Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks

Stub-class article · First seen: s04 · Last seen: s21
Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks
onyx ring · barbed ring · the pact ring · Hugo's ring
Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks, Cursed pact ring (homebrew) portrait
Item
StatusActive
First seens04
Last seens21
TypeCursed pact ring (homebrew)
AttunementNot stated; it cannot be taken off once worn
HolderHugo
OriginThe Black Mask's pact, session 4

The Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks is the plain onyx ring that The Black Mask gave Hugo in session 4 on his signing her pact; its spikes hook inward, so once worn it cannot be removed [14][58]. Hugo uses it as a line to the Mask, whispering to it in session 7 and tapping it to call her in session 12 [4][27]. In session 6 he described a revive in it, a necrotic strike back and 4 hit points, but the DM ruled on its order of effects and Hugo then rose on “my other feature”, so whether the ring has ever fired is unsettled [31].

Overview

The Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks is the seal of Hugo’s pact with The Black Mask, a devil who gets her souls “through contracts” and pointed at the ring as the case in point [10]. She offered it in session 4 as a “singular tool” and a wager on Sevryn’s egg quest [11][12], and Hugo signed for it alone in an Umbrafall inn [13]. Its properties have surfaced only in scraps, so this page records them as each was said.

Description

Plain onyx on the outside. Inside, “you see spikes and they’re kind of like hooked in the direction that if you put it on you can’t remove it.” [14]. Asked what it did, the Mask said “It gives you power.” [15]. When the pact was signed the Mask snapped a finger and Hugo held “the barbed ring” [16]; he put it on at once [17]. He keeps it if he completes Sevryn’s quest [12].

Mechanics (as played)

  • No removal. Once worn, it cannot be taken off [14]. Nobody has tried.
  • The revive. In session 6 Hugo described a “demonic blade” effect that fires when he drops to 0 hit points without being killed outright: 1d8 necrotic damage to the attacker and his hit points restored to 4, from a “charge” [18][19][20]. The DM, who wrote the ring, ruled that it acts after Hugo’s own feature, and that if its strike does not kill the attacker its “infernal chains” and “Aftermath” kill Hugo [21][22][23]. Hugo had read the Aftermath as applying only if he died, and took the two effects for separate things; the DM said “same thing” [24][25][26]. How many charges it has, and how they return, was not said.
  • A line to the Mask. Hugo whispered to it [4] and tapped it to call her [27]. He takes it that she watches through it [28][29]; she has not confirmed that.
  • A Charisma feature? Twice Hugo reached for his ring on a Charisma roll: for a reroll of a Persuasion check in session 13, when the DM asked if it gave him inspiration, and again in session 21 [30][9]. Both times he dropped it. No such feature is set down anywhere else.
  • Magical. It glows under Detect Magic [7].

Open questions

  • Did the ring fire against the phase spider in session 6, or did Hugo get up on another feature of his own? A question for the DM [31].
  • What the ring does on Charisma rolls. In session 13 Hugo said his ring gave him something on Charisma checks, then found it might cover Deception only; in session 21 he began to use it on a roll and stopped [30][9]. This page takes “his ring” to be the Onyx ring, since his only other ring is the disputed Ring of Swimming. A question for Hugo’s player.

History in the campaign

Session 4: The Still Current, the Black Mask, and Hugo’s Pact

Main article: Session 4

At The Still Current Inn a dwarf drew Hugo, Caelumn and Terry into a black void and showed himself as the Black Mask. As his wager on Sevryn’s quest he produced the ring, which Caelumn declined [32][33][34]. In Umbrafall Hugo hired a bedroom, called the Mask, and bargained: ten years’ service after the egg quest, with his soul forfeit if he died in the first seven years and Hugo free if he died in the last three, and help killing the scientist who did this to him [35][36]. He signed and was handed the ring [37].

Session 6: Maze of the Minotaur and the Titan

Main article: Session 6

A phase spider’s critical bite dropped Hugo to 0 hit points in the Warrens storeroom, and he narrated the ring’s revive: cursed energy through him, 1d8 necrotic to the spider, and 4 hit points [38][18]. The DM asked if it was the ring, said it acts after Hugo’s feature, and argued the wording with him: as written, a strike that fails to kill the attacker kills Hugo [39]. Hugo then said “my other feature” had him back on his hit points [40]. Whether the ring itself fired is unsettled.

Session 7: Maelis Falls, Vasquez Captured

Main article: Session 7

After a night meeting with the Wraith [41], Hugo stepped aside from the party as it went downstairs and whispered into the ring: “Black Mask, we need to talk later.” A slight giggle sounded in the back of his mind, and he carried on [4]. The talk came five sessions later.

Session 12: Eldwythe and the Candy Cottage

Main article: Session 12

On his long-rest watch, with the others asleep, Hugo tapped the ring and said “black mask. We need to talk.” [27]. Time stopped and the Mask appeared as a tiefling with green horns [42]. Hugo proposed becoming her eternal champion [28]. She refused, pointed up at the ring as the case in point that souls come by contract, and said that if he got an ally to sign over their soul she would take the odds, naming Vasquez [10][43]. Hugo said he would see what he could do [44].

Session 13: Bubba Walker and the Gummy Sarcophagus

Main article: Session 13

In the Candy Cottage hallway Hugo offered taffy to Bubba Walker as a peace offering and was allowed a Persuasion roll, at disadvantage, which came up short [45]. He announced that he would use his ring to reroll it, and the DM asked if it gave him inspiration. Hugo said it was a ring that gave him something on Charisma checks, saw that it might cover Deception only, and dropped the idea [30].

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Main article: Session 17

The ring itself was not used. Mike’s Detect Magic ritual made it glow among Hugo’s sword, pockets and shield [7]. The pact it seals came back into play when Hugo rigged a breath-holding bet to bring Mike in as a second signatory [46][47]. When Mike began editing the contract, the Mask arrived unasked in a frozen-time audience and rewrote the substitution terms [48][49][50]. Mike then refused to sign [51].

Session 19: A Penitent Priest, an Unmade Leash, and the Pixie in the Dark

Main article: Session 19

On Hugo’s night watch the Wraith re-applied his conditioning, and time froze as the Black Mask appeared [52]. Hugo took it for granted that she already knew the Wraith: “you listen through the ring don’t you” [29]. She did not answer that. She undid the conditioning and told him to “get on that second deal” [53][54]. Hugo did not call her; she came on her own.

Session 21: The Hand That Points North

Main article: Session 21

In the ridge temple’s entrance fight, Hugo killed an undead with a crit that took a hand, a leg and its head [55]. The DM asked for a free Intimidation check, and Hugo began “can I use my ring for when I fail a charisma”, then stopped when he saw the roll was not a saving throw [56][9]. It was the second time he had reached for the ring on a Charisma roll. The DM carried on with the fight [57].

Status

As of session 23. Worn by Hugo and impossible to remove [14]. The pact it seals is unchanged, and no session after the twenty-first mentions the ring [9].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 1192-1236: The Black Mask offers the ring in the black void as a wager on Sevryn's quest; it "gives you power".
  2. ^ Session 4, line 1658-1734: Hugo returns alone, signs the pact, and is handed the ring ("have fun with the ring").
  3. ^ Session 6, line 633-667: Hugo's revive claim against the phase spider, the DM's ruling on the ring's order, and "my other feature".
  4. ^ Session 7, line 1060: Hugo whispers "Black Mask, we need to talk later" into the ring and hears a slight giggle.
  5. ^ Session 12, line 192-236: Hugo taps the ring to summon the Black Mask; she points at it as proof that souls come by contract.
  6. ^ Session 13, line 546-560: Hugo reaches for his ring to reroll a failed Persuasion roll against Bubba Walker, then drops the idea.
  7. ^ Session 17, line 950: The ring glows among Hugo's items under Mike's Detect Magic.
  8. ^ Session 19, line 449-464: Hugo asks the Black Mask whether she listens through the ring.
  9. ^ Session 21, line 1288: Hugo asks whether his ring helps when he fails a Charisma roll, then drops it.
  10. ^ Session 12, line 197: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 4, line 1192: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 4, line 1208: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 4, line 1658-1732: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 4, line 1198: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 4, line 1220: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 4, line 1732: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 4, line 1734: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 6, line 638: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 6, line 653: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 6, line 657: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 6, line 645: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 6, line 652-654: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 6, line 660-664: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 6, line 655-657: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 6, line 665: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 6, line 666: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 12, line 192: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 12, line 194: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 19, line 450: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 13, line 556-560: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 6, line 638-667: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 4, line 1154: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 4, line 1194-1198: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 4, line 1226: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 4, line 1658-1674: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 4, line 1710-1720: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 4, line 1730-1734: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 6, line 633: Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 6, line 643-664: Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 6, line 667: Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 7, line 1000-1014: Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 12, line 193: Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 12, line 219-223: Inline citation.
  44. ^ Session 12, line 236: Inline citation.
  45. ^ Session 13, line 546-554: Inline citation.
  46. ^ Session 17, line 580: Inline citation.
  47. ^ Session 17, line 645: Inline citation.
  48. ^ Session 17, line 687: Inline citation.
  49. ^ Session 17, line 697: Inline citation.
  50. ^ Session 17, line 709-711: Inline citation.
  51. ^ Session 17, line 732-757: Inline citation.
  52. ^ Session 19, line 449: Inline citation.
  53. ^ Session 19, line 455: Inline citation.
  54. ^ Session 19, line 464: Inline citation.
  55. ^ Session 21, line 1284-1286: Inline citation.
  56. ^ Session 21, line 1287: Inline citation.
  57. ^ Session 21, line 1289: Inline citation.
  58. ^ Session 4, line 1730-1732: Inline citation.
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