I'm making a cursed magic item (Link to the Homebrew Topic for details) and was wondering if there was a consensus on the title question? Obviously it will be dependant on the group and player, but l wanted to ask anyway. (Sorry if this was asked before. l googled the question, but got nothing)
I'd be really careful with it. I never give a character an item that tells the player how they have to roleplay their character on a permanent basis. I did so once before and the result was disastrous, and a really upset player.
The player gets to play their character however they want. Temporary charm or controlling effects are OK as the player knows that they'll pass. Requiring them to RP a particular way for a protracted period of time damages the player's main function in the game, not the character's.
Honestly, never take player agency away. (Ofc, there is always the disclaimer that some people might be on to that kinda of thing, but in my humble experience, if you have to ask, it's generally not your case).
If there is any chance that something can change, give them a big head's up beforehand and never leave them without a choice. I think that the dark gifts on Curse of Strahd are a good way to do that. They are choosing to interact with something very bad and, if they want the power, they my lose themselves. So, if players are into that, they can embrace or run away.
have occasionally given characters curses which bestow a flaw on them. These are minor things though. Most recently one character developed a fear of overeating.
The player is welcome to RP that however they want. I do t do this often and there is usually a choice involved but my players have leaned into and enjoyed these minor flaws.
If a player isn't enjoying their character, this could be a way for them to branch out that feels organic. Or if a player isn't particularly invested in RP or is unsure of how to RP, this could be a helpful little springboard for them.
If a player loves their character, though, I'd be wary about forcing a change, especially if it will impact something central to the way they're played. That said, the item in question has a pretty mild flaw as personality changes go (acting "regal" can be interpreted in many ways), so I wouldn't be as concerned. And if someone did get this item and ended up hating the flaw, a DM can easily adjust by saying the curse is fading and wears off after a few days, or giving the player a way to get rid of it, or even just letting the player ignore the RP curse entirely.
Players get attached to their RP style. As a general rule they should be the ones to decide if their role play style will change. A cursed item that directly impacts that can be pretty dicey in most groups. Unless there is a big mystery tied to them trying to get rid of the item I would explain the item to the player and discuss how/ if you're going to go with it. It could be easy (as mentioned above) where the effect fades, they could say "I like this, I want to keep the effect" or somewhere in the middle. Most players are okay with temp changes so take that as the starting point and talk to your player from there.
I think you can pull it off while still leaving player agency in place, but it will require some setup.
Give them a quest to break a curse on an innocent. Introduce a curse breaking item (one time consumable) as an 'easy' way to finish the quest.
When they have it, give them the cursed item, maybe even in the same treasure hoard as the curse breaker.
Now they can either lift their own curse on the pc, or have the pc 'accept' the curse and save the innocent instead.
If they use it on the pc, give them a more difficult way to break the curse for the innocent. If they chose to save the innocent, offer a more difficult way to lift the curse on the pc.
I think you can pull it off while still leaving player agency in place, but it will require some setup.
Give them a quest to break a curse on an innocent. Introduce a curse breaking item (one time consumable) as an 'easy' way to finish the quest.
When they have it, give them the cursed item, maybe even in the same treasure hoard as the curse breaker.
Now they can either lift their own curse on the pc, or have the pc 'accept' the curse and save the innocent instead.
If they use it on the pc, give them a more difficult way to break the curse for the innocent. If they chose to save the innocent, offer a more difficult way to lift the curse on the pc.
That reminds me of the vault 81 quest in Fallout 4.
Often cursed items aren't worth the trouble they can cause at the table.
I'd suggest two basic principles for curses in a game.
1) Limited duration.
2) Reasonable access to a method to remove the curse. A quest that takes 3 or 4 gaming sessions is too much for something that causes the character to behave in ways they may not like.
As an example, a module I ran introduced a cursed berserker axe with a couple of extra abilities into the game. The barbarian character started using it and it didn't take very long before they were attacking their team mates in each fight. The barbarian also did not want to give up the axe (which is part of the curse). This caused a bit of friction between characters and players since some in the party did not like being hit (or almost killed) by party members and the barbarian's unwillingness to give it up, even after the curse was removed from the character (it was one of the better magical weapons they had come across) also caused some friction.
Any cursed item that removes player agency or causes PVP situations to arise can lead to a bad situation - so if a DM is going to introduce such a situation they need to assess how the players/characters react to it and be ready to mitigate it if it goes over badly.
First of all how much roleplaying do your party do? I have DMd groups who do everything in the 3rd person, or just want to fight, in this case cursed items with mechanical inpacts are better then anything that tries to force a change in behaviour, partly because it will be hard for the player to get across.
Outside if this it needs to be something you discuss with the party, how do you feel if I introduce something that will force you to change behaviour. I had this check in with the party when I decided to introduce an aboleth, I didn’t explain I was going to use an aboleth I simply phrased it as “how would you all feel if you where dominated/charmed for an extended period of time”? 1 player said he really didn’t want to, partly because he would struggle to know what to do, the rest where all ok with it so therefore Aboleth didn’t enslave the 1 but instead one of the others (enslavement lasted 4 sessions before the characters twigged and removed it)”
So talk to your players and check in they would b ok with that.
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I'm making a cursed magic item (Link to the Homebrew Topic for details) and was wondering if there was a consensus on the title question? Obviously it will be dependant on the group and player, but l wanted to ask anyway. (Sorry if this was asked before. l googled the question, but got nothing)
I'd be really careful with it. I never give a character an item that tells the player how they have to roleplay their character on a permanent basis. I did so once before and the result was disastrous, and a really upset player.
The player gets to play their character however they want. Temporary charm or controlling effects are OK as the player knows that they'll pass. Requiring them to RP a particular way for a protracted period of time damages the player's main function in the game, not the character's.
Honestly, never take player agency away. (Ofc, there is always the disclaimer that some people might be on to that kinda of thing, but in my humble experience, if you have to ask, it's generally not your case).
If there is any chance that something can change, give them a big head's up beforehand and never leave them without a choice. I think that the dark gifts on Curse of Strahd are a good way to do that. They are choosing to interact with something very bad and, if they want the power, they my lose themselves. So, if players are into that, they can embrace or run away.
I somewhat disagree with the answers above.
have occasionally given characters curses which bestow a flaw on them. These are minor things though. Most recently one character developed a fear of overeating.
The player is welcome to RP that however they want. I do t do this often and there is usually a choice involved but my players have leaned into and enjoyed these minor flaws.
If a player isn't enjoying their character, this could be a way for them to branch out that feels organic. Or if a player isn't particularly invested in RP or is unsure of how to RP, this could be a helpful little springboard for them.
If a player loves their character, though, I'd be wary about forcing a change, especially if it will impact something central to the way they're played. That said, the item in question has a pretty mild flaw as personality changes go (acting "regal" can be interpreted in many ways), so I wouldn't be as concerned. And if someone did get this item and ended up hating the flaw, a DM can easily adjust by saying the curse is fading and wears off after a few days, or giving the player a way to get rid of it, or even just letting the player ignore the RP curse entirely.
Not much to add but:
Players get attached to their RP style. As a general rule they should be the ones to decide if their role play style will change. A cursed item that directly impacts that can be pretty dicey in most groups. Unless there is a big mystery tied to them trying to get rid of the item I would explain the item to the player and discuss how/ if you're going to go with it. It could be easy (as mentioned above) where the effect fades, they could say "I like this, I want to keep the effect" or somewhere in the middle. Most players are okay with temp changes so take that as the starting point and talk to your player from there.
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I think you can pull it off while still leaving player agency in place, but it will require some setup.
Give them a quest to break a curse on an innocent. Introduce a curse breaking item (one time consumable) as an 'easy' way to finish the quest.
When they have it, give them the cursed item, maybe even in the same treasure hoard as the curse breaker.
Now they can either lift their own curse on the pc, or have the pc 'accept' the curse and save the innocent instead.
If they use it on the pc, give them a more difficult way to break the curse for the innocent. If they chose to save the innocent, offer a more difficult way to lift the curse on the pc.
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That reminds me of the vault 81 quest in Fallout 4.
Often cursed items aren't worth the trouble they can cause at the table.
I'd suggest two basic principles for curses in a game.
1) Limited duration.
2) Reasonable access to a method to remove the curse. A quest that takes 3 or 4 gaming sessions is too much for something that causes the character to behave in ways they may not like.
As an example, a module I ran introduced a cursed berserker axe with a couple of extra abilities into the game. The barbarian character started using it and it didn't take very long before they were attacking their team mates in each fight. The barbarian also did not want to give up the axe (which is part of the curse). This caused a bit of friction between characters and players since some in the party did not like being hit (or almost killed) by party members and the barbarian's unwillingness to give it up, even after the curse was removed from the character (it was one of the better magical weapons they had come across) also caused some friction.
Any cursed item that removes player agency or causes PVP situations to arise can lead to a bad situation - so if a DM is going to introduce such a situation they need to assess how the players/characters react to it and be ready to mitigate it if it goes over badly.
First of all how much roleplaying do your party do? I have DMd groups who do everything in the 3rd person, or just want to fight, in this case cursed items with mechanical inpacts are better then anything that tries to force a change in behaviour, partly because it will be hard for the player to get across.
Outside if this it needs to be something you discuss with the party, how do you feel if I introduce something that will force you to change behaviour. I had this check in with the party when I decided to introduce an aboleth, I didn’t explain I was going to use an aboleth I simply phrased it as “how would you all feel if you where dominated/charmed for an extended period of time”? 1 player said he really didn’t want to, partly because he would struggle to know what to do, the rest where all ok with it so therefore Aboleth didn’t enslave the 1 but instead one of the others (enslavement lasted 4 sessions before the characters twigged and removed it)”
So talk to your players and check in they would b ok with that.