Ring of nothing
A ring of nothing is a type of ring that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. It is a non-magical ring that has a default material of iron, and when unidentified it appears as a boring ring.
The Shard from Morgoth's Crown is an artifact that can be invoked to transform it into a ring of nothing and back, with no cooldown or any effect on abilities that are not tied to the artifact's current base item.
Contents
Generation
The ring of nothing is not randomly generated, though it can be wished for or found in bones.
The artifacts Fire Brand and Frost Brand can only be wished for in the form of a ring of nothing by an elven hero, and only elven heroes can reshape the Brands into a ring of nothing by dipping the chosen artifact into a forge or fountain respectively—unlike most instances, this reshaping does not require that the hero have an identified ring or be trained in any particular skill.
Priminal Aasimar Madpeople will have a wooden ring of nothing generated among the belongings in their quest box on the Madperson quest goal level during level creation if the randomized appearance of a "wooden ring" is given to the ring of polymorph: the ring will have an enchantment of +2 (which will not be visible normally) along with the healing, life-saving and shocking object properties.
Description
As indicated by its name, a hero that puts on a ring of nothing will experience no effect from it other than any object properties it has, though wearing the ring still incurs ring hunger—eating the ring similarly has no effect.
History
The ring of nothing first appears in dNetHack 3.22.0.
Origin
The ability of an elven hero to forge Fire Brand and Frost Brand into rings of nothing is derived from the lesser magic rings of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth setting. In The Fellowship of the Rings, Gandalf describes elven-made magical rings as existing in various forms long ago in Eregion, describing the "lesser rings" as "essays in the craft" that were small exercises in comparison to more potent undertakings such as the Rings of Power—even so, Gandalf was more than certain that the lesser rings were still dangerous to leave in mortal hands.
