There are a lot of threats out there in the D&D universe. From goblins, monsters, evil cults, and dragons you have a lot to deal with as a party.
Thankfully, for every monster, there are ways of increasing your armor class to be able to deal with them. From wearing better armor, to spells, to character abilities, and more, your party will be able to hold their own against most of these creatures.
Perhaps the easiest way to protect yourself against enemy attacks is by raising your AC through the use of better equipment.
Better armor and wizard robes with magical effects will help keep your character safe and better able to slay those who wish to do him harm. But AC bonuses don’t always come from the obvious items, and smaller items can pack a punch for your armor class as well.
The Ring of Protection is one such item, where wearing it can give a small but often crucial bonus to your AC and your ability to make saving throws. Here’s our 5e Ring of Protection Guide.
What is the Ring of Protection?
The official description for the Ring of Protection states: “ You gain a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws while wearing this ring.” On the surface that doesn’t seem like a lot, especially since so many other things give massive bonuses to AC, but in the world of Faerun or any TTRPG system, every little bit helps.
The +1 bonus to AC can really help, even bumping a character from 17 AC to 18 AC is an entire point more that D&D monsters are going to have to roll to see if they hit you.
What’s often overlooked by those who wear this ring is the second effect that it has: The bonus to your saving throws is also +1. It will give you a bit of a buffer when it comes to the bad skills you need to throw for, and it will also give you a boost for the saving throws you have proficiency in.
It’s also a D&D ring, so if you manage to find it in the early game that bonus will continue to be useful. It can potentially save your life when you are a low leveled adventurer in broken armor, but will also keep giving its bonus whenever you get a better tier of protection and abilities.
Where Can I Find a Ring of Protection?
It is classified as a rare item, so right off the bat, it is going to cost around 3,000 gp before any modifiers. Most adventurers might be able to find it at a ring or jewelry shop, or at a store that sells magical items or gear. It’s not going to be everywhere, but if your players are dedicated or they talk to the right people, they might be able to find it in a large city.
They might also stumble on the ring during combat when they loot the bodies. A Ring of Protection might be on the body of a powerful wizard, or an unlucky adventurer who thought the ring would protect him more than it did.
Again, it is a rare item, but a Ring of Protection is pretty reasonable for most of its owners to want to wear. It probably won’t be found in a chest or vault.
Do I Need to Attune to a Ring of Protection?
In D&D, some magical items need to form a bond with their owners before being used. This is called attunement and some items have the ‘attunement required’ note on their character sheet. If the character does not attune to the item, the magical effect is not unlocked. The Ring of Protection does require an attunement, and without it, the ring is basically useless.
To attune to an item, you just need to spend a short rest focusing solely on the item. You also need to be in physical contact with the item. You could be practicing with a weapon or shield, cleaning your ring or armor , meditating on a wondrous item, or any other appropriate activity.
At the end of the short rest, the character will have an understanding of all the ways to use and activate the magical properties of the item. If the short rest gets interrupted for any reason, the attunement fails.
You must also only be attuned to three magic items at a time, and if you want to attune to a fourth item you will need to end your attunement to the first item. Which does also bring in another question.
Can I be Attuned to Multiple Rings of Protection? What about Multiple Rings?
Items with the same name from the not stack, and you cannot be tuned to more than one Ring of Protection at a time. Even if you manage to find three rare Rings of Protection, you would only be able to attune to one.
Now, if you have three separate rings that require attunement, you would be able to be attuned to each of those separate rings. You could wear a Ring of Protection, A Ring of Fireball, and a Ring of Evasion and be attuned to all three, gaining their effects.
Of course, you probably wouldn’t be tuned to just rings unless your character was absolutely starved for magical items, but if the scenario comes up you know the rules.
Are their Advanced Rings of Protection?
In 5e, there are several types of magical items, each increasing in rarity and effect. For example, you might have a Hide Armor +1 which is a fairly common item. However, in the King’s personal armory there’s a hide armor +2. Plus, there’s a legend of the famous master armor that made the Hide Armor +3, but he and the armor vanished years ago.
Basically, the higher the bonus, the better the item is but also the rarer it will be. However, in the official canon, the Ring of Protection is only a +1 and has no additional variants. This is largely due to how the ‘Bounded Accuracy’ rule works, which requires an entire guide on its own.
Still, there’s nothing to stop some GMs from simply homebrewing their own items and you could easily have a Ring of Protection +2 or +3 in your game.
However, these items are very powerful and could skew your game if you are not ready. It’s very hard to overcome high AC, and while a lot of monsters and effects have the ability to either overcome it or attack the character in other ways, it can skew the balance of your game.
Plus it makes things a lot less fun for the other party members who are now facing enemies designed around the person with the highest AC. This means they’ll be hit a lot more, and that’s no fun.
In most cases, these higher-tier magical items need to be given out a high level when their effects are muted a bit by the character’s own abilities. Additionally, they will likely require the completion of a large quest to receive as well, which can span multiple sessions.
What Class Can Use a Ring of Protection?
There are no class restrictions for the Ring of Protection, so anyone can use it. In the early game, the ring should be used by your fighters and tanks frontline, because +1 to AC and saving throws does make a difference. Once your front liners get some armor, it might be worth transferring the ring to some of your backline fighters who might be a bit squisher.
Still, it’s up to you and the composition of your party. A Ring of Protection is not the only item that gives an AC boost and a boost to your saving throws, and you might find other items that are just as common and give the same effects, such as this next one.
Ring of Protection vs Cloak of Protection
With both of them sporting the ‘Of Protection’ label, it’s pretty obvious that these items do the same thing. The Cloak of Protection has the same effect as the Ring of Protection: “You gain a +1 bonus to AC and Saving Throws while you wear this cloak.” It also requires attunement, but there the similarities end. First, while the ring is a rare item, the cloak is an uncommon one.
This means that while it isn’t in every single village store or on every single bad guy your party slays, it’s still easy to find if you know where to look.
The Cloak Could Be Found In The Back Of The Clothing Store, Or It Could Be Front And Center If You Are Somewhere That Tailors Their Goods To Adventurers. It’s about 4,000 gp before any modifiers, so it’s 1,000 gp cheaper than Ring of Protection.
Additionally, it is also classified as a wondrous item. While it might seem interesting, hold your horses on that front. Wondrous items are simply the classification that is used whenever an item cannot be classified under anything else. They don’t fall into any other category.
While a Cloak of Protection is easier to find, you can stack both bonuses by attuning to both items. If you are lucky enough to have both a Cloak of Protection and a Ring of Protection on, then you’ve really boosted your survivability.
Ring of Protection FAQ’s
Question: How does a Ring of Protection Work RP-wise?
Answer: If you are the type of player or MD who likes to know exactly how all your work items and How They look in the game, of the Ring Protection Then might be a bit of the challenge. The Player’s Handbook doesn’t give any description of what the ring does, but it’s not uncommon to homebrew your own effects.
The ring might enhance the protective capabilities of whatever armor the character is wearing, or could provide a small boost towards the magical warding of wizard characters.
For dexterous characters, it could have a small aura that allows them to dodge otherwise fatal hits. It’s all roleplaying and extra fluff, but it can be fun to have a magic item do something other than provide a number on a character sheet.
Question: Can I Craft a Ring of Protection?
Answer: Answer crafting rules 5e are in a bit of a mess, so this is probably going to require some DM intervention and a little homebrewing. Officially, the rules state that ” caster must be of a level at least three times greater than the bonus of the ring” in order to forge the ring. So if you wanted to craft a Ring of Protection +1, you would need to be at least level 3.
Additionally, You Would Need The Time To Forge A Ring, The Blacksmithing Materials, And Perhaps Even Knowledge Of The Arcane To Actually Enchant The Ring To Have The Spell. You would either need to buy all this yourself, or pay craftsmen of appropriate levels to do it for you.
It is really up to the DM and the circumstances that your party finds itself in. If you have the time and resources to craft a ring and enchant it, then your only restrictions would be your level and cost.
Question: Can a Ring of Protection Ever be Destroyed?
Answer: Most magical items are resistant to all forms of damage, but they can be destroyed with a concentrated enough effort. If your characters end up captured and you have all your items confiscated and destroyed, then the Ring of Protection is at risk.
That being said, it takes a while to destroy a magical item, and things that can destroy standard items aren’t going to do as much damage to items that are magical.
But yes, if you are stuck in a scenario where items can be destroyed, your magical items will be at risk too. It’s probably a good idea to get out of that scenario, or at least make sure to rescue your magical items!
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