The Ring of Ghastly Intelligence
by John Hare This ring is a plain silver band.
When worn the wearer feels brighter and smarter. Should the ring be
worn for on full week the wearer gains a point of Intelligence, but
loses a point of Wisdom. This point gain will go above 18, giving
all the benefits of higher level intelligence. After each
additional week the wearer gains an additional point of
Intelligence until he reaches 24. Likewise the Wisdom keeps
dropping for ever point gained in Intelligence. With a 19 Int if
the wearer isn't a Magic User he/she can now memorise spells as a
caster of 1/3 his/her level. At 20 Int the wearer can cast spells
quicker (-1 to spell times, or a +1 on the initiative roll
depending on the system). At 22 Int the wearer can cast spells with
greater precision and accuracy (adding a +1 to all damage rolls and
a +2 to all to hit rolls with spells). At 24 Int the wearer gains
the ability to memorise 2 additional spells per spell level. On the
down side should the wearer's Wisdom become 0, then the character
immediately turns to dust as his existence is drawn into the ring
to feed the Outer Beings who created it and is lost forever. In
addition each time the wearer tries to employ any of the extras
from high Intelligence he/she must make a Wisdom check to complete
the action in the time allowed. Otherwise the wearer will have be
caught calculating the exact angles, area of effects, wind speed,
air temperature, etc. In effect missing the action for that turn.
Should the ring be removed (after gaining a point of Intelligence)
the wearer immediately falls into a coma which lasts for 1 month
for each point of Intelligence gained. During this coma the points
of Wisdom return at 1 a month. The coma can be hurried along with
the use of one heal spell per point of Intelligence gained. (thus
if the wearer gained 8 points of Int. and would be in a coma for 8
months, each heal spell will shorten that time by one month.)
However the return of Wisdom points cannot be hurried.