Cursed Items are Back with Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium

[Saracenus]

From the August and Beyond Column:
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (August and Beyond)

Item Curses in the Game
Each item curse described here is a quality that makes a cursed item of that kind seem as though it's another magic item of the same general sort. For example, a character might don a ring of the ram that turns out to be a ring of weakness, or purchase hero's gauntlets that are actually gauntlets of fumbling.
A cursed item functions normally until its curse is triggered, and it becomes a fully functioning beneficial magic item after its curse is lifted. When its curse is triggered, a cursed item imposes penalties or effects upon its wielder that run the gamut from irritating to deadly.
A cursed item looks and functions like a normal magic item, and it is the same level as the item on which the curse has been placed. Cursed items cannot be detected by any means; a character can use a cursed item normally -- sometimes for weeks -- until its curse is triggered.
Once the curse on a cursed item has been triggered and identified, the curse can be removed. Most curses can be lifted with a successful Arcana check (see below). You might also assign alternative methods of lifting the curse (which become known to an item's wielder when the curse is studied). They could range from bathing the item in the breath of a red dragon, to completing a skill challenge in the arcane foundry where the item was crafted, to taking the item to a powerful magical nexus where its curse will be cleansed. When a party undertakes a specific activity to lift a curse from an item, you should make lifting the curse a minor or a major quest...

 

[Zaran]

I liked the Berserker's Weapon curse. I do wish it worked more like Instinctive actions and didn't have the would-be Berserker ignoring adjacent enemies to go charging after an ally wizard.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Robe of useful items... one of my favorites

 

[The Halfling]

Actually, these lines are more interesting to me:

You can add new artifact and story items, mundane adventuring gear, and hirelings and henchman to your game.


Especially the last bit.

 

[marelion]

My, o my, don`t you tell me cursed items haven`t been part of your game already?!

Seriously, cursed items are so every bit necessary for the game. I`ve seen so much rant about boring loot going on in the various forums it is a shame it took them some 3 years to revieve this idea. Don`t think it was just me with my sadistic attitude who had been missing them!

I don`t like the `There is no way of telling that an item is cursed` part, however. I can see a lot of bad blood between players and their DMs. It`s something I would stongly reconsider, if I were a wizard. Or there is going to be a lot of houserouling regarding cursed items. ATM it reads a bit like: "Are your players to greedy when it comes to magic items? Teach `em a lesson by handing out some of these (Insert Name of a cursed Item). Trust me, they don`t stand a chance".

It seems a little odd mechanicwise, too. Arcana reveals the presence and nature of magic and now there is not even a ritual that could identify a curse? Nay, I don`t buy that.

All in all, a good idea to bring the curses back. I hope they come up with some of the more funny ones as well.

 

[mneme]

marelion that was one traditional way of doing cursed items (or you could have the person casting Identify have a good chance of taking the curse...). But in a world where anyone can functionally identify during a short rest, I think the "there's no way to ID a curse [by default, anyway]" is a good default.

Also, keep in mind that curses aren't as punishing as they were in previous editions; you need an arcana check or the right ritual to remove them, and they won't activate every fight. So it's ok to make sure they'll come into play, rather than having all items found go into the "sack o' items" for identification lest they have party-killing curses burried in them.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I seem to recall that cursed items always afflicted you if you tried to identify them.

I really like the berserker weapon: hell, even once you know about the curse, it's still probably worth risking it. How often do you get critted while bloodied?

The most interesting pieces of treasure our group has found so far was from thunderspire labyrinth

Spoiler

the well of demons. The bell, mask and dagger are all great loot with significant downsides, and it sucks majorly that they're taken away from you at the end of the module.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I don't think these would trigger bad blood. From what I can see from the berserk blade, once the battle is over, the PC can throw the blade far away and never see it again. A curse for a single encounter is not that horrid. It does mean the treasure value is wasted, but it could have been far worse.

 

[LostSoul]

Cursed items should never be placed maliciously in a game or treated simply as a way to thwart the players. Such items can be a useful tool for the Dungeon Master, leading to interesting roleplaying opportunities and adventure hooks.

I hope there's more to it than that in the book; that's a pretty lame explanation of how to use cursed items and how they fit into the game's economy. "Use them for adventure and RP!" Yeah, helpful.

Curses do have an impact on encounters and adventures; it would be nice if they told you how curses will shape the game - and thus when to use them and when not to.

At the end of the hour, the character makes an Arcana check (hard DC of the item's level).

That is interesting. That's a move away from using DCs of the PC's or party's level.

 

[Scribble]

That is interesting. That's a move away from using DCs of the PC's or party's level.

For what it's worth, they said a while ago that it was always intended to be that way- it's just they assumed that the party would be facing challenges of their level (so it amounts to the same thing.)