Return of the Cursed Magic Item?

[DandD]

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.

But first, the gun-maker spends time and money and much effort to create a crap-tastic gun that nobody would ever want to use on purpose, only resulting in ruining his reputation. That's what creating magical swords with a -1 penalty does.

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.

Ceremonial weapons are suboptimal because they're not weighted properly for use in real combat anyway. You don't have to enchant it with a curse to make it even worse, because only desperate people really would use them in a last-ditch-effort. The most infamous is the -2 cursed sword. You're forced to use it unless you get rid of it by a powerful magical spell. Also, if you have the means to create beautiful and expensive swords and want to protect it, you might as well make it with a positive +1 enhancement, because it becomes unbreakable unless destroyed by another +1 and higher enhancement weapon or powerful magic. It doesn't rust (unless used against rust monsters), glows nicely, is even useful, and will stand the ravages of times much better than its mundane counterparts.

I wish to repeat, however, that I'm not against cursed items in the game. I'm okay with them having serious setbacks, as long as they do have some advantages that will make players want to use regardless of the curse that it has.

 

[Clavis]

Of course, "cursed items" don't need to really be items at all.

Perhaps they are actually minor demons in the form of enchanted items, sent to this plane to create misery.

One of the real problems of the 3rd edition rules for PCs making magical items is that enchanted items become just a form of technology. Imagine a world were all magic items are instead really minor demons or angels. It provides a rationale for Intelligent swords, and make the creation of magic items mysterious and dangerous. To create a magic sword, one wouldn't craft a sword and put spells on it. Instead, one summons a spirit, and forces it to assume the form of a sword.

Another possibility is that items need to be crafted, but the magic comes from a spirit being summoned and then bound into the crafted item. This would replicate actual medieval ideas about how talismans and the like function. Cursed items could come from the wrong spirit being summoned, or from a formerly friendly spirit turning evil.

 

[Zurai]

you might as well make it with a positive +1 enhancement, because it becomes unbreakable unless destroyed by another +1 and higher enhancement weapon or powerful magic.

Nice house rule. Unfortunately, there is no such rule in the official 3rd edition rules.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

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! And then a con man sells it as a +1 sword, because it does radiate magic ...

I see a couple reasons for cursed items:

1. Items that are "story cursed"; armor once belonging to a fallen paladin, for example, or a dagger used for a series of heinous murders
2. Cheap knockoffs created by con men to fool the ignorant (e.g. the -1 sword)
3. "Mixed blessing" items ... the ones that are cursed but still have some use, whether a bag of devouring or a -1 sword that also provides +2 Cha and +5 to Diplomacy checks.
4. Items created by practical jokers to embarrass or harm the recipient. I'll bet girdles of femininity/masculinity and backbiting spears were made by fey as jokes on mortals.

I like the third type of cursed item best, because with the right mix of abilities characters will keep them around despite the curse, suffering the bane to get the blessing. But the other types have a place in my game as well, though they are much, much less common.

 

[JeffB]

BWAHAHAH...



I love all the arguments trying to rationalize why there should/would be no such thing as cursed magic swords.

Bring 'em back. If people are having a miserable game experience because of a cursed item, the problem isnt the item..its poor DM'ing or whiney players.

I remember as a youngster having a character who had a cursed dagger for quite some time. IT made for ALOT of interesting encounters, as well as plot hooks as my character tried to rid himself of the thing. IN fact I preferred having the darn cursed thing from a "fun" standpoint.

Yeesh....anyone here seen/read the lord of the rings?

 

[DandD]

Yeah, it made people invisible and granted long life. So? What's the similarity to a -2 cursed sword who only has a -2 penalty, but nothing else?

Nice house rule. Unfortunately, there is no such rule in the official 3rd edition rules.

Official 3rd edition? Of course. Here, let me direct you to the SRD for 3.0 which tells about how you can't sunder a weapon unless youre enhancement bonus surpasses the weapon you want to destroy.
http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd/SRDBreakingItemsandAttackingObjects.rtf

What you mean is probably the revised rules in 3.5 edition, where they did away with the indestructibility of +X-weapons unless striked by equally-enhanced weapons, which is one of the better rules that I just found out now.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

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

A coder can make one on their own computer. They don't need top-notch equiment and XP to burn.

 

[Zurai]

A coder can make one on their own computer. They don't need top-notch equiment and XP to burn.

Neither do 4th edition item creators, to judge by what we've been told so far.

And even in 3rd edition, I think a fun house rule would be that cursed items came at a reduced XP cost and could even cost no XP at all to make if the curse was great enough.

 

[DandD]

Neither do 4th edition item creators, to judge by what we've been told so far.

What were we told about how magic item creation works in 4th edition? All I know is that we're promised that our gaming characters won't be forced to walk with tons of magical items anymore...

And even in 3rd edition, I think a fun house rule would be that cursed items came at a reduced XP cost and could even cost no XP at all to make if the curse was great enough.

That surely would have been a good idea for D&D 3.X, if it had been implemented early in the rules...

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I hope not, or at least have cursed items grant benefits as well. All that leads to is item weenies, who refuse to do anything with new found gear until they slug down 100gp of ground pearl, some wine and wave the owl feather.