In my campaign my players discovered a small shop in which a vampire sells cursed items. They don't know he's a vampire and they don't know the items they bought are cursed. They bought severel items, including some spell scrolls, a bag of holding and Bracers of Defense.
Now I'm a bit stuck on how to actually play these cursed items out. There's not a lot of help in the DMG, so I need some advices how to handle the cursed items.
So far the only thing I came up with, is that every time they use the item, I roll 1D20 and on 18+ the item is destroyed, but I'm not quite happy with that solution and the players continue to return to the shop for more items.
I figure if players are not identifying a magical object or takes a store keeper at their word. Well. That opens up a world of fun for me.
Cursed items can be fun, silly and outright dangerous.
Examples.
Cursed boots of speed. Gives player extra speed. Fun curse they randomly start running in a random direction at the GM discretion. Players talking to a npc and the wearer takes off suddenly. Silly things like make the player dance or kick a npc causing a ruccus. They could also pull themselves off the player and start kicking them. Dangerous could be a lot of things. Like running away from a creature and the boots refuse to move locking the player.
Ring of defense. Gives bonus to ac or con. Curse is that the ring slowly eats the players stats till it's 0 then moves to the next until it's removed.
Sword of the light bearer. +1 sword which can illuminate the dark. Fun curse is the light has a mind of its own. Silly it could make the player lighter and they start floating around. Others may have to pull the player around on a rope attached so they don't float away.
Hat of bluffing. Gives bonus to bluffing. Silly thing is that on successful attempts the hat can randomly tell the target that the player is lying. Or something really outrageous.
There is a lot you can do with a little imagination. Cursed doesn't ever mean something bad. Think of silly and fun curses as well. They don't even have to make any sense like the ones I made up for examples.
If all the items in the shop are as simple as having a chance to break each use then that seems fine mechanically, but narrative you might want to add some flair about the item seeming to strain under use, sparking magical energy or otherwise behaving oddly. You can of course always introduce more curse effects, like after being hit the bracer might make the player weak to that damage type for 1 hour, the bag of holding allows another character (possibly the vampire) to access its contents through a second bag and take whatever interests them. Since they are coming from a vampire some sort of accessory or attire that as well as its normal function can not be removed and drains the character over time, say -1 Con or -D6 HP per day would be fitting.
Thanks Avohei! That really made me think in a broader perspective! Fun and silly curses! I'm gonna use that on some of the other items, I know my players gonna buy :)
That is great! Very specific to the items my players have! I'm definitely gonna use this! I wonder what my players thinks, when some of the items, they already bought is displayed in the shop again and gone missing from the bag of holding :D
I was basing my examples around the items you listed in the hope that something was immediately useful, with a little imagination cursed items, or even items that are not cursed but have side effects have so much possibility. I have a similar merchant in my game but my players are keeping away from his stock, they just periodically run into NPCs that are having a bad time because they are less wary of the merchant. Hopefully the ideas here are enough to get you creating your own problematic items.
I expect they will be a little upset when items start to go missing, and having the items reappear in the shop is a good way at hinting what is going on. But backup plans are always good just in case their speculation is wildly off base. More helpful hints could be, have a small chance of them feeling the vampires hand rummaging around when they use the bag, or notice it twitching as he looks through their stuff, a distinctive ring falls of his hand in the bag that the party can find...
First we start by saying that Identify does not necessarily mean they find out the items are cursed.
DMG (p. 139):
Most methods of identifying items, including the identify spell, fail to reveal such a curse, although lore might hint at it. A curse should be a surprise to the item's user when the curse's effects are revealed.
From there we have to ask: are these curses deadly, dangerous, a hindrance, or a nuisance? These are important distinctions to start working out what the curses might do.
Deadly:
Necklace of Choking. It looks like any type of magical necklace. When the wearer puts the necklace on it immediately starts to constrict the wearer's neck. If a remove curse spell isn't cast soon enough, the wearer dies.
Dangerous:
Bracers of frailty. Looks like any other set of bracers. When the wearer puts on the bracers their Strength score is reduced by 4 and they gain a permanent level of exhaustion. Remove curse is the only way to help the wearer.
A hindrance:
Cloak of Weights. Looks like a fancy embroidered cloak. When the wearer puts the cloak on they feel as though they're trying to carry a wagon of anvils. Their movement speed is reduce by half until the cloak is removed. Remove curse can help remove the cloak.
A nuisance:
Brooch of crickets. Looks like a Brooch of Shielding. When the wearer applies the brooch to their person nothing happens immediately. Every night, no matter where the wearer is, as soon as they fall asleep, the sound of dozens of crickets can be heard. A Constitution save of 10 can sleep through the noise, anyone who fails the save loses 30 minutes of rest. The save must be made twice immediately after the wearer falls asleep. This accounts for the first two hours of rest, after which time everyone begins to ignore the sound.
So far the only thing I came up with, is that every time they use the item, I roll 1D20 and on 18+ the item is destroyed, but I'm not quite happy with that solution and the players continue to return to the shop for more items.
Just a small suggestion: if you decide to go this route, make it a 3 or lower, rather than an 18 or higher. Same probability (15%), but it maintains the "rolling high is good, rolling low is bad" that 5e is built upon. =)
Some good examples here... will add from one game: :...has magic items for sale and can also broker the sale of magic items. Any such item comes with a mild curse, however. Anyone attuned to the item can be targeted by a detect thoughts spell cast by <seller>, with no limit on range; any saving throws triggered by the spell automatically fail; and the target has no knowledge of the casting. This curse can be detected by casting an identify spell on the item and succeeding on a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check. The check can be attempted once per casting."
Just imagine what a vampire could do with mind reading access to anyone who purchased his merchandise ...
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In my campaign my players discovered a small shop in which a vampire sells cursed items. They don't know he's a vampire and they don't know the items they bought are cursed. They bought severel items, including some spell scrolls, a bag of holding and Bracers of Defense.
Now I'm a bit stuck on how to actually play these cursed items out. There's not a lot of help in the DMG, so I need some advices how to handle the cursed items.
So far the only thing I came up with, is that every time they use the item, I roll 1D20 and on 18+ the item is destroyed, but I'm not quite happy with that solution and the players continue to return to the shop for more items.
I figure if players are not identifying a magical object or takes a store keeper at their word. Well. That opens up a world of fun for me.
Cursed items can be fun, silly and outright dangerous.
Examples.
Cursed boots of speed. Gives player extra speed. Fun curse they randomly start running in a random direction at the GM discretion. Players talking to a npc and the wearer takes off suddenly. Silly things like make the player dance or kick a npc causing a ruccus. They could also pull themselves off the player and start kicking them. Dangerous could be a lot of things. Like running away from a creature and the boots refuse to move locking the player.
Ring of defense. Gives bonus to ac or con. Curse is that the ring slowly eats the players stats till it's 0 then moves to the next until it's removed.
Sword of the light bearer. +1 sword which can illuminate the dark. Fun curse is the light has a mind of its own. Silly it could make the player lighter and they start floating around. Others may have to pull the player around on a rope attached so they don't float away.
Hat of bluffing. Gives bonus to bluffing. Silly thing is that on successful attempts the hat can randomly tell the target that the player is lying. Or something really outrageous.
There is a lot you can do with a little imagination. Cursed doesn't ever mean something bad. Think of silly and fun curses as well. They don't even have to make any sense like the ones I made up for examples.
If all the items in the shop are as simple as having a chance to break each use then that seems fine mechanically, but narrative you might want to add some flair about the item seeming to strain under use, sparking magical energy or otherwise behaving oddly.
You can of course always introduce more curse effects, like after being hit the bracer might make the player weak to that damage type for 1 hour, the bag of holding allows another character (possibly the vampire) to access its contents through a second bag and take whatever interests them. Since they are coming from a vampire some sort of accessory or attire that as well as its normal function can not be removed and drains the character over time, say -1 Con or -D6 HP per day would be fitting.
Thanks Avohei! That really made me think in a broader perspective! Fun and silly curses! I'm gonna use that on some of the other items, I know my players gonna buy :)
That is great! Very specific to the items my players have! I'm definitely gonna use this! I wonder what my players thinks, when some of the items, they already bought is displayed in the shop again and gone missing from the bag of holding :D
Thanks! :)
Oh, so that bag of holding. Have it be a mimic.
I was basing my examples around the items you listed in the hope that something was immediately useful, with a little imagination cursed items, or even items that are not cursed but have side effects have so much possibility. I have a similar merchant in my game but my players are keeping away from his stock, they just periodically run into NPCs that are having a bad time because they are less wary of the merchant. Hopefully the ideas here are enough to get you creating your own problematic items.
I expect they will be a little upset when items start to go missing, and having the items reappear in the shop is a good way at hinting what is going on. But backup plans are always good just in case their speculation is wildly off base. More helpful hints could be, have a small chance of them feeling the vampires hand rummaging around when they use the bag, or notice it twitching as he looks through their stuff, a distinctive ring falls of his hand in the bag that the party can find...
First we start by saying that Identify does not necessarily mean they find out the items are cursed.
DMG (p. 139):
From there we have to ask: are these curses deadly, dangerous, a hindrance, or a nuisance? These are important distinctions to start working out what the curses might do.
Deadly:
Necklace of Choking. It looks like any type of magical necklace. When the wearer puts the necklace on it immediately starts to constrict the wearer's neck. If a remove curse spell isn't cast soon enough, the wearer dies.
Dangerous:
Bracers of frailty. Looks like any other set of bracers. When the wearer puts on the bracers their Strength score is reduced by 4 and they gain a permanent level of exhaustion. Remove curse is the only way to help the wearer.
A hindrance:
Cloak of Weights. Looks like a fancy embroidered cloak. When the wearer puts the cloak on they feel as though they're trying to carry a wagon of anvils. Their movement speed is reduce by half until the cloak is removed. Remove curse can help remove the cloak.
A nuisance:
Brooch of crickets. Looks like a Brooch of Shielding. When the wearer applies the brooch to their person nothing happens immediately. Every night, no matter where the wearer is, as soon as they fall asleep, the sound of dozens of crickets can be heard. A Constitution save of 10 can sleep through the noise, anyone who fails the save loses 30 minutes of rest. The save must be made twice immediately after the wearer falls asleep. This accounts for the first two hours of rest, after which time everyone begins to ignore the sound.
Just a small suggestion: if you decide to go this route, make it a 3 or lower, rather than an 18 or higher. Same probability (15%), but it maintains the "rolling high is good, rolling low is bad" that 5e is built upon. =)
Some good examples here... will add from one game: :...has magic items for sale and can also broker the sale of magic items. Any such item comes with a mild curse, however. Anyone attuned to the item can be targeted by a detect thoughts spell cast by <seller>, with no limit on range; any saving throws triggered by the spell automatically fail; and the target has no knowledge of the casting. This curse can be detected by casting an identify spell on the item and succeeding on a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check. The check can be attempted once per casting."
Just imagine what a vampire could do with mind reading access to anyone who purchased his merchandise ...