This artifact of the Hyborian world contains vast powers. It's minor powers grant the wearer an SR 20, as well as granting the wearer Ghost Touch powers (the ability to hit incorporeal objects). It's main power, however, is of use to wizards. This ring allows a character to cast his consciousness outside the boundaries of normal time-space where unspeakable things from the endless black gulfs of space whisper terrifying secrets to the wizard who dares communicate with them. Each spell, formula, or enchantment represents a hidden truth in the structure of the universe, a secret man was not meant to know, plunging the wizard into abysses of chaos and entropy that blast weaker men.
To enter into the coma that sends the consciousness Outside, the wizard must make a successful Concentration check at DC 20.
The Ring of Rakhamon, though incredibly powerful, is not without dangers. The mortal mind suffers incredible stress from contact with these entities and powers, often leading to madness. The formulas, once held in memory, strain to escape, almost like living things; once uttered, they are immediately forgotten. Also, these alien Entities from Outside Time and Space may take undue notice of the wizard who enters their realm. The wizard's body does not travel into this space-time. It remains as if in a coma on the Prime Material.
Any spell is available to the Ring of Rakhamon, be it Divine or Arcane, Bard, Paladin, Ranger, Druid, or Domain. If the spell is usable by multiple classes and has several different spell levels depending on class, use the lowest spell level when determining difficulty. The wizard must make a spellcraft check to be able to grasp the terrible things he hears in the black gulfs of time-space wherein he traveled. The DC for this check is 25+spell level. If the wizard has a catastrophic failure (ie. He rolls a natural 1 on the check), then he has attracted the attention of one of these ultra-cosmic superpowers. His consciousness is either lost forever out in the void, or some thing follows him back (use Summon IX or perhaps a Shoggoth or something similar).
If the wizard fails the intelligence check, but a catastrophe does not occur, then he merely loses his mind. He must now make a Will save against the same DC the spellcraft check was made at. If this succeeds, then he merely loses all memorized spells. If this fails, he is struck insane. (see the insanity chart on the Alienism page to determine type of insanity.)
If the intelligence check is successful, the wizard has a new spell to cast. If the wizard has some tome or scroll that identifies the spell he is trying to learn (such as the Book of Skelos or the Codex of Infinite Planes), and reads of this before entering the trance that sends his consciousness outward, he gains a +1 on his DC checks.
When worn by a mortal, the ring grants the powers of spell resistance and the ability to harm incorporeal creatures, any use of these powers temporarily weakens the wearer of the ring via a temporary con drain, -1 per use/day.
By the time of "Conan the Avenger", Pelius owned the ring, having wrested it from a powerful sorceror in Luxor. The ring originally belonged to Rakhamon, a dread sorceror a century and a half dead. Many adepts had sought for Rakhamon's secret books, written on the dried skins of maidens flayed alive, but none have yet found them. Rakhamon forged the ring from the metal of a fallen star, investing the ring with unimaginable powers by secret and nameless rituals, in which blood was spilled in profusion and screaming souls were condemned to the deepest and darkest hells. Pelius gave the ring to Conan. It is unknown if he returned the ring to Pelius or not.
