Ring of Battered Courage

This jagged black ring made of volcanic rock is streaked with orange veins and uncomfortable to wear. While wearing this ring, you are immune to the _frightened_ condition. Additionally, while you are _bloodied_ , it grows hotter and grants the following benefits:

* Your AC increases by 1 for each hostile creature (squads and swarms count as single creatures for this purpose) within 5 feet of you, to a maximum of +5.

* When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, roll 1d8\. Add the result to the attack’s damage and gain the same amount of temporary hit points.

_**Curse**_. You fail death _saving throws_ on a roll of 12 or lower. Additionally, this ring despises what it sees as cowardice. If you don armor or use a shield defensively, you lose all benefits of this ring for 1 week.

_**Escalation.**_ When you show extraordinary courage in the face of certain death and emerge victorious, this ring’s power can evolve, gaining one of the following features. For each power it gains, the threshold for successful death saving throws increases by 2.

_Charge Into Danger._ As a bonus action while _bloodied_ , you can move up to your movement speed toward a hostile creature.

_Coward’s Bane._ Creatures never gain _advantage_ from being unseen on attack rolls against you and you always have ` Freelinking: Node title _damage recovery_ does not exist ` to poison damage.