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So far, 4e has one cursed item; its the bonegrim armor from the AV.
I never really liked cursed items, not because of the curse per se (though screwing players isn't something I like too much either), but because they are usually really, really boring. I like cursed items that provide both benefits and drawbacks; makes much it much more interesting IMO.
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I use both cursed items as well as items with drawbacks/annoyances that aren't as strong as a curse, per se, in my games. It helps to keep the players on their toes, and drives a little flavor into the magic---it's not always predictable, not always the same everytime you cast a fireball or whatever.
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I posted about this in a recent thread about Grazzt. I'm currently using a cursed item with my current players. One of the PC's found a Ring of Ressurection (it was an AD&D adventure I converted for 3E). It's an extremely powerful item for their level (2nd going on 3rd). However, the first time a PC died while wearing it they woke up in Grazzts throne room. This first time he simply winked and then waved her back. The character was immediately ressurected but now the ring won't come off. The character is beginning to realize that Grazzt has an unbreakable hold on them and has plans for the character. So, a really cool item with a very heavy price.
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[edit: While my original question wasn't edition specific it just occurred to me, does 4e even have cursed items?]
Two are listed in the DMG. If I were to use cursed items, that's probably the model I'd follow.
__________________ All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
We’ll all come inside and eat your brains
Most times they were just put there with treasure. Give some extra treasure as a bonus, and something might be cursed.
Deck of many things comes to mind. One card was pulled from it and then it was discarded with no ill effects.
Most times they act as a way to get the players to realize that it is not all fun in games towing with the powers of magic, and that sometimes they can backfire on you.
I've used them, although I prefer the sort that has both drawbacks and kewl powerz. But its been quite a while since I've cared for straight cursed items. "There's no way you can tell that the item is cursed until you put it on/use it, then you can't get rid of it. Neener neener." It doesn't matter how good, clever or paranoid the characters are, every time they pick up/claim a magic item its a crap shoot. I don't like that as a player and won't do it when I'm a GM.
__________________ Scrag 'em all and let the gods sort 'em out!
The only cursed items I’ve ever given out as a game master were more annoying to use than actually being considered cursed, as there effects were really just kind of silly and easily removed. I’ve only given them out once, in a temple that the PCs knew was a trap from the beginning.
Otherwise no, I don’t like to receive them as a player, so I don’t generally give them out as a GM.
I did use cursed items until one player told me that curse's effect did not work with his character build. I still play with him when I want to play Heroscape though.
__________________ "Your imagination, limited only by your chosen powers"
I never really liked cursed items, not because of the curse per se (though screwing players isn't something I like too much either), but because they are usually really, really boring. I like cursed items that provide both benefits and drawbacks; makes much it much more interesting IMO.
I completely agree. I love the idea, and a lot of DM's seem to like them, but I find that the execution is often just a whole lot of frustration. I try to emulate the effect by making the drawback of the item completely plot-oriented, or any other way I can avoid drawbacks that are just senseless penalties. A dagger is more likely to be foreboding or threatening to wield to a player if it makes their skin tough and dark, or makes NPCs afraid or paranoid around him than if it occasionally deals them damage at the worst possible time or confers other similar penalties. At least that's what I've found. It's probably just a stylistic thing.
I like the statistical occurence of cursed magic items in OD&D Supplement I: Greyhawk:
Wand/Staff/Rod - 0% chance of cursed
Misc. weapon - 3% chance of cursed
Potion - 7% chance of cursed
Scroll - 10% chance of cursed
Armor - 12% chance of cursed
Sword - 16% chance of cursed*
Misc. magic - 35% chance of cursed*
Ring - 48% chance of cursed
Overall - 13% chance of cursed
*plus aligned items that aren't cursed per se but may still have negative effects on characters of other alignments
With these percentages, you'd better bet players will think long and hard before trying on every random "magic ring" they happen across...
__________________ "AD&D is designed to be an amusing and diverting pastime, something which can fill a few hours or consume endless days, as the participants desire, but in no case something to be taken too seriously." - Gary Gygax (DMG, 1979)
"There are people who regard the RPG as something more than an amusing game, more than a most entertaining hobby. They really do need to get a life" - Gary Gygax (EN World, 2004)
Wow, who knew that nearly 50% of all magic rings were cursed.
It was only in OD&D. In AD&D the likelihood of cursed rings dropped to 20% and in the D&D Expert Set it dropped to 16%. OD&D was more of a high risk-high reward game than later versions -- note that they also decreased the likelihood of finding a ring of wishes from 5% in OD&D to 4% (B/X) and 3% (AD&D), and lowered the maximum number of wishes per ring from 24(!) in OD&D to 8 in AD&D and 4 in B/X.
__________________ "AD&D is designed to be an amusing and diverting pastime, something which can fill a few hours or consume endless days, as the participants desire, but in no case something to be taken too seriously." - Gary Gygax (DMG, 1979)
"There are people who regard the RPG as something more than an amusing game, more than a most entertaining hobby. They really do need to get a life" - Gary Gygax (EN World, 2004)
I had a DM that seemed to subscribe to the 50% of ALL magical items should try and kill the player....and he disliked the indentify spell, he felt part of the fun was finding out how items worked by using them.
Basically we'd find 2-6 magic items and stare at them, not willing to touch them because we knew that while the non-cursed ones would be really good....it just wasn't worth it. They weren't fun curses that you could live with if you had to either, there were more "the jeweled belt slips off you waist and starts strangling you". Basically cursed item = death narrowly averted by DM saying 'okay fine, you get it off his neck just in time'.
After that, I really have no desire for cursed items in games, certainly RANDOM cursed items. If its plot based or sort of a trap, fine, but finding treasure in general shouldn't make the PC's cringe at their impeding doom.
The later. But describing those as cursed items fits about as well as anything.
__________________ All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
We’ll all come inside and eat your brains
A Bag of Devouring can quickly become a secret weapon in a PC's arsenal. One rogue so armed can easily sneak up on an unsuspecting humanoidish enemy, slip the bag over the victim's head, and voila. No more bad guy head.
Wow, who knew that nearly 50% of all magic rings were cursed.
Tolkien.
Myself, I really like using cursed items as a DM. Not so much the instant-kill cheese, but the annoying as hell stuff. Swords of berserking, backbiter spears, bags of devouring and stuff like that. And of course, my absolute favorite, the girdle of masculinity/femininity. I had this treasure horde once guarded by an ethereal filcher that was loaded down with cursed items. The players thought they hit paydirt at first, and then put on the girdle, got a few stats zapped from cursed scrolls (I use cursed scroll the old school way, just glance at them and you're cursed), and then some of the players assumed the whole lot was cursed.
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