Ring of Spell Storing ate my caster levels!

[Jalkain]

My 13th level wizard has acquired a Ring of Spell Storing, which I had planned to use to give me an extra 10 levels of spells. However, I've found a complication...

A ring of spell storing contains up to ten levels of spells that the wearer can cast. Each spell has a caster level equal to the minimum level needed to cast that spell.

Since many spells rely on caster level to determine damage, duration, number of targets etc, most will 'degrade' when put into the ring. In this example, a Cone of Cold cast from the ring will inflict only 9d6 damage instead of the usual 13d6. And it gets worse for lower level spells - a Magic Missile spell stored in the ring will only produce a single missile, for a total of d4+1 damage.

For this item to provide maximum effectiveness, there are three things you can do:

1. Put your highest level spells into the ring.

2. Put spells into the ring which don't rely on caster levels (Blink is an example).

3. Fill the ring with spells and give it to a non spellcasting character. The spells may be less potent then if you had cast them directly, but that character still has a new option in combat situations, and the party should benefit as a result.

Personally, I may give the ring to someone else and keep it topped up with spells. It can still benefit me, but I will have to think carefully each time I put a spell into the ring. It is very easy to get used to spells working at your own caster level, and I don't want to be surprised when my Phantom Steed suddenly forgets how to walk on water...

Anyone else have experience of using this item?

 

[Jeremy]

Well do you really want a 20th level mage handing a ring with a full caster level Tenser's Transformation to his bodyguard half-red dragon ogre?

Or a couple of 10d6 no save vampiric touches?

 

[Jalkain]

Well do you really want a 20th level mage handing a ring with a full caster level Tenser's Transformation to his bodyguard half-red dragon ogre?

Yes, I do. But only if I'm playing the wizard in question

Thanks for the bodyguard idea. My fiendish, permanently hasted trolls aren't really cutting it...

 

[Hammerhead]

Well, the main use for spell storing items is to give noncasters some spell ability. Pearl of Power type items would probably work better for a wizard.

You can use metamagic spells to raise the caster level, assuming you can fit them in. Metamagic spells will not only provide their additional effect, but also will raise the caster level. Magic Missile would deal 1d4+1 damage. A quickened magic missile is 5th level, so it has a 9 caster level. 5d4+5 damage, AND a free action.

 

[Jalkain]

Well, the main use for spell storing items is to give noncasters some spell ability. Pearl of Power type items would probably work better for a wizard.

Yes, got one of those too! I think the fighter/rogue could really benefit from this ring...


You can use metamagic spells to raise the caster level, assuming you can fit them in. Metamagic spells will not only provide their additional effect, but also will raise the caster level. Magic Missile would deal 1d4+1 damage. A quickened magic missile is 5th level, so it has a 9 caster level. 5d4+5 damage, AND a free action. [/QUOTE]

That's very creative. but you wouldn't get 5d4+5 damage AND a free action. Either the ring would 'remember' that the 9 caster level was due to metamagic, or else it would 'convert' the quickened effect to a normal 5 missile spell.

In any case, my plan was to see what spells I had left over before going to bed, put 10 levels worth into the ring, and then prepare new spells in the morning. If I did metamagic a spell, it would have to stay uncast for the whole day before getting put into the ring. Of course, the same problem applies to my earlier solutions...

 

[Jack Haggerty]

I think that the item description is a little vague, and that you mistakenly read it wrong...

From the SRD:

A ring of spell storing contains up to ten levels of spells that the wearer can cast. Each spell has a caster level equal to the minimum level needed to cast that spell. As with a wand (see the Wands section later in this chapter), the user need not provide any material components or focus, or pay an XP cost to cast the spell, and there is no arcane spell failure chance for wearing armor (since the ring user need not gesture)

For a randomly generated ring, treat it as a scroll to determine what spells are stored in it. If you roll a spell that would put the ring over the ten-level limit, ignore that roll; the ring has no more spells in it. (Not every newly discovered ring need be fully charged.)

A spellcaster can cast any spells into the ring, so long as the total spell levels do not add up to more than ten.

The ring magically imparts to the wearer the names of all spells currently stored within it.

Caster Level: Varies (minimum needed to cast each stored spell); Prerequisites: Forge Ring, imbue with spell ability; Market Price: 90,000 gp.

When it talks about minimum caster level, it's talking about the spell that are already stored in the ring. Much like scrolls or wands, these "found" spells are by default the minimum caster level required to cast them. But when you scribe your own scrolls, or craft your own wands, or recharge this ring with new spells, you can use your own (presumably higher) caster level.

Just make cetain you keep track of what caster level the spells in the ring are.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

You can use metamagic spells to raise the caster level, assuming you can fit them in. Metamagic spells will not only provide their additional effect, but also will raise the caster level. Magic Missile would deal 1d4+1 damage. A quickened magic missile is 5th level, so it has a 9 caster level. 5d4+5 damage, AND a free action.

Metamagic on a spell usually requires the spell to be prepared in a higher level slot, but it has nothing to do with caster level. A quickened MM cast by a 13th level wizard has the same caster level as a normal MM cast by a 13th level wizard. If you mean spell level, metamagic does not affect that either, except for the Heighten Spell metamagic feat.

So a quickened MM stored in the ring of spell storing would still only do 1d4+1 damage, but it would use up 5 spell levels of space, according to the rules on metamagic and magic items. I am not sure whether the Quicken Spell would work with this ring or not, however. Do you still need the standard action to use the ring?

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Metamagic on a spell usually requires the spell to be prepared in a higher level slot, but it has nothing to do with caster level. A quickened MM cast by a 13th level wizard has the same caster level as a normal MM cast by a 13th level wizard. If you mean spell level, metamagic does not affect that either, except for the Heighten Spell metamagic feat.

So a quickened MM stored in the ring of spell storing would still only do 1d4+1 damage, but it would use up 5 spell levels of space, according to the rules on metamagic and magic items. I am not sure whether the Quicken Spell would work with this ring or not, however. Do you still need the standard action to use the ring?

But, for example, a 1st level Wizard can cast MM, but not a quickened MM, since it must be prepared in a 2nd level slot. Therefore, the minimum (Wizard) caster level for a Quickened MM is 3rd level.

Heighten Spell increases the spell's level, not the caster level, and so only really increases the spell's DC.

 

[Jalkain]

When it talks about minimum caster level, it's talking about the spell that are already stored in the ring. Much like scrolls or wands, these "found" spells are by default the minimum caster level required to cast them. But when you scribe your own scrolls, or craft your own wands, or recharge this ring with new spells, you can use your own (presumably higher) caster level.

Just make cetain you keep track of what caster level the spells in the ring are.

I would very much like you to be right on this!

But the spell caster level bit is in the second sentence of the description. If your interpretation was correct, wouldn't they have discussed caster level later on, in the section about finding a ring with spells already inside?

 

[Jack Haggerty]

I would very much like you to be right on this!

But the spell caster level bit is in the second sentence of the description. If your interpretation was correct, wouldn't they have discussed caster level later on, in the section about finding a ring with spells already inside?

Let's look at the description bit by bit, eh?

"A ring of spell storing contains up to ten levels of spells that the wearer can cast."

So, when you find the ring, it will already have up to ten levels of spells stored in it that anyone wearing the ring can cast...

"Each spell has a caster level equal to the minimum level needed to cast that spell."

Those spells' caster levels are the minimum needed to cast those spells...

"As with a wand (see the Wands section later in this chapter), the user need not provide any material components or focus, or pay an XP cost to cast the spell, and there is no arcane spell failure chance for wearing armor (since the ring user need not gesture)"

Use it like you would a wand. No components of any sort are required to activate a spell...

"For a randomly generated ring, treat it as a scroll to determine what spells are stored in it. If you roll a spell that would put the ring over the ten-level limit, ignore that roll; the ring has no more spells in it. (Not every newly discovered ring need be fully charged.)"

Randomly determine the "found" stored spells as you would for a scroll. Ignore the roll that would put the ring over the ten level limit. The ring may have empty spell slots...

"A spellcaster can cast any spells into the ring, so long as the total spell levels do not add up to more than ten."

A spellcaster (any kind, no distinction) can "recharge" the ring, so long as the total spell levels are not over 10...

"The ring magically imparts to the wearer the names of all spells currently stored within it."

When you put the ring on, you automatically know what spells are stored in it.


So... Let's say you have a 10th level wizard who finds a Ring of Spell Storing. The ring, when he finds it, has a two fireballs stored in it (6 levels total). Those two fireballs are at their minimum caster level... 5th level. Meaning they each do 5d6, with a Reflex Save base DC of 14 for half damage.

Now, let's say your wizard wants to add one more Fireball to the ring... He casts it into the ring. Now, there are two fireballs as mentioned above, with one fireball at 10th caster level. That one would deal 10d6 damage, and have a Relfex DC of 13 + your wizard's Int bonus.

And don't forget that a Sorcerer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin or Ranger could cast spells into this ring just as easily as a Wizard.

Does that make sense?