Im a brand new DM kind of been thrown into the role but im doing my best to roll with it, i've come up with a potential cursed item and i just want everyones opinion on whether or not it seems fair?
Ring of Vanity – Requires attuning
A gold ring with a small inlaid gem that has been cut and shined in such a way to act like a mirror, this ring when worn and attuned grants +2 to your charisma attribute.
Curse: Curse of self reflection
Upon first putting on and attuning to the ring a seed is placed in the wearers mind, overtime it grows into a second mirrored personality of the user, anytime the user tries to make any sort of charisma check they must first make a wisdom save, the DC starts at 5 and increases by 1 every time the curse takes effect. On a failed save the second personality whispers into the cursed persons mind, telling them how pathetic they are, hypocritcal, anything that can hurt them mentally, this causes them to take disadvantage on all charisma based checks.
Once the DC reaches 20 the mirror entity within the persons mind reaches full strength and the next time the cursed player looks inside a mirror the entity can infest the mirror image, reach through and attempt to pull the target into a mirror dimension to do combat over the right to control the cursed targets physical form, anyone touching the cursed as they are dragged into the mirror can go with them. If they defeat the mirror image the curse is removed and can never effect them again.
The curse can be removed from any afflicted and from the item with a Greater restoration
Let me know what you think and if there is anything i should add or take away? Or maybe i should just scrap the idea entirely?
Just to give a bit of context on this item im really hoping a paladin or bard takes it, for a paladin it would be a little voice telling them that no one else cares about their god, they are never going to do any good, all their actions in the end are useless, the mirror image would be an oathbreaker paladin.
For a bard it would be a voice telling them how everyone views them as a fool or a useless party member, how the party will gladly dump them and leave them in the dirt if they keep wasting time and so on, eventually ending in a arcane trickster rogue mirror image maybe?
The mirror image will be just that, a mirror image, it will have the same hp and stats as the cursed player but its alignment and possibly class are opposite of the cursed players
Personally, I think it would be a bit cooler (and easier to run) if the "mirror image" was actually some sort of shape-shifting fiend, such as a succubus/incubus or even a rakshasa. After the paladin/bard and the fiend face (The fiend, by itself, should be a Medium/Hard encounter for the character, but not Deathly) for about 3 rounds, it exits the mirror realm and enters the real world, trapping your player inside.
Hmm that does sound better and easier, maybe make it a shape changing fiend/fey creature that is appropriate to the players level, once it escapes the mirror world the rest of the party has to first realise that the Paladin/bard has been replaced and then find a way to save the actual character from the mirror dimension....or even better let the Paladin/bard have a chance to escape and confront the shape shifter in front of the party, could make for a very interesting encounter. Thanks, this has helped a lot :D
A gold ring with a small inlaid gem that has been cut and shined in such a way to act like a mirror, this ring when worn and attuned grants +2 to your charisma attribute.
Curse: Curse of self reflection
Upon first putting on and attuning to the ring a seed is placed in the wearers mind, overtime it grows into a second mirrored personality of the user, anytime the user tries to make any sort of charisma check they must first make a wisdom save, the DC starts at 5 and increases by 1 every time the curse takes effect. On a failed save the second personality whispers into the cursed persons mind, telling them how pathetic they are, hypocritcal, anything that can hurt them mentally, this causes them to take disadvantage on all charisma based checks.
Once the DC reaches 20 the mirror entity within the persons mind reaches full strength and the next time the cursed player looks inside a mirror the entity can infest the mirror image, reach through and attempt to pull the target into a mirror dimension to do combat, the mirror entity is a fiend or fey creature of an appropriate challenge rating for the cursed player to fight with the ability to shape change. After 3 rounds of combat the shape changer leaves the mirror dimension reappearing in the real world in the form of the cursed character trapping the cursed character there.
The curse can be removed from any afflicted and from the item with a Greater restoration
The benefit is +2 Charisma, which is good but not broken.
The downside is that for the next 15 Charisma checks, the player has to make a wisdom save or get disadvantage. This is bad but not brokenly bad.
After 15 charisma checks, the player's going to get sucked in to a surprise fight next time they see a mirror. Should be a balanced fight, by definition.
Sounds good to me. My main downside would just be the mechanics of making the player do a check before doing a check (slows the game down a bit) and having to track that counter over multiple sessions.
One thing to be clear on - make sure you know exactly what kind of rolls you mean to apply the curse to. Ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws are the three types of rolls defined in the game; make sure you know the difference, know which one(s) you intend the curse to affect, and communicate to the player as needed.
Thanks for the feedback and it would probably only cover ability checks so for example when they attempt to persuade, deceive or perform, it certainly wouldnt affect attack rolls or saves it meant to be a little niggle of self doubt every time not a crippling thing during a fight.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hi guys
Im a brand new DM kind of been thrown into the role but im doing my best to roll with it, i've come up with a potential cursed item and i just want everyones opinion on whether or not it seems fair?
Ring of Vanity – Requires attuning
A gold ring with a small inlaid gem that has been cut and shined in such a way to act like a mirror, this ring when worn and attuned grants +2 to your charisma attribute.
Curse: Curse of self reflection
Upon first putting on and attuning to the ring a seed is placed in the wearers mind, overtime it grows into a second mirrored personality of the user, anytime the user tries to make any sort of charisma check they must first make a wisdom save, the DC starts at 5 and increases by 1 every time the curse takes effect. On a failed save the second personality whispers into the cursed persons mind, telling them how pathetic they are, hypocritcal, anything that can hurt them mentally, this causes them to take disadvantage on all charisma based checks.
Once the DC reaches 20 the mirror entity within the persons mind reaches full strength and the next time the cursed player looks inside a mirror the entity can infest the mirror image, reach through and attempt to pull the target into a mirror dimension to do combat over the right to control the cursed targets physical form, anyone touching the cursed as they are dragged into the mirror can go with them. If they defeat the mirror image the curse is removed and can never effect them again.
The curse can be removed from any afflicted and from the item with a Greater restoration
Let me know what you think and if there is anything i should add or take away? Or maybe i should just scrap the idea entirely?
Just to give a bit of context on this item im really hoping a paladin or bard takes it, for a paladin it would be a little voice telling them that no one else cares about their god, they are never going to do any good, all their actions in the end are useless, the mirror image would be an oathbreaker paladin.
For a bard it would be a voice telling them how everyone views them as a fool or a useless party member, how the party will gladly dump them and leave them in the dirt if they keep wasting time and so on, eventually ending in a arcane trickster rogue mirror image maybe?
What are the statistics of the mirror image? I feel like that may be important to know.
The mirror image will be just that, a mirror image, it will have the same hp and stats as the cursed player but its alignment and possibly class are opposite of the cursed players
May I have an alternate suggestion?
Personally, I think it would be a bit cooler (and easier to run) if the "mirror image" was actually some sort of shape-shifting fiend, such as a succubus/incubus or even a rakshasa. After the paladin/bard and the fiend face (The fiend, by itself, should be a Medium/Hard encounter for the character, but not Deathly) for about 3 rounds, it exits the mirror realm and enters the real world, trapping your player inside.
Hmm that does sound better and easier, maybe make it a shape changing fiend/fey creature that is appropriate to the players level, once it escapes the mirror world the rest of the party has to first realise that the Paladin/bard has been replaced and then find a way to save the actual character from the mirror dimension....or even better let the Paladin/bard have a chance to escape and confront the shape shifter in front of the party, could make for a very interesting encounter. Thanks, this has helped a lot :D
Updated item card
Ring of Vanity – Requires attuning
A gold ring with a small inlaid gem that has been cut and shined in such a way to act like a mirror, this ring when worn and attuned grants +2 to your charisma attribute.
Curse: Curse of self reflection
Upon first putting on and attuning to the ring a seed is placed in the wearers mind, overtime it grows into a second mirrored personality of the user, anytime the user tries to make any sort of charisma check they must first make a wisdom save, the DC starts at 5 and increases by 1 every time the curse takes effect. On a failed save the second personality whispers into the cursed persons mind, telling them how pathetic they are, hypocritcal, anything that can hurt them mentally, this causes them to take disadvantage on all charisma based checks.
Once the DC reaches 20 the mirror entity within the persons mind reaches full strength and the next time the cursed player looks inside a mirror the entity can infest the mirror image, reach through and attempt to pull the target into a mirror dimension to do combat, the mirror entity is a fiend or fey creature of an appropriate challenge rating for the cursed player to fight with the ability to shape change. After 3 rounds of combat the shape changer leaves the mirror dimension reappearing in the real world in the form of the cursed character trapping the cursed character there.
The curse can be removed from any afflicted and from the item with a Greater restoration
Seems fine!
The benefit is +2 Charisma, which is good but not broken.
The downside is that for the next 15 Charisma checks, the player has to make a wisdom save or get disadvantage. This is bad but not brokenly bad.
After 15 charisma checks, the player's going to get sucked in to a surprise fight next time they see a mirror. Should be a balanced fight, by definition.
Sounds good to me. My main downside would just be the mechanics of making the player do a check before doing a check (slows the game down a bit) and having to track that counter over multiple sessions.
One thing to be clear on - make sure you know exactly what kind of rolls you mean to apply the curse to. Ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws are the three types of rolls defined in the game; make sure you know the difference, know which one(s) you intend the curse to affect, and communicate to the player as needed.
Thanks for the feedback and it would probably only cover ability checks so for example when they attempt to persuade, deceive or perform, it certainly wouldnt affect attack rolls or saves it meant to be a little niggle of self doubt every time not a crippling thing during a fight.