Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Magic item traders, cursed items, and hapless buyers or shoplifters
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 9035139" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Play some Nethack and then get back to me on how powerful Identify is even after you've Altar tested an item to check for 'black flash' and curses.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Cursed items are actually extremely powerful. Think about the poisoned apple in Snow White. Depending on the item, a cursed item may be a powerful way to debuff or kill an enemy with low risk. It's like asking, "Why would someone create a trap?"</p><p></p><p>But beyond that, probably a lot of cursed items aren't created on purpose. They are created as the result of magic spells and rituals going wrong. They are created as the result of powerful beings being wrathful or spiteful toward mortals for whatever reason. They are created as the result of particularly terrible deeds.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>No GM should ever be playing "gotcha". Ever PC should understand how the world they live in works. But there is no way to cover everything in session zero. You have to come up with ways to build understanding in the players either by passing them lore as needed or else by easing them into the problem - the first cursed item a new group finds should be a relatively minor problem.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>How society deal with magical scoundrels and high-level characters generally is a complex question with campaign specific answers.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>One of the most common magical devices in my setting are scales that shopkeepers use which chime whenever something magical is placed on the scale. These use only very low-level magic (0th level spells) and as such are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and are kept and cared for by shopkeepers for generations. There are also feats in my campaign that make items that only require 0th level spells cheaper to make and a variety of spells that effectively create simple defenses without needing high level support (like Permanency). </p><p></p><p>Expensive magic items are generally not available for sell in my campaign world, and even something like a <em>sword +1</em> is never just lying on some shopkeeper's shelf. The few artisans that could make a <em>sword +1</em> or <em>shield +1</em> only do so on commission with payment in advance and deliver the weapon shortly after completing it. So to a large extent the entire situation you describe doesn't exist in my world. There just isn't magic lying around waiting to be stolen. </p><p></p><p>And the few organizations that do deal in magic items have entire divine cults and nations as primary customers, and consequently are not only extremely powerful themselves but have extremely powerful patrons that will be upset if their trusted supplier has problems.</p><p></p><p>But let's say there is a jeweler, or a goldsmith, or an alchemist with a half-dozen potions for sale, each of which is worth a year's wages for a common laborer. He can protect them with trained dogs or other beasts, curtains of beads or bells over doors that thwart invisible intruders, paid guards or watchmen, multiple layers of locks, and simple physical barriers such as second floor rooms reached only by trapdoors where the guard pulls the ladder up behind him and bolts the trapdoor. He can have gongs, horns to blow, or bells that can be rung to alert neighbors who will collectively turn out to defend their town against thieves. In a world where low level super-villains can commit robbery, you don't have the same security as in a world with no super-villains. That's usually the biggest problem.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 9035139, member: 4937"] Play some Nethack and then get back to me on how powerful Identify is even after you've Altar tested an item to check for 'black flash' and curses. Cursed items are actually extremely powerful. Think about the poisoned apple in Snow White. Depending on the item, a cursed item may be a powerful way to debuff or kill an enemy with low risk. It's like asking, "Why would someone create a trap?" But beyond that, probably a lot of cursed items aren't created on purpose. They are created as the result of magic spells and rituals going wrong. They are created as the result of powerful beings being wrathful or spiteful toward mortals for whatever reason. They are created as the result of particularly terrible deeds. No GM should ever be playing "gotcha". Ever PC should understand how the world they live in works. But there is no way to cover everything in session zero. You have to come up with ways to build understanding in the players either by passing them lore as needed or else by easing them into the problem - the first cursed item a new group finds should be a relatively minor problem. How society deal with magical scoundrels and high-level characters generally is a complex question with campaign specific answers. One of the most common magical devices in my setting are scales that shopkeepers use which chime whenever something magical is placed on the scale. These use only very low-level magic (0th level spells) and as such are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and are kept and cared for by shopkeepers for generations. There are also feats in my campaign that make items that only require 0th level spells cheaper to make and a variety of spells that effectively create simple defenses without needing high level support (like Permanency). Expensive magic items are generally not available for sell in my campaign world, and even something like a [I]sword +1[/I] is never just lying on some shopkeeper's shelf. The few artisans that could make a [I]sword +1[/I] or [I]shield +1[/I] only do so on commission with payment in advance and deliver the weapon shortly after completing it. So to a large extent the entire situation you describe doesn't exist in my world. There just isn't magic lying around waiting to be stolen. And the few organizations that do deal in magic items have entire divine cults and nations as primary customers, and consequently are not only extremely powerful themselves but have extremely powerful patrons that will be upset if their trusted supplier has problems. But let's say there is a jeweler, or a goldsmith, or an alchemist with a half-dozen potions for sale, each of which is worth a year's wages for a common laborer. He can protect them with trained dogs or other beasts, curtains of beads or bells over doors that thwart invisible intruders, paid guards or watchmen, multiple layers of locks, and simple physical barriers such as second floor rooms reached only by trapdoors where the guard pulls the ladder up behind him and bolts the trapdoor. He can have gongs, horns to blow, or bells that can be rung to alert neighbors who will collectively turn out to defend their town against thieves. In a world where low level super-villains can commit robbery, you don't have the same security as in a world with no super-villains. That's usually the biggest problem. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Magic item traders, cursed items, and hapless buyers or shoplifters
Top