Ring of Warmth 5e: Cold Protection in 2014 and 2024

The Ring of Warmth is an uncommon ring that requires attunement. It does two things: it protects you from cold damage, and it keeps you and your gear unharmed by freezing temperatures. In the 2014 rules that means Resistance to cold damage and safety down to −50 degrees Fahrenheit. In the 2024 rules the Resistance is gone; instead the ring reduces each instance of cold damage by 2d8, and it protects you at any temperature of 0 degrees or lower. Worth an attunement slot for a campaign set in the frozen north; easy to skip anywhere else.

Table of Contents

• •Ring of Warmth Rules Text
• •How the Ring of Warmth Works
• •Ring of Warmth: 2014 vs 2024
• •Is the Ring of Warmth Worth It?
• •Ring of Warmth for DMs
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Ring of Warmth Rules Text

How the Ring of Warmth Works

Cold damage in 2014: Resistance

The 2014 ring gives Resistance to cold damage: every cold hit is halved, rounded down. A 2014 young White Dragon's 10d8 breath (45 on average) becomes 22.

Cold damage in 2024: 2d8 off each hit

The 2024 ring rolls 2d8 every time you take cold damage and subtracts it, 9 on average. That beats Resistance against small hits and loses against big ones:

The break-even is about 18 damage. Below that, the ring often stops a hit cold; above it, Resistance halves more than 9.

Stacking with Resistance

The 2024 rules apply damage modifiers in order: reductions first, then Resistance, then Vulnerability. With the ring and Resistance from another source, an adult white dragon's 54-point breath drops by 9 to 45, then halves to 22. In 2014 the ring already gives Resistance, and two sources of Resistance count as one, so a second source adds nothing.

Attacks that mix cold with other damage

Many cold attacks add cold damage to a physical hit, like a 2024 Frost Giant's axe (slashing plus 2d8 cold). Resistance is settled by the damage rules: it halves damage of its type only, so the 2014 ring (or the Boots of the Winterlands) halves the cold part and leaves the slashing alone. The 2024 ring triggers when you take cold damage and reduces "the damage you take," without saying whether that means the whole hit or only the cold part. DM ruling, not rules text: subtract the 2d8 from the cold portion only, down to 0, so the ring can't soak an axe blade.

Freezing temperatures

The 2024 SRD has an extreme cold hazard: at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, an exposed creature makes a DC 10 Constitution save at the end of every hour or gains a level of Exhaustion. Resistance or Immunity to cold damage means an automatic success. The 2024 ring doesn't grant Resistance, but its text covers this directly: you and everything you wear and carry are unharmed by temperatures of 0 degrees or lower. No save, no gear damage, with no lower limit.

The 2014 ring protects you down to −50 degrees Fahrenheit. The 2014 SRD has no extreme cold rules of its own, so what happens below −50, or to someone without the ring, is the DM's call.

Frigid water

The 2024 frigid water hazard is separate: after a number of minutes equal to your Constitution score in the water, you save each minute or gain Exhaustion, and Resistance or Immunity to cold damage auto-succeeds. The 2024 ring doesn't help here: it grants no Resistance, and its temperature clause only covers 0 degrees or lower, far colder than liquid water.

Ring of Warmth: 2014 vs 2024

What it means at the table: against the big cold blasts of high-level play, the 2024 ring is weaker; against the small cold hits of early levels it's often better, and it never runs out in a blizzard however cold it gets.

Is the Ring of Warmth Worth It?

In a cold campaign, yes, for whoever stands in front. In a temperate one, no: an attunement slot is worth more on a Cloak of Protection or a Ring of Protection.

Its competition is other cold gear:

In 2024 the boots beat the ring for most characters: Resistance, the same cold protection, and they ignore difficult terrain from ice and snow. The ring wins only when the boot slot is already taken. In 2014 the ring and the boots both give Resistance and −50 °F protection, and the boots add the terrain benefit and −100 °F in heavy clothes.

Ring of Warmth for DMs

Where it turns up. In or near cold lands, as early treasure. The 2024 SRD values uncommon items at 400 GP. The 2014 SRD has no prices. Use the treasure generator for the rest of the hoard.

What it changes. Weather stops being a threat for one character. If the party travels through a blizzard, the wearer can scout ahead while everyone else rolls saves. That's useful for the story: the ring wearer becomes the one who goes out to check the pass.

Hooks.

• •A trapper found frozen solid on a mountain path wears a Ring of Warmth. Whatever killed him wasn't the cold.
• •A frost giant jarl keeps one as a curiosity and offers it as a prize to whoever wins a contest at his hall.
• •A village sends its only Ring of Warmth with a runner through the winter to fetch help. The runner never arrives, and the party is asked to find the ring and finish the run.

When a campaign is a long trek through the ice, tracking who is carrying what matters. Loreify records your sessions and keeps the loot in the notes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a Ring of Warmth give resistance to cold damage?

In the 2014 rules, yes. In the 2024 rules, no: it reduces cold damage by 2d8 each time you take it.

Does the Ring of Warmth require attunement?

Yes, in both editions.

Does the Ring of Warmth protect against extreme cold?

Yes. The 2024 ring keeps you and your gear unharmed at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, so you don't make extreme cold saves. The 2014 ring protects you down to −50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Does the Ring of Warmth stack with Boots of the Winterlands?

In 2024, yes: the ring's 2d8 reduction applies first, then the boots' Resistance halves what's left. In 2014 both give Resistance, which doesn't stack.

How much is a Ring of Warmth worth?

400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of an uncommon item. The 2014 SRD gives no prices.

Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.