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So, group project time!

As discussed during the last session, we're looking at forging Rings of Power.

The rings we've outlined for sure are as follows:
The One Ring
Three Starmetal Rings
Nine Oricalchum Rings for Solar Kings
Twenty-Five Jade Rings for Dragon Lords
One Thousand Steel Rings for Mortal Kings

Number undetermined:
Moonsilver, Soulsteel

The next project, of course, becomes "What the hell do these rings do?"
Given that most or all of them are Artifacts, forging them is going to take a very long time, barring the use of a Factory Cathedral (that we don't have). During our discussion it became aparent that the One Ring should probably be Artifact 5, which implies that it has immense game-altering scope of power. Most of the others should probably be Artifact 4 (Soulsteel, Starmetal, Moonsilver) or Artifact 3 (Jade, possibly Steel). Even these, when you're talking about a ring, are pretty big benefits. Of course, the effect can be amplified if it has a downside (which I assume most of them do) or they're "use activated" instead of constant effects.

So, I would like to see opinions. What do you think they should do?

One Thousand Steel Rings for dying Mortal Kings
twenty-five rings of Jade for dragonblooded patrons' made
nine moonsilver bands for lunar stewards' hands
seven rings of orichalcum cords, for shinning solar lords
three bands of starmetal gleaming, for sidereal masters at their weaving
two rings of soulsteel screaming call out to abyssal overseers' entropic seeming
one ring rules them all, and in exalted power binds them.

did you want to go with something straightforward, like the material bonuses for the material types? something esoteric? something similar to the rings in tolkien? what did you have in mind?

I'm not quite sure, really, hence the call for ideas. Ultimately, also, these rings are being used in the game you all are playing in, so it makes sense if you all have some input.

well, for the exalted rings i think the power of whatever effects they have should depend on essence of the one weilding them, as the middle earth rings were power multipliers. i also think each should have a name, and an individual charm imbued in them (or for the DB rings, there should be 5 of each type with the same stats)

all rings should include a subtle mental effect not to harm the bearer of the one ring, and allow the bearer to track where the other rings are located. the bearer should have a social bonus against the others, and perhaps some long term motivation shifting ability. one should only be able to wield a number of rings equal to their essence, attunement cost should be high, and there should be some other difficulty involved with wielding multiple rings.

as far as themes, i'll throw a few ideas out there:

starmetal: gives the user luck and prescience. individual ring themes could include internal mastery (martial arts focus), binding people and things together (social skill sets), and insight (awareness or investigation).
Example mechanics:
+essence to dodge calculation, random chance rolls, and rolls for insight into longterm plans/events/problems (often comes in the form of visions). possible charms/powers: permanently active propitious ability alignment at motes =essence; a low-level charm in an appropriate ability usable at will.
possible flaws: should attune bearer more deeply to fate, or an aspect of it. this might make it so that in areas outside fate the ring does not work as well (no access to one or more ring functions), the bearer grows weaker, or the bearer takes agravated damage from attacks of creatures outside fate.

Moonsilver: gives the user some sort of erratic, or shifting bonus. perhaps dependent on the phase of the moon itself. the rings should split individualy into attributes.
example mechanics:
+essence to appropriate ability. +1/3 essence to rolls appropriate to abilities associated with the current phase of the moon. a single charm of moderate power from appropriate attribute tree.
possible flaw: -1/3 essence to actions not associated with the current phase of the moon.

steel rings: these should give a bonus to prevent death. perhaps some version of surprise anticipation method, and/or a life extension charm. or maybe something to bolster the will against mental influence of those without rings.

the only question I have to the order of things is how much effect/control do the sidereal have on the abyssal... it seems from powers talks that the abyssal seem to have a lot of "outside fate" type actions... if they are unpredictable to a large degree then they fit where you put them but otherwise the sidereal should be just under the top I would guess...

Second I think we should have a terrestrial tier and a celestrial/solar tier of rings...

50 Steel Rings for dying Mortal Kings
twenty-five bands for dragonblooded stewards' hands


Five of lightest blue to aid them with their Sight
Five of warmest red to hold others in their Bands
Five of brightest white for the Leaders of the Fight
Five of deepest black to organize their Lands
Five of purest green to enchant as they Play
Twenty-five for dragonblooded stewards' hands
One of multi-hued jade to light the Way

I am wondering if we really want to include the "control" effects since I found they already have a device of that sort in existance and it is almost universally despised... granted the one ring effect would be more subtle than the slave collars in WotFA (which are 4 dots to affect exalted) but it would paint us in the same light as Sauron despite our intentions... but reading the same book made it obvious that if we do we can lessen the dots on the rings by counting the corruption/influence as a drawback to mitigate the power of the items..

mitigating effects are cool...

and you could make some "pure" rings if you wanted, kind of like the Elven rings, though really none of us would know what was going on except the crafters themselves anyway. sneaky bastards.

but if those crafters have high compassion I doubt they would be comfortable with such effects unless it was ruled as an unintended side effect

another option would be, if you were going with unintended side effects, would be to have the control effect be toward the neverborn or some yozi or something, due to corruption seeping into the rings, with only certain "pure" rings escaping the effect.