Hart and Hound

You remove these two rings from their secure place on the twisted stick. Turning them over in you hands, you can see that one of the silver bands has an engraving of a set of deer antlers, the other an engraving of a paw print.

Picking up the ring with the antlers, you get a feeling of security from it. Somehow, you feel like nothing can touch you as long as you wear this ring. This feeling is well warranted, since Hart was designed to protect the wearer from just about anything that could be thrown at him. Ah, ah, ah . . .don't look so eager to put it on just yet. You haven't heard why Hart was designed as it is. You see, both Hart and Hound were created by a pair of wizards, a married couple, who specialized in hunting and destroying various nonhumanoid monsters. Hart was worn by the person who was going to be bait for the monsters. Basically, Hart will protect the wearer from just about anything, but it also attracts all monsters within a 1 mile radius as long as you are wearing it. Sounds fun, eh?

Hart allows the wearer to cast Protection from Evil, Protection from Normal Missiles, Protection from Poison and Gaze Reflection 3 times a day, Avoidance and Globe of Invulnerability 2 times a day, Neutralize Gas once a day, and Prismatic Sphere once every year.

In game terms, what you are looking at is an item which, once put on, immediately casts a permanent Monster Summoning spell. However, this particular spell is much less picky than the normal ones. The spell extends for a one mile radius attracting all monsters within that radius, be they kobolds or great wyrms. The first monsters will begin arriving one day after the ring is put on, and will continue to arrive at . . . eh, . . . various intervals (This would be the DM's hint to have some fun with your hapless crew.) Monsters will begin to trickle off once either the land can supply no more critters, the heros have killed them all, the DM feels like being nice, or the player finally figures out that he needs to remove the ring.

You turn the ring with the paw print over in your hand, admiring the plain but elegant craftsmanship. A feeling of power washes over you, a sudden need to destroy something grasps your mind. Easily, you fight off the urge. Seems like a powerful, and thus, very useful item, no? Well, in all honesty, it is. There are a few people who might be hindered by it's limitations, but I doubt that you are of that ilk. Like I said before, Hart and Hound are dedicated to destroying monsters. That's it . . . monsters. You can't wield it's power against another person. It's great if you've got a Balrog hanging off your skivvies, but tick off the bouncer and you're own your own, pal.

Hound allows the wearer to cast Magic Missile, Melf's Acid Arrow, Bands of Sirellyn, and Web 3 times a day, Lance of Disruption and Lightning Bolt 2 times a day, and Forcecage once a week.

Hound was designed to compliment the abilities of it's sister, Hart. While Hart is meant to defend, Hound was made to destroy. As stated before, the great drawback to Hound is that it simply will not allow itself to be used against humans, demi-humans and humanoids. If the wearer should attempt to attack a human with it, it just won't work. He'll end up standing there looking very foolish and feeling very vulnerable.