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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 5536365" data-attributes="member: 99">I've come to think that the enemy of an interesting cursed item is rules.Once you've laid your cards on the table about how precisely a cursed item functions then the players will (naturally) try and set about using those rules to see that they get the most benefit (if any) from an item while avoiding the drawbacks as much as possible.  If the drawbacks clearly outweigh any benefits then they'll probably try and get rid of the item as quickly as possible.Now this asks the question, "Is it fair to hide the rules for how an item works from the players?"  I think that the answer should probably be, "If the PC's have the capability of reasonably discerning what a magic item does then it's probably not fair to hide the mechanics of a cursed item."  However I tend to sidestep this question by having cursed items not play by any specified set of rules.An example of this is in my current (Savage Worlds) campaign, where, on Night 1 of the campaign one of the PC's joined the party by being rescued from an evil ritual being performed upon him.  The ritual was being read out of this "Black Book" and, after the dust settled, the PC's ended up with this book.The Black Book was covered in some very black substance that tried to stick to your fingers when you touched it.  It physically resisted being opened and, when it was opened, what was written inside was in an unknown script and also gave off such a creepy aura that the PC's had to make fear checks each round to keep reading it.Mechanically the Black Book had no benefits or drawbacks.  But it was clearly important to the bad guys so the PC's kept carrying it with them for fear of it falling into enemy hands.  One PC in particular kept it in his backpack where it would occasionally squirm.  The players were utterly creeped out and fascinated by this book precisely because it was a huge mystery.There was nothing keeping them from discarding the book at any time or possibly destroying it.  But they were determined to discover what information was concealed within and equally determined to keep it out of the hands of their evil enemies.  I've had them come across a few hints along the way that this book was historically important.  For these reasons much of the plot of the first third of the campaign has revolved around this book.  All of this has been player driven, not because the book is forcing them to do anything nor is it such a problematic burden that they are actively trying to destroy it.It's probably been the single most successful "cursed" magic item that I've ever included in a game.  And most of that I attribute to the fact that the item remains a mystery rather than a mechanic.</blockquote>

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