Clever Cursed Items

[dascarletm]

Happy Monday!

Anyway, I was thinking of some clever/interesting ideas for cursed items the other day, and I wanted to see what ya'll playgrounders had stored away in your head. These could be ideas you've had for custom items, or obscure published ones you thought were particularly interesting.

I'll start with one.

Mountaineer's Lament
This ring appears to be a ring of climbing when identified via skill check or by any spell that would otherwise determine it's magical properties. An Analyze Dweomer spell or identification spells 6th level or higher will determine it's true properties. When worn, this ring gives it's owner a +5 to climb checks when ascending. However, when the wearer is descending it instead gives a -10 to climb checks, and becomes difficult to remove. After the wearer descends for the first time the ring can only be removed by a Remove Curse or higher level spell such as Break Enchantment.

[Geddy2112]

I once made a cursed mithral waffle iron. It would produce its own waffle batter on command, but everytime it was used(to cook anything) it would burn it to cinders. The smell would stick to the players for hours and give a -2 to diplomacy checks. The players sold it after 3 failed attempts to use it.

[DrMotives]

My favorite published cursed item was the ring of bureaucratic wizardry. Identifies as a ring of wizardry, but when you cast a spell, a pen & paper forms appear in your hand requiring an explanation as to the reasons & justifications for casting the spell. This takes 1 round per spell level to be completed, the spell is cast only after all the paperwork is filled out.

[dascarletm]

My favorite published cursed item was the ring of bureaucratic wizardry. Identifies as a ring of wizardry, but when you cast a spell, a pen & paper forms appear in your hand requiring an explanation as to the reasons & justifications for casting the spell. This takes 1 round per spell level to be completed, the spell is cast only after all the paperwork is filled out.

That's pretty great. Do you happen to remember what it was from?

[DrMotives]

That's pretty great. Do you happen to remember what it was from?

I want to say the 2e Tome of Magic, but I'm not certain. No reason you couldn't use it in 3.5 as well.

[Thurbane]

Helm of Blind Faith - adds +1 CL to Divine casting, but as soon as activated renders the wearer blind, and can't be removed.

Good for races like Grimlock, though.

[Sith_Happens]

Helm of Blind Faith

Pun aside, you just gave me a deliciously evil idea.:smallamused:

Phylactery of Fanaticism

This odd piece of headgear appears, to both mundane inspection and magical analysis, to be a phylactery of faithfulness. This is because it is a phylactery of faithfulness, albeit one that fails to function 50% of the time (the DM rolls this chance separately for each action or item the wearer contemplates, and should do so in secret). The chance of failure increases by 10% for each week the phylactery remains in the character's possession.

Should the wearer of a phylactery of fanaticism come to suspect that the item has been giving her false negatives, she must make a DC 15 Will save (the DM should roll the save in secret). Failure indicates that the character from that point forward believes the phylactery to be completely accurate, and cannot be convinced otherwise until she receives a remove curse spell. The DC of the Will save increases by 2 for each week the phylactery remains in the character's possession (to a maximum of 25), though no further saves are required after the first failure.

Faint divination; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, bestow curse, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law; Price 1,500 gp.

Phylactery of Fanaticism, Greater

Where a regular phylactery of fanaticism merely gives the wearer a false sense of security in maintaining her faith and alignment, this heinous item actively warps a character's worldview without her noticing, until she's become a mockery of everything she once stood for (and continues to think she stands for).

A greater phylactery of fanaticism functions as the regular version, except that the Will save DC is 5 points higher and the save must be repeated once per week after the first failure. Furthermore, a failed save has an effect similar to that of a helm of opposite alignment, albeit incremental. When the phylactery is worn for the first time, the DM determines in secret what the character's alignment would change to if she were affected by a helm of opposite alignment, and records it. Each failed Will save against the phylactery shifts the character's alignment one step towards the one so recorded. Unlike with a helm of opposite alignment, this change is not apparent to the wearer; while the character acts in all respects according to her new alignment, she remains convinced that she still holds her original alignment and will go to any lengths necessary to justify any action that the phylactery did not warn her against committing. The phylactery itself continues to function as if she possessed her original alignment (to the extent that it functions at all), and she cannot be convinced of its true nature until she has received a limited wish, wish, or miracle spell (remove curse is ineffective, unlike for a regular phylactery).

If the wearer worships a deity or holds a specific set or system of beliefs, these are twisted over time in a similar manner to the above.

Once the first Will save against a greater phylactery of fanaticism has been failed, it can only be removed with a limited wish, wish, or miracle spell; this also removes the phylactery's delusion effect as described above. Once freed of the phylactery and its curse, the character immediately realizes the true nature of any acts she performed under its influence, and may return to her original alignment naturally or with the help of an atonement spell.

Faint divination; CL 13th; Craft Wondrous Item, bestow curse, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, and limited wish or miracle; Price 12,000 gp.

[BilltheCynic]

Shackles of Freedom

These shackles appear to be ordinary Dimensional Shackles, and indeed they do place the wearer under the effect of a dimensional anchor (no save) and the DC to break or slip out of them is 30 just like the Dimensional Shackles. However upon being placed on someone the subject gets a mental notification that, as an immediate action, he can send a mental command to the shackles that disables the dimensional anchor effect and causes the shackles to cast dimensional door as a spell like ability as an 8th level caster on a location of the subject's choice. Both of these effects occur at the same time. The shackles may be left behind just like any other object when it uses the dimensional door ability. The subject may do this to a subject twice. If the subject has already used this ability twice and attempts to use it any more times, he is instead placed under the effect of a hold person spell (no save) and an alarm is sounded like a ringing bell that can be heard clearly from 100 ft away and faintly from as far as 300 feet away. The alarm is not affected by any interposing doors, walls, or other such materials. Both the alarm and the hold person effect last as long as the subject is bound by the shackles. When this occurs the shackles can only be removed by a Remove Curse.