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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 7192444" data-attributes="member: 20564">[MENTION=12731]CapnZapp[/MENTION], I want to address this in both the specific and the general.First the specific.  Don't have it be a curse.  Have that the souls are collected but eventually dissipate/free/whatever.  but using the power actually send them to a dark god.  That usign the item is a form of worship and empowering of the dark gods.  Continued use of it turns you eveil not through magic, but because you are committing evil acts that are staining your soul.I know, that doesn't address your issues writ large, which is why I want to address your bigger question.  I will use this as my example but take these as more generalized.Many D&D curses and the like are meant to be short term - they lie in wait and then trigger.  And while triggered they are quite bad, but are ultimately transitive in nature because it wouldn't be fun for a fighter to be cursed to forevermore wield a backbiting blade, or whatever.  But it sounds like you want a slow, lingering, (and in this case cumulative) curse, but the game fixes are for short duration/hard hitting curses, and taking a slow curse to a short duration basically negates it.You could make it that a simple remove curse will just delay the effects for a day, not remove them.  Then it becomes an addiction - get he remove curse every day or turn evil.  (And of course, have it come up in play once or twice, such as if they are captured or separated from the caster.)  And even then it's a continual drain of a 3rd level spell just to hold ground.  Back in AD&D & 2ed there were many curses that the simple spells would not be sufficient to remove, or could only remove in the opening stages like lycanthropy, and once it had manifested took much stronger measures.  So there's precedent, you're not just nerfing the spell.Alternately remove curse works as specified, but the paths of evil are laid and continued use will allow the curse to happen more frequently.Or even combine them - once you know it turns you evil, make it clear that continuing to use it - even with magical precautions - is an evil act.  So there would be both the curse which could be magically countered, and the fact that once they know how bad it is, they are consciously chosing evil means to go on and that will have an effect as well.  The ends don't justify the means.But ll in all you are correct - curses in D&D are usually immediate when triggered and brutal, but not long term.  Just like long term wounds can be done in D&D but the system isn't set up natively to support it, the same for long-term curses.  but you can make it work if you want to.</blockquote>

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