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Borax
2006-04-13, 02:26 PM
You ever had a time where you found a great weapon or item only to find out that its cursed? Well here is some of my favorite cursed things for you to use as you see fit and if there is any you have to share please post!

Goggles of Impending Doom:
This pair of goggles when put on have the abilitys of darkvision and low-light vision out to 150' however, if danger is about to befall the character ( anything that has a chance to damage or kill the character) within 3 rounds the goggles go pitch black and stay that way untill the danger has passed. once this ability has been activates the goggles can only be removed by a remove curse spell.

The Throwing Dagger of Blunt:
This weapon appears to be a +2 throwing dagger. Upon its first use however its true abilities are shown. This dagger when thrown flies at a speed of 6 in normal air (due to wind resistance) and can only do 1 pt of damage, plus the attack roll can only be done at the end of the round. Fog, mist, illusions ect... can stop the dagger completely. Also it cant sink (water is too thick). once you have used this weapon it will always be in you hand when you attack. to remove this curse you need a limited wish or better to remove it.

Deathwish Axe:
this Axe appears to be a +5 vorpal battleaxe and acts as such however, in the axes head rests a pool of unstable liquid for every day this axe is used increases the chance of it exploding (by used i mean you moved it). on day 1 you have to roll a 1 on an attack roll and add +1 for every day thereafter that its still being moved. if you fail your roll the Axe explodes doing 10d6 (fire) to the axe, the person holding it (no save) 6d6 (fire) out to 10' and 2d12 shrapnel damage to all out to 10'. since the liquid is not magical it wont be detected easily since the other abilities it has masks it. If the Axe is not used for 24 hrs the failure goes back to 1.

soylentplaid
2006-04-13, 02:37 PM
The goggles are fun, but I'd make it so that they turn black right after your first round in combat.

The dagger is cool, but less restrictive curse clearance, please.

The axe? Sweet Jesus, YES! I'll get right on that! I think more D&D items need to be filled with nitroglycerine, it keeps players on their toes!

And yes, this is my first post to this board, ever.

John_D
2006-04-13, 02:39 PM
Goggles of Impending Doom:
This pair of goggles when put on have the abilitys of darkvision and low-light vision out to 150' however, if danger is about to befall the character ( anything that has a chance to damage or kill the character) within 3 rounds the goggles go pitch black and stay that way untill the danger has passed. once this ability has been activates the goggles can only be removed by a remove curse spell.

Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses!

I like this one, though the rules on the other two could do with some clarification. Would walking around with the Deathwish Axe stowed in your pack count as 'using' it, seeing as it is being moved? I'd say that to use it you'd have to make an attack roll with it.

I'm guessing that the Throwing Dagger of Blunt is supposed to be so blunt that it even has trouble moving through the air, yes? You also mention that it can be thrown but then go on to say that once used it will always be in your hand when you attack. Does it teleport back? Fly back? Oh, and please tell me that 6 speed was a typo. Calculating that would be a nightmare.

Meat Shield
2006-04-13, 03:00 PM
Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses!


Darnit! Beat me to the obscure reference!
;D

Borax
2006-04-13, 03:21 PM
well the dagger could use a little less restrictive on the curse. a remove curse spell should be enough. and the speed of 6 is accurate (1 foot per second). it teleports back into your hand replacing what ever you are trying to attack with.

oh and i forgot to add that if the axe comes in contact with an anti-magic field (or any thing that stops the magical abilities of the axe) it goes boom.

McBish
2006-04-13, 03:30 PM
Darnit! Beat me to the obscure reference!

Obscure, how so. Every good Hitchhiker has them.

John_D
2006-04-13, 04:01 PM
and the speed of 6 is accurate (1 foot per second).

...and pretty tricky given that while D&D uses six-second rounds, it also uses five-foot squares. A speed of 5 would be much easier to work with.

roadkiller
2006-04-13, 04:44 PM
Magnifying Goggles of Sungazing- Act appears to give the character a +5 to spot and search checks and lowlight and darkvision out to 100', but when the character put the goggles on, it immediately twists the character's head to look at the sun if it is up. It takes a DC 25 strength check to force your head away for five minutes at which point another check must be made. The character cannot close his/her eyes, or cover the goggles themselves, but another character can. On the first round of looking at the sun, the character takes 1d4 subdual damage. On the second round the character suffers blindness for 1d12 hours after the goggles are removed and 1d4 subdual damage. Rounds 3 and 4, the character takes 1d6 subdual damage and is blinded for 2d20 rounds after the goggles are removed. On round five, the blindness becomes perminant damage to the eyes and the character takes 1d6 subdual damage. Any rounds after, the character takes 1d6 subdual damage each round. If the character suceeds in looking away, the effects (other than perminant blindness) are set back one round per five minutes of not looking at the sun. The curse does not take effect if the sun is not out. The goggles DO give a +5 on spot checks to see sunspots. Requires a remove curse spell to remove.

Don't look at the sun through a magnifying glass!

Orion-the-G
2006-04-13, 06:01 PM
This is a Call of Cthulhu classic, but it can be used well in D+D.

A pair of spectacles (what's with the eyewear in this thread) that allow the PC to see into a coterminous dimension. However, it also allows the creatures of that dimension to see and interact with the PC. Having your friend put on some glasses and then get torn to bloody shreds is always fun.

SpiderBrigade
2006-04-13, 06:05 PM
This is a Call of Cthulhu classic, but it can be used well in D+D.

A pair of spectacles (what's with the eyewear in this thread) that allow the PC to see into a coterminous dimension. However, it also allows the creatures of that dimension to see and interact with the PC. Having your friend put on some glasses and then get torn to bloody shreds is always fun.

I like that one, although it should also have a "Drives you insane" effect, right?

Also, how do you work it into D&D cosmology? Do you see into the Ethereal? Personally I'd say it makes the most sense to have the things keyed to the Far Realm, but it's not coterminous is it?

Orion-the-G
2006-04-13, 06:09 PM
It's call of cthulhu everything drives you insane :D.

In 'standard' D+D cosmology it would need to be something like the far realms (the plane of shadow would work, so long as some nasties were floating around nearby though). Of course the only definition of the far realms I'm aware of is that they're crazy weird and full of things with too many eyes/tentacles/mouths/lovecraftian references. So I don't know of anything that says they can't be coterminous but non-interacting.

Phasm
2006-04-13, 06:39 PM
My curses tend to be more annoying than actually damaging...

Circlet of Rainbows

This gaudy brass circlet is studded with glass jewels in all the colors of the rainbow, and some that the rainbow kicked out for bad taste. Despite its appearance, detect magic shows the circlet to have a moderate aura of illusion. Identify reveals that the wearer can use color spray 3/day and hypnotic pattern 1/day. Shiny! Once the circlet is used, however, the DM should smirk and roll some dice. d%, to be exact.

First roll is for part of the body affected.
1-20: Hair only.
21-50: Skin only.
51-80: Hair and skin, same color.
81-100: Hair and skin, different colors.

Second roll is for color(s)! Use a d10 here.
1: Red
2: Orange
3: Yellow
4: Green
5: Blue
6: Purple
7: Pink
8: Metallic gold
9: Metallic silver
10: White (as in ice-white)

The color change is permanent, and can only be lifted with a break enchantment, limited wish/miracle, or regular wish/miracle. Mordenkainen's disjunction works too, but you'd better make darn sure all your magic goodies are elsewhere. Dye doesn't take on affected hair, and if you shave it it'll grow back the same color. On the bright side, once someone has been affected by the circlet's curse, they can use it with impunity.

Imagine the party's macho warmage turning a lovely shade of Barbie pink... or a green-elf who really is green now... ;D

LordOfNarf
2006-04-13, 08:27 PM
My curses tend to be more annoying than actually damaging...

Circlet of Rainbows

This gaudy brass circlet is studded with glass jewels in all the colors of the rainbow, and some that the rainbow kicked out for bad taste. Despite its appearance, detect magic shows the circlet to have a moderate aura of illusion. Identify reveals that the wearer can use color spray 3/day and hypnotic pattern 1/day. Shiny! Once the circlet is used, however, the DM should smirk and roll some dice. d%, to be exact.

First roll is for part of the body affected.
1-20: Hair only.
21-50: Skin only.
51-80: Hair and skin, same color.
81-100: Hair and skin, different colors.

Second roll is for color(s)! Use a d10 here.
1: Red
2: Orange
3: Yellow
4: Green
5: Blue
6: Purple
7: Pink
8: Metallic gold
9: Metallic silver
10: White (as in ice-white)

The color change is permanent, and can only be lifted with a break enchantment, limited wish/miracle, or regular wish/miracle. Mordenkainen's disjunction works too, but you'd better make darn sure all your magic goodies are elsewhere. Dye doesn't take on affected hair, and if you shave it it'll grow back the same color. On the bright side, once someone has been affected by the circlet's curse, they can use it with impunity.

Imagine the party's macho warmage turning a lovely shade of Barbie pink... or a green-elf who really is green now... ;D

Make their color change everyu time they use it! that would be funny... pop! i'm red! pop! i'm green! pop! i'm... magenta?!

John_D
2006-04-13, 08:37 PM
If black were in there, an elf who rolled really poorly could have a severe case of mistaken identity.

the.sundance.kid
2006-04-13, 09:15 PM
Shield of the Coward
This +3 steel shield radiants strong abjuration magic, and is decorated with a gold-and-silver sunburst. However, having been once wielded by a bodyguard who lost his nerve and fled from battle, leaving his young charge to die, it is now cursed. Whenever the character who owns this item is struck in battle - regardless of whether or not he is using the shield or not - the shield casts a shield other effect targetting its owner, but transfers the other end of the effect to the nearest character who is unfriendly or better towards the PC (and who may attempt to resist at DC 25.) This effect causes half of all damage dealt to the shield's owner to be redirected to the other character, who is fully aware of the source of the damage. If the owner ever tries to rid himself of the shield, it reappears somewhere on his person within the hour. If the owner recognizes the shield's purpose and decides to make deliberate tactical use of it, it instantly teleports itself to the nearest unfriendly or better character, changing ownership. The curse may only be broken with remove curse or more powerful magics.

LordOfNarf
2006-04-13, 10:13 PM
define "tactical use".

and make it the nearest creature that is "indifferent" or better, unfriendly could be an opponent. aand let them tactically use it, but make it the only sheild that they can ever wear, if they try to use another one then it replaces the other one in the users hand. removable by a remove curse or limited wish spell

the.sundance.kid
2006-04-14, 05:15 PM
'Tactical use' is if they go 'okay, I know what this does, so now I'll stick around my barbarian bodyguard forever now.' Up to DM interpretation. The shield's effect is simply too good if used for strategic benefit.

Unfriendly creatures aren't necessarily attacking the creature, but when the character's shield starts zapping them they're going to get hostile!

lordaaronj
2006-04-14, 07:31 PM
A magical +1 eyepatch, that when worn will double your vision (giving you stereoscopic vision). It gives you a +1 to your charisma, but forces the character to tell everyone he has a conversation with what the eyepatch does.

Hey! Cool eyepatch!
Yeah, it's a +1 eyepatch that doubles my vision!
So... it lets you see like you have two eyes?
Yup.
Great. Nice to meet you.. (weirdo)

Gdrad
2006-04-14, 08:45 PM
Sometimes, magic is stranger then fiction. There was once a prankster enrolled within a magic school. He devised this.

Jewel of rude:
Looks like a regular ruby. And several have found their way onto various pieces of equipment as ornaments. Designed to let out a loud indecent noise during the exams of fellow students... Has a 20% chance of letting out a loud fart when the weilder is feeling anxious and nervous. (D% first 20). Has a further 70% chance when triggered to let out another sound every round till it a failure occurs.
Listen DC to hear the sound is 1.

roadkiller
2006-04-14, 09:53 PM
Assorted phobia items:

Thieve's Punishment-
These gloves were developed by a rich sadistic wizard who was tired of having his castle broken into. Whenever he caught a theif in his castle, he would put them on the unlucky rogue and put the rogue in a room full of nothing but gold. The door and it's handle were gold, the floor and walls were gold and there were piles of gold throughout the room. The door lead directly outside. The theif could keep whatever he took out of the room, but he could only make one trip. The theif would be let out after a day, if he hadn't already left, to tell none to try to break in.

Unfortunantly for the theif, the gloves cause acute Aurophobia (a fear of gold), and the wearer must make a DC 20 will save or act as if affected by a Cause Fear spell when s/he sees gold. Noises or actions that the character usually associates with gold causes a DC 15 will save or be affected by a Cause Fear spell. Can only be removed with a Remove Curse spell.


Wizard's Bane Headband-
Designed by a wizard hunter who was tired of needing to deal with wizards who could effectively use their spells, he would sell it to the wizard for a reasonable price. The next day, he would move in and kill the wizard while incapacitated. Often he wouldn't have to actually kill them, as they would commit suicide.

Appears to be a +2 Headband of Intellect. When the wearer puts it on, they do get +2 to their Intellegence, but they also gain Epistemophobia (a fear of knowledge). The character must make a DC 25 will save or think that the fear came from the intellegence that they gained from the headband. If the character suceeds, they understand that it is from the headband. The character must make a DC 25+ the character's intellegence bonus Will save to overcome the fear enough to memorize spells every night. If the character is a wizard, s/he suffers a +20% arcane spell failure chance. The character also suffers a -2 moral penalty on all rolls. Requires a Remove Curse spell to remove.

Holy Symbol of Fear-
Created by rivaling gods to destroy important worshippers, these are highly destructive to a cleric or paladin.

The Holy Symbol of Fear appears to be a normal holy symbol in all respects until touched. Immediately after a character touches it, they immediately develop a fear of the priests of, holy items of, favored weapon(s) of and the god itself that the Holy Symbol of Fear supposedly belongs to. Whenever a character comes into contact with any of the aformentioned (aside from the god itself), s/he must make a DC 25 Will save or be affected by a Cause Fear spell that lasts as long as the character knows it is near. If the character comes into contact with the actual god, the character must make a DC 20 Will save or be implanted with a Suggestion of "Kill yourself before the god kills you slowly and painfully." If they suceed that save, then they must make a DC 35 Will save or be affected by a Cause Fear spell that lasts as long as the character knows it is near. If it is picked up by a cleric or paladin of the god the Holy Symbol of Fear supposedly belongs to, they must make a DC 25 will save or immediately lose their divine abilies (spells, lay hands on, aura of courage, ect). The Holy Symbol of Fear is always around the neck of the character who found it, held in place by a small chain. If it is removed, it instantly transports back onto the neck of the owner. The Holy Symbol of Fear can only be removed by a Limited Wish spell or higher. Once removed, the phobia receeds and clerics and paladins regain their abilities.

Yay for messing with minds!

Jarawara
2006-04-14, 11:38 PM
I had two odd ones I gave out. One was rather whimsical, and the other was actually a fairly good item - neither were cursed. But the looks on the players faces when they figured out what they really were... made it better than any curse I could think of! ;D

*~*~*

First one, as I said, was a bit whimsical. Fairly straightforward, really.

Helm of Invisibility.

Put it on... it goes invisible. Not you, just the helm.

It actually was a useful item - it still provides you defense, but your opponents don't know that. Though I would guess that anything that suggests to your opponent to try to hit your head can't be a really good thing.

But the real value was the humor I got when the player first tried the thing and found that only it disappeared, not him. :P

*~*~*

The second item was far from cursed, and in fact was a very powerful magic item. Problem was, it was so none-standard that the players had wasted it before it could ever really prove its use.

Introducing: The +1 to +5 Sword!

This magical sword has runes written on the side, which can be identified as numeric ascending runes. (1 to 5, specifically). Just say aloud the rune, and the sword is powered up as a magical sword of the spoken rune's value, and holds this energy for 5 rounds or until the first hit is struck. And yes, this energy will allow you to hit uber powerful entities that normally require major bonuses to hit and damage. You could hit a God with this baby!!!

Players muse this over, realize that they've earned the whole jackpot, and go hog wild on their enemies. Ever have to deal with a low level fighter with a +5 Sword? He'd just call out the rune each round, and was chopping down Ogres with ease. It was overkill on Orcs, but what the hey, he might have levels, and besides, the +5 gave bonuses to hit as well. Carve through them like butter, they did!

Too bad they didn't figure out it had charges, till it was too late. 1 charge per "plus". Suddenly the runes quit glowing, and they're out of power. Can't be recharged, it's burnt out for good. They sure got themselves a bunch of Orcs though while it lasted... :P :P :P :P :P

Maybe it's time I throw a Demon at them, next session. Or a Gargolye, or Werewolf, or anything that requires magical weapons to hit... :D

The_Werebear
2006-04-15, 01:20 AM
Here is an easy one for more modern games.

Give the most irresponsible/CE PC some C-4. It will cause a TPK within three sessions, and the party won't even mad at you.

Ahem.

Anyway, here is one my friend thought up
Reverse Bag of Holding.
It appears to be a normal bag of holding, allowing you to stick items in it and store them at no extra weight. However, whenever the bag is opened, there is a 25% it will launch a random item out of the bag at incredibly high velocity. This is counted as an attack, at +15, and the person opening the bag counts as flatfooted. The object does damage as a club of that size, unless it happens to be pointy, in which case it does damage as a Longsword of the appropriate size.

Jarl
2006-04-15, 01:42 AM
Can the opener use the bag as a weapon? That is, hold it towards someone and open it?

-Cause that would be funny.

Reltzik
2006-04-15, 02:08 AM
Here's a very evil one.

Bad Penny

The Bad Penny appears to be an ordinary but old copper piece and is usually found with several other coins, with nothing to distinguish it. It has distinct Heads and Tails sides (though different Bad Pennies have different markings), and will always be found tails-up. It does not detect as magical or psionic with a Detect Magic or Detect Psionics spell, power, or ability, though other methods of detection (including other spells which mimic the Detect Magic spell) will identify it as being moderately magical of the Necromancy school.

The Bad Penny attaches itself to a particular character. It may be spent, discarded, lost, stolen, or even destroyed as a normal copper piece, but if so the character must make a Will save versus DC 20. If she fails, the Bad Penny will reappear (even if previously destroyed) and be given to her as the next copper piece she acquires, whether as part of a business transaction, a share of a horde, or whatever. Every time the coin returns to the character, she may take a DC 25 Appraise check to recognize it, with a cumulative +1 bonus for every time it has returned to her. If she is specifically checking to see if the Bad Penny is among copper pieces she receives, reduce the DC to 15. If the Will save is passed, the Bad Penny is no longer attached to her, won't reappear (save through normal circulation of currency), and instead becomes attached to the next person to acquire it (probably the person she was paying). If the character spends some CP without specifying the Bad Penny (perhaps because she does not recognize its significance), or similarly loses them, the DM should randomly determine whether the Bad Penny was one of the CPs and call for a Will save accordingly. A Bad Penny which comes to one character while still attached to another won't curse the character it comes to, and in these instances will always be found heads-up. Edit: If this is the case, it will always be the first copper spent, dropped, stolen, or otherwise lost by the character.

While the Bad Penny is attached to a character, that character receives a -2 circumstance penalty to ALL rolls made, save hit dice and other rolls made while advancing to new levels. This includes Will saves and Appraise checks involving the Bad Penny. Furthermore, the character is more likely to screw up by the numbers. ALL skill checks will result in catastrophic failure if failed by 5 or more, not just those which say so in the description. The character also suffers from critical fumble rules. If a natural 1 is rolled, there is a threat of a critical fumble, and another attack roll is called for. If that roll would be a hit, nothing happens. If it misses, the character trips, drops her weapon, or some other accident befalls her that would take either a move or standard action to correct and which will inhibit her in the meantime. Finally, bad things just seem to happen to the character. Any time a party member would be randomly chosen by a spell, effect, trap, or simply a mundane method such as drawing straws, the character will never be chosen if it is beneficial and will always choose the character if it is not. Also, enemies will be more prone to attacking the character in place of her allies, thieves will be more likely to choose her as her mark, cases of mistaken identity will continually haunt her, and so forth.

A Remove Curse spell will not destroy the Bad Penny or suppress its effects, but the character will automatically pass the next Will save to keep it from returning. If Remove Curse is cast and the Bad Penny destroyed, it will turn up again, but won't be found first by the character it was attached to. Destroying a Bad Penny, or suppressing its effects without destroying it, requires a Wish or Miracle spell.

Requires: Bestow Curse, Craft Wonderous Item feat, Caster Level 8th, 2000 XP, price: 10000 GP. Note that the creator becomes the coin's first victim.

RoboticSheeple
2006-04-15, 02:33 AM
Here's a very evil one.

Bad Penny
(...)
While the Bad Penny is attached to a character, that character receives a -2 circumstance penalty to ALL rolls made, save hit dice and other rolls made while advancing to new levels.

That's beyond all hells for a caster. I can't think of any item that RUINS a character's HD that baddly (permanant reduction in HD with no loss of lvl to attempt to earn it back...) And at caster lvl 8th it wouldn't be too difficult to start seeing these things early on in a game... That's just cheating on the DMs part and is horriblly unfair to PCs, personally I'd just drop a champaign with that sort of lunacy.

Reltzik
2006-04-15, 02:45 AM
BopBop:... ah, it seems to me (from my reading of your post) that you believe hit dice rolls also receive the -2... which would indeed be murder on d4 and d6 hit dice and none-to-friendly for anyone else. If that's the case, read the post, and your own quote of it, more carefully. I specifically EXEMPTED hit dice and other level-advancement rolls from the penalty, for the very reasons you seem to be citing.

And yeah, the caster level should probably be higher. I didn't think too much about that part before posting it.

EDIT: Added the words "you believe" to the first sentence. The post has a very different meaning without them. Oops.

Umbilical_Lotus
2006-04-15, 02:48 AM
Edit: Crap, I was typing up my evil coins right as you were posting your evil penny. Oh well. More nasty currency!

I give you my cursed pocketbook. I love putting enchantments, especially horribly nasty ones, on things the player will often overlook. Coins are the obvious progression of this, as it's not often that a player will look to their moneypouch as the source of their current ailment. Unless otherwise noted, these coins do NOT have a "come back to the owner" bit - they're easily traded, aquired, gained and given out, as what purpose does money have if not to change hands?

Coin of Chaos
The Coin of Chaos resembles an ordinary gold coin, if a bit larger and more crudely minted than others. It activates when owned by a living creature (ownership in this case is determined by proximity - if the coin is hidden on, held by or in any way in contact with that person, it activates; if it's in a coffer or hoard, it does not). It takes 24 hours for the Coin of Chaos to acclimate itself to its new owner. Once per day, at a random time, the Coin of Chaos manifests an effect much like a Wand of Wonder, targetting any intelligent, conscious creature within 30 feet of the coin's owner. The owner is included in that potential doom raffle.

Coin of Command
The Coin of Command resembles an ordinary gold coin of a somewhat unfamiliar currency and design. It activates when owned by a living creature (ownership in this case determined by proximity, much as the Coin of Chaos). The Coin of Command is an insidious thing that causes all direct commands that the owner hears and understands (such as "buy this now!" or "go to hell") to act as a suggestion spell with a Will saving throw DC of 17 and a caster level of 5. The Coin of Command is often used as an underhanded trick by pushy salespeople who always go after that extra sell.

Coin of Contamination
The Coin of Contamination resembles an ordinary gold coin, though dirty and irreperably tarnished. It activates when owned by a living creature (ownership in this case determined by proximity, much as the Coin of Chaos). The Coin of Contamination takes 24 hours to acclimate itself to its new owner. The coin radiates an unpleasant miasma, fouling the atmosphere around its owner (though invisibly; the miasma is more felt and smelled than seen) in a 20 foot radius, and bearing the unmistakeable scent of disease. Any creature who spends more than 10 minutes inside this miasma is threatened by a random disease (though constant; each Coin of Contamination emits a single particular disease, most often cackle fever, filth fever and mindfire). The coin's owner is never affected by it's emanations, acting as a carrier, though it certainly makes social interaction more interesting.

Coin of Corrosion
The Coin of Corrosion resembles an ordinary, if somewhat old and beat-up-looking gold coin. It activates when owned by a living creature (ownership in this case determined by proximity, much as the Coin of Chaos). The Coin of Corruption emits an energy harmless to living creatures and organic objects but highly corrosive to metal. Each day that the coin spends activated it deals 1d6 points of damage to metal items that have spent more than 24 hours within 20 feet of the coin. Often, the first things to go are the other coins...

Coin of Cessation
The Coin of Cessation resembles an ordinary gold coin stamped on both sides with an eclipse design. It activates when owned by a living creature (ownership in this case determined by proximity, much as the Coin of Chaos) and takes 24 hours to acclimate itself to that person, upon which the coin's curse takes full effect. At a random time each day, the coin radiates an antimagic field for two hours. Rumored to have been designed by a group of dragons annoyed by constant magically-aided theft from their treasure hordes, the Coin of Cessation is a bane to adventurers, often activating at the worst possible time.

RoboticSheeple
2006-04-15, 03:00 AM
BopBop:... ah, it seems to me (from my reading of your post) that you believe hit dice rolls also receive the -2... which would indeed be murder on d4 and d6 hit dice and none-to-friendly for anyone else. If that's the case, read the post, and your own quote of it, more carefully. I specifically EXEMPTED hit dice and other level-advancement rolls from the penalty, for the very reasons you seem to be citing.


Ah, I read it as All rolls made, save (as in saving throws), HD, ect. well then that's not nearly as bad. Sorry about the misunderstanding. My goodness, my inital look on it was something out of Munchkin and we all know that Munchkin and D20 systems should never meet...
That said, this coin looks delightfully awesome I may have my greedy party stumble across it, I know the drow will take it without a second of thought.... ;D

Goumindong
2006-04-15, 03:12 AM
I still like the robe of blending...

Emericol
2006-04-15, 03:29 AM
I still like the robe of blending...

With 3 settings, blend, mix and puree'? (pardon my spelling, I don't know how to use the propper e, or spell for that matter. Quite frankly, I'm surprised I can read).

Necomancer
2006-04-15, 04:00 AM
I once sliped a magical coin into a PCs treasure. It was cursed so that whoever fliped it would lose the coin flip no matter what they called. Sadly the PCs never figured this out and put the coin in a seperate place then the rest of their coins, wich is sad. I wanted to roll a d2343 to see if the one coin they pulled out of their pouch was the cursed one.

Spuddly
2006-04-15, 04:08 AM
Genital herpes.

Goumindong
2006-04-15, 04:43 AM
With 3 settings, blend, mix and puree'? (pardon my spelling, I don't know how to use the propper e, or spell for that matter. Quite frankly, I'm surprised I can read).



Yes ;) It appears to be a robe of blending in all ways until the user puts it on, where he must make a DC 20 reflex save to avoid all the daggers that are now attempting to blend him. I dont remember where all the stats were, but i think it was in munchkin.

The_Werebear
2006-04-15, 08:48 AM
Can the opener use the bag as a weapon? That is, hold it towards someone and open it?

-Cause that would be funny.

Actually, his party started using it as that. It is only a 1 in 4 chance something will happen, but when it does, it causes some serious trauma. Especially since his party started stowing wagons and greatswords in there.

Lysander
2006-04-15, 02:19 PM
Here's one your characters might appreciate at first:

Ring of Happiness

This golden ring was designed to cheer up the wearer. Anyone who wears it instantly becomes amazingly happy, not even impending death or tragedy can shake their unflappable spirit. This doesn't really hurt them directly, as it doesn't impair their judgement or abilities, and the wearer is fully capable of acting subdued and solemn as appropriate. The only problem is what happens if you take it off. The happiness of the ring causes the wearer to form a dependancy. Anyone who wears it for even a day or two will face horrible depression once it's removed. And since this is a psychological dependancy and not a magical effect remove curse won't help, they'll have to recover on their own over time. The longer they've worn the ring to more severe the depression will be. Most people who get one of these rings never take them off throughout their entire lives, and many that lose them permanently are often suicidal.

Borax
2006-04-15, 02:41 PM
Heres a really nasty one ;D

The Veloci-dart of infinite rebouding +5

when the dart hit a target (or any thing for that matter) it will bounce off (still does damage) in a random direction (use grenade rules) and increase speed. this will continue untill it reaches terminal velocity at which it will destroy itself after 5 hits

1st attack dmg 1d3 range inc 10' (first round)
1st bounce dmg 1d4 initiative 4 (second round)
2nd bounce dmg 1d6 initiative 6
3rd bounce dmg 1d8 initiative 4 (third round)
4th bounce dmg 1d10 initiative 10
5th bounce dmg 1d12 initiative 6
6th bounce dmg 1d20 initiative 4 (fourth round)
7th bounce dmg 1d20 initiative 15
8th bounce dmg 1d20 initiative 10
9th bounce dmg 1d20 initiative 6
10th bounce dmg 1d20 initiative 4 (fifth round)
the dart explodes at the last hit doing 2d12 magic damage to a radius of 5'

each bounce only hits targets that are in its path when it initiative comes up and uses a (1d20 +5) +1/per bounce for the attack roll (the GM rolls for the bounces).

great fun when you have a room full of orcs you dont want to bother with!

ChrisMcDee
2006-04-15, 08:19 PM
I urge someone to make a class or PrC based around coins somehow. Just having an everyday, symbolic item like that be a source of power (outside of the obvious way) intrigues me. Sort of like how using a pack of cards as a weapon is cool.

So, a currencymancer anyone?

Nahal
2006-04-15, 09:02 PM
Actually, his party started using it as that. It is only a 1 in 4 chance something will happen, but when it does, it causes some serious trauma. Especially since his party started stowing wagons and greatswords in there.

RUN AWAY!

Suzaku
2006-04-15, 11:21 PM
Actually, his party started using it as that. It is only a 1 in 4 chance something will happen, but when it does, it causes some serious trauma. Especially since his party started stowing wagons and greatswords in there.

In that case can you take a full round action to open close bag 4 times? I believe someone can open close a bag 4 times in 6 seconds.

Suzaku
2006-04-15, 11:23 PM
Here's one your characters might appreciate at first:

Ring of Happiness

This golden ring was designed to cheer up the wearer. Anyone who wears it instantly becomes amazingly happy, not even impending death or tragedy can shake their unflappable spirit. This doesn't really hurt them directly, as it doesn't impair their judgement or abilities, and the wearer is fully capable of acting subdued and solemn as appropriate. The only problem is what happens if you take it off. The happiness of the ring causes the wearer to form a dependancy. Anyone who wears it for even a day or two will face horrible depression once it's removed. And since this is a psychological dependancy and not a magical effect remove curse won't help, they'll have to recover on their own over time. The longer they've worn the ring to more severe the depression will be. Most people who get one of these rings never take them off throughout their entire lives, and many that lose them permanently are often suicidal.

Oh god reminds me of retarded animal babies when they play D&D.

Reltzik
2006-04-16, 02:09 AM
So, a currencymancer anyone?

Ooooooooh.

First, look into M:tA. You could pull that off with a Euthanatos or Syndicate member, easilly.

But I think you want DnD. It'd be cool, and I wish I knew how to do that, but I suck at drawing up these things. Pleasepleaseplease start a new thread just for that request, though. You should get a few responses.

Tyas
2006-04-16, 02:10 AM
Coins fun.

Coins made of copper, that look like gold. (color and mintage). Appraise 10 to determine the difference.

Get partys in a lot of trouble with townspeople.

Coin of transmutation:

This gold coin will generally be found alone, perhaps in a chest with several potions instead of the gold in the other chest.

When placed with coins of any precious or semi precious metals for 24 or more hours, it transmutes 1-100 of them to lead in every subsequent hour.

The resultant coins are nonmagical, and the transformation is permenant, baring a limited wish or similarly powerful magic

And for the stupidly cheesy stupid cursed item: This is from an old old published adventure, written for 1st edition. This thing TPK'd our party.. I was the one that activated it. Silly me. I'll try to remember as much of their description as possible.

It was really silly. A +2 longsword with wierd runes on it.
When activated, it gave the wielder 100 attacks in a round. And they were allowed to move around to keep hitting things.
(60 second rounds so not as insane as 100 attacks would be today, but still pretty stupid).
The first attack was at +100. Second +99. Etc..

So no, you didn't miss for a while

Where is the curse? You had to take all 100 attacks. If you ran out of enemies? Well there's still viable targets over there (your buddies). If you ran out of buddies? You got to spend the rest of the attacks chopping yourself into bits. You can't die while you are getting your hunderd attacks, but you can chop yourself into confetti that will fall apart when it's done.

If you survive the experience, you drop to the ground unconcious for 48 hours, and age 10 years, requireing a system shock roll to survive (or something like that).

Note that no... you can't do something like hack at the wall until it runs out of attacks.. you had to hit people/creatures that were in any way possible to be a threat.

There was something else iirc.. something about after you used it once... percentage chance your character would use the thing in each fight he got into regardless of the circumstances.

Reltzik
2006-04-16, 02:48 AM
Boots of Gravity

These boots detect as moderately magical (transmutation). They can be activated and deactived by command word any number of times, for a sum of periods not to extend more than thirty minutes per day, at the end of which they will deactivate automatically. When activated, the surface the boots are on is always down to the wearer, whether it is a floor, a wall, a ceiling, or something else. If the boots are on two different surfaces, "down" will be the average of the two -- thus a character with a foot on one wall and a foot on another will be drawn down towards the corner between them. Treat this as a Spider Climb spell, save that the character's hands may remain free. Any equipment held by the character is also affected, but reverts to normal gravity the moment it is dropped. This makes ranged combat disorienting -- divide range increments by 2, but retain the maximum range, for all thrown and shot ranged attacks made while on a surface other than a floor. If at any time both boots are simultaniously not in contact with a surface, they deactivate. This happens whenever a character attempts runs, double-moves, uses a jump, swim, tumble, or ride check, charges, is successfully tripped, bull-rushed, or overrun. Some other circumstances may also qualify, and the DM should judge accordingly.

If activated for five straight rounds, on the sixth the boots become increasingly difficult to pull from the surface they are on, reducing the wearer's speed by 5 ft and applying a -1 circumstance penalty to all Dex and Dex-based rolls. However, other characters have difficulty moving the character as well. The character receives +2 to balance checks, checks to resist trips (including being tripped in response to a failed trip), bull rushes, overruns, and grapple checks to force the character to move. Each consecutive round thereafter brings a new set of these penalties and bonuses, which stack. Once the movement is reduced to 5 ft, instead of having movement reduced further the character is limited to 5ft moves and must make a DC 10 strength check to make them. The DC of this check increases by 2 each round. The boots may be deactivated as a free action during the character's turn, or removed from the feet at will, though if they have started applying penalties this requires a DC 10 Escape Artist check. If the check was required and is successful, the boots remain where they are until deactivated or pulled from the wall, which requires the same strength check as would be required to make a 5ft step with them (which may be none). Once deactivated or removed from the feet, the penalties immediately vanish. Obviously, if the boots are deactivated or removed while the character is on a wall or ceiling, he is at risk of falling damage.

Unlike many cursed items, these are easilly removed (requiring only the escape artist check) and may be discarded at will.

Requires: Craft Wonderous Item, Spider Climb, 500 XP, caster level 3rd. Market Price: 4000 gp.

Phasm
2006-04-16, 03:07 AM
Something fun for the elf-hater in the group!

True Cloak of Elvenkind

The first version of this item was made by an elven wizard who was sick of humans constantly intruding on elven lands. "They should know what it's like to be an elf these days!... Waaaaait a minute..."

To all appearances and divinations short of analyze dweomer, this appears to be a cloak of elvenkind. Spiffy! If worn by an elf, the curse does not take effect and the cloak functions as a normal cloak of elvenkind. If worn by any race other than an elf (including half-elves; the cloak's magic can detect their human blood), the wearer will transform into an elf over a period of 2d4 days. Once the cloak is on, only a remove curse, break enchantment etc. will get it off. Once the transformation into elf is complete, the cloak will come off but the victim remains an elf. The newly-minted elf loses all previous racial qualities and gains those of an elf. Polymorph and permanency can return a semblance of the victim's original form to him/her, or the party can spring for a limited wish, wish or miracle to completely reverse the transformation.

If there's more than one sort of elf in your world, roll d% to determine what flavor your victim gets. Or just decide arbitrarily ahead of time.

Variants on this one include the True Belt of Dwarvenkind, a Cloak of Arachnida that turns the wearer into a drow... I'm not sure what you could use to turn someone into a halfling or gnome, but that would be really fun!

roadkiller
2006-04-16, 10:05 AM
I'm not sure what you could use to turn someone into a halfling or gnome, but that would be really fun!


Hmm, I pretty sure that a True Pointy Hat of Gnomishness would work for gnomes. I'm not sure for halflings. On the other hand, what happens if you put on two different race changing items at once? Do you turn into some bizzar halfbreed, does nothing happen or do you just plain explode?

Steward
2006-04-16, 11:12 AM
Hmm, I pretty sure that a True Pointy Hat of Gnomishness would work for gnomes. I'm not sure for halflings. On the other hand, what happens if you put on two different race changing items at once? Do you turn into some bizzar halfbreed, does nothing happen or do you just plain explode?

Both magic items disintegrate and the crafter(s) of both items are killed instantly -- no save.

BelkarsDagger
2006-04-16, 11:30 AM
Vial of Somethingness

When you drink, roll a D20.
1-3, +2 Con for 1D6 hours
4-6, -2 Con for 1D6 hours
7-9, +2 Str for 1D6 hours
10-20, take 2D6 acid damage [no save]

It's a gamble alrighty.

Imrix.
2006-04-16, 12:20 PM
What do you do for halflings? Sime kind of weed pipe perhaps?

Suzaku
2006-04-16, 12:42 PM
I say some sort of shapechanging thief that gives +3 to open lock and disable device. Carrying it turns the person into a halfling.

Gyrfalcon
2006-04-16, 06:45 PM
Vial of Somethingness

When you drink, roll a D20.
1-3, +2 Con for 1D6 hours
4-6, -2 Con for 1D6 hours
7-9, +2 Str for 1D6 hours
10-20, take 2D6 acid damage [no save]

It's a gamble alrighty.

With only a 30% chance of having a beneficial result, I'd certainly give that potion a pass... which is probably why its a not-good thing to give the PC. :)

JoeFredBob
2006-04-16, 06:53 PM
I once had the DM give the party a Santa hat of opposite alignment. There was a whimsical chaotic gnome in the party. Who very shortly became a whimsical chaotic EVIL gnome.

The Glyphstone
2006-04-16, 08:00 PM
Technically, if the gnome was chaotic before, he should have become LAWFUL evil...

geez3r
2006-04-16, 09:15 PM
This one my old DM pulled on us.

Return of Woe

This was a +5 adamant vorpal, intelligent greataxe, any sort of magical detection said it was that and that only. The DM monkeyed with the intelligent weapon rules to make this btw. Firstly, the weapon was deathly afraid of blood. When ever the weilder damages an enemy with this weapon, the weapon began screaming telepathically at the wielder, who takes a - 4 to AC and all check and the wielder cannot make any skill/ ability checks that require concentration. To rid the weapon of the blood, and the wielder of the weapon must make a full round action that provokes an attack of opprotunity.
Whenever the weilder kills a foe with a normal hit, the weapon casts maximized inflict critical wounds as a 20th level cleric on the weilder.
If the vorpal ability of this weapon is succesfully used, the weilder makes a *Will save (DC 10 + # of HD the foe had) or gain 4 negative levels. The Fort save to regain one of those levels the next days is equal to the Will save originally failed.
The weapon stays with whomever so much as picks up the weapon, and the weilder must always have at least 1 hand on it. Only limited wish, wish or miracal will remove the weapon, which then explodes dealing 22d6 damage to all within a 50ft radius, centered on the weilder, Ref save DC 30 for half damage.

* The Will save was just to get back at the fighter type who happened to pick it up.

LordOfNarf
2006-04-16, 09:53 PM
1 hand at all times, that would make a lot of things a pain to do.

Necomancer
2006-04-17, 12:36 AM
Oooh, just remembered another one thats not a curse but alot of fun. I have a persistant NPC named Scorch whos basicly the owner of every magic shop the PCs come acrost. Hes delightfully ecentric and weird. One of my favorite things he did was his sale on unlabeled potions for a copper each.

There was no dice rolled. I just chose whatever effect amused me most at the time. This included entire species and gender changes, including becoming the worlds most beautiful orc woman, growing wings, producing fairy dust, thinking you're pregentant, looking like but not being a drow, hair catching on fire, growing a beard, losing all your hair, growing claws, growing random animal parts and in one case turning into a gold dragon wyrmling (The guy fed it to his familiar). Oh, also making it so the PC could only say the word waffles.

MagFlare
2006-04-17, 09:30 AM
Helm of the Divine

It looks like a tall, pointed helm with alternating red and white horizontal bands up to its tip. It offers immunity to all mind-affecting effects, but whenever the wearer enters a temple (or similar holy place) or is within ten feet of someone casting a divine spell, he's immediately struck by lightning as per call lightning.

Perhaps the player will eventually figure out that from a god's perspective, the helmet looks exactly like a bullseye.

Sacrath
2006-04-17, 11:23 AM
How about a nice scroll?

Scroll of Burning Hands
This scroll looks like a scroll of burning hands, mainly because it is one. Read magic will reveal it is a scroll of Burning Hands, Detect magic will reveal a minor evocation aura, just like a scroll of bunring hands, Identify (besides the 1% chance to detect a cursed item) will reveal that it can be used by anyone, not just casters with Burning Hands on thier spell list. Only Analyze Dwemer or some simmilar form of magic will reveal its true effect. Of course, when used, it catches the user's hands on fire dealing 1d6 damage per round for 1d4 rounds. If they attack someone with an unarmed attack while their hands are burning they deal 1 fire damage in addition to their normal unarmed damage.
Minor Evocation; Craft Wonderous Item; CL 3; burning hands; Price 150 gp.

As a wand ajust CL to 8 and make the Price 1,500. If not identified as a cursed item they can be sold for the normal price of a normal scroll/wand of burning hands.

There was also one for fireball but I won't go into too much detail.

MagFlare
2006-04-17, 12:03 PM
There was also one for fireball but I won't go into too much detail.

I appreciate it.

Maxymiuk
2006-04-17, 01:04 PM
Rod of Nim
Nim was a king who was, let's say, not too bright. However, he was smart enough to realize his own limitations and resent anyone who was smarter than him (most people). However, for all his thoughtlesness, Nim came up with a clever plan to remedy that situation. He hired a wizard to turn his royal scepter into a magical rod that would cast Touch of Idiocy on anyone Nim would point it at. The wizard, knowing the outcome of such an item being created, refused.

After liberal use of ham-fisted guards and the castle's torture chamber, the wizard saw the error of his ways and agreed to create the item. In due time, the work was complete, and Nim received the scepter. Quite naturally, the wizard became its first victim as Nim tested his rod's effectiveness. But even as he forgot all that he knew, the wizard smiled to himself, for even now, his revenge has been set in motion.

Nim, in all his wisdom, proceeded to use the rod on his advisors, court mages, administrators, generals, and anyone else who's intelect he felt threatened by. Soon enough, he could indeed say that he was the smartest person in the castle (what needs to be pointed out here is that servants are not people - a well known fact that Nim adhered to as any good noble should), as everyone else turned into drooling idiots.

Or was he? Over the weeks Nim noticed - briefly - that he was forgetting things. How to dress. How to eat. What his name is. Then he forgot that he was forgetting, and in the end, the only thing he did remember was the resentment that he still clung to, and that his rod could remedy it. But eventually, even that disappeared, and Nim lived out the rest of his days as a complete vegetable in some far-away monastery, while the kingdom underwent a change of government that did away with all nobility. The scepter itself was lost at some point or other and, to be honest, no one looked for it really hard.


The Rod of Nim bears the appearance of an ordinary golden royal scepter. However, the wielder needs only to point it at another sentient creature and trigger the rod's effect through an act of will (the effect needs to be known beforehand). The rod then delivers a modified version of the Touch of Idiocy spell: the victim must make a DC 25 Will save or suffer 6 Intelligence damage. This effect is permanent unless removed with a Remove Curse, Restoration, Limited Wish, Wish, or Miracle spells. The rod can be used three times per day as a standard action. Note: if the victim's Intelligence score is reduced to, or below 0 through the use of the rod, the victim suffers from brain death and while his body may potentially be kept alive through magic, nothing short of divine intervention can actually restore him at this point.

However, the rod is a cursed item, creating a backlash effect against the user. Each time it is used, the wielder must make a DC 20 Will save or suffer 1 point of permanent Intelligence damage that cannot be removed by any means short of a Wish spell. If the wielder's Intelligence score is reduced to 0 in that manner, he suffers from brain death (see above).

roadkiller
2006-04-17, 05:33 PM
Targeting themed items!

Wand of Point Blank Fireballs

Appears to be a Wand or Fireballs created by a 10th level caster (10d6) with up to 40 charges. Unfortunantly when used, the fireball, instead of heading for where its wielder aimed, immediately goes off in the wielder's square.

Wand of Misdirected Missiles

Appears to be a Wand of Magic Missiles created by a 9th level caster (5 missiles) with upto 50 charges. When activated, the missiles unerringly head for the nearest character of indifferent or better attitude to the caster. If none are present, the missiles target the caster. If two characters are nearby, then it goes for the one with the best attitude. If the attitudes are equal, then two divide them as equally as possible, and roll to see which gets any extras.

RandomNPC
2006-04-17, 06:37 PM
how about the new repeater ability for cursed magical items (i made this up a lil while back)

anything with charges, lets say a wand of fireball, after being activated on a round activates again on the next round on the same initiative, and on the next round... untill out of charges.

so, wand of fireball, tuck it in your belt to hold it and move somewhere....

or my partys faveorate, "ill drop it as a free action and pick it up after combat......"

The_Werebear
2006-04-17, 06:39 PM
how about the new repeater ability for cursed magical items (i made this up a lil while back)

anything with charges, lets say a wand of fireball, after being activated on a round activates again on the next round on the same initiative, and on the next round... untill out of charges.

so, wand of fireball, tuck it in your belt to hold it and move somewhere....

or my partys faveorate, "ill drop it as a free action and pick it up after combat......"

That could actually be useful in some situations. You are stuck in a village under siege. Make a few of those, fire one charge at the enemy, then hand it to a nearby peasent and tell them not to let go.

Or, tie a rock to it, fire one off, then throw it into the enemies ranks.

Phasm
2006-04-17, 06:46 PM
Warning: ONLY use this item in a PbP. I will not be responsible for the consequences if you use it in a tabletop game.

Necklace of the Poet

This lovely lapis lazuli bead necklace has an aura of divination about it; an identify spell will reveal that the necklace continually bestows the tongues ability on its wearer. Fabulous! Except... it won't come off once you put it on. Uh-oh. The wearer must make a daily Will save DC 15 + X, where X = number of days s/he has worn the necklace. Upon a failed save, the victim is forced to speak in rhyme all the time. Rhyme scheme is up to the player, so long as his/her dialogue does in fact rhyme; no 'free-form' poetry or haiku allowed. Fortunately a remove curse is sufficient to get the necklace off.

Koji
2006-04-17, 07:25 PM
Boots of Theme Music:
On first inspection, these soft leather calf-high boots appear to be normal boots of sneaking +4. However, once donned their terrible curse becomes apparent. From all around the wearer, music befitting his current situation pours into the air at an appreciable volume (About the level of a standard speaking voice, varying by situation). In a heated battle, brass and strings roar forth with a stirring melody. While sleeping, a gentle lullaby drifts forth. Most disastrously, while sneaking, suspenseful pizzicatto strings pluck a tune in time with his footsteps, ruining any attempt at stealth.