[RPG] Do Rings of Sustenance officially have any potential detrimental side effects

dnd-3.5emagic-items

Is there any official stand on the exact way a Ring of Sustenance works? There have been a number of questions that have come up in my game regarding this item that is so useful it has become standard gear in my world for most adventurers from mid-level on. (Only those fortunate enough to possess two awesome rings don't wear one.)

  1. Does someone who has adjusted to the ring constantly have an empty stomach? (Thus speeding the absorption of alcohol, drugs, and poisons)

  2. Does the ring suppress appetite as well? (As a comparison, a person in the modern world could probably survive on meal replacement drinks, water, and nutritional supplements, but they would not necessarily feel satisfied if that was all they were getting.)

  3. If it does suppress the appetite does the wearer have any problem eating food when they need to, such as if they are a member of court and have to attend a state feast? Do they feel nauseous as if they are overeating?

  4. Does the provided sustenance adjust if the character suddenly needs more than one man-day worth of food per day? For example, what if they're pregnant, or have a tapeworm?

  5. If a character's ring gets hit with a dispel and shuts off for 1-4 rounds, does that mean they have to spend an entire new week attuning themselves to the ring?

  6. If a character does need to reattune themselves, either because of the answer to the previous question, or because the ring was removed and then put back on–for whatever reason–do they start out full or just as hungry as they were right before they last attuned to the ring?

All of these questions have come up in my game over the years, but did WOTC ever officially address them?

Best Answer

I'm pretty sure the answer to your question is "no". The ring of sustenance first appeared in Unearthed Arcana (1985), and the description did not change until it disappeared from the game after 3.5e.

Some speculation on your questions:

  1. No. There's no rule in the game for absorption of poisons being hasted by empty stomachs.
  2. No. The description of the ring does not say it suppresses the appetite.
  3. No. The description of the ring does not say that the wearer suffers any detrimental effects from eating food.
  4. Yes. The description says nothing about "man-days of food". It says the wearer is supplied with life-sustaining nourishment. The game effect is that the wearer will suffer no fatigue or damage from not eating. This should work for large or small characters with wildly different nourishment requirements.
  5. Unclear. Dispel Magic turns the ring into a non-magical ring (per the spell's description), so you could rule that it should have the same effect as taking it off. You could also rule that Dispel Magic merely suppresses the nourishment temporarily. I'd rule the former since it creates more drama.
  6. No. Since the ring provides actual nourishment, the wearer will not be hungry. Effects of starvation and thirst (DMG page 304) should come into effect 3 days after taking off the ring.
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