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<blockquote data-quote="Croesus" data-source="post: 7331858" data-attributes="member: 35019">Whenever the thumb (or other parts) are used, it inflicts harm on a random innocent somewhere. Mage hand might only cause someone to pull a muscle or lose some money they need. Earthen grasp could break a bone or inflict a minor non-fatal disease. More powerful powers inflict greater harm. At some point, reveal this to the characters then see if they rationalize using the powers. For example, they might decide that the price is paid by folks they don't know, so who cares? Or they are stopping greater evil, so the end justifies the means. By keeping the initial &quot;price&quot; low, the item encourages the characters (and players) to ignore the harm caused. Then slowly increase the usefulness of the powers, while also increasing the cost to innocents. I know many players who would definitely end up corrupted by such an item. BTW, here's an item posted by someone else that might give you some inspiration. The item was used in Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign:For my cleric, a staff of magic missile that shoots four magic missiles instead of 3, but the fourth always misses the target and shoots off far into the distance. He thought he was being cocky when he said &quot;ha, doesn't bother me, I still get to use magic missile without casting a spell.&quot; He would learn...When they arrived at her home, she took them inside where they were greeted by a swarm of young children, she had turned her home into an orphanage for the victims of the ruffians. But over the past few days, something strange had been happening. Several bolts of pure arcane energy would shoot from the sky, at random intervals, each of them killing a child. She showed the corpses to the party and asked the cleric why their god was punishing them. Putting two and two together, the cleric realized these bolts had been sent from his staff of magic missile. </blockquote>

[QUOTE="Croesus, post: 7331858, member: 35019"] Whenever the thumb (or other parts) are used, it inflicts harm on a random innocent somewhere. [I]Mage hand[/I] might only cause someone to pull a muscle or lose some money they need. [I]Earthen grasp[/I] could break a bone or inflict a minor non-fatal disease. More powerful powers inflict greater harm. At some point, reveal this to the characters then see if they rationalize using the powers. For example, they might decide that the price is paid by folks they don't know, so who cares? Or they are stopping greater evil, so the end justifies the means. By keeping the initial "price" low, the item encourages the characters (and players) to ignore the harm caused. Then slowly increase the usefulness of the powers, while also increasing the cost to innocents. I know many players who would definitely end up corrupted by such an item. BTW, here's an item posted by someone else that might give you some inspiration. The item was used in Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign: [I]For my cleric, a staff of magic missile that shoots four magic missiles instead of 3, but the fourth always misses the target and shoots off far into the distance. He thought he was being cocky when he said "ha, doesn't bother me, I still get to use magic missile without casting a spell." He would learn... When they arrived at her home, she took them inside where they were greeted by a swarm of young children, she had turned her home into an orphanage for the victims of the ruffians. But over the past few days, something strange had been happening. Several bolts of pure arcane energy would shoot from the sky, at random intervals, each of them killing a child. She showed the corpses to the party and asked the cleric why their god was punishing them. Putting two and two together, the cleric realized these bolts had been sent from his staff of magic missile. [/I] [/QUOTE]

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