Magic Rings & Loss of Limb

[Nehetsrev]

Okay, first let me state that I'm posting this thread in the "Ask a Gamemaster" section and not in "General Discussion" for a reason.  So, please, if you're not a Gamemaster (aka - DM/Loremaster) of Layonara, I'd appreciate you didn't post in this thread.  I'm looking to hear from the official sources, rather then loads of speculative answers based on what players think ought to be.  That said, I'll now get to posing the question for our resident experts to answer.

Recently one of my characters, through my own choosing, lost his left hand permanently.  He now wears a hook on his left arm.  At the time, indeed not even till just a few minutes ago, I hadn't thought about how that might affect his ability to wear magic rings.  NWN game mechanics allow for the wearing of only one magic ring on each hand, despite the obvious 4 fingers and 1 thumb on each hand.  What I want to know is, in Layonara's ruling on such things, is it possible for two magic rings to work on the one remaining hand, or will I need to self-enforce a limitation of only one magic ring being possible to use due to having only one hand to wear a magic ring on?

[minerva]

I always assumed the two rings was more a balance issue to keep those people inclined to  collect healers hugs to keep from having hands weighted down with magical jewelry.  
 
 I can see no Lore reason not to use both ring slots.  You could RP a magical toe ring or having the ring set into a bracelet since rings are not visable anyways, if you don't want to have them on the same hand.
 
 As an aside, I've worked with lots of men [mostly farmers that have lost a hand in an auger] with a hook and am always surprised how dexterious they are with them once used to it, even those who have lost the dominant hand.

[EdTheKet]

Okay, first let me state that I'm posting this thread in the "Ask a Gamemaster" section and not in "General Discussion" for a reason.  So, please, if you're not a Gamemaster (aka - DM/Loremaster) of Layonara, I'd appreciate you didn't post in this thread.  I'm looking to hear from the official sources, rather then loads of speculative answers based on what players think ought to be.  That said, I'll now get to posing the question for our resident experts to answer.

Recently one of my characters, through my own choosing, lost his left hand permanently.  He now wears a hook on his left arm.  At the time, indeed not even till just a few minutes ago, I hadn't thought about how that might affect his ability to wear magic rings.  NWN game mechanics allow for the wearing of only one magic ring on each hand, despite the obvious 4 fingers and 1 thumb on each hand.  What I want to know is, in Layonara's ruling on such things, is it possible for two magic rings to work on the one remaining hand, or will I need to self-enforce a limitation of only one magic ring being possible to use due to having only one hand to wear a magic ring on?

Initial thought: in NWN Layo, it's fine to have two rings on one hand.

Another question is, what to do with gloves? Bracers should work fine, but you don't have a hand to put a glove on.

[Nehetsrev]

Initial thought: in NWN Layo, it's fine to have two rings on one hand.

Another question is, what to do with gloves? Bracers should work fine, but you don't have a hand to put a glove on.

He does still have his right hand, but I'm guessing you're saying gloves require both hands to be covered in order for their magic to work, yes?
In that case, I guess Dradnats should really be thanking his goddess he still has both feet to wear boots on!

So, to clarify the official answers:
It can be RPed that a character wears two magic rings on one hand and retains the magic effects of both rings (but no more than that due to NWN's mechanical limitations).

Magic Bracers, which are worn on the forearms are acceptable and retain their effects since they do not require covering hands and fingers.

Magic Gloves, which require a covering of both hands to function cannot therefore benefit a character without two hands.

Magic Boots, would work like magic gloves and would require a character to have a foot for each boot.

Does that about sum it up?

Thanks for the answers, by the way.  

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

Sorry to jump in, but what requires magic gloves to be worn together to access their magic/abilities?  You two seem to know the answer...

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

As an official answer has already been given for the initial question (the reasoning being that, for a given kind of magical enchantment, a single being can only benefit from a certain number of charms), I have input, and my own question.

I played Pyyran Rahth as wearing a TON of magical equipment, at all times - all at once. When "changing" gear, he would simply retune his mind to which bits of gear he would have active (mechanically equipped). In doing this, I naturally had several pairs of gloves, a couple of bracers, and several pairs of boots - as well as a helmet and a hood.

However, the issue at hand (pardon the pun) is not having too much equipment, but rather having somewhere to put it. Having played characters with fairly unusual modes of equipment, I have played some items as entirely different items, simply filling the same magical slot - that is, being a "gloves" enchantment while really being "bracelets" or even "stockings". As an example from another character, Acacea has a pair of sleeves that are actually Bags of Holding (or perhaps one Bag of Holding with two openings - but either way, extradimensional space).

With that said, feel free to limit your character in any way you wish, but I wouldn't say you should feel obligated to.

[Nehetsrev]

Sorry to jump in, but what requires magic gloves to be worn together to access their magic/abilities?  You two seem to know the answer...

My guess would be something along the lines that the magic in the set of gloves works in a sort of 'full circuit' and courses through the body of the wearer from one glove (or boot) to the other in the pair to imbue the magical enhancement.  The natue of the magic in a set of Gloves of Fury, for example might require the manipulative and grasping properties of an actual hand in order to function properly as well, but at the same time enhances the power of the musculature and skeletal support for those muscles not just in the hands covered by the gloves, but up the arms, and across the chest, back, and shoulders, etc.  Of course, while this sounds real good, it's only just my guess as to why things might work that way.

[EdTheKet]

It can be RPed that a character wears two magic rings on one hand and retains the magic effects of both rings (but no more than that due to NWN's mechanical limitations).

Magic Bracers, which are worn on the forearms are acceptable and retain their effects since they do not require covering hands and fingers.

Magic Gloves, which require a covering of both hands to function cannot therefore benefit a character without two hands.

Magic Boots, would work like magic gloves and would require a character to have a foot for each boot.

Correct on all accounts.

My guess would be something along the lines that the magic in the set of gloves works in a sort of 'full circuit' and courses through the body of the wearer from one glove (or boot) to the other in the pair to imbue the magical enhancement.

That's my reasoning as well.

However, the issue at hand (pardon the pun) is not having too much equipment, but rather having somewhere to put it.

Not entirely, the issue is also if they'd work.

Having played characters with fairly unusual modes of equipment, I have played some items as entirely different items, simply filling the same magical slot - that is, being a "gloves" enchantment while really being "bracelets" or even "stockings".

Well, gloves are gloves, bracers are bracers, boots are boots. They're not anything else IMHO.

As an example from another character, Acacea has a pair of sleeves that are actually Bags of Holding (or perhaps one Bag of Holding with two openings - but either way, extradimensional space).

The Endless Sleeves are her WLDQ reward and her sleeves have been enchanted by a powerful mage with great knowledge in transmutations to have a "side pocket" that effectively acts as a small bag of holding. As this is a WLDQ reward, you can't put it in the same category as other items.

[Weeblie]

Also a little notice on that gear swapping is generally VERY frowned upon by DMs (at least one of them!) unless it's explicitly RP-ed out and it makes sense. Putting on a +100 save gear when asked for a will save is obviously not, and neither is probably jumping back and forth between a handful of skill increasing robes when the roof is collapsing and you need to do a search + spellcraft + dicipline roll combo in order to find a way out...

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Also a little notice on that gear swapping is generally VERY frowned upon by DMs (at least one of them!) unless it's explicitly RP-ed out and it makes sense. Putting on a +100 save gear when asked for a will save is obviously not, and neither is probably jumping back and forth between a handful of skill increasing robes when the roof is collapsing and you need to do a search + spellcraft + dicipline roll combo in order to find a way out...

I agree with this - it's why Pyyran had to take a few moments of concentration to change anything (if it were PnP, I'd call it a full-round action... Or perhaps a standard action, but certainly not a Swift or Free action).

[Nehetsrev]

One of the reasons I posted as I did in the original post here is that I know we as players have the habit of thinking up all sorts of ways to justify keeping all the bonuses we can.

For instance, if I wanted to assume a lot of creative liberty was allowed to maintain my bonuses even with the loss of a hand, I might say my character took his set of gloves to a skilled artificer and had them modyfied to fit over the harness of the hook, or had their enchantments somehow transfered to a detachable hook I could swap out with other hooks in my possesion.

The fact is though, when we're playing in someone else's world, it's best to ask the authorities of that world what their beliefs and preferences about the rules of their world are.  In this way we actively help preserve the integrity (and the fun) of the world that we all love to play in.