D&D 5E Need fun cursed sword ideas!

Hiya!

Well, I'm guessing the player is thinking "Hell, this sword is awesome! I can live with a curse...no skin off my back, I have all these nifty paladin bonuses and whatnot..."....so....

Have a curse that affects everyone around him that are allies/friends. Something nasty that doesn't instantly mean death...oh, I'm thinking: "No friend or ally withing 150' of the wielder can get Advantage on any roll so long as the curse remains".

That will do two things: One, put a grin on your face (if you are any sort of a DM that gets a giggle out of players screwing themselves when they know full well what they are doing), and it will make everyone in the group want him to get rid of the sword in stead of just shrugging it off and using it as an excuse when the paladin does something...'detrimental' ("oh, sorry about him...his sword is cursed and he won't let anyone touch it..."). For maximum effect, surprise them with it during battle.

Experience Talking: I have had players in the past "deal with" or "put up with" a cursed object because they felt it was worth it to them (a "CG" Barbarian with a cursed sword of berzerking, for example...). The moment I started to even hint that the swords curse was starting to affect other members of the party, Job #1 became "Get rid of that damn sword!".

^_^

Paul L. Ming

If you want a blade that is a mixed blessing, and in keeping with the losing side of the war idea (and inspired by [MENTION=45197]pming[/MENTION] 's idea), you could name it Luckstealer or something similar. The wielder would periodically gain advantage on all attack rolls (perhaps every round they roll a d6 and on a 1 it triggers) until the start of their next turn, but a randomly determined creature in the vicinity would suffer disadvantage on all rolls for that same period. Potentially good, since the bad luck could target a foe, but it could also target an ally... It's the sort of thing you could see a kingdom giving their champion if they are the underdog.

Have you ever seen Journey Quest ?

The sword is outspoken, and constantly insults is wielder. It also teleports immediately back to it's owner's hands is he gets more than 5ft from it, or anyone else tries to hold it.

So, these are the four options I came up with after reading your suggestions:

The Revenant Blade
+1 to Attack and Damage
If the wielder dies while wielding this blade, they immediately return as a revenant with the sole purpose of getting revenge those that have killed them. Once the enemy dies, the wielder also dies and their body turns to dust. The soul is lost and cannot be resurrected.

The Luckstealer
+1 to Attack and Damage
Upon hitting a target in combat for the first time, the blade drains all luck from the surrounding area. All creatures within 150 feet cannot benefit from advantage on any roll except for the wielder. Whenever the wielder gains advantage on an attack roll, a random creature within range gains disadvantage on their next attack roll.

The Sword of Paranoia
+1 to Attack and Damage
The wielder becomes obsessed with the blade. After 3 days the wielder begins to fear that others want the blade. After another 3 days, the wielder believes that even their closest allies wish to kill him to have the blade. On the 9th day, the wielder gains an overwhelming urge to kill everyone that they think wants the sword.

The Blood-drinker
+1 to Attack and Damage
+ Necrotic Damage = to wielder's hit dice
When the user hits with the sword they lose a hit dice. If the user has no hit dice left, they take necrotic damage instead equal to the hit dice (this damage bypasses resistances).

Thoughts!?
The idea is that this sword was made as part of a kingdom's last stand so it either trades power for sacrificing the user or is meant to punish the victors that would come upon it.

Riffing off [MENTION=53980]Fanaelialae[/MENTION] above, the sword was made for a heroic last stand, right? A heroic last stand by a single hero, while his/her allies fled for safety? Right, then:

The Hero Stands Alone
+1 to hit and damage.
Whenever this sword deals damage (option: on any to-hit roll that hits by 5 or more?), all allies within line of sight (or whatever the term is that ignores darkness, fog etc.) must save. Each ally that fails to save must withdraw from combat and retreat and is at disadvantage (or worse?) to any and all attack rolls until this is done. Each time an ally thus affected withdraws or retreats far enough to be out of the wielder's line of sight the wielder gains 5 temporary h.p., cumulative. Allies that save must save again each time this sword deals damage. Allies who leave line of sight and then return - even just to peek from behind cover - must save again at disadvantage or immediately retreat; but the hit point gain only applies once per ally per combat.

So, the curse is that you'll almost always end up fighting alone, and the benefit is that you'll have more hit points. Works best when running with an army or large group; and you can work in some legends about Hrorth the Unslayable who defeated an entire army with this sword while his own army fled for the hills (and in so doing gave him a few thousand hit points, but the legend-writers don't know this!). In a typical small D&D party the cost - always being outnumbered - might quickly outweigh the benefits of a few extra h.p.

Lanefan

If you're looking for something serious rather than just silly, consider a curse that somehow exploits his character flaw. Like, if his flaw is "I made a terrible mistake in battle that cost many lives, and I would do anything to keep that mistake secret" then he starts to mishear comments in conversation to make him think people are starting to track him down and expose him. Like the inkeeper greeting him with "Good to see a traveler such as yourself" gets interpreted as "never good to see a traitor such as yourself." He's a paladin, so he'd find himself constantly balancing between his oath and the flaw of "doing anything to keep that mistake secret."

I personally think those are the kinds of curses that make items really stand out.

I have been working on this axe with my DM for a future campaign. Designed specifically as a life quest item for a gnome eldritch knight, so the atunement is specific to the character (and stops the Paladin from knicking it)

Snafu – the axe of last resort™

Change it from butterfly to double half moon
Class restriction – Eldritch Knight
Alignment restriction - Good
Needs atunement via the Weapon Bonding Ritual
1d8 slashing Versatile (1d10) / thrown (range 40/60)
The sentience within the axe is Neutral Good

contains the essence of a celestial bound there by a wizard.

When used against an evil creature, deals an additional 1d4 radiant damage
When used against a neutral or unaligned creature deals no additional damage
When used against a good creature, deals 1d6 Radiant damage to wielder

A chance of entering a rage for 1 minute when taking damage – take one level of exhaustion when leaving rage

Blood Rage (based on Townsaver)
Wielders eyes turn blood red, utterly focussed on the enemies ahead.
Until the rage wears off, cannot be charmed, frightened or healed. Continues to fight even if reduced to zero hitpoints until all enemies are dead, incapacitated or have fled. Rage does not end after one minute, but rather until the end of combat. Exhaustion penalty for leaving rage increases by 1 for each minute in combat. If wielder suffers true death (body destroyed or takes damage equal to max HP after being reduced to zero), soul is absorbed into the axe. There may be more than one sentience within the axe!

Blind Rage
Wielders eyes turn purest white, blazing in radiant fury
Until the rage wears off, cannot be charmed or frightened. Wielder is effectively blinded, only able to detect hostile creatures and will charge through anything/anyone else to attack them. Can only take attack or dash actions.

The “oh F*~k” Rage
Wielders eyes turn a lovely shade of pink
Until the rage wears off, cannot be frightened or Held (immune Hold Person/grapple). Wielder gains +1 to damage (both weapon and Radiant) but Wis and Int are lowered to 8. There is a 10% chance that the axe will attempt to charm the wielder for 1 minute.

Final draft of the weapon:

The Luck Devourer
+1 to Attack and Damage
Upon hitting a target in combat for the first time, the blade drains all luck from the surrounding area. All creatures within 100 feet cannot benefit from advantage on any roll except for the wielder. If the wielder gains advantage on an attack, a random creature within range gains disadvantage on their next attack. If the wielder rolls a natural 1 on an attack, they can reroll and must take the new result and a random creature within range gains disadvantage on all their attacks on their next turn. If the wielder rolls a natural 20 on an attack, all creatures within range gain disadvantage on their next attack.
The luck drain lasts for 10 minute after the last time the sword has made a successful attack.

The wielder suffers the Curse of Paranoia:
The wielder becomes increasingly more obsessed with the blade.

Some ideas

Your are always on the effect of reckless attack.
You always use your reaction when an attack of opportunity is allowed.
You always strike for lethal. Can't knock down.
If you failed an intimidate check your sword can force you to make an attack at the target if he is in range.