Spell Ring Artifact Rules

[lestodante]

Damn! Seems I asked the same question 3 years ago and already forgot. I am getting old...

[HispaZargon]

Hahaha... well, it demonstrates that your thoughts are solid through time

Jokes appart, it is rare that this kind of questions had not been already discussed in the Inn, so I checked, but who knows, it is always good to revisit them, maybe new questions and opinions appear.

[Bareheaded Warrior]

Well, I have always played with the Spell Ring exactly as you play (the ring allows its user to cast a second time one of his spells that has been already cast during the running quest and in a different turn than current one).

Nevertheless, your doubt is logical due to the looking vagueness of the text written in the card. However, if we attend to the usual wording used by MB in other North American HeroQuest cards, if the Spell Ring could allow up to 3 total uses of a spell instead of 2, I would bet the wording should have been something like the following: "... to cast one spell two extra times ..." or "... to cast one spell two more times ...", and it is not.

Additionally, the last sentence in the card also suggests me that using the ring eliminates the posibility of casting, in the usual way, the spell you have selected because 'you have taken one of your spells to store it inside the ring', so now you can only cast it by using the Spell Ring since it is the only place where the spell can stay. That's how I think they wanted to interpretate it, it is not the unique place where the spells are officially treated as 'objects' from rules point of view... so I guess the easier interpretation is probably the correct one.

Then, in my humble opinion I think we are playing it correctly.

I agree with the first statement "the ring allows its user to cast a second time one of his spells that has been already cast during the running quest and in a different turn than current one" and the second in that the spell can be cast twice only, i.e. one extra time than normal, but the third statement is interesting.

If you have only a limited number of 'slots', 9 in the case of the Wizard, in which you pre-load spells between Quests and prior to the Quest "you have taken one of your spells to store it inside the ring' then logic would dictate that you now have a spare slot and can pre-load another spell. As I don't think that was the intention, might it be simpler just to state that the Spell Ring "allows you to retain/restore one spell card that you have cast and would normally discard for use one more time only" and scrap the idea that you have to select the spell up-front because whilst the Wizard may be clairvoyant I'm not sure that it is fair to assume the player is, so how would they have any idea at the start of the Quest which spell they wanted to cast a second time, it seems an unnecessary and frustrating restriction.

Alternatively, if you wished to boost the ring a little more, you could just state that the wearer rolls a combat dice each time they have cast a spell and if they roll a they get to keep the spell card and use it again...

[Onan]

I'm thinking about using the spell ring's abilities for the talisman of lore (EU player here), because nobody really cares for the extra 2 mind points. Or rather, once per quest allow casting a discared spell, so the dwarf and barbarian are also motivated to get it. But when I look at this thread:

https://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=1671&start=30

It looks like everyone likes the healing spells most. This is understandable. The attack spells remove one monster each. You can easily convert 4 BP into several monsters removed, so the healing spells are the most efficient spells. Does anybody have experience with the spell ring? Is this just an extra healing potion? How do players use it?

[wallydubbs]

I'm thinking about using the spell ring's abilities for the talisman of lore (EU player here), because nobody really cares for the extra 2 mind points. Or rather, once per quest allow casting a discared spell, so the dwarf and barbarian are also motivated to get it. But when I look at this thread:

https://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=1671&start=30

It looks like everyone likes the healing spells most. This is understandable. The attack spells remove one monster each. You can easily convert 4 BP into several monsters removed, so the healing spells are the most efficient spells. Does anybody have experience with the spell ring? Is this just an extra healing potion? How do players use it?

If the heroes are low on healing potions, absolutely use it on healing. However if you playing Mage of the Mirror or Against the Ogre Horde, a Sleep spell will be preferable when facing a Giant Wolf or Ogre, as they don't have much mind points. I've also had a hero use the Spell Ring to store Clairvoyance.

[Thrasher79]

I'm thinking about using the spell ring's abilities for the talisman of lore (EU player here), because nobody really cares for the extra 2 mind points. Or rather, once per quest allow casting a discared spell, so the dwarf and barbarian are also motivated to get it. But when I look at this thread:

https://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=1671&start=30

It looks like everyone likes the healing spells most. This is understandable. The attack spells remove one monster each. You can easily convert 4 BP into several monsters removed, so the healing spells are the most efficient spells. Does anybody have experience with the spell ring? Is this just an extra healing potion? How do players use it?

Hello,

The heroes had the ring in their possession for a few years. A healing spell was always stored. In our case, it was a custom spell that healed everyone in the group by 2 body points, but even so, a healing spell would have been included here. Healed points are simply incredibly valuable.
Last year, I destroyed the ring, however. The heroes already have a lot of spells in their group, so I removed the ring from the group.

Best wishes, Thrasher79

[Onan]

If the heroes are low on healing potions, absolutely use it on healing. However if you playing Mage of the Mirror or Against the Ogre Horde, a Sleep spell will be preferable when facing a Giant Wolf or Ogre, as they don't have much mind points. I've also had a hero use the Spell Ring to store Clairvoyance.

Oh yes, in the US version the heroes will have enough healing potions after some quests, and some monsters in the US expansions are so tough that they might cost more than a healing potion to defeat. So a one-shot kill like sleep might be better.

The heroes had the ring in their possession for a few years. A healing spell was always stored. In our case, it was a custom spell that healed everyone in the group by 2 body points, but even so, a healing spell would have been included here. Healed points are simply incredibly valuable.
Last year, I destroyed the ring, however. The heroes already have a lot of spells in their group, so I removed the ring from the group.

Thanks, Thrasher. That's what I thought would happen. The spell ring is more or less a "ring of healing".

[Thrasher79]

Hi Onan,

I didn’t want this to be misinterpreted. ‘Only’ a ring of healing is basically correct. But: I think this artefact is very important for the heroes. Especially in the case of difficult adventures such as BQ or EQ, it is of great importance for the heroes to have one more healing spell! In the end, it will be the case that the group and not the individual will be in the foreground, especially in difficult situations. The heroes will no longer be able to simply spread out in four directions and open doors at will. They will have to stand together and support each other. Only in this way can the challenges be overcome. And in this respect, I find a healing spell for the group to be much more useful than, for example, a spell of ‘Flaming Fury’. A good spell, no question. And of course, one would also like to be able to use it more often. But for the group, the healing spell brings more benefits. Whether it is the original or the custom version we have, the real and only reason why I destroyed the ring is that there are already various healing spells in my group due to the guilds. Otherwise, I would never have touched this valuable artefact.

Greetings Thrasher

[wallydubbs]

I once started a campaign with a Barbarian, Druid, Elf & Warlock. The Warlock was MVP of the Trail despite the fact that both she and the Elf died. They were replaced by a new Elf & a Wizard. The Wizard died in Lair of the Orc Warlord from a Wandering Monster that rolled 3 skulls in both attacks. The group than brought in the Rogue and they lasted as a team through the Game System. Obviously the Druid stored Life Force in the Spell Ring.
During Keller's Keep the Rogue was killed and they found a Dwarf still living in hiding in the depths of Keller's Keep, who took the Rogue's place.
The Spell Ring permanently held the Life Force spell.
It was brutal when this group reached Frozen Horror. By the time they finished Quest 8 the group had completely run out of Healing Potions, they had no chance of completing the Double Quest Heart of Ice on 3 healing spells. The only reason they succeeded was the Elf picked Air spells and use the Genie spell to open the door leading to the Frozen Horror, they used the Genie to bypass Quest 10.

[Gold Bearer]

Last year, I destroyed the ring, however. The heroes already have a lot of spells in their group, so I removed the ring from the group.

Well that bloody tomb in Return of the Witch Lord destroyed my wizard's Borin's Armour! I'm still mad about that, it's been decades. Decades!