question about cursed items.

[Mystic Muse]

were my character to find a cursed item and put it on then took it off would it's ability still be in effect? or would I not be able to take it off without a remove curse spell?:smallconfused:

[Yuki Akuma]

Cursed items are magic items with bad effects. That's it. If you take one off or stop using it, it stops affecting you.

Some cursed items are also unremoveable unless you cast Remove Curse on them, but that's neither here nor there.

[Random832]

TL;DR: Look in the item's description, there isn't any one rule for all cursed items


Some cursed objects do have a permanent (i.e. must be remove curse'd even after discarding the object) effect.

e.g.:

Robe of Powerlessness

A robe of powerlessness appears to be a magic robe of another sort. As soon as a character dons this garment, she takes a -10 penalty to Strength and Intelligence, forgetting spells and magic knowledge accordingly. The robe can be removed easily, but in order to restore mind and body, the character must receive a remove curse spell followed by heal.


Other objects (such as the gender change belt from the comic, which is a reference to Baldur's Gate) cannot be discarded without remove curse.

Stone of Weight (Loadstone)

This stone appears to be a dark, smoothly polished stone. It reduces the possessor’s base land speed to one-half of normal. Once picked up, the stone cannot be disposed of by any nonmagical means—if it is thrown away or smashed, it reappears somewhere on his person. If a remove curse spell is cast upon a loadstone, the item may be discarded normally and no longer haunts the individual.

Incidentally...
Spear, Cursed Backbiter

This is a +2 shortspear, but each time it is used in melee against a foe and the attack roll is a natural 1, it damages its wielder instead of her intended target. When the curse takes effect, the spear curls around to strike its wielder in the back, automatically dealing the damage to the wielder. The curse even functions when the spear is hurled, and in such a case the damage to the hurler is doubled.

They should call it the Spear of Ill-considered House Rules. :smallbiggrin: