Another Bit of Bling

While I was looking at images for my previous post on armillary rings, I came across this image. The ring has four secret doors covering a design inside – something like an advent calendar.

Here is a link to an article on compartment rings, as they are called. It seems they were quite fashionable at one time.

There are many uses for this type of ring in a fantasy roleplaying game. As well as covering the name of a lover (a secret lover, perhaps, constituting proof of an illicit affair that could get the wearer beaten, locked up, or even killed), a compartment ring might hide the insignia of a secret organization, and act as proof of membership. This organization might be a spy ring (spy ring! … oh, please yourselves), an elite secret agency serving a monarch or powerful noble, a society of forward-thinking academics whose ideas might get them into trouble – or, of course, an evil cult or a revolutionary movement.

A player character might be given an identifying ring like this by a patron, or – arguably more fun – they might loot it from a fallen foe (like Kastor Lieberung in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventure Enemy in Shadows, for instance) and find themselves plunged into a world of intrigue and deception. In the right circumstances, showing the ring’s secret may save the party’s lives; in the wrong circumstances, it might condemn them to arrest, torture, and execution.

It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Bling

If you like this kind of post, you’ll also want to see these:

Armillary Rings: Handy for astronomers, astrologers, and navigators.

Poison Rings: An old classic.

Gun Rings: Add more punch to your punch.

Eye Rings: Protection, divination, gaze weapons, and more.

Miscellany: No theme, but lots of possibilities.

Let us Bling: A Ring for Clerics that unfolds into a portable shrine.

Architectural Rings: A building on your finger.