D&D 5E Cursed Item Help

[Kyo003]

So I have an idea for a weapon to give to one of my overpowered players. The player being overpowered because I let him dump his int/wis/cha (6) to max his str/dex/con (18/20 racial)

It's a magical weapon of (type) that has +2 to hit and gives resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, piercing, however it also forces the wielder to take the same damage that has been dealt (halved because resistance). Resistance is gained by wielding said item once, and each wielding gains one use of resistance up to a max of 3, each use expiring after a long rest or 24 hours.

The problem being the player I want to give it to is a Barb so I'm going to need something other than resistance (we can keep the half damage received though).

Also I'm unsure of whether the drawback is sufficient to curb the player, and keep the item from OP status.

Yes I know I can use spell saves and junk to circumvent, but I'm lazy sometimes and don't want to put in that work for every encounter.

 

[WolfDM32]

Make the cursed item intelligent and a will of its own. E.g. a wisdom save or the player does what the item wants that round. And once used a quest to uncurse himself must be made to remove the curse. Each round the player may run, or dance, or decide to attack in ferocious ways that puts the entire party at risk. Still give it the +2, etc, but the curse forces the player to do stupid things. Once the item is attuned the player is merged with the curse and even disposing of the item won't remove the curse. Something I remember from the old final fantasy days. The cursed sword where you had to fight 999 battles or something like that with it then it became a really powerful weapon. That'd be boring in a table top rpg, but, having it intelligent it a chaotic bardic personality could make for many entertaining encounters.... And make the player think twice about magic items.

 

[Pinwheel]

I would honestly just talk to the player and tell him you feel it was a mistake from a balance perspective to let him dump his stats and maximize others. There's a good chance that if you just talk to him he'll come around and rebuild his stats to be a bit more balanced.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

This. Using a cursed weapon to re-balance the situation will only lead to more trouble.

I would honestly just talk to the player and tell him you feel it was a mistake from a balance perspective to let him dump his stats and maximize others. There's a good chance that if you just talk to him he'll come around and rebuild his stats to be a bit more balanced.

 

[Sunseeker]

IMO, a better solution if you don't want to talk to them about it would be a strength-draining monster. It would of course be attracted to the strongest creature, but his weaker friends could get in the way. Maybe a bite attack that forces a DC 12 Will save (as it is a magical attack, thus bypassing his physical defenses) and drains 1d4 points of strength. Once you'be got him back in the realm of numbers you can tolerate, have the beast run off, or be defeated or whatever.

But honestly, a 20 str shouldn't be breaking the game, especially if he has weak mental skills. Throw him up against a beguiler-style NPC and watch him suddenly wish his brain was a big bigger.

 

[MostlyDm]

Shidaku: it sounds like the player has 18 or 20 in not just strength but also dexterity and constitution. A strength draining critter alone won't do it.

I agree that punishing him in game for your mistake is a bad idea. Just take it out of game, discuss the problem, and rebuild or replace the character. Cop to your mistake and move on.

 

[MostlyDm]

Or just throw stuff he's weak against at him until he dies. In my opinion that's the only reasonable in game solution to this kind of thing. Not a tailored "trap", just reasonable enemies that happen to hit his weak spots.

But talking would be better.

 

[BoldItalic]

The weapon is +2 to hit but is cursed. The curse takes effect the first time the owner scores a hit in combat and lasts until the curse is lifted by magical means. The curse works like this:

The weapon has its own ability scores, which you generate by rolling 3d6 for each and working out the modifiers.

For the duration of the curse, at the end of each long rest, the weapon attempts to dominate its owner by rolling a Charisma check against its owner's Wisdom score. If it succeeds, its abilities completely replace the owner's until the beginning of the next long rest. This affects saving throws, skill checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, and everything else that relies on abilities or ability modifiers.

 

[Jediking]

What happens when the player decides to get rid of the cursed item? What happens when they get remove curse cast on himself/the item as soon as he can? Talk to him about how his stats are affecting gameplay. You could even try and make an event that tries to remedy this. Maybe he challenges the leader of a different Barbarian tribe for rulership. He could win the fight, but takes a debilitating injury that permanently decreases (one of) his STR/DEX/CON, but gains the (one of) INT/WIS/CHA of his vanquished foe in some ritual. He becomes a bit more balanced and also gets some roleplaying reward.

 

[Mistwell]

Bite the bullet, have a frank discussion with the player about how you messed up, should not have let him mess with his stats like that. Explain you thought it would be fine but it's turning out to impact the game a lot, making your job a lot harder to try and balance encounters to deal with his power level without threatening death to other PCs who are not as powerful as him, etc.. Make it clear it's your mistake, not his, and you are apologetic and understand this will harm his fun.

In exchange tell him you are happy to give his character some things which are really cool and fun to play with, but which won't meaningfully alter his power level in combat like that. Things like a title, a lair of his own, some interesting magic items that help the PC gain knowledge or travel, some important contacts, that sort of thing. And let the player help decide what those sorts of things will be. I bet he has fun with it, and you can work it out. These things you give him will help your campaign too, if you work on them. You can use them as plot devices.