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View Full Version : DM Help Need to Fill in the Lore/Details with Cursed Item



darbyotrill
2016-11-14, 05:34 PM
First post here, so I apologize if I am in the wrong place.

I am DM for a 5e campaign, and last session my PCs were in a shop to sell some of their more expensive loot that I made clear had a lot of sketchy looking merchandise... Think Knockturn Alley from Harry Potter, like voodoo dolls, mummified hands, etc. One of my players chose the Sailor (Pirate Variant) background so he can get away with minor offenses. He decided he would steal an item on their way out and kind of flaunt it to the shopkeeper because she was not as nice to them as he expected. After describing several items, he decided to steal a silver dagger with an ankh type symbol on the hilt.

Long story short, they pretty quickly realized through context clues that this might be bad news and so he reverse pickpocketed it onto a drunk passerby, but nicked his finger in the process... When he went to tell the others, the nick was healed and the only evidence was a small bit of dried blood on the finger. That's where we ended, and I plan on having the dagger reappear in his pocket or something similar the next session (they spent a night partying heavily so everyone will wake up foggy on what happened).

Anyway, I have no idea where I am going with this... I feel like it should have some curse that they want to get rid off, but I would like for it to turn into a questline of some sort...

I am looking for your help with some ideas on what the curse would be, how the dagger might act if used in combat, and maybe its origins and how it could be "cured"... Do any of you more experienced DMs have some good ideas?

Thanks!

Jonagel
2016-11-14, 06:03 PM
Random ideas!

Any wounds inflicted to the weilder by the knife heal one minute later. Problem? Any wound inflicted by the knife is also inflicted on the wielder. Until the wielder of the knife guys, the knife will always return to the real there's possession one hour after leaving their position.

It may not be that bad of a cursed item, but certainly gives it some interesting flare an opportunity for the party to do some fun stuff. You could claim the history comes from a cult where the leader when stepping down was required to commit suicide using the knife so the knife could be passed on to the next leader. It could be a cult to some specific diety or demon?

Alternative idea:
It is an intelligent dager that can cast minor healing spells. It is possessed by a minor demon perhaps, and either it has the ability to teleport, or through luck (luck demon?) find its way back, or it intelligently is trying to go back to an adventurer. The only way it can break its prison is by healing enough damage (a weird sentence by a paladin or something perhaps for some extra heinous evil). Obviously hides the fact that it's a demon to some degree

Herobizkit
2016-11-19, 06:46 AM
Following up on the cult idea:

The person who had the dagger last is a member of said cult. The dagger had gone missing from their temple following the death/suicide of their last Leader and the cult cannot have a new Leader without possession of the dagger - the dagger 'chooses' the new leader by blood. :) They spread the word that the dagger has resurfaced and now other cult members start hunting the PC with hopes of him becoming their new Leader.

Wilko
2016-11-19, 05:40 PM
Few basic ideas,

The Ankh is the symbol of life, so perhaps once the item bonds to a person it absorbs the life essence of the host, (The holder could take exhaustion levels the longer they hold on to it. or take HP damage that while the wounds are healed the HP is not regained. Or it could age the holder slowly - say 1 yr per day)
This could simply be a curse that needs to be broken on the item. Or, better, it could be tied to the maker, who uses this to achieve immortality, with the life force absorbed by the blade being transmitted to them. This give you a whole side quest to find and kill the maker.

Oldie but a goodie - tied to a cult, it's members will attack the party trying to get the knife at random intervals.

You could make it a good item and also mess with the player - ie

Knife of Natural Causes - Created by a group of assassins, even the slightest nick with this blade will cause the target to develop a lethal disease which will end their life. The blade is enchanted to heal the physical wound to leave no evidence of the crime and will always return to the owner.

JoshuaZ
2016-11-19, 07:43 PM
There have been some really good suggestions already. I'd like to add a suggestion that can be combined with most of them: the knife keeps coming back to whoever stole it. The only way to get rid of it is for it to be stolen by someone who really believes they are stealing it.

Bohandas
2016-11-20, 01:11 AM
Creatures killed with the dagger later rise as mummies and take revenge

NRSASD
2016-11-20, 09:05 AM
Cursed Dagger of Lycanthropic Slaying: This dagger was once the possession of an assassin who dedicated her life to exterminating werewolves. If used to prick a target, it creates a large glowing rune on the target's chest that is only visible with a detect magic/detect invisibility spell. Using the rune, she could track lycanthropes in their human form. The dagger's true power is revealed under the light of the full moon, where anyone who has been pricked with the dagger suffers burning damage similar to a vampire's reaction to sunlight. She enchanted the dagger so that it would always come back to her.

Cursed Dagger of Eternal Throwing: Once this dagger injuries someone, it will stalk them to the end of their days. If the dagger should ever leave the owner's possession, even if for a moment, it will disappear, reappearing 2d12 hours later. It reappears by hurling itself into the owner's back, striking as if a low level thief with supra human strength had thrown it, granting strength and possibly sneak attack bonuses to the damage. Once injured by the dagger, the owner can no longer physically grasp the dagger as it repels them with a magical force (think forcing two strong magnets together). However, it has absolutely no problem impaling it's owner.

Bohandas
2016-11-24, 11:22 PM
Part of their lifeforce is now contained in the dagger. HP or CON penalty until they can get it back