What is the deal with rings and cloaks of protection?

[holywhippet]

Both of these items are functionally identical - both require attunement and both give +! to AC and saving throws. But the rings are considered to be a rare item while cloaks are merely uncommon. I had thought maybe the cloak would be less valuable if it prevents using other magical cloaks at the same time but as another player pointed out to me, 5E does not have item slots so you can happily wear 3 cloaks at the same time.

[jollydm]

Magical rings tend to be more rare than any other type of magical item.

sure, you could wear three cloaks, if you want everyone around you to look at you like a crazy person.

[Zene]

Yeah I figure it's a holdover from prior editions, and/or they wanted it to be slightly harder to stack similar items so they made one rarer. Kinda like how Create Homunculus is not all that much better than Find Familiar but since you can have them both and FF was already level 1, CH is much higher level.

There are some other weird items that seem to be holdovers from prior editions. The +2 stat ioun stones are very rare, require an attunement slot, don't increase your max over 20, and can be destroyed with a rather easy hit if an enemy is targeting it. The +2 stat tomes are also very rare, however they don't require an attumement slot, they do increase your max over 20, they don't run the risk of loss through destruction like ioun stones... and they can even be used more than once if you live long enough. The tomes are clearly, almost ridiculously better than the ioun stones, and yet they're both there at the same rarity. I figure it's just because Ioun stones have a history in DnD, and they didn't want to get rid of them, even though they don't really fit in to the 5e item structure as desirable items.

[JackPhoenix]

Cloak is more conspicuous, easier to damage/destroy/lose, you won't be able to take it everywhere, and while the rules don't have "item slots", some GMs (especially those with experience with previous editions and/or video games) will forbid you from wearing more than one.

[Unoriginal]

Cloak is more conspicuous, easier to damage/destroy/lose, you won't be able to take it everywhere, and while the rules don't have "item slots", some GMs (especially those with experience with previous editions and/or video games) will forbid you from wearing more than one.

Also I'm pretty sure you can't wear twice the same wondrous item/ring and have the effects stacks, but you could wear both a cloak of protection and a ring of protection.

[Asmotherion]

A) Magic Items are a lot more scarse in 5e than they ever were. I peronally never have more than one coppy of the same magic item in the same game. If two players want something similar, I might make an exception, but it will be very different from a Lore perspective and a Backround Perspective. Magic Items are unique in my games. The only exception are Consumable Magic Items (including some wands, but not all).

B) RAW, you are limited to 3 attuned magical items. You also must wear them as they are intended to be worn (you cannot wear a non-matching pair of magical shoes, in wich case you gain non of the pair's benefits for example. The same holds true for wearing more than one cloak). So, if you want stacking AC on a Character, and he is either not profficient with (Magical?) Armor or Shields, or you Just Happen to come by the item and you have a free attunement slot, it's Amazing.