Magic item: the Ring of Pandemonium

This is a magic item that I recently introduced to our lockdown D&D campaign. As with all the magic items I like to use, its rewards come with risks.

The Ring of Pandemonium is an iron ring that allows the wearer to summon demons to fight on his or her behalf. Knowledge of how to do this comes the moment the ring is put on - and so too does an awareness that summoning demons takes a serious toll.

One demon may be summoned per round by kissing the ring. Each is a 3HD creature with two attacks and immunity to non-magical weapons. It will vanish when combat ends, although it will happily engage several foes in succession. Alternatively, a demon may be summoned to perform a single task (retrieve a captive, fetch an item, etc.). The demon will attempt to do this fearlessly, but may be thwarted in the process.

Every time a demon is summoned, the summoner's player rolls 1d6 and deducts a point - permanently - from the appropriate attribute (STR, INT, WIS, DEX, CON, or CHA). Modifiers are adjusted appropriately. If a stat falls below three, the character is lost beyond all hope of resurrection.

That gives a Moorcockian feel to the ring's use. Like Corum with the creatures retrieved from death by his hand and eye, PCs will be able to slaughter legions of lesser foes with their ordinarily invulnerable summonings. But only at great personal detriment. And the bald explanation in game mechanics causes palpable fear.

So far, this has worked precisely as I hoped. After facing a spectral foe who used the ring to summon demons to fight them, the party were delighted to get hold of it. One negative INT modifier later, they were a whole lot less keen. So now they carry a great power with them that they are terrified to use. That's exactly how I think magic should work.