no damage" result.

The only way I can think of translating that would involve granting 18 (or more) refinements of the PC's choice - which means picking it up is enough to turn virtually any PC into a NPC.


As for what Boramir thought he could do with the Ring, it lied to him.  Yes, the evil, bad, nasty Ring lied so that Boramir would take the Ring closer to Mordor where Sauron could have found it and said "Mine! I call yank!".  Let's face it, the Ring was bored of hanging around with Hobbits and proto-Hobbits.  It wanted back in the game and if Gandalf, Galadriel, etc weren't going to use it then it wanted to go home to Daddy.

Oh, and if people want to know more about those Sword, head to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_the_Swords - but beware the spoiler beast that lives there.

Richard

[Richard_Chilton]

How about this build (which is almost entirely based on the existing one):

THE ONE RING [-3 to -21]
Description: A simple gold ring. The Dark Lord Sauron invested it with most of his power, and if he should recover it he will surely conquer Middle Earth. The One Ring is semi-sentient, and those around it are frequently enslaved by its power.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item. This aspect should reflect your relationship to the Ring and the level of control that it has over you.
Note: Not every bearer of this item gets every power that it has to offer. Everyone gets Invisibility, but Demonic Co-Pilot is only gained by characters of unusual skill or power. Only major supernatural beings get One Ring To Rule Them All. Everyone except Sauron gets Corrupting Influence.  Only those with the full Wizard Template can access the additional Refinements.
Skills Affected: Discipline
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. The One Ring was created to bring Sauron dominion over Middle Earth. It may be used for any purpose, but its wearer and those around its wearer will often receive compels related to this purpose.
[-0] It Is What It Is. The One Ring is a ring. Pretty ordinary looking, except for the words that appear when it is burned.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except by the fires of Mount Doom.
[+1] One-Time Discount. The One Ring is small and easily concealed.
[+2] Corrupting Influence. The One Ring slowly takes over the mind of its wearer. Treat as Feeding Dependency, except that the wearer may not recover his Hunger stress by any means.
[-0] Unnatural Vitality. The One Ring keeps its bearers alive, no matter how badly the passing of time might wither them. This power is mechanically identical to Wizard's Constitution.
[-3] Invisibility. The One Ring turns its wearer invisible, creating a strength 5 veil that does not impede the vision of its wearer.
[-1] Demonic Co-Pilot. Uses the Hunger stress track instead of the mental one.
[-2?] One Ring To Rule Them All. The One Ring allows its wearer to inflict compels on other characters who have rings of power. The first such compel made against a given character each month is free, each one after that costs a Fate Point or a point of Sponsor Debt.
[-varies] the Ring can provide up to 18 levels of Refinements to any full wizard.  Each refresh can be spent as the wearer wishes but cannot be "unspent".  E.G. if the wearer decided to use 1 level of Refinement to gain extra enchanted object then that level of Refinement has been used for that purpose.  If the wearer decides he needs a new specialty for Air Evocation then he would have to tap and additional level of Refinement.  Each level of Refinement tapped adds one to the cost of the IoP.  If the Ring is ever lost or discarded, all levels of Refinements are also lost.  Should a wizard ever spent his last refresh while wearing the One Right the wizard become the equivalent of Sauron Junior.


Maybe the wording needs work, but now the Ring has the power to tempt those with power.  It's a tempting "just one more Refinement" item.  A slippery slope leading to NPC-dom.  And it also explains why it is so feared - imagine a member of the Senior Council getting 18 levels of Refinements...

Richard

[Sanctaphrax]

Given that the process of acquiring new powers is essentially outside of the current ruleset, I think a note like this might be a good idea:

"The One Ring serves as justification for its bearer to take a number of refresh worth of powers and stunts equal to his current refresh worth of powers and stunts. This is not optional and may put the character below 0 refresh."

Farslayer is actually quite easy to map to this game system. It's just a powerful Thaumaturgical ritual stored in an item somehow.

One Ring... should have been written so that the free compels refreshed at each milestone, in retrospect. But I don't really care about the terminology of compels.

Does the Ring's enslaving effect require close proximity?

[ARedthorn]

I can't believe the 12 Swords just came up in a RPG forum. I'm in love.
Tolkein notwithstanding, they were my first foray into fantasy... and I was under the impression that Saberhagen was... almost unheard of.

Bonus points for R_C and Sancta.

Also, I'm pretty sure I could stat MOST of the 12. They'd be game-breaking, but so is a lot of stuff. It WOULD be easier not to bother, and just storytell them as plot devices... but that goes for a lot of stuff too. Even if it's more trouble to stat something out than it's worth for a game, it's still a good exercise.

[ways and means]

I think trying to stat the one ring is like trying to stat the death star's main canon (a weapon 500 blast that affects 100,000 zones) numbers become meaningless.