Ring of Jumping Gear Guide 5e: Backflip Over a Goblin!

Last Updated on January 22, 2023

Welcome to our magic item gear guide to the Ring of Jumping from the Player’s Handbook. In this guide, we’ll outline how this magic item works (including the Jump spell as well as rules for jumping vertically and horizontally) and which character classes can make the best use of this item. 

What Is a Ring of Jumping?

The Ring of Jumping is an uncommon magic ring that allows its wearer (once attuned) to cast the Jump spell on themself at will. Jump is a 1st-level transmutation spell that triples the jump distance (both horizontally and vertically) of the spell’s target for the next minute or the spell ends. 

Unlike a lot of items that require their user to expend charges that are regained after a while or can only be used once or twice per rest, the Ring of Jumping is one of the few magic items that allows at-will spellcasting. 

This effectively means that there’s no reason a character with the ring should ever be expected not to have their jump distance tripled, unless they’re inside an antimagic field or a minute passes and they forget to recast it before taking a running leap at a yawning chasm. 

Is the Ring of Jumping Good in 5e? 

While any magic item that allows you to cast a leveled spell like a cantrip is nice (especially if spellcasting isn’t your forte or spell slots are thin on the ground), your mileage (or footage, I guess) with the Ring of Jumping may vary. This is because of how the Jump spell works. 

Of course, when you cast a spell from a magic item, you remove the need for verbal, somatic, or material components, and when you cast Jump from a Ring of Jumping, you can only target yourself.

Otherwise, this is one of the simplest spells/magic items in D&D.  Well, it is until you start trying to calculate how far the Ring of Jumping actually lets you jump. 

So, while a Ring of Jumping might conceivably give a scrawny sorcerer or wizard (with, say Strength 8) a horizontal jump distance of 24 feet, it’s still only going to raise their basic distance for a high jump (2 feet) to 6 feet, which is still less than an unassisted character with an 18 in Strength. 

Jump amplifies existing ability rather than leveling the playing field. Put a Ring of Jumping on a character with an 18 or even 20 in Strength, and you start to get some wild figures. How about a vertical jump distance of 24 feet? Or a horizontal leap of 60 feet? 

Of course, we then run into the issue of whether or not you can use the Jump spell to move further than your character’s movement in a single round. The Ring of Jumping doesn’t actually let you move; you just spend more of your movement speed jumping rather than walking, running, or moving in some other way.  

Interpreting the rules as written, the answer would seem to be “no,” as jumping (like walking or flying or climbing) costs movement, and you can’t move more than your movement in a single round without taking the Dash action. The same would apply to jumping. You’re moving farther, not faster. 

However, there’s an argument to be made that, just because it takes more than a turn to jump more than your speed, it doesn’t mean you can’t do it. If your character has, a speed of 30 feet, and attempts a 40-foot jump (with the 10-foot run up), they run 10 feet, jump 20 feet, and end the turn in the air. Then, on the next turn, they use 20 feet of their movement to complete their jump and can continue their turn.  

I could see the GM calling for an Athletics or Acrobatics check to avoid getting hurt or crashing into anything, but this is how I’d rule it. After all, a character who is in free fall at the end of their turn doesn’t grind to a halt in mid-air while everyone else has a go and then resume falling next round. Combat turns are an abstraction for a reason; real life isn’t inherently turn-based. 

Also, outside of combat rounds, the tripling of jump distances becomes much more straightforward and lets the Ring of Jumping really start to shine as a mobility aid. 

Even with these complexities and limitations, I would argue that the Ring of Jumping is a unique, useful, and above all fun utility item that can grant a lot of mobility and flavor to the way a character navigates the world. 

Who Should Use a Ring of Jumping?

First of all, any party that wants to get the most out of a Ring of Jumping will want to consider giving it to their strongest character. This magic item is pretty much wasted on a Strength 7 wizard when there’s a barbarian in the party who can use this item to dash and spend the next three rounds of combat airborne.  

Characters who value mobility — whether that means getting over or around obstacles, closing the distance with enemies, or just finding a good spot to shoot at people from — are all going to be able to use this item. Here’s our ranking of the best (and worst) classes when it comes to making the most of a Ring of Jumping. 

That’s everything you need to know about the Ring of Jumping, folks. So get out there and somersault over some goblins! And, until next time, happy adventuring.