How to protect magic items

[Max Caysey]

Ok, so lets say I wanted to forge an adamantine ring. And I spend time and money on getting an almost perfect crafted ring, in pure adamantine.

So which techniques or magical wards can I place on it, so, besides for the ring's actual enchantments, do I make sure it wont melt being thrown into lava or acid or repeatedly being blasted with spells?

Is there any way to protect a ring or other items from destruction if you either roll 1 on your save or in case of the item being unattended and attacked?


Cheers!

[RatElemental]

Well being made from adamantine is already an excellent first step.

Hardening, Obscure Object, and Resistance (or the stronger variants of any of these) would be a good next step.

[Voidstar01]

permanence some spells on it can help.

[Dimers]

Hardening

@OP, in addition to Hardening with duration Permanent, you can also use the Instantaneous psi power Matter Manipulation to add hardness and hit points. And I don't recall for sure, but I think the "dwarvencraft" modifier in Races of Stone might also be applicable.

If the item is an armor suit or weapon, adding to its enchantment also grants hit points and hardness. Debatably, any object could be an improvised weapon ...

[Bphill561]

There is also Oerthblood (351) and Pure Ore (347) from dragon magazine you can alloy with adamantine to greatly increase HP and hardness. The dwarf crafted template in races of the stone. Some of these only have details to add to a weapon, but you could always make your ring a Poison Ring from dragon 316 which is a type of weapon. From there you can add HP and Hardness from weapon enchantments, or cast greater magic weapon if available. The Everbright is a 2,000gp weapon enchantment in the magic item compendium. It can flash to blind creatures, but most importantly it makes the weapon immune to rust and acid. You could probably throw in master crafting options in dragon 358 as well if you have access.

Similarly there is Obdurium from the stronghold builders guide that has a base hardness of 30 and more HP than adamantine.

Another metal option that can repair itself somewhat is Auruim (ugh, spelling) from the book of exalted deeds. You can put it back together again if sundered, but not so clear if damaged another way.

If you want to move away from metal to avoid rust, there is also glassteel from faerun books. Hard as adamatine and light as mithril. A type of glass, so rust and acid not as much of a problem. But the first set of options cover this if dragon magazine is available.

Since you are making a ring, you could pay the 50% extra for the cheaper secondary enchantments to add the Greater Counterspelling ring from the Arms and equipment guide. There is a very similar named ring in the magic item compendium, but not exact so you should be able to use the 3.0 version. You could place Mort. Disjunction in the ring to counter spell the first one cast at you. This will give some safety if those equipment destroying spells get thrown around.

True name magic has a rebuild item utterance. You only have one round to cast it after the item is destroyed. Since miracle can copy spell equivalent effects and that one is under level 7, a fast miracle could reinstate the ring (Probably requires you to be a high level cleric).

One last thing, but usually not available since it is epic is the 3.5 epic destinies. You give up your epic level bonus feats up to level 30, but the destiny grants you things. The artifact lord one at level 25 can cancel any effect that would damage/destroy his magic items (although only cancels for the purposes of his items, so disjunction will still eat spells).

[rel]

Get the spell Kissed by the Ages (Drag 354) cast on yourself with the ring as the focus.

Not only are you now Endless but the ring is indestructible while you are alive.

[ShurikVch]

It's possible to a Ring to be a weapon - such as Poison Ring
For a magical weapon - every +1 adds 10 hp and 2 hardness
It's expensive, but it works

One last thing, but usually not available since it is epic is the 3.5 epic destinies. You give up your epic level bonus feats up to level 30, but the destiny grants you things. The artifact lord one at level 25 can cancel any effect that would damage/destroy his magic items (although only cancels for the purposes of his items, so disjunction will still eat spells).

Speaking of Epic Destinies - Dragon #289 have "Leveled Treasures" article; advance your Ring up to 30th level, and make it take the Eternal Hero destiny (or Demigod )

[Telonius]

This one is costly (in terms of the penalty), but: make a Loadstone an integral part of the ring. (Or just make a loadstone in the shape of a ring). It's now completely secure against mundane attacks. It's a little bit unclear if it's vulnerable to any magic attack, or if only a Remove Curse (or higher) will stop it from returning.

[Max Caysey]

First of all, thank you all for you answers! All official content is game, btw!

Well being made from adamantine is already an excellent first step. Hardening, Obscure Object, and Resistance (or the stronger variants of any of these) would be a good next step.

permanence some spells on it can help.

Would I be able to permanency Resistance (or any of the stronger variants) on a ring?

There is also Oerthblood (351) and Pure Ore (347) from dragon magazine you can alloy with adamantine to greatly increase HP and hardness. The dwarf crafted template in races of the stone. Some of these only have details to add to a weapon, but you could always make your ring a Poison Ring from dragon 316 which is a type of weapon. From there you can add HP and Hardness from weapon enchantments, or cast greater magic weapon if available. You could probably throw in master crafting options in dragon 358 as well if you have access.

Similarly there is Obdurium from the stronghold builders guide that has a base hardness of 30 and more HP than adamantine.

SWEET! Would it be possible to forge a: Dwarvencrafted, Resilient, Pure Ore, Oeathblooded, Obdurium Ring??? (And in what order, would the bonuses add up?)

Oh, and what would be good "master crafting options" to add?

Get the spell Kissed by the Ages (Drag 354) cast on yourself with the ring as the focus. Not only are you now Endless but the ring is indestructible while you are alive.

Cool... I gotta get me that spell!


Cheers!

[Bphill561]

First of all, thank you all for you answers! All official content is game, btw!

SWEET! Would it be possible to forge a: Dwarvencrafted, Resilient, Pure Ore, Oeathblooded, Obdurium Ring??? (And in what order, would the bonuses add up?)

Oh, and what would be good "master crafting options" to add?

Acid wash would grant a +4 save bonus verse disintegration
Folded Metal would grant a +4 to hardness
Resilient +5 Hit points

Ornate makes it look pretty and Serrated causes bleeding damage on crits, but overall the crafter has to have a feat to craft these modification and learns only so many based on his skill. I would focus on Folded Metal and Resilient. There are also very awesome armor mods in that article, more so than the weapon ones.

You can stack all of these with all the previously mentioned modifications. I believe you would first add up all the multipliers and apply that to the base weapon, followed by all the additive values. HP is an arbitrary non-real world value, so I don't think two 2x make a 4x by 3.5 rules (instead a 3x). Hardness on the other hand is a real world value, so I guess it depends if you see it as true hardness or as a form of damage reduction. I would think those multipliers would multiple, so 2x and 2x would be 4x. Please correct me if I am wrong. This would apply to any enhancement bonuses on the weapon as well that add straight hardness and HP.

There is also another spell in the stronghold builders guide called Augment object with a duration of 1 day/ caster level that doubles hardness and HP (plus increases the item break DC by +20). Since this is on the final finished product, it would double everything?

There are also weapon templates in the DMG2, but none are as good as dwarfcrafted and you can only add one template.

Get the spell Kissed by the Ages (Drag 354) cast on yourself with the ring as the focus.

Not only are you now Endless but the ring is indestructible while you are alive.

I completely forgot the ring was indestructable. My pre-spell plague character feels much safer now (although the spell plague is an unusual event).

Just make sure the 4,000gp ring you start with has properties you don't want since they are forever lost. I don't think re-enchanting it with the same property would bring it back.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Apply some riverine plating on it. Now, the only things that can destroy it are disintegrate, an umbral blot, a sphere of annihilation, a rod of cancellation, mordenkainen's disjunction, and voidstone. And remember, the plating can be infinitely thin, up to and including a 2-dimensional layer with absolutely zero thickness, and for non-armor, non-weapon items, riverine is priced by weight. So apply a thousand or so 2D layers that weigh literally nothing, and you get that protection for free. And each layer would have to be destroyed individually, so...

[Max Caysey]

Acid wash would grant a +4 save bonus verse disintegration
Folded Metal would grant a +4 to hardness
Resilient +5 Hit points

You can stack all of these with all the previously mentioned modifications. I believe you would first add up all the multipliers and apply that to the base weapon, followed by all the additive values. HP is an arbitrary non-real world value, so I don't think two 2x make a 4x by 3.5 rules (instead a 3x). Hardness on the other hand is a real world value, so I guess it depends if you see it as true hardness or as a form of damage reduction. I would think those multipliers would multiple, so 2x and 2x would be 4x. Please correct me if I am wrong. This would apply to any enhancement bonuses on the weapon as well that add straight hardness and HP.

There is also another spell in the stronghold builders guide called Augment object with a duration of 1 day/ caster level that doubles hardness and HP (plus increases the item break DC by +20). Since this is on the final finished product, it would double everything?

I don't know if 2x2=x3 when it comes to HP. I actually thought it was only damage that was calculated that way.

But, if my math is correct this is the stats of a Dwarvencrafted, Resilient, Acid Washed, Oearthblood, Pure Ore, Obdurium Ring:

Hardness/Hitpoints:
Obdurium: 30/4
Pure Ore: x2/x2
Oearthblood: x2/x1.5
Dwarvencraft: +2/10
Resilient: +0/+5
Folded Metal: +4/+0
Acid Wased: +4 save vs Acid, Rust and Dissintegration
Non-magical total= 126/27

Magical Augmentations:
Hardening: +CL/2 (CL 20=+10 hardness)
Magically Treated: x2/x2 (min 50)
Resistance, Superior: +6 Save
Total= AC 13, 54 hit points, hardness 272, and Save of 18(22)

Now how do calculate the Break DC? A normal ring has a break DC of 25. When looking at Stronghold Builders Guidbook, Iron walls have a break DC of 24+2 per inch of thickness. Obdurium walls have 48+ 4 per inch of thickness (Ergo being twise as strong). In my opinion, the Break DC of an Obdurium Ring should be twise that of a normal ring. If iron is 24 and Obdurium 48, I would say an Obdurium Ring should have a Break DC of 50. But that is before considering that its also 1) Pure Ore, 2) Oearthblooded, 3) Resillient and 4) Folded Metal... all things that increase the overall strength and durability of the object.

So, first, am I correct in my calculations above, and second, how do I calculate the the Break DC of the ring?


Cheers

[Vaern]

Are you sure you want to make a ring that can't be destroyed even if it's thrown into lava? What if it ends up becoming an intelligent item that wants to manipulate you into resurrecting an ancient evil and beginning a new reign of terror or something?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

You could always use a couple of mirrors of opposition to make lots of copies. Or astral projection to copy it (along with your body) and keep the real one somewhere safe. Just make another copy if the original is destroyed or lost. Or craft a graft with the ringsword property that is implanted internally. Or make it an intelligent (or possessed) item with its own active and passive defenses, whose purpose is to serve you. Maybe make it your follower, familiar, or psicrystal? Possession by a ghost or fiend of possession is entirely possible. Make it a psion with mostly defensive powers it stacks daily and can heal itself if damaged. Maybe specializing in astral constructs to give it offense, defense, utility, and mobility, as required.

There are lots of ways to do this, honestly.

[Max Caysey]

Thank you for some great comments...

Are you sure you want to make a ring that can't be destroyed even if it's thrown into lava? What if it ends up becoming an intelligent item that wants to manipulate you into resurrecting an ancient evil and beginning a new reign of terror or something?

He he... All part of the plan! ;)

You could always use a couple of mirrors of opposition to make lots of copies. Or astral projection to copy it (along with your body) and keep the real one somewhere safe. Just make another copy if the original is destroyed or lost. Or craft a graft with the ringsword property that is implanted internally. Or make it an intelligent (or possessed) item with its own active and passive defenses, whose purpose is to serve you. Maybe make it your follower, familiar, or psicrystal? Possession by a ghost or fiend of possession is entirely possible. Make it a psion with mostly defensive powers it stacks daily and can heal itself if damaged. Maybe specializing in astral constructs to give it offense, defense, utility, and mobility, as required.
There are lots of ways to do this, honestly.

These are some good ideas. I especially like the astral projection one...


When it comes to the calculations of the HP, Hardness and Break DC, I'm still unsure, especially about the Break DC. Could anyone perhaps help in determining the HP, Hardness and Break DC of a Dwarvencrafted, Resilient, Acid Washed, Folded Metal, Oearthblood, Pure Ore, Obdurium Ring?


Cheers!

[MaxiDuRaritry]

When it comes to the calculations of the HP, Hardness and Break DC, I'm still unsure, especially about the Break DC. Could anyone perhaps help in determining the HP, Hardness and Break DC of a Dwarvencrafted, Resilient, Acid Washed, Folded Metal, Oearthblood, Pure Ore, Obdurium Ring?

Infinite, with a few riverine layers...

Cheers!

Norm!

[Max Caysey]

Infinite, with a few riverine layers...

Indeed... I was intending the ring to be a bit more non-magicy looking... As in a sleeper ring, why I wanted the mundane, non-magical base ring to be as strong and durable as possible, before slapping on wards and enchantments. Adding a layer of force effect would devoid that purpose I feel. Not saying it doesn't solve my problem, just saying I like to idea of a strong mundane metal ring.

Trouble is, that I can't seem to find any sources telling me how the Break DC will change, when going from Obdurium to Oerthblooded Pure Ore Obdurium - which is significantly stronger and more durable than normal Obdurium, which is twice as strong and durable as Mithral - not even considering Dwarvencrafted, Folded, Acid Washed, Resillient, Oerthblooded, Pure Ore Obdurium. I can see from Stronghold Builders Guide Book that Obdurium has twice the Break DC of Iron, so Oerthblooded Pure Ore Obdurium having 4 times the hardness and 3 times the hitpoints should have a significantly higher Break DC than normal Obdurium seeing as how normal Obdurium has 3 times the hardness and twice the HP of iron and subsequently has twice the break DC.

Following that same logic - and iron has a break DC 24 and Obdurium 48 - then, when a normal ring has a Break DC of 25, an Obdurium Ring has a Break DC of 50. But what would the break DC of a Dwarvencrafted, Folded, Acid Washed, Oerthblooded, Pure Ore Obdurium ring be?


Thanks again! I know I'm repeating the question, but so far I haven't gotten an answer for that particular metric.