Curses, Foiled Again!

[Lord Zardoz]

My problem with cursed items has always been the "why?" Why would anyone create a cursed sword?

Creating a 'classic' Sword -1 that must be used by the owner does not make much sense.

Creating a cursed sword that affects wielders who were not meant to be able to use it makes a bit more sense (ie: A sword +1 that becomes a sword -1 in the hands of a non lawful aligned weilder).

Creating a cursed sword which is found in a dungeon that makes the wielder subject to a domination spell by the BBEG when in sight of the BBEG just makes huge amounts of sense. "If he can get this far, he would be a useful guy to have under my control".

It is all a matter of how you implement a given curse. Cursed items that only work properly in the hands of certain people are probably just very handy to have as a DM when equipping your mooks and dont want to hand out "Loads of Lewt" to your players.

From a mechanics standpoint, a cursed sword could just be easier to create, or the result of an improper crafting.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Mark CMG]

Creating a cursed sword which is found in a dungeon that makes the wielder subject to a domination spell by the BBEG when in sight of the BBEG just makes huge amounts of sense. "If he can get this far, he would be a useful guy to have under my control".

I almost missed this gem. Consider it yoinked!

 

[Palskane]

I don't want to derail the thread, but would a cursed weapon, say a longsword -2, bypass DR-/magic? Wouldn't it, after all, be enchanted?

Just curious.

 

[Mark CMG]

I don't want to derail the thread, but would a cursed weapon, say a longsword -2, bypass DR-/magic? Wouldn't it, after all, be enchanted?

Just curious.

According to the DMG, page 291, any weapon with a +1 or higher overcomes DR/magic.

 

[Slife]

My problem with cursed items has always been the "why?" Why would anyone create a cursed sword? As a trap? I guess somebody could be so darn evil that they are willing to sacrifice time gold and XP to creating something dastardly, but it just doesn't seem to make sense most of the time.

Because they're so darn useful, that's why.

Mirror of Opposition, Helm of Opposite Alignment, Dust of Sneezing and Choking - all awesome