Return of the Cursed Magic Item?

[Tuzenbach]

Such useless things would be instantly destroyed, because they serve no purpose to anybody, and nobody would want it.

[SARCASM] Exactly! This is why computer viruses don't exist!!![/SARCASM]

 

[DandD]

But isn't this a bit like asking "Why would anybody ever create a computer virus?" And yet, how many are out there?

-1 Swords are unlike a computer virus. They would be more like guns that are built purposefully expensive and unreliable, and where you have to push the trigger two or more times so that it finally shoots, and not even accurate, with a higher chance to block. Nobody uses them and gets rid of them instantly.

Also, I'm pretty sure it's even harder to create magical items than programming a computer virus, which at least might affect many several hundred or thousand computers. A cursed -1 sword gets destroyed as soon as it gets found out to be such a worthless thing.

Yes, I'm all for a better analogy. Next.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

[SARCASM] Exactly! This is why computer viruses don't exist!!![/SARCASM]

But what is the first thing someone does when they realize they have a computer virus? They try and get rid of it. The only reason the computer viruses continue to exist is because they propogate themselves faster than they can be cleansed. If the curse on a -1 sword was infectious so that it spread to every sword it made contact with, it would be different...and really nasty...hmmmmm

 

[DandD]

The correct analogy to a computer virus would probably more be like breeding rust monsters... They can infect every metal with rust, and are truely disruptive...

 

[gizmo33]

I'm pretty sure cursed -1 swords grow in trees in Limbo and are plucked by Slaad like fruit. Then they plane-shift to the Prime and hand them out to fighters who have secretly wished for a "magic sword" without being more specific.

Other cursed -1 swords are created as a result of a bungled attempt to create a +1 sword. Responsible wizards would probably destroy them, but then again responsible wizards probably recycle. They'll get thrown on a pile of other contaminated scrap metal and melted down at the convenience of the wizard, if he survives long enough to do so. There's some possibility that melting a cursed sword in a forge will contaminate the forge.

One time a god of war became angry at a fighter who thought more of his magic items than following the war god. The fighter was turned into a flumph and all of his magic items were turned into cursed versions. Since it takes a limited wish for subsequent owners to rid themselves of the item, they tend to get passed from each owner to his killer.

 

[Umbran]

-1 Swords are unlike a computer virus. They would be more like guns that are built purposefully expensive and unreliable, and where you have to push the trigger two or more times so that it finally shoots, and not even accurate, with a higher chance to block. Nobody uses them and gets rid of them instantly.

But folks don't go around breaking them. They buy them, try them out, find out they stink, and then return them to the store, or sell them on eBay to some sucker. Eventually, the crappy gun ends up in the hands of someone who doesn't use it, it is then handed down or found by someone else, who tries to use it and has it blow up in their hand.

And, by the way, swords built for expense but not utility were not uncommon for dress occasions. You can usually bet that if it has jewels on it, it wasn't made for combat, and would probably not be very good if used for same. So, there's an option - the cursed sword is made that way to protect the sword - so that no idiot will go around swinging away at someone with the wealth of a small city, and they aren't likely to hit and damage said wealth if they do try.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I always saw a lot of cursed items (like -1 swords) being the result of the guy creating them screwing up, wild magic, the magic degrading over time etc.

 

[Zurai]

I always saw a lot of cursed items (like -1 swords) being the result of the guy creating them screwing up, wild magic, the magic degrading over time etc.

Exactly. It should certainly be POSSIBLE to intentionally create a cursed item - but the majority of curses should be because something went wrong. The creator got his spell syllables mixed up at a crucial point, the sword was used by a pure-hearted warrior for black-hearted deeds (or vice-versa), or there was an actual magical curse laid on the stunning diamond necklace - all of those are reasonable in a fantasy world and help make the world a little more "real" to players. IMO.

 

[Tuzenbach]

So, there's an option - the cursed sword is made that way to protect the sword - so that no idiot will go around swinging away at someone with the wealth of a small city, and they aren't likely to hit and damage said wealth if they do try.

Whoa! Having played the game since 1979, I was convinced I'd either experienced or thought of all things possible in D&D. Thank you, Umbran, for making the game new for me on this day.

 

[BryonD]

I think that with the 3X assumption of crafted items it kinda became a default assumption that all items were crafted. Therefore, the idea of cursed items was set to the side. I agree that people could and would still make them for their own purposes. But that just wasn't a focus in the game.

I'd rather see the game embrace the idea that magic items may be made, but that sometimes they also just happen. An honest warrior unknowningly sleeps in a fairy glade and in the morning his cloak is now enchanted. Or he throws himself in the path of an assassin's arrow aimed at a priest and finds that his shield suddenly has been filled with divine energy (+1). Or any of thousands of comic book origin stories.

And if a knight betrays his lord and stabs him in the back, the sword could suddenly become cursed.

A wizard can still sit down and make an item. But if magic infuses the world, then all sorts of sudden, unexpected good and bad can come with that. And that makes cursed stuff work better, to my mind at least.