-
NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Cursed items
- Thread starter Crothian
- Start date
FreeTheSlaves
Adventurer
I only use cursed items that are built with a specific purpose - which probably doesn't count as "cursed" in the traditional sense.
One good example was the +5 bracers of defencelessness that a lich gave a subordinate that would transform to -5 if he ever fought a CR which was higher than himself (i.e. the lich). Given that the subordinate was given assignments, the penalty would never kick in without real bad luck, even so he had a scroll of teleport for this purpose.
So long as I foreshadow & provide reason to suspect malice, I have no issues putting them in. My rule of thumb is that it should only hinder sloppy PCs.
One good example was the +5 bracers of defencelessness that a lich gave a subordinate that would transform to -5 if he ever fought a CR which was higher than himself (i.e. the lich). Given that the subordinate was given assignments, the penalty would never kick in without real bad luck, even so he had a scroll of teleport for this purpose.
So long as I foreshadow & provide reason to suspect malice, I have no issues putting them in. My rule of thumb is that it should only hinder sloppy PCs.
frankthedm
First Post
Richards said:
Great article! Real shame Wotc nixed the filling the +1 Dagger of Venom with holy water in 3.N.
Many players consider the melee weapon property Vicious [+2d6 damage, you suffer 1d6] a curse. Me, i want in on my armor spikes and my boot-dagger [ if i am weilding either one, I NEED the damage output]
Last edited:
I love the idea of cursed items, even as a player. In a game I'm playing right now the DM loves to throw cursed items our way. He has made it easier to figure out how to use any given magical item (no need for costly identify spells), but there will always be the danger of the item being cursed.
My character is currently in possession of a cursed Ring of Force. When activated a wall of force will spring into existance in front of the character. after 1 round the wall will completely encircle the character, like a cylinder with a 10' diameter. This then last 5 more rounds before the wall dissipates. It's a pain since during those 5 rounds the character cannot touch anything outside of the cylinder.
Despite the curse it has proven to be one of the most useful items in the game since we have sucesfully used it to avoid being hit during an ambush by ratmen in a narrow tunnel, and to retrieve a treasure chest from a room filled with earth elementals.
A previous dwarven character had a cursed potion of CLW that made his hair grow continuously. An annoyance more than anything. Right now a shop keeper sold us some really cheap potions, ones I'm hesitant to use since I'm pretty sure they're cursed somehow.
My character is currently in possession of a cursed Ring of Force. When activated a wall of force will spring into existance in front of the character. after 1 round the wall will completely encircle the character, like a cylinder with a 10' diameter. This then last 5 more rounds before the wall dissipates. It's a pain since during those 5 rounds the character cannot touch anything outside of the cylinder.
Despite the curse it has proven to be one of the most useful items in the game since we have sucesfully used it to avoid being hit during an ambush by ratmen in a narrow tunnel, and to retrieve a treasure chest from a room filled with earth elementals.
A previous dwarven character had a cursed potion of CLW that made his hair grow continuously. An annoyance more than anything. Right now a shop keeper sold us some really cheap potions, ones I'm hesitant to use since I'm pretty sure they're cursed somehow.
Henry
Autoexreginated
I used to make cursed items that had a good and bad component, or which worked as one for a while before switching to its true purpose. For instance, a Girdle of Giant Strength that also functioned as a Girdle of Gender Changing.
Other cursed items weren't cursed in the traditional sense, but were seductive to use.
Other cursed items weren't cursed in the traditional sense, but were seductive to use.
- +3 Teddy Bear of Protection (old Dragon Magazine; you had to carry it under your arm like a 3-year-old to get use out of it)
- +1 sword that siphoned off your hit points if you missed with it, and used the life force to complete the hit! (Also from an old Dragon Mag, The Cursed Everstriking Sword). Nowadays, given the prevalence of healing magics, I would revamp it to use it, possibly changing it to CON damage like 1 CON damage for every 2 points you missed by, or maybe make it cost more hit points.
- An amulet that breifly gave you DR 10/- when activated, but it destroyed the nearest permanent magic item in range when used.
Evilhalfling
Adventurer
I had the Wand of Cats Grace that every time you used it, there was a 20% of it yelling we are all gona die or not in the face, not in the face! - the players so wanted to break that wand, but while it was bad for ambushes or stealth, +2 ac/ref saves/missle weapons for the whole party was to good to pass up.
still one of my fav's
still one of my fav's
ThirdWizard
First Post
I think the worst cursed item I ever gave out was a powerful pair of swords, both made of obsidian. They had tons of bonuses, but a very big drawback. First, they only functioned when both were held. When you hit with one of them, it would do equal damage to you as your hit, however, the other sword would "prevent" the damage. It didn't really prevent it, though, because if you dropped one or both swords, the damage would catch up to you and be dealt all at once. The wielder had to wait a certain amount of time for the effect to wear off so that they could be safely put away.
Disarming and stunning were very very deadly with those weapons. And, don't even bother trying to use a potion or pull out a torch or anything like that. But, it had way too much bookkeeping, we found. Ah well, noone used it more than once anyway. I didn't get the famous last words out of them, since they were deathly afraid of them.
Disarming and stunning were very very deadly with those weapons. And, don't even bother trying to use a potion or pull out a torch or anything like that. But, it had way too much bookkeeping, we found. Ah well, noone used it more than once anyway. I didn't get the famous last words out of them, since they were deathly afraid of them.
palleomortis
First Post
Well, If I don't use a cursed item, it is becuase I know that My players are whiners, And if i do, it's for the same reason. I like them as a player and a DM. Sure, it sucks to run into them, but the world isn't just roses, there are thorns too.
Muerte
First Post
Curse me, i'm used to it.
I had a character that had a "cursed" piece of chalk. Whatever he wrote, came true. But after each thing, he was cursed at random, getting up to 5 curses at the same time. SKin falling off, becoming an antimagic creature and draining the magic of all other items on him.
When he got greedy and wrote DIE on a tree, that was inhabitted with imp creatures and the whole forest died into a vast wasteland...
Curses are fun, it adds excitement. Some people just can't handle thier characters suffering or dying or losing valuables.
Thirdwizard, i'll use that sword.
I had a character that had a "cursed" piece of chalk. Whatever he wrote, came true. But after each thing, he was cursed at random, getting up to 5 curses at the same time. SKin falling off, becoming an antimagic creature and draining the magic of all other items on him.
When he got greedy and wrote DIE on a tree, that was inhabitted with imp creatures and the whole forest died into a vast wasteland...
Curses are fun, it adds excitement. Some people just can't handle thier characters suffering or dying or losing valuables.
Thirdwizard, i'll use that sword.
Similar Threads
