Cursed items?

[kaomera]

A Holy Avenger so powerfully good that it caused mild discomfort in all evil creatures within a few hundred feet.

An intelligent Vorpal Sword the party re-named "Killstealer".

A pair of short-sword Nine Lives Stealers that released the drained souls (as Shadows) once full.

A Ring of Invisibility that also enraged all monsters within 60'.

A Staff of (Temporary) Curing.

Robe of Useless Items.

Figurines of Wondrous Power: Multiplying Bunnies.

And the awe-inspiring Cabbage of Naked Greed: one natural "20" save and the rogue who got the short straw in the treasure lot ended up able to take over a small city...

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Well, I don't know if this is RBDM-worthy, but....

Haven't had that much opportunity to use cursed stuff in 3+ ed., but I did use cursed items back in 2nd ed.

Actually, I used a LOT of cursed items. A treasure chest full of cursed items, as well as lead (maybe copper) coins made to look like gold.

And, to make matters worse, I placed said loot in a heavily-trapped room (to add to the illusion of the immense value of said items--why else would the room be trapped?).

Dagger of venom, girdle of masculinity/femininity, cursed backbiter spear, cursed berserking sword, vacuous grimoire, poisonous potions, etc.

May need to reintroduce this room & treasure into my newer campaign...

 

[Drawmack]

You mean like a bag of holding and a portable hole?

I played in one campaign where the character was searching for lost parents. When he found out they were dead - by finding their rotting bodies - he had a rather unexpected reaction. The DM expected him to find his parents killer. Instead he became completely distraught and decided that as long as his parents killer was dead nothing else mattered. So he threw his bag of holding into his protable hole. I don't game with those people anymore.

 

[diaglo]

The Malleable Weapon. It appears as a rod of an unknown metal.

not really a cursed item but one that the party thought was cursed.

it was created by Faeries for ease of use. a weapon that could be changed into another with the right command word spoken.


when the party found it. it detected as magical. but the party magic user flubbed his identify spell. he got only one command word. and multiple attempts there after never got another result.

so every time the party used the command word it became an epee.


"Curses, foiled again"

Spoiler

i love inside jokes like this. so many of the items in my campaigns have similar stories

 

[atomn]

My friends and I are always amused when we reminisce about the time our friend greedily took the magical girdle from the treasure pile with no discussion about who would get what. When he saw it his eyes shone brightly (thinking it was a Girdle of Giant Strength) and, of course, it was a Girdle of Femininity/Masculinity. It was a nice lesson about sharing.

 

[Quartz]

I don't really like purely cursed items, but items with side-effects are really fun. And I'm so stealing some of the ideas already presented.

 

[hopeless]

Reg: Cursed Items

The Cursed Dagger thread gave me an idea!

What are some of the cursed items you have given to your party (or received yourself) over the years?

I remember that in older editions when making an artifact, you could pick the curses that came with it, and everyone always picked the ones that gave you white hair or bad breath or stuff like that because it didn't have much an impact on the overwhelming usefulness of the item.

I figured ENWorld would have some whoppers.



I only really remember two items that I gave out that were uniquely cursed.

1. A pair of gloves of dexterity that, when worn, constricted and broke most of the bones in the hand without causing any damage. Once the curse was removed, along with the gloves, the hands (and dex penalty) remained. My player got around this by finding a high level cleric that cut off his hands and regenerated them...it was very traumatic.

2. I once gave a character an artifact named The Staff of Whining becasue he was whining too much about not having a 'special' magic item despite having more wealth and items than anyone else in the party. It was an amazing weapon, but it was embarrasing for him to use so he sold it (much under Mfg Suggested Retail Price).

What are some of yours? ...or am I the RBDM?

I devised two that I can remember, the first was an enchanted headband that when worn started to constrict requiring a save to avoid taking damage which could lead to death if they failed to remove the item, didn't bother on that occasion to require a remove curse spell to take it off only make a saving throw to get the item off before it crushed their skull.

The second was an enchanted dagger that was effectively a +1 weapon which charmed the wielder so he/she would only wield it from that point on.
On tht occasion I allowed a will save and the munchkin fighter who picked it up barely passed it, but had the game continued I looked forward to the next time he drew it since sooner or later it would take effect...

 

[howandwhy99]

My players found a dagger in a makeshift temple to Ralishaz "the unlooked for" (god of misfortune). They were in a dead end dirt passage, which domed at the rear. All around the walls were daub-painted figures appearing to have their backs turned to the circular room. In the center was a dead human skeleton with a dagger in its chest. One arm draped across still gripping the pommel that bore Ralishaz's symbol.

Was he/she attempting to pull out the dagger when he/she died?
Was it suicide?
Or was something more sinister going on?

Crazy, superstituous players wouldn't even touch it, but bagged it as treasure nonetheless. Three more sessions have passed without so much as appraising it.

I swear, the threat of being cursed is better than any real curse.

(Of course, they have been busy with other problems)

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Not so much a Cursed Item as a really good bluff check.

But the Nystul's Magic Aura on a Turkey Neck & a Halfling with Max Ranks in Bluff....

Leads to the "Penis & Testicles of Vecna"

This is best at lower levels when access to regenerate spells is still hard to come by.

 

[Stalker0]

A rod that gave a spellcaster a metamagic feat, but everytime the rod was touched it created a little gingerbread man that attacked the weilder. If the attack hit, another gingerbread man appeared and attacked, and so forth.

I've only gotten up 5 at one time, I'm hoping one day it will hit a streak and get a lot more