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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DrunkonDuty" data-source="post: 5536008" data-attributes="member: 54364">Interesting idea but it sounds more like hero/fate/whateveryoucallem points than a magic item to me. But still an interesting idea. Sort of a karmic fate point system. I vaguely recall playing in systems that use a very similar idea but can't for the life of me think of names. DnD does have intelligent items that can try to take control of the character who wields it. Essentially the GM can play it as an NPC and try to negotiate/nag the PC into performing actions it wants to take. And failing diplomacy there's the option of the Battle of Wills (or what ever it's called, sorry, been a while since I looked at those rules, 1ed days) to take direct control of the character and force them to do  what the item wants. Like when Stormbringer makes Elric turn on his friends or the One Ring makes Frodo wear it at an inopportune time. This strikes me as a pretty good example of one the type 2 cursed magic items you're referring to. Especially when you remember that intelligent items were always pretty powerful and frequently came with their own special purpose, one that did not necessarily gel with the character's. For type 1 no real rules system seems necessary. The GM just moves the plot along in the normal fashion. But I guess if you're playing a game where the players get to have meta-game input into the plot your token system would work. By which I mean if the player knows that taking action X gives the GM the a fate point to use against them in the future it would make the game play more dramatic. But to me it doesn't make any sense for a meta-game ability to be locked into the character's possession of an in-game doo-hicky. For type 3 cursed items I'd build something into the item itself. Like every use sucks the life force (in form of hit points or con drain or something) from an area around it. Or it provokes atypical behaviour from those around (cowardice, greed, gluttony, sloth) with a Will save to avoid. I'd like add a 4th type: those that have some useful abilities but also have built in draw backs when said abilities are used. For instance: a magic ring that makes you invisible to normal sight but at the same time makes you a beacon for the life-sense of undead, or even projects you partly into the plane of shadow where their unquiet spirits walk. And of course there's the 5th type, the ones alluded to in your OP. The bog standard cursed DnD items that explode (metaphorically or not) in your face when you use them. Any others?</blockquote>

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