Rings and Wondrous Items

[Telonius]

Kind of a game design/theoretical issue came up in a recent game session. Right now I'm DMming for an Artificer who's interested in making magical items. I'm working with her to come up with some alternate magical item slots, so she places her items in jewelry instead of the standard gloves, cloaks, etc. (I am aware of BoEF's suggestions, but some of those slots are quite a bit more R-Rated than the gaming group is comfortable with).

Anyway, the question came up ... what, exactly, is so special about the Ring slot? As far as I can tell, if someone were to craft a custom Wondrous Item with the same properties as a Ring, it would cost pretty much the same in time, gold, and XP. So why is it that Forge Ring is a higher-level Feat than Craft Wondrous Item? I'm trying to figure out what mechanical reason there might be in not allowing a Wondrous Item to occupy a Ring slot, and I'm not coming up with anything particularly convincing (either to the player or to myself).

I'm not too concerned about the Artificer trying to break the game on purpose, but I don't want it to become unbalanced by accident. So, Playground: talk me out of it? Talk me into it?

[Phelix-Mu]

It feels to me like a bit of legacy/grandfathering in of old 2e stuff, frankly.

Across editions, rings have been one of the go-to slots for custom items used by the super-powerful. A little bit of Tolkien influence, to be sure.:smallwink: But I don't find any obvious mechanical reason why only higher level people should be able to make them.

And certainly, the problem perpetuates itself, to a degree. If you have to wait to be really strong to make a nice ring, then you are likely going to make a really nice ring, something more custom. Makes me wonder who is making all the rings that are really only useful to low-level characters (ring of protection +1).

[OldTrees1]

Well, compared to other item crafting feats, Craft Wondrous Item is OP.

Now, in general, that previous sentence is irrelevant because the player is either going to break the game with CWI or they are not going to break the game with CWI+Forge Ring.

[Curmudgeon]

One property that makes rings superior to other magic items is that you can guarantee enemies won't have line of sight or line of effect to them simply by wearing gloves over your hands (and rings). Thus they can't be hit with Dispel Magic, sundered, or grabbed with Sleight of Hand or disarm attacks (at least, not without first destroying the gloves). That's worth quite a lot, actually.

[Jack_Simth]

And certainly, the problem perpetuates itself, to a degree. If you have to wait to be really strong to make a nice ring, then you are likely going to make a really nice ring, something more custom. Makes me wonder who is making all the rings that are really only useful to low-level characters (ring of protection +1).
Four groups (possibly more):
1) People that got interrupted.
2) People that are trying to spread out their bonuses to get a bigger total bonus.
3) People that specifically make them for sale.
4) People that want to equip their mooks, but not so much that they get robbed too badly.

Taking the example of the Ring of Protection+1 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#protection):

Group 1:
Thanks to the Adding New Abilities (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#addingNewAbilities) clause, there's no penalty for making a Ring of Protection+1, and upgrading it to a Ring of Protection+2. It takes 2 days, 1,000 gp, and 80 xp to make a Ring of Protection+1. A Ring of Protection+2, made straight up, costs 8 days, 4,000 gp, and 320 xp. Upgrading a Ring of Protection+1 to a Ring of Protection+2 costs six days, 3,000 gp, and 240 xp. So if you're 'active' (e.g., adventuring six hours a day, resting eight, prepping spells one, and crafting eight) while making such things, it's better to do it in stages. You can make use of the partially-completed item, after all (and if you don't have the full 320 xp to spare right now, you can spend the 80 now and the 240 later). When you get killed partway through, well, there's a Ring of Protection+1 lying about.

Group 2:
A Ring of Protection+5 costs 50,000 gp market. However, with how D&D scales costs, you could instead get:
A Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone (+1 Insight): 5,000 gp
+4 Gloves of Dexterity (+2 Dex to AC, +2 Dex to Reflex): 16,000
+2 Ring of Protection (+2 Deflection to AC): 8,000 gp
+3 Amulet of Natural Armor (+3 Natural to AC): 18,000 gp
... netting you: +5 to Touch AC, +8 to normal AC, and +2 Reflex saves for 47,000 gp, vs +5 Touch AC, +5 Normal AC for 50,000 gp from just the ring.

Group 3:
Needs no more explanation than any other crafter.

Group 4:
Really shouldn't need much explanation that wasn't in the summary.