I've been thinking about cursed items lately

[MustacheManny]

How many of you have either given cursed items to a player or as a player used a cursed item? What was the item and how did it play out?

[Stygofthedump]

I love a good cursed item, especially if it’s benefits slightly outweigh its flaw.
Maybe a +1 shield which blocks healing and harm spells. (Or makes healing into harm)

[MustacheManny]

I love a good cursed item, especially if it’s benefits slightly outweigh its flaw.
Maybe a +1 shield which blocks healing and harm spells. (Or makes healing into harm)
I completely agree. Something that makes the player have to balance risk/reward is more fun than just a direct 'bad' effect.

[Bloodcloud]

I once had boots of striding and springing that caused such BO that it caused advantage to perception check to find the character for enemies within 30ft. Creatures with keen sense (smell) would be effectively poisoned within the same radius.

Something like that, wich keeps the item usable, but provide a problem to work around, can be fun.

[Marywn]

I gave a necklace, and the players asked what it did.
I told them it removed the need to breath, then the barb put it on.
It removed the need to breath, by strangling you to death.

[MaxWilson]

How many of you have either given cursed items to a player or as a player used a cursed item? What was the item and how did it play out?

One that comes readily to mind is Flauntiir, which was a Staff of Fire that had the side effect of making the player feel covetous and greedy. The player loved the side effect and got tons of RP mileage out of giving in to temptation. Frankly, that minor curse had way more effect on the campaign than the actual magical powers like Wall of Fire did.

In general though I struggle with curses, and I don't feel like I have a strong philosophy yet when it comes to cursed items. Part of me agrees with Michael Cranford--items that you can actually use are more fun than straight-up curses--but I also enjoy books like the Misenchanted Sword and I like the idea of magical items that come out quirky, and I also want magical item creation to have risks, so there ought to be cursed items. But I usually forget to make any.

[Man_Over_Game]

I work my curse items in reverse. I make an effect that I'd like my players to use, and then come up with a counter or a cost to that effect that sometimes makes the effect not worth it.

Sometimes, that's a ring that creates Darkness, occasionally at random.

Sometimes, that's a bloodthirsty cleaver that will cause your finishing blow to attack another adjacent creature-even if the only creature nearby is an ally.

Maybe it's a Vision of the Opened Eye, a pair of goggles that gives you True Sight but also causes you to see things you definitely shouldn't, causing you psychic damage each turn equal to your proficiency bonus.

A gauntlet with a magical grip that can never unwillingly drop an item (so you're immune to being disarmed) and removes the Heavy feature of a weapon, but it also removes the Thrown and Light feature of your weapons.

A massive plated arm guard that is lightweight, can only be used if you have Heavy Armor and Shield proficiency, and can be used as a shield with all of the benefits of the Shield Master feat. It used to belong to a member of the "demon guard", an elite group of magical super-soldiers. The catch? It *really* likes to punch people, and will do so 50% of the time (if you rolled even on your attack roll, instead make an unarmed strike with this weapon rather than your intended weapon, with 1d4+Strength as its damage)

[MustacheManny]

I work my curse items in reverse. I make an effect that I'd like my players to use, and then come up with a counter or a cost to that effect that sometimes makes the effect not worth it.
That's a pretty clever idea!

[Phoenix042]

I just posted this in another thread, but I wrote up a Dragon Bone Horn that frightens enemies in a vast range around you when you blow it, but also deals elemental damage (appropriate to the dragon type) to you when you blow it.

It was inspired by the horn from A Song of Ice and Fire series.

I like this sort of item.

[LordEntrails]

Lots of different things over the years.

As stated above, the best items are those that are fun, that provide a trade-off. You get a benefit, but at a co

Like a singing sword for a bard, that just never shuts up and won't let itself be sheathed unless you make some sort of save or check.

Like armor from animated armor, that if the character sleeps in it then the curse means they can't remove it and 25% of the time when they sleep they end up sleep walking randomly.

A broom of flying that always flies upside down.

Boots of springing and striding that squeak, and give disadvantage on stealth checks (and advantage on perception checks to hear the wearer)

[Marcloure]

I once gave a bracelet made out of hag's hair to one of my players. The bracelet let you cast [i]bane[\i] once per day, but the user was obligatorily a target of the spell.

[Laserlight]

In a game set in a variant of Belize AD1600, one of the PCs, a nominally Catholic Irish rogue, got invited to a voodoo ceremony, spoke with Baron Samedi, and shortly afterward found a fine Spanish rapier inscribed in Latin "Gift of Death" and the hilt wrapped in the Baron's colors.
That, and a couple of Mayazteca monsters, convinced him that the supernatural was real after all. He got seriously devout, multiclassed into paladin, and buried the rapier at the church.
He was really spooked when he found it again in a ruined pyramid 100 miles away.

[Damon_Tor]

I love a good cursed item, especially if it’s benefits slightly outweigh its flaw.
Maybe a +1 shield which blocks healing and harm spells. (Or makes healing into harm)

The shield of arrow catching (or something like that) is a good example of this. It's "curse" is actually really good for the guy with high AC who wants to tank for his party.

[Damon_Tor]

The only cursed item I designed from the ground up was the "Crown of Indwelling" which is attunable by Warlocks and Clerics, which gives them a closer link to their God/Patron. This gives them a third use of a warlock spell slot or channel divinity per short rest, and this is all they're told about it when they investigate it. However, as soon as they actually use that extra resource, their God/Patron takes direct control of their body and takes their actions for them until they can make a wis or cha save against their own spell save DC. The nice thing is, in this state they're unlimited in their spell slots, so how much of a curse this really is depends on the entity in question and what sorts of things it would make them do.

[sithlordnergal]

I have a two sets of Armor of Vulnerability, Bludgeoning and Slashing. For those who don't know it, Armor of Vulnerability makes you resist one of the three types of martial weapon damage, while making you vulnerable to the rest. I have used my Armor of Vulnerability (Bludgeoning) to great effect in the past. I've used it to basically ignore fall damage, and it allowed me to essentially ignore attacks from Stone and Hill Giants, which was nice during Storm King's Thunder.

However, in exchange for that...I once was crit for 100 damage by a Rhemoraz, cause its piercing damage was doubled twice.

[Derpldorf]

Once upon a time there was an intelligent magical shield that was for the most part fairly useful. It was a +2 shield that talks, advises and sometimes alerts it's wielder to dangers, wakes the user instantly when needed and cast compelled duel once a day. The problem is... It's an extreme masochist that will, loudly and lewdly, audibly moan in pleasure or beg when struck... Yup this is exactly as horrible as it sounds, and will completely ruin a surprise round or draw in extra attention. You couldn't drop it because, "I'm a one wo/man kind of gal." and if she went to long enogh without a "fix" she would deliberately draw enemies in to fight her wielder.