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newbDM
2008-10-01, 01:43 PM
Ring of Feminity/Masculinity. Need a way for the player(s) to reverse it, but that isn't too obvious and hopefully takes a while.


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/celestialkin/sc00020d5a.jpg

What I have worked out so far:

They will find this ring in a small jewelry box with 4 other rings.
The band is solid gold, the round brink thing is a cut diamond, and the symbol is a purple cut jewel placed inside a carved out indent inside the diamond brick.
When someone places this wing onto their finger, they are instantly transformed into the opposite gender.
At the same time the jeweled symbol on the ring changes (see below).
It is some form of psionic item.


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/celestialkin/sc000238e0.jpg


Now my problem is, I want to make it more complicated for them to use the ring a second time. Sure they can use it indefinitely, but the reversal step is more difficult than just placing it on your finger again.

The idea is, one of the PCs places this "bling" (I had one PC in mind when planning this) on his finger (the party is all male PCs and players) and is instantly transformed into a woman. Then the PCs probably tries desperately to reverse the effects by placing the ring on and of again. The party then probably tries to figure out how to reverse this (most likely a few sessions worth), or leave the other PCs to a life of mood-swings and tampons.

So, does anyone know a good way to make it so they can figure out how the ring works, but make it difficult enough that it will take some effort to reverse things?

I have placed a bit of nonsense scribbles/writing on the inside of the ring (see first image), but I can simply erase that if needed.


A few notes about my homebrewed multiverse:
Magic is extremely rare. Only the largest temples have "divine casters" (even adepts are extremely rare and respected), and all "arcane casters" are epic level stuff.
Psionic fills the everyday void, but even this isn't as easy as finding a psionic item at every store in every village.
The party currently has no manifesters or casters of any sort.


Also, should this be a minor artifact level item?

afroakuma
2008-10-01, 01:51 PM
The Belt that had a similar effect went dead after use, I believe, or else stuck itself on such that it wasn't its own cure.

And no, changing genders isn't really potent enough to be a minor artifact. Minor nuisance, yes, but remove curse or, at worst, greater dispel magic should make hash of the item. Remove curse, break enchantment or restoration should be able to straighten things out.

arguskos
2008-10-01, 02:01 PM
The Belt that had a similar effect went dead after use, I believe, or else stuck itself on such that it wasn't its own cure.

And no, changing genders isn't really potent enough to be a minor artifact. Minor nuisance, yes, but remove curse or, at worst, greater dispel magic should make hash of the item. Remove curse, break enchantment or restoration should be able to straighten things out.



Magic is extremely rare. Only the largest temples have "divine casters" (even adepts are extremely rare and respected), and all "arcane casters" are epic level stuff.
Psionic fills the everyday void, but even this isn't as easy as finding a psionic item at every store in every village.
The party currently has no manifesters or casters of any sort.

Dude... those spells aren't gonna cut it. In a world like this, I can see an item that has a permanent and difficult to reverse effect being of artifact, or at least major magic item, level.

Radar
2008-10-01, 02:05 PM
The changing symbol gave me an idea:
1. With male symbol it works only on men (real - gender-changing enchantments won't count).
2. With female symbol it works only on women (also real).
Every activation would change the symbol, so to reverse the curse, one would have to do something like this (it shows the full cycle of changes):
a)men changed into women; symbol changed to female
b)other women changed into men; symbol changed to male
c)the guy from (a) would go back to normal; symbol changed to female
d)the gal from (b) would go back to normal; symbol changed to male

If it seems too easy, one can add a certain time for the ring to recharge between uses (an hour or a few for example).

afroakuma
2008-10-01, 02:10 PM
Dude... those spells aren't gonna cut it. In a world like this, I can see an item that has a permanent and difficult to reverse effect being of artifact, or at least major magic item, level.

In such a low magic world, those spells are exponentially more powerful. This item is inherently psionic, and so would be a powerful psionic relic, but the power it causes could (and should, this is not a game-changer except for being annoying to one player's personality) easily be broken by an exotic power such as divine or arcane magic.

Also, it's technically a cursed item, not a major, medium or minor item. And as I said, it's got a limitation and no in-game effect. It exists purely to piss off one player, he said as much. Even as a minor artifact, it would be Manifester Level 20th and within the realm of breaking by arcane/divine.

AstralFire
2008-10-01, 02:11 PM
Dude... those spells aren't gonna cut it. In a world like this, I can see an item that has a permanent and difficult to reverse effect being of artifact, or at least major magic item, level.

...Why would that be?

The fact that those spells are hard to gain access to means only that the items are more likely to get treated as artifacts without actually getting the label 'artifact.' I would say that making the effect harder to get rid of might stretch the joke into "I'm getting annoyed here, people" territory.

Telonius
2008-10-01, 02:39 PM
How cruel do you want this item to be? I could see the reversal component being, "A lock of hair from a new love."

paddyfool
2008-10-01, 04:15 PM
Some more ideas:

Probably my only good idea: Some obscure psionic counter to the ring's effect (might require travelling to centre of psionic learning, doing favour for powerful manifester)

An idea only for dark settings: Some properly intimidating ritual, involving the slicing off of mammary organs and so forth.

A just plain bad idea: The character hasn't really been transformed; it's just a temporary mind-affecting thing that makes everybody thinks (s)he has, and will only last 24 hours

A totally stolen idea: Throwing the ring into a volcano

In any event, the right idea should be readily researchable by the party, to give the player hope, but have some challenge in execution. Plus some benefit to the rest of the party if possible, so that they aren't all dragged on a side quest purely to give one player his come-uppance.

kopout
2008-10-02, 04:47 PM
The changing symbol gave me an idea:
1. With male symbol it works only on men (real - gender-changing enchantments won't count).
2. With female symbol it works only on women (also real).
Every activation would change the symbol, so to reverse the curse, one would have to do something like this (it shows the full cycle of changes):
a)men changed into women; symbol changed to female
b)other women changed into men; symbol changed to male
c)the guy from (a) would go back to normal; symbol changed to female
d)the gal from (b) would go back to normal; symbol changed to male

If it seems too easy, one can add a certain time for the ring to recharge between uses (an hour or a few for example).
this is the best idea so far

arguskos
2008-10-02, 04:51 PM
...Why would that be?

The fact that those spells are hard to gain access to means only that the items are more likely to get treated as artifacts without actually getting the label 'artifact.' I would say that making the effect harder to get rid of might stretch the joke into "I'm getting annoyed here, people" territory.
Ah, what I meant was not that the spells themselves weren't effective, but rather that the spells aren't a major factor, since most characters capable of casting arcane or divine magic in a world like this have more important things to do. That's what I meant. Of course, if the party finds a caster who is alright with casting those spells, then they'll work fine. Misunderstanding be'twixst us I think. :smallredface:

-argus

DigoDragon
2008-10-03, 07:19 AM
I like Telonius' idea about needing some component for the ring to recharge it's use. Maybe a drop of blood from a virgin (of whichever gender you need the ring to go)?

Reinboom
2008-10-03, 07:32 AM
I like Telonius' idea about needing some component for the ring to recharge it's use. Maybe a drop of blood from a virgin (of whichever gender you need the ring to go)?

I've never understood why virgin anything would be more magical than not...

I like the idea provided by Radar. "Gender rings change only if the symbol matches the original gender." To shorten the 'requirement' text.

charl
2008-10-03, 08:12 AM
I have one that is pretty... evil I suppose you could say.

The character can use the ring to change gender only AFTER having had sex.That should really piss off any macho male adventurer that happens to have used it.

"I have to do WHAT?!" Oh the comedy.

newbDM
2008-10-03, 08:24 AM
I have one that is pretty... evil I suppose you could say.

The character can use the ring to change gender only AFTER having had sex.That should really piss off any macho male adventurer that happens to have used it.

"I have to do WHAT?!" Oh the comedy.


Knowing that player, he'd probably smile and be thinking about lesbian loving...

kwanzaabot
2008-10-03, 08:25 AM
If magic is rare and you need a way to reverse a magical sex change...

...what about good old fashioned surgery?

Telonius
2008-10-03, 03:08 PM
I like Telonius' idea about needing some component for the ring to recharge it's use. Maybe a drop of blood from a virgin (of whichever gender you need the ring to go)?

I'd also considered a drop of blood from your monthly, for someone who'd been changed into a woman. Not sure what you'd use as the equivalent male component.

Kiren
2008-10-03, 05:35 PM
I have a idea, the way to reverse it is to put it on backwards, they will not think of something that simple

Mando Knight
2008-10-03, 05:45 PM
Knowing that player, he'd probably smile and be thinking about lesbian loving...

Unless the enchantment requires that the cursed player has to have sex with someone of the gender opposite their current one...

erikun
2008-10-03, 07:10 PM
My thoughts on the situation:

Make the ring "originally" just a purple stone set in the ring. When a male puts on the ring, they become female and the stone turns pink. (If a female puts on the ring, they turn male and the stone turns blue.) While the ring is pink/blue, it doesn't change anyone else. In order to turn back, they need a "kiss from one who loves your true self", ie. someone who cares for the character and believes that they are really a guy. Once that's done, the ring goes back to purple. Good luck to the poor character convincing the other guys to kiss her, expecially if the change is right at the beginning of the kiss. :smalltongue:

If you have a clearly masculine/feminine symbol on the ring, the players are going to me suspicious. Then again, if the ring has "the symbol of Mars" or "the symbol of Venus", they may not pick up on it immediately. It depends on how much of a history buff the player is. In that case, perhaps just make it so that the ring doesn't work in reverse; it always has Venus's symbol on it. Curing could be the suggested solution above, or the one Mando Knight recommended. :smallwink: You don't want the party to just all turn into girls and having a lesbian makeout session to "fix" things... or at least, I assume you don't.

Thane of Fife
2008-10-03, 07:49 PM
I've never understood why virgin anything would be more magical than not...

I believe a John Moore book (A Fate Worse than Dragons?) said that virginity is valuable precisely because people are unwilling to lose it.


I once wrote an adventure in which the PCs needed a special magic sword to defeat a villain, but the sword was intelligent and would only work for a female wielder. They would have had to rob a dragon's horde to steal a cursed belt which they then would have needed to struggle to reverse.

Unfortunately, I never had a chance to run the adventure.


How to get rid of the effect? Well, why was the ring made? Perhaps it was to get revenge on some chauvinist, in which case forcing him to have sex with someone of the opposite gender could reverse it. Perhaps it was to show some guy who opposed rights for women what being a female was like, in which case perhaps the PC needs to gain a better understanding of the other gender before the ring is reversed.

Think about why some wizard or other being made the ring, and the way to reverse it should present itself.

kopout
2008-10-03, 08:01 PM
it could switch back on its own... and than back and back and back with shorter intervals each time

ZombieMaster
2008-10-06, 02:08 PM
When someone places this wing onto their finger, they are instantly transformed into the opposite gender.

...

The party then probably tries to figure out how to reverse this (most likely a few sessions worth), or leave the other PCs to a life of mood-swings and tampons.

Wow, you clearly have women absolutely figured out. Yes, that's exactly what life's about for a woman. :sigh:

Lappy9000
2008-10-06, 05:07 PM
I have a idea, the way to reverse it is to put it on backwards, they will not think of something that simple

Indeed. Brilliant in its simplicity.


How cruel do you want this item to be? I could see the reversal component being, "A lock of hair from a new love."

That's just mean :smallbiggrin:

newbDM
2008-10-06, 05:27 PM
Wow, you clearly have women absolutely figured out. Yes, that's exactly what life's about for a woman. :sigh:

I am sorry, I guess I did not word myself correctly. I know quite well that a woman's life is more than that.

I simply meant that the PC/player will now need to deal with these unfortunate inconveniences that women have to go through. As males, these would probably be some of the most immediate, and possibly most shocking, things they will experience if this were to happen to us IRL. Hence it would bring up some interesting roleplaying opportunities/issues, and let's be completely honest here, probably some light-hearted laughs and possibly jokes and teasing from the other PCs/players.


I am not sexist, and I have tried hard in my life to not end up with prejudices, biases, etc to other peoples of any kinds. So I take offense to this.

And I know women need to deal with this stuff, and that it is serious business for them.

I merely said it like that because come on, what do you think the PC's (or any man's) first train of thought would be when he looks down to find something very important missing?

Rei_Jin
2008-10-06, 05:44 PM
Well, the ring has to have a background (i.e. It was made by someone)

So, what was their shtick? Why did they make such a thing? What was its purpose?

If it was made by a spellcaster who wanted to make fun of his enemies by having them change gender, then the way to reverse the change should be embarrassing (Find the creator and beg them to reverse it, which they can do as they made it).

If it was made by a feminist/chauvinist, then it should be reversed by something that they would feel is right (Accepting that women/men are superior, depending on who made it). In this case, it would have been made by a feminist, and the player will need to prove to himself that women are superior to men before it will reverse.

I've also seen a really cruel one done...

The ring itself only has one charge. That charge will reverse the gender of whoever puts it on. BUT, the only way to charge the ring again, is to have sex with a member of the opposite gender who is now wearing your ring. The change happens 5 minutes after you finish with them, and they must be wearing the ring the whole time.

They then get turned into a woman, you get turned into a man again, and the curse carries on, moving through the land.

Of course, some kinky couples use them for... other purposes. Nothing like gender swapping with your partner for something different!


EDIT: Of course, it would have to be consensual sex for it to work.

Forderz
2008-10-07, 03:40 PM
How cruel do you want this item to be? I could see the reversal component being, "A lock of hair from a new love."

Probably the most brutal and heart-wrenching decision a character is going to make... Do I live a lie but keep my love happy? Or do I crush this new life, along with the dreams of a new lover?

AstralFire
2008-10-07, 03:41 PM
Probably the most brutal and heart-wrenching decision a character is going to make... Do I live a lie but keep my love happy? Or do I crush this new life, along with the dreams of a new lover?

Or make sure you only date bisexuals.