Rings are more than just their powers, but precisely what, no one is sure. There’s a lot of theories: they’re links to interdimensional beings, they’re fragments of our nascent magic given shape, they’re Nemeses hacking away at bits of our emotions… whatever they are, they cannot be created nor destroyed. They appear when they wish to.
Multiple copies of a Ring exist, you see. You can have a copy of Eras, the Dragon Ray, but so can your ally. They don’t seem to be aware of each other, nor can they interact. You are their only known link to reality and through you they manifest. Any individual can only have one copy of a specific Ring, so even if you find copies of a Ring you already have and can wear another, you cannot wear a second version of that Ring. It will sit inert on you if you try to wear it.
ARE THEY ALIVE?
No one knows! A Ring itself is immortal – there is no known way of destroying one, even sending it into the Outer Light (we’ve tried) – but the personality within it sleeps until it bonds with a Hand. Furthermore, the being within or connected to the Ring seems not all there. While they can remember their time with you, they have no memories before forming a bond. They have drives and wants, but why they want the things they do is a mystery.
Furthermore, Rings want to stay awake; they want to keep their Hand alive and well. A Ring cannot willingly harm its wearer unless ordered to in a sound state of mind.
BOND FOR LIFE?
When you LEVEL UP, you can swap out one of your active Rings with any of your unequipped Rings. The old Ring will deactivate, you will lose access to its powers, and you will gain access to the new Ring’s powers. This new Ring is permanently bound to you…at least until you decide to change it during your next LEVEL UP.
STAT
Ring powers use one of the three FUNDAMENTAL STATS – they only ever use one and cannot change (barring use of a STAT-shifting power).
RANGE
Some Ring powers require you to be in melee range (adjacent or if extended by range-altering powers) and some are range. All powers (combat and non-) use the range stated on the Ring listing.
RING POWER CATEGORIES
The category your power comes from has no bearing on how you use it, your role on the team, or other powers you’re allowed to pick later on. It’s taxonomical shorthand.
Damage: the best fight is one ended quickly
Control: they can’t hurt you if they can’t catch you
Support: some pain can’t be avoided but it can be shared
Defense: take the beating or don’t – but that attack isn’t going anywhere else
Non-combat: All sorts of powers for when you’re not trying to kill each other
USING A RING
Using a Ring power, whether combat or non-combat, whether it succeeds or not, requires an Action. While some Ring powers succeed automatically, others require a roll – these will typically be attack or control-oriented combat powers. If the Ring has a range of melee, you roll the Ring’s STAT + MELEE TACTIC to see if it succeeds. For ranged, STAT + RANGED TACTIC.
I FUCKED UP, NOW WHAT?
If your Ring power requires a roll and it fails, the Ring’s power is not spent. You can try as many times as you’d like (using an Action each time) until you succeed…but once you succeed, a Ring is done for that encounter.
UNLESS…
There are a few ways of gaining additional Ring power charges. One is by spending a point of Luck. You can only do this once per encounter. The second is through the LEVEL UP process at level 11 and up. Those charges are Ring-agnostic and can be used in every encounter.
RING LISTINGS
There’s a lot of Rings to choose from, and more are found every year. Here’s how to read the Ring listing.
| NAME | What it calls itself, and probably what you and others call it as well |
| STAT | The fundamental STAT it uses to roll its power if necessary |
| APPEARANCE BEFORE BONDING | While most Rings are simple bits of jewelry, it’s obvious to anyone who sees one what it is. A Ring cannot hide its nature. Their unbonded, dormant form tends to hint at what it can do or will look like once a bond has been formed. |
| APPEARANCE AFTER BONDING | Once Bonded, a Ring can look like anything. Many of them move or exist independently of their Hand, though they’ll always stay nearby and count as worn. A specific Ring will always keep the same appearance, however, no matter who they’re bonded to. Some Rings look ancient or futuristic. Some manifest with sounds or smells or emotions. Some things to note:
|
| PERSONALITY | While simplistic, Rings have things they like and dislike and will sometimes urge their wearer to follow along. This is nothing like mind control and cannot seriously influence a Hand, but does provide for RP opportunities. The Ring itself doesn’t know why it wants what it does, just that it does. This can be terrible or hilarious if a Hand has Rings which want to do the opposite. |
| RANGE | Whether the Ring power requires Melee or Ranged range. |
| TACTIC TO ROLL | While this almost always matches the RANGE listed above, some powers will use DEFENSE. |
| COMBAT POWER NAME | This is what you call the Ring’s combat-oriented power. You don’t have to say it every time you use it, but you might want to. |
| COMBAT POWER DESCRIPTION | This is what the combat power looks like to those who see or feel it being used. It has nothing to do with how strong the power itself is. |
| COMBAT POWER TYPE | This is the kind of power the Ring possesses as well as how it works mechanically. All DAMAGE:Direct Damage Rings will use the same damage formula, for instance. |
| NON-COMBAT POWER NAME | Name of the Ring’s non-combat-oriented power. Useful shorthand when telling your GM what you’re using. |
| NON-COMBAT POWER DESCRIPTION | The sensory effects of the power. Some non-combat powers allow you to customize or alter how they look or work – if so, describe how they work when you use them. |
| NON-COMBAT POWER TYPE | What the non-combat power does mechanically. |
CREATING A RING (ALPHA TESTING ONLY)
Because there are over 300 Rings in the database, for the purposes of testing, you will instead be creating your own Rings. Use the table below to determine what attributes your Ring has – you cannot leave any spaces blank.
Example
Dani creates Seneschal, Illusion of Space, a MIND-powered control Ring that lets her Hand teleport when an opponent attacks. In its non-combat form, Seneschal looks like a bead of lightning winking in and out of existence, appearing at random around Dani’s head and shoulders. When attacking, the bead of lightning becomes a portal of violet electricity, moving Dani to another space faster than a blink.
Ring template
| NAME | |
| STAT | |
| APPEARANCE BEFORE BONDING | |
| APPEARANCE AFTER BONDING | |
| PERSONALITY | |
| TACTIC | |
| COMBAT POWER NAME | |
| COMBAT POWER DESCRIPTION | |
| COMBAT POWER TYPE | |
| NON-COMBAT POWER NAME | |
| NON-COMBAT POWER DESCRIPTION | |
| NON-COMBAT POWER TYPE |