You think you had a hard master? I studied under Hardock. Yes. That Hardock. I’m sure you’ve heard the tales. How he single-handedly defeated the Lich King of Torell. You might even know some of the spells he made like Hardock’s Hammer. He was perhaps one of the greatest and most powerful wizards of all time. He was also a harsh and sadistic task-master. Eager young wizards flocked to Hardock all hoping to study under the great and powerful master. I was no different. Just a bigger fool among other fools. Don’t get me wrong. I learned magic from Hardock. If he took you on you had no choice but to learn. I know spells that can turn you inside out or bring this whole inn on top of us. I was one of the few who survived Hardock’s training with my mind intact even if I am blind in my left eye.

How bad was it? Let me tell you how Hardock chose his students. Let’s say you are a young hedge mage. You have a thirst for magic and adventure. You hear that the legendary Hardock is in town. You go to him and humbly ask to be his pupil. Hardock says he’ll take you if you pass his test. You stupidly agree and Hardock gives you a ring. Just a simple silver ring and he tells you to put it on. Once you do, he would ask, “How many days?”

The question wouldn’t make sense at first but you soon learned to hate that question. You see once you put the ring on, you were stuck repeating the same day over and over and over and over again. You’d go to bed that night and you’d wake up putting the ring on with Hardock asking, “How many days?” and that ugly smug grin on his cursed face.

There was no escape from the ring. You couldn’t dispel it. You couldn’t take it off your finger. Not even if you chopped off your finger. Believe me. I tried. If you died or killed yourself, you’d open your eyes and Hardock would be there. “How many days?”

After a while you’d lose count. You just keep living the same day again and again. It might seem fun at first. No punishments, right? You could kill, maim, steal, and then poof things would reset and there wouldn’t be any consequences. But trust me, the novelty disappears really quick and over time your mind starts to unravel. Hardock’s test is to figure out how to break the ring’s spell and hand it back to him. Once you do that, Hardock will take you on as apprentice. The only other way out of the curse is to beg Hardock to release you. He’ll do it but only once you’re completely broken and you give him everything you own. Hardock only took the strongest for his students.

So how do you break the spell? Hardock wouldn’t tell you. It me a month to figure it out. The secret is that you have to confront your greatest fear and overcome it. How cruel is that? That could take months or even years. For some, it’s impossible. Imagine you’re afraid of disappointing your father but your father’s dead. What do you do? Or maybe you’re afraid of dragons and the closest one is over a day’s journey away. Or what if you’re afraid of something abstract like commitment. You try to woo and marry someone in just one day. You are also a new mage. You don’t get stronger in magic. Every spell you learn or every muscle you make is lost by the next day.

That one day for everyone else could be a thousand years for you. No. I won’t tell you what I did to break the spell. It’s… it’s not something I like to remember. But it took me eight months before I could hand that horrible ring back to Hardock. That should have been my first clue to run. I’m still not sure why I stayed with him. Maybe it was my stubborn ego or the promise of prestige and my silly dreams of glory. I was one of the few who made it but I should have walked away right then and there. Maybe I’d still have my eye and my pride.

• The Story of Hardock’s Ring as told by Alek Swiftmantle, Master Wizard and former pupil of Hardock,

Hardock’s Ring

Description: Hardock’s Ring is a simple silver band. Close examination reveals very tiny arcane runes etched on the inside of the ring itself. Apart from placing the ring on one’s finger or using an Identify spell there is no way to determine the ring’s powers or effects.

History: Hardock designed these rings to test prospective pupils. He used them to weed out any weak candidates. Hardock believed strongly that fear was the greatest barrier to success and so the rings force the wearer to confront their greatest fear. They are characteristic of Hardock’s spells and magic, which often force change whether it is good or bad. It is unclear how many of these rings he created or how to duplicate them as Hardock never passed on the technique to any of his students. Almost of all of his students view the rings with utmost contempt and disgust. A few rings are housed in private collections and there’s no telling how many individuals are currently cursed wearing one.

Temporal Curse: A victim who puts on the ring immediately suffers from a temporal curse. After one full day, the victim will instantly find themselves in the same location and moment from when he or she put on the ring. Anything the victim did during that time is lost including the development of skills and/or levels. While the victim retains their memories, they lose the benefit any knowledge learned as any applied learning, like skill training, fades from the mind. If the victim dies or tries to remove the ring by cutting off a limb, the victim immediately returns to the place and moment when he or she put on the ring. The ring cannot be removed by conventional means until the temporal curse ends. The ring can be removed with a Greater Restoration spell but doing so results in a permanent -2 penalty to Wisdom. The ring can also be removed with a Wish spell without any penalty. Otherwise, the victim must confront his or her greatest fear and overcome it.

This can be played out narratively or through a skill challenge. If the player chooses the skill challenge option, he or she must make five Wisdom saving throws DC 18 and succeed at three to successfully take the ring off. Failing three or more saving throws will result in the victim gaining a new character flaw from the Indefinite Madness table (see Dungeon Master’s Guide). Failing all five saving throws results in a new character flaw and a permanent -1 penalty to Wisdom. The victim can keep trying the skill challenge until their Wisdom is reduced to 5 at which point the victim becomes permanently insane and unplayable. If a player would like to overcome the curse narratively, here are a few options to choose from:

Acrophobia – Fear of heights. The victim must find and walk across a 100 foot long bridge that stands over 1000 feet above ground by themselves with no assistance whether magical or mundane to prevent falling or falling damage. This may require a Wisdom saving throw DC 18 at disadvantage.

Arachnophobia – Fear of spiders. The victim must battle a spider or spider-like creature with a CR that is at least 1/4th the level of the victim with no assistance or survive 10 rounds while covered in a swarm of spiders.

Cynophobia – Fear of dogs. The victim must battle a dog or dog-like creature with a CR that is at least 1/4 the level of the victim alone with no assistance or purposefully infect themselves with lycanthropy.

Astraphobia – Fear of thunder and lightning. The victim must spend one hour sitting alone in a field during a thunderstorm or survive lightning damage equal to 6 x the victim’s level.

Claustrophobia – Fear of enclosed spaces. The victim must spend 24 hours buried in an enclosed space that does not allow any movement or spend a week in an underground cavern too deep to see the sun or sky. This may require a Wisdom saving throw DC 18 at disadvantage..

Glossophobia – Fear of public speaking. The victim must give a ten minute speech to an audience of at least 50 people. This may require a Performance check with disadvantage.

Entomophobia – Fear of creepy crawly insects. The victim must battle an insect or insect-like creature with a CR that is at least 1/4th the level of the victim without assistance or survive 10 rounds in an insect swarm.

If the victim successfully overcomes their greatest fear either through a skill challenge or narrative means, the ring slides off naturally and the victim gains a permanent +2 bonus to Wisdom. Hardock’s Ring can only be worn once even if it is magically removed.

Destroying the Ring: Hardock’s Ring can’t be destroyed while being worn by a victim of the temporal curse. Any attempt to destroy the ring will result in the victim reappearing in the time and place where they put the ring on. Otherwise, the ring can be destroyed by tossing it into an active volcano or through dragon breath from an adult dragon.