A curious ring, it seems to effect the sanity of a person when worn.
The Ring of Opposites, a powerful magical item capable of altering the way someone thinks completely. It was forged by a anceint wizard to cure his insane daughter. For months he worked to unlock the inner workings of the mind of an insane person. The closest he came to uncovering the mystery was that their way of thought was almost the opposite of a sane person.
To save his daughter the wizard crafted a ring with the power to reflect thought process like a mirror. When the wizard put the ring on the finger of his daughter,to his immense joy she stood up and acted completely normal.
Many months later his daughter sadly died from unknown causes, in his grief the wizard decided it best to wear the ring to possibly return to his normal state. But as soon as the ring was placed on his finger, the fragile mirror of sanity was smashed to bits, his mind broke,his magic violently burst from his body for he no longer had the mental aptitude to control it.
Hundreds of years later the ring was found on the remains of the wizard by a group of adventurers. The mage of the group detected vast magical power and thought it best to leave it behind, the halfling rogue made off with it unknown to all. Later that night the rogue went raving mad at camp and murdered the party before doing away with himself.
For now the location of the ring is unknown. It is easily recognized by the small mirror-like gem set in the adamantium band.
Magical Properties:
The Ring of Opposites has the power to reverse the sanity of a person who wears it. If a sane person wears it they go insane, if a insane person wears it they become sane.
The magic of the ring makes it impossible to remove without dying, or losing a finger. For the destruction of the ring the knowledge was lost with the creator.
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- Compilation of Rings by Mourngrymn Bound
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Well this is oddly demonic in nature....can it be destroyed?
Interesting, and a logical background.
One thing that is problematic is the death trap - it is quite a PC killer (well, the GM could dictate what insane behaviour a character would display). So VERY diffilcut to use properly, but could produce interesting plot-hooks, if used on NPCs.
And again we are facing the question what is actually 'cursed' and what isn't... the item is clearly working the way it was supposed to, but very dangerous for most people. If used on the right person, it has a definitely desirable effect. (Could a person actually become sane after a period of wearing it, not needing the ring anymore? Conversely, could a sane person become truly mad after wearing it for some time?)
Sadly, most heroes would probably want to destroy the 'Evil Ring of Insanity'... unless they take the time to study its past and effect.
The item makes one really ponder, which is a good thing. If this level of thinking is introduced into the game, it would be great.
I like it.
Find myself almost totally in agreement with manfred.
I would suggest that the insanity doesn't have to be immediately violent. It could instead be a delusion, phobia, split personality, or any other mental illness, deficiency or aberration the GM thinks might be amusing (check out the list of insanities in CoC for ideas).
Like it a lot - 4/5
Plot Hole Alert
Hundreds of years later the ring was found on the remains of the wizard by a group of adventurers. (ok) The mage of the group detected vast magical power and thought it best to leave it behind, the halfling rogue made off with it unknown to all. (ok) Later that night the rogue went raving mad at camp and murdered the party before doing away with himself. ...
So who knows they picked it up? Why isn't the ring still there in the camp with all the decomposing bodies (since the Rogue killed himself after killing all his friends)?
Meh.
It's not fantastic, but it's okay.
Watch that plot hole.
3/5.
Maybe no one DID pick it up... Maybe it's still festering on the Halfling's decomposing finger? What if a bunch of PCs comes across an entire slaughtered party lying in the middle of an abandoned campsite? I know a couple of folks who wouldn't be above pillaging their corpses for shinies - which just might include a certain ring...
I really like the idea of it being used as a tool to rehabilitate crazy serial killers. I could see a whole lot of these being made in secret by a king or government that wanted to impress its people with its prison system...
'Criminal #4346, you are required to wear an identity ring at all times while within this facility. Removal of said ring will be punished with death. Should your conduct merit a pardon, you will be required to wear the said ring for life, as a testament to your previous criminal acts and as a warning to honest citizens.'
4/5 Great item. All of the nitpicks I have with it have already been covered. So on to the idea mill.
You could make instant civil war in one of your enemies realms by mass producing these and then 'accidentally' having a box fall out of the back of a wagon in the middle of the city. Of couse you'd have to make sure you left town REALLY fast or you'd die too.
Or you could get a sneaky theif to replace the princes wedding ring with a disguised one of these. Put the Diamond/Ruby/Precious Gem over the mirror and switch the two. Boy would that cause some inter-kingdom problems when the king's only son, half of his entourage, and the princess's father, were brutally murdered as soon as the prince said his vows.
See how much havok people can have with something that a mage made innocently trying to cure his daughter of insanity. Almost makes you wonder why my PCs still try on every ring that I give to them. But it does explain the fact that they are missing half of their fingers on their left hand.
I think it's important to note that the ring does NOT transform people into homicidal maniacs... some may really end up that way, some not. Even such a straight thing as a mirror should do unforseen things when used on the psyche. So the overly active romancing prince could be suddenly transferred into a catatonic state, much to the surprise of the wedding guests as well as the saboteurs.
Simple, but potent. I'm not a fan of mere mortals being able to manufacture indestructible items, but that is a minor flaw. More to the point when its worn it binds, hard, with the person's mind and while you could physically remove it, it would destroy the wearer.