I need an interesting pirate's treasure curse

[ddude987]

Title says it all. I am looking for something out of the ordinary, but not a curse the players will abuse, which is why immortality is a no go, even if it was good in Pirates of the Caribbean. Thanks!

[Immabozo]

Cloud of drugs springs into the air, now everyone is addicted to drugs and must spend the treasure on drugs!

EDIT: Or, their left hand is neon red and glows, not brightly enough to be of use, but bright enough to make sneaking anywhere difficult

[MukkTB]

Watch out that site is NSFW. Don't hit up any other page.
http://oglaf.com/gifted/
Also you probably shouldn't do that.

[SethoMarkus]

Depending on if you want it to be a roleplaying feature or an actual 'punishment' for the players, you can always go full-on Midas or Tantalus. The players have incredible luck, stumbling upon limitless wealth and riches, but whenever they attempt to pick up or use the treasure it disintegrates into dust or dirt. This only applies to non-magical gems and coins, so weapons and other equipment are still safe, and they can trade/sell items to a vendor, but if they personally touch coins or gems, they end up with a handful of dust instead.

Seems like the sort of thing a jealous, greedy pirate would curse their treasure with.

[Segev]

Depending on how nasty you want to be about it, tie the gp to either their hp or their xp.

hp

Upon taking any part of this pirate's treasure, the characters who did so find themselves with a seeming blessing: wounds no longer hurt. But what they won't realize is their treasure and property is being ruined on a gp:hp 1:1 basis. Lost, stolen, destroyed, damaged.

Worse, spending any amount of treasure causes them 1 hp of damage per gp they expend. Copper and silver is okay in less than 1 gp amounts, but "buying" silver or copper with gp counts as "spending" the gp. They cannot heal except by gaining loot equal to the amounts they've spent. This gives them a buffer of only their maximum hp in amounts they can afford to spend without regaining it. And gaining more over that amount doesn't change the 1:1 gp:hp cost; gaining more wealth while unwounded just gives them more unspendable wealth.

XP

The PCs no longer earn XP for anything other than gaining loot - and they gain that in a 1:1 gp:xp value rate. Worse, as they spend gp, they also spend XP. This can cause them to lose levels. Permanently.



Either version of this can be relieved by a Remove Curse cast just as they return the treasure to its resting place, or a Break Enchantment cast as they spend all of the treasure in any way that gets it out of their hands. The latter passes the curse onto whomever they give it to, however. Unless they are returning it to its resting place.

[MrNobody]

The Cursed treasure of Captain McSober.
William McSober was one of the terrors of the Seven Seas. He attacked ships of all nations ad of all tonnage, regardless they were bigger than the Empty Bottle, the ship he loved as a daughter. For this love, not wanting his sailors to ruin the ship, Cpt. McSober banned all sort of alcoholics and drugs: noone in his ship was allowed to drink or smoke, cause ship's safety was far more important than man's amusement.
The sailors were not happy of this prohibition and sometimes took on board a barrel or two of whiskey: sometimes a sailor would hide and take a sip of it, not enough to get drunk but enough to enjoy the feeling of alcohol.
One day, after a tough battle, the crew was so happy for the victory that all the pirates went to take a couple of sip. The helmsman overdid and got drunk.
In the night, the drunk helmsman misguided the ship, wrecking her on the rocks.
Cpt. McSober felt betreyed and went mad: while the overdamaged ship was sinking, he started throwing his sailors overboard, cursing them and the treasure.

Since then, every man or woman that get hold in a part of the treasure of Cpt. McSober can no longer benefit of any kind of drug, venom, alcohol or "altering substance" that can be smoked or drunk and that are VOLUNTARILY assumed. Potions no longer effect the character, he never gets drunk (bad if he is a Drunken Master), he doesn't get benefit for drugs, he cannot suicide by drinking poison. The same goes with liquid/smoked alchemical and wondrous items.
A person affected by the curse can still be poisoned and is vulnerable to poison, drugs and other substances if he doesn't know he is drinking them, being vulenable to enemy's attacks.
However, a person cursed in this way cannot try to give any of the prohibited substances to a person that is also cursed. Legends talk about crews brought to madness: pirates tried to secretly give each other rhum or healing potions, maybe to sleeping or unconscious fellows, and yet failing because they were all cursed.

[Asheram]

*ponders* How about, as they grab the treasure they become permanently heavier, encumbered more and more for every coin they pick up. They may of course squander the treasure as they'd like but for each new individual piece of the treasure they pick up they can never get rid of its weight.

This works through Bags of Holdings and Portable Holes so it might be easier to hold the treasure in one hand but their body will still be burdened by its weight.

[Blackhawk748]

I am reminded of an item from KoK, it was called the Sirens Prize, or something to that effect, and it gave you a +2 to all mental stats. Now it gets pretty awesome, as it starts making you paranoid that people are going to take your gem or ruin you in public or etc etc. Now if you lose it your mental stats are reduced to 8 until you recover it, which is what you are obsessed with. Now in KoK you cant remove the curse with anything less than wish or miracle, id recommend Break Curse as the only way to remove the curse besides getting it back.

[ddude987]

Depending on if you want it to be a roleplaying feature or an actual 'punishment' for the players, you can always go full-on Midas or Tantalus. The players have incredible luck, stumbling upon limitless wealth and riches, but whenever they attempt to pick up or use the treasure it disintegrates into dust or dirt. This only applies to non-magical gems and coins, so weapons and other equipment are still safe, and they can trade/sell items to a vendor, but if they personally touch coins or gems, they end up with a handful of dust instead.

Seems like the sort of thing a jealous, greedy pirate would curse their treasure with.

Yes I thought of the same ideas. However I don't want something to harsh, but at the same time they have to want to get rid of it as it has a story element.


Depending on how nasty you want to be about it, tie the gp to either their hp or their xp.

hp

Upon taking any part of this pirate's treasure, the characters who did so find themselves with a seeming blessing: wounds no longer hurt. But what they won't realize is their treasure and property is being ruined on a gp:hp 1:1 basis. Lost, stolen, destroyed, damaged.

Worse, spending any amount of treasure causes them 1 hp of damage per gp they expend. Copper and silver is okay in less than 1 gp amounts, but "buying" silver or copper with gp counts as "spending" the gp. They cannot heal except by gaining loot equal to the amounts they've spent. This gives them a buffer of only their maximum hp in amounts they can afford to spend without regaining it. And gaining more over that amount doesn't change the 1:1 gp:hp cost; gaining more wealth while unwounded just gives them more unspendable wealth.

I like this idea. It seems very interesting. Do you think it is scary enough for the players to want to get rid of it though? Also any thoughts on how to DM the loss of treasure since while they may not be getting hurt, they might not realize losing treasure until its all gone.


*ponders* How about, as they grab the treasure they become permanently heavier, encumbered more and more for every coin they pick up. They may of course squander the treasure as they'd like but for each new individual piece of the treasure they pick up they can never get rid of its weight.

This works through Bags of Holdings and Portable Holes so it might be easier to hold the treasure in one hand but their body will still be burdened by its weight.

So you mean that each treasure item they receive, from anywhere, permanently counts its weight on them even when they drop it until the curse is removed?

[Asheram]

So you mean that each treasure item they receive, from anywhere, permanently counts its weight on them even when they drop it until the curse is removed?

Oh dear no. I just meant from that individual pile of cursed treasure.
It'd be way too harsh if it meant that every single valu... hm... actually, if it was limited to "ill-gotten treasure" it could be interesting.
A sort of "the weight of your sins" curse.

[Fax Celestis]

Here you are. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9711)

[Slipperychicken]

Perhaps it's a curse placed by a well-meaning spellcaster who was trying to redeem the pirates who took it? Those affected may not kill or steal. They feel an overwhelming urge against taking anything which isn't rightfully theirs (DM discretion), and must let their foes live (although taking prisoners is still an option).

[Uhtred]

A buddy of mine laid a curse on a treasure pile that he described as good/bad karma: for every gold piece you add to the pile, you gain 1xp. For every gold piece you take, you lose 1xp. Sure, you'll have ALL the gold, but you'll have ALL the negative levels until you put it all back. Some would say it's worth it, and go adventuring as lvl 1 but with AWESOME gear.

[ArcturusV]

I kinda like Slippychicken's idea there. I'd formulate the curse in something like: Those who have taken of the cursed treasure my never ask for a reward for anything they do.

I mean it still leaves loopholes for them to be given stuff without asking for it. And it's not as crippling as having a forced Vow of Non-Violence and stuff. But would be interesting and in the spirit. Your looter goes, "Oh yeah, I'll save your daughter King of Nowhere... for -" DM: "The curse makes you say, 'For nothing but the gratitude and honor of serving you'."

[atomicwaffle]

Dragonlust Curse

They will be consumed by a lust for wealth, and a never-satiated desire to have more. However, they will be so miserly that they would never part with any portion of their amassed wealth, not even for food, clothing or shelter. Eventually they would amass so much wealth they could no longer carry it, and would fight to the death anyone that would try to take it from them. Spending their final days as a hermit, guarding their treasure from intruders, they will eventually die of malnutrition, still clutching the gold and gems they sought. Upon their death, their hoard would also suffer the curse, spreading like a plague. Only by drinking the blood of a true dragon can they be rid of the curse.

[XenoGeno]

You could have the players influenced by the previous pirate crew similar to how vestiges influence binders who make a bad pact. Just take several vestiges' influences and refluff them a tiny bit, and you're golden. Maybe have it so that at the beginning of every day, the players have to make a Will save or be influenced by a specific crew member. It could either be that each PC is attached to one specific pirate every time they fail, or that they randomly determine which one is affecting them. If they ignore the influence, they get the penalty for the rest of the day, which with binders defaults to -1, but if you want the curse to be more severe, you can increase the penalty no problem.

[ddude987]

I kinda like Slippychicken's idea there. I'd formulate the curse in something like: Those who have taken of the cursed treasure my never ask for a reward for anything they do.

I mean it still leaves loopholes for them to be given stuff without asking for it. And it's not as crippling as having a forced Vow of Non-Violence and stuff. But would be interesting and in the spirit. Your looter goes, "Oh yeah, I'll save your daughter King of Nowhere... for -" DM: "The curse makes you say, 'For nothing but the gratitude and honor of serving you'."

Hmmm I like it. But is it powerful enough for them to want to rid themselves of it?

[ArcturusV]

It depends on the character and how far you let the curse go, and the players involved.

For example, if one character took the treasure alone, and had his teammates bypass the curse for him/her by negotiating on his behalf? Not really a thing that they'll care. If everyone took the treasure... might become a pain in the ass. Try to avoid them using loopholes and work arounds. And of course it works better the greedier that your players are, and the less they are from Exalted Good standards.

... I can kinda see a situation where the party Cleric/Druid/Monk is sitting there laughing as his teammates are all saying "Oh, I'll do it for free" against their wills. And looking at him as the only one not cursed to negotiate a fee for them and he goes "Yeah, what my teammates said."

[SoraWolf7]

Depends on how game-changing you want this to be.

Mostly RP dependent: Gender-changing, making it so they have to rhyme when speaking, making their skin a random color.

Slightly game-changing: Making it so they can't say words with a certain letter in it (mostly to affect spellcasters), change their race as if they had been reincarnated (stat-changes included), or minor stat loss.

Major game-changing: Alignment changes, size alteration, forcing them to go on a side-quest to uncurse themselves.

[Kol Korran]

Two ideas that I used:

The curse of the grumpy head!
In the treasure the party also find a mummified head, of a peculiar appearance (I made it look like a blind mongolian raider head :smallbiggrin:) It takes, and immediately starts cursing, belittling, grumping and shouting at the PCs. The head belongs to someone quite old, who wished eternal life, but his enemies cut it up, but his head continues on living (Or you can come up with a better story, it doesn't matter).

The head continually be little the "stupid incompetent younglings", always coming down on them, making foul jokes on them, and besmirching their reputations in front of others. A bit like Walter from the Jeff Dunham show, only maybe a bit less funny, a bit more nasty. If you wish, it might even be able to put a curse (As greater bestow curse) on someone who REALLY annoys him. The idea is to really get on your characters (and your players) nerves.

The thing is- they will try to get rid of it, but they can't. they burn it? It later appears in someone backpack, a bit charred ("you call that fire? bah! the fire in my days...") they throw him into the sea? It appears in your bed, as you wake up, all wet with a star fish attached. you try to chop it up? Harder than adamantite... (Where are ya? Let me at him! I'll bite your leg off!")

I have no idea how to solve this curse, but I often like to see what ideas the party tries to come up with. :smallamused:

Curse of the crabs!
The treasure is for some reason tied to crabs. You can have crab idols, coins with crab figures on them or somethign of the like. (If you don't like crabs you can use other stuff, even more weird stuff like abominations. I use crabs due to their versatility, and since they seem anassuming at first).
The party starts to be beset by crabs. First just some tiny crabs latching to their ship, trying to pinch them. then small crabs hordes, trying to damage their ship, then bigger and bigger crabs. then crabs with templates, then were crabs and so on and so on, with the frequency and lethality of crab encounters escalating till they can't ignore it.

And of course, you got to put int That Damned Crab in somehow! :smalltongue:

[ddude987]

Two ideas that I used:

The curse of the grumpy head!
In the treasure the party also find a mummified head, of a peculiar appearance (I made it look like a blind mongolian raider head :smallbiggrin:) It takes, and immediately starts cursing, belittling, grumping and shouting at the PCs. The head belongs to someone quite old, who wished eternal life, but his enemies cut it up, but his head continues on living (Or you can come up with a better story, it doesn't matter).

The head continually be little the "stupid incompetent younglings", always coming down on them, making foul jokes on them, and besmirching their reputations in front of others. A bit like Walter from the Jeff Dunham show, only maybe a bit less funny, a bit more nasty. If you wish, it might even be able to put a curse (As greater bestow curse) on someone who REALLY annoys him. The idea is to really get on your characters (and your players) nerves.

The thing is- they will try to get rid of it, but they can't. they burn it? It later appears in someone backpack, a bit charred ("you call that fire? bah! the fire in my days...") they throw him into the sea? It appears in your bed, as you wake up, all wet with a star fish attached. you try to chop it up? Harder than adamantite... (Where are ya? Let me at him! I'll bite your leg off!")

I have no idea how to solve this curse, but I often like to see what ideas the party tries to come up with. :smallamused:

Curse of the crabs!
The treasure is for some reason tied to crabs. You can have crab idols, coins with crab figures on them or somethign of the like. (If you don't like crabs you can use other stuff, even more weird stuff like abominations. I use crabs due to their versatility, and since they seem anassuming at first).
The party starts to be beset by crabs. First just some tiny crabs latching to their ship, trying to pinch them. then small crabs hordes, trying to damage their ship, then bigger and bigger crabs. then crabs with templates, then were crabs and so on and so on, with the frequency and lethality of crab encounters escalating till they can't ignore it.

And of course, you got to put int That Damned Crab in somehow! :smalltongue:

Those both are quite humerous and I enjoyed them thoroughly. I love the crabs one seeing as fortress crab from the magic the gathering card game is one of my most collected cards I have.

[Slipperychicken]

Dragonlust Curse

They will be consumed by a lust for wealth, and a never-satiated desire to have more. However, they will be so miserly that they would never part with any portion of their amassed wealth, not even for food, clothing or shelter. Eventually they would amass so much wealth they could no longer carry it, and would fight to the death anyone that would try to take it from them. Spending their final days as a hermit, guarding their treasure from intruders, they will eventually die of malnutrition, still clutching the gold and gems they sought. Upon their death, their hoard would also suffer the curse, spreading like a plague. Only by drinking the blood of a true dragon can they be rid of the curse.

So it's an excuse for standard player-character shenanigans. Forgive me for sounding cynical, but I don't think it really counts as a curse if it's forcing you to do something you would have done anyway.

[ericgrau]

The pirate captain's ghost (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ghost.htm) haunts the PCs. Rather than waging direct attacks, it spends early fights trying to telekinetically disarm and take his weapon back. Plus any bags of holding or other non-secured items (backpacks, haversacks and armor are safe if worn) that contain his stuff. He flees and deposits his gear back on his body and then gets to use ghostly copies in future fights. He also deposits his treasure back in the horde, and dumps any items from bags of holding that aren't his off to the side. Even when he has his gear, he is more likely to cause hit and run annoyances. Like frequently interrupting the players' rest periods, scaring NPCs away from the PCs in social situations, or alerting enemies of the PCs ("the rope trick is here, camp it out"). The players are sure to hate him. He doesn't even need to be that powerful to cause a ton of trouble.

Don't make him all knowing so that the players can temporarily get away if they try. The players may even hear of him giving gold to taverns for information on where the players went. But most groups are easy to follow for something that can pass through walls and floors. Likewise always give the players a good (not small or moderate) chance to respond to anything sneaky. The one thing more hated than a villain that takes toys is events happening by pure DM fiat.

Destroying a ghost is only a temporary solution. It returns in 2d4 days. The only way to be rid of this one is to return his treasure. And he may ask for his treasure back in battle, but the players' first response will be to try to kill him instead.

[Alex12]

Dragonlust Curse

They will be consumed by a lust for wealth, and a never-satiated desire to have more. However, they will be so miserly that they would never part with any portion of their amassed wealth, not even for food, clothing or shelter. Eventually they would amass so much wealth they could no longer carry it, and would fight to the death anyone that would try to take it from them. Spending their final days as a hermit, guarding their treasure from intruders, they will eventually die of malnutrition, still clutching the gold and gems they sought. Upon their death, their hoard would also suffer the curse, spreading like a plague. Only by drinking the blood of a true dragon can they be rid of the curse.

"I'm an Elan. I'm not gonna die of old age or malnutrition."

Actually, that sounds like an awesome boss fight.

[Flickerdart]

The worst thing about owning a treasure is that people will want to take it away from you. Maybe even the ghosts of the original pirates! While your average buccaneer is only good enough to ruin the party's stealth, sleep, and social attempts, more powerful pirates could pose serious combat threats in their own right.

[Asheram]

Just remember to not give them a curse which could affect others. The reverse midas curse is interesting, but 5 minutes after that I bet that there's some fool plotting to enters the kings treasure room just to force the kingdom to go on a silver standard instead.

[Invader]

Anyone who touches the treasure is forced to lie about everything but they think they're telling the truth.

Did this for a knight PC in my campaign and it led to some fun RP.

[Toy Killer]

A curse of unfollowing winds.

When you take treasure from Captain McAughlin, you leave yer quarter's forfeit"

When the players leave the dusty old cove, note the treasure left behind but only the handful of easily beaten traps, like it had been broken into before.

When the players are supposed to arrive at home, the realize they are far from they're supposed to arrive. Let them go and try to sell their stuff, in fact, encourage them. Nothing makes a player squirm more then a DM telling them to do something they wanted to do initially.

Describe town folk, make a few that stand out, when the players try to leave, have them wind up somewhere completely different. but certain familiar faces keep coming back up. old, tattered faces that look on to them with mournful expressions.

When the players finally ask these NPCs what's going on, let the NPCs tell them. "You're cursed, like us. until we can find the coins stolen and lost in barter, the unfollowing winds will keep returning us to these same places again and again. You can find your way back to the cove, but you'll never be able to choose where to go on from here."

Hell, you could practically make a campaign based of that entry adventure.

[ryu]

Curse of the Caribbean: Everyone who takes treasure is forced to do their best impersonation of Captain Jack Sparrow every time they speak IC until the curse is broken. Even if it's annoying to them. ESPECIALLY if it's annoying to them.

[Absol197]

How about this, instead of the immortality of the Pirates of the Caribbean, how about the opposite?

In a vast, hidden cave recessed in the mountain of a small island, a vast glittering treasure waits. But lurking amongst the gold is a dire grudge - the pirate captain who had gathered this horde, richer than many dragons', coveted every piece, and claimed at the very end, before he starved to death amidst its piles, that not only would he never let his treasure diminish, but he would continue to build it in death.

Should any person remove even a single copper piece from that cave, the captain's curse falls upon them. From that day forward, for each day, they age as if a year had passed. Only by returning what was taken, and by paying more as tribute, can their natural lifespan be returned...


Some mechanical aspects to this curse:
The curse causes the sufferer to age one year every day. If a person goes from one age category to another, they do not gain the mental ability score bonuses, but they do take the physical ability score penalties. Remember, a creature that dies of old age cannot be resurrected.

The curse is not on the individual coins and gems, but on the treasure itself. A cursed character does not need to return the exact pieces of treasure she took, only those of equal value.

If a character returns an amount of wealth (coins, gems, artwork, gear or magical items, even expensive mundane items) equal to what they took, the curse is lessened, but not ended - the character ages one year a week instead of one year a day. This may not become readily apparent that the curse is not actually over until some time has passed. In order for the curse to be lifted, the character must place half-again as much into the treasure as they originally took into the treasure. This ends the curse and restores the character's normal rate of aging, but it does not return the lost years.

If a character returns twice the taken value to the treasure, they begin to age backwards at a rate of one year per year, until their physical age matches their actual age, at which point they age as normal. For every time they double the value they return, they age backwards one additional year per year.

A Remove Curse spell can halt the curse for one day, returning the character's normal rate of aging. However, the caster must make a caster level check with a DC of 0, +1 for every day the character has been cursed. On a failure, the spell fails. A break enchantment spell can delay the progression of the curse for a full week, but the caster level check DC remains the same. A limited wish has the effect of a break enchantment, but no roll is required. Only a wish or a miracle can break the curse without the character returning the stolen wealth to the treasure.

The pirate captain was a vicious and uncultured man. He (and therefore the treasure) count the full value of anything taken against someone for determining what they are due to return, but he only counts half the value of artwork or magical gear that is given to pay that debt back. Mundane gear, even valuable or expensive gear, only counts for one-quarter its price in the captain's eyes. Gems, however, are his favorite, and count for twice their worth. Artwork made primarily out of gems get this bonus, as well.

A character who dies while under the curse, whether from their rapidly advancing age or from some other source, is not released from their duty to return what they have taken. Their spirit remains as a ghost, and is bound to wander the earth in tormenting limbo until they have returned their due: one-and-a-half times the value they originally took from the treasure. At that point, they can move on to the afterlife they have earned. Such ghosts cannot be returned to life with raise dead, but they can be resurrected, assuming they did not die of old age.


Hopefully this meets your criteria. Obviously it is very detrimental, because the characters (even elves) now only have a few months to live, and if they wait too long they'll lose much of their physical prowess with nothing gained in return. It's not crippling (at least not immediately), and there's a way to reverse the curse's effects, meaning that the campaign can continue onwards after the curse has been dealt with. Additionally, the characters should have several days before they really start noticing anything (maybe have them make Perception/Spot checks, or Wisdom checks to notice things, with the DC getting easier each day as the aging becomes more noticeable), and then they have to scramble to figure out what happened, how to make it stop, and where they have to go to do it.

And of course, the greedier your players are, the more they dig themselves into a hole, because they don't have to just return what they took, they have to give back more. If they all stuffed their bags of holding full, they'll have to give back a fortune to prevent aging into oblivion!


~Phoenix~

[Rosstin]

Kol's ideas are AWESOME.

One of the best curses a DM ever gave me: your fingers fuse together.

TERRIFYING curse for a spellcaster. This was to a theurge wizard named Marjin Taylor, for defiling a tomb. He was too ashamed of it to show the party at first, and they ended up cutting his fingers apart with a knife, leaving bizarre scars.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

The Curse of Captain Bones

Capt'n Bones once sailed alone
on a calm and empty sea.
I know what to do, I'll hire a crew
and no more lonely be.
But never a soul would sail for his gol'
His reputation's unsavory.
Oh what shall I do, to get me a crew
he questioned anxiously.

So Capt'n Bones then sailed alone
on a dark and treacherous sea.
To a maiden most foul, wearing only a cowl
and there he said to she
"If you gie me a crew, I'll promise to do
all that you ask of me"
"You're comely enou', yer boat's not a scow
how hard, then, to hire for ye?"
"There's nary a soul who'll sail for my gol'
For the wicked I've done with glee"

"If wicked you've done, then wicked you've won
there's many a wicked to see.
If honest won't do, then be wicked true
then you'll have a crew on the sea.
By coin or by due, if taken, they'll rue
and serve you unwillingly
But there is price, I won't ask it twice
you must first lay with me."

The deed was then done, the bargain was won
And forever after shall be
if ever a soul were to take Capt'n's gol'
then bound to serve would he.
Now Capt'n Bones sails with his own
A crew serving unwillingly
Now he hides his gol' so that any ol' soul
can find the stuff easily
For to take of his gol' would bind that soul
to serve for eternity.

Now the months went by, then the crew espied
a wreched lass to see
Wearing a cowl, but that wasn't all
a babe in arms had she
Now ol' Captain Bones looked like he was stoned
by a sight he thought ne'er to see
For he knew that lass, as it comes to pass
the father of the babe was he

Please take me aboard, I'll serve ye milord
and raise your babe to see
that his father is strong, has done many a wrong
and the most wicked soul on the sea
For a ship is a home, now you'll ne'er be alone
for good company I shall be
I too am alone, I have not a home
So please, might I stay with thee?"

Now Captain Bones his wickedness shown
thought hard before answering her plea
"Let it ne'er be known, that Captain Bones
would take as ugly a lass as ye.
Of the babe I'm ashamed, but I'll not be blamed
'twas your price you demanded from me
So 'tis your burden to bear, like that cowl you wear
now gie ye gone from me."

The lass in the cowl with an evil scowl
saw the ship set sail for the sea
"You'll rue the day that you threw away
all my love for thee
If you love that boat, you hairy old goat
then bound to her -you- shall be
and never ashore will you tread anymore
but stuck on that boat in the sea
For if you set foot on the shore, your curse is no more
and your crew no longer bound to ye.

Those who steal the treasure of Captain Bones, even so much as a copper, falls under a curse. As they are looting the place, Captain Bones begins sailing ashore (it is always found on an island or coastline) the moment they begin stealing. By the time they are done, he will materialize (Teleport Without Error) and command them to join his crew. They will find themselves unable to refuse.

They must follow any command Captain Bones gives, or any in his chain of command, but are otherwise relatively free to do what they like. However, they will find that the first set of orders includes a strict prohibition of abandoning ship, so they can't simply leave. They will need to puzzle out the curse and how to break it.

As a member of Captain Bone's crew, they will have a fair share of booty, however if they want more than a few coppers for every prize they win, they'll need to work their way up the chain of command. If they wish to leave service, however, they'll need to find a way to trick Captain Bones ashore.

[Maginomicon]

Taking this one from Secret of Mana II.

Every treasure chest you lay eyes on will instantly transform into a mimic and attack you. You gain no experience for killing such a mimic.

[Mutazoia]

Upon taking the treasure the players "gifted" with an internal anti-magic field. They can no longer cast magic and any magic items on their person cease to function while in their possession. Spells and magic items used by others still affect them though.

Or just give them a version of Mummy Rot that can't be cured by regular means.

[Segev]

I like this idea. It seems very interesting. Do you think it is scary enough for the players to want to get rid of it though? Also any thoughts on how to DM the loss of treasure since while they may not be getting hurt, they might not realize losing treasure until its all gone.

The down-side is that they actually can't spend treasure without taking real hp damage, and they can't heal said damage until they add more loot to the pile. I'd have them notice the treasure being destroyed after the first fight, honestly; make the loot turn to dust during the fight and blow away in the wind as they come to inspect it.

They'll investigate; let them do whatever accounting they wish. They should be able to figure out that the loot they lost is equal to the damage they took.


But again, the part that makes this awful for them is that they can't spend treasure without hurting themselves. And adding more treasure to their hoard doesn't help (unless they're currently hurt); if they're "not hurt" and add more, spending even 1 gp still hurts them for 1 hp.

Temp hp will become their friend if you let that be a clever way around it. (as spending gp while under temp hp effects would eat the temp hp first)

But you could make that still a little punishing by causing an amount of loot equal to the hp gained by a temp hp spell be "consumed" as if they'd taken that much damage.

Also, if any is stolen, they should start rapidly losing the hp, perhaps as if under a Geas to "retrieve the treasure" and not actively trying to pursue it. The hp loss stops when they've lost an amount equal to the stolen loot, but adding more-but-different loot to the hoard doesn't prevent the loss nor even add back to their hp until they get the stolen loot back.

Meanwhile, since the thieves who stole it from them stole cursed treasure, the thieves fall victim to this same curse, and if the PCs take it back from them, the thieves are now cursed to try to get it back...

[Razanir]

Whoever takes the treasure shapeshifts to look like its previous owner. Treat as a permanancied Alter Self, but without the restriction on forms.

Oh, and if you really want to mess with the players (who I'm assuming are male), have it be a lady pirate :smallamused:

[Tokiko Mima]

You could try slow petrification. Each week (or new moon, or whatever period you want to use) they don't return the treasure to a certain spot, they gain a point of natural armor, and a point of DR/-. They also lose a point of Dexterity. When their dexterity hits zero, they become statues. You can foreshadow this by having a lot of pirate statues, frozen with gold pieces in their open hands, appear in your campaign.

[Alex12]

Hm. If you want it to be annoying, but not necessarily fatal, you could still go the PotC route, in a way.
For 12 hours a day, they become Necropolitans (from Libris Mortis). They're undead, they retain all their class features, racial abilities, natural healing, etc, but they're undead. So they gain some cool stuff from undead status (immunities, darkvision) but they also take some penalties. Positive energy will hurt them, they can be turned, assorted social problems of being undead. Also, hit points. d12 hd, but no Con score. Have them reroll every time they shift back and forth.
Obviously, don't do this if you've got a Dread Necromancer in the group.

[Absol197]

There are a lot of good ideas here...So OP, will you let us know which one you finally decide to go with, and how it works out?