What magic items would be OP in the hands of monsters, but not the PCs?

[Greywander]

My sister and I are considering starting a new campaign where we start as 0th level commoners. One of the ideas for a plot (that gives us a motive to actually adventure) is that our village is responsible for defending a magic item. Not a strong one, but one that would be a problem if it fell into the hands of monsters. Which, of course, it does (or will).

What sort of magic items would work well for this? It needs to be something that would be bad news if it fell into the hands of monsters, but I'd rather it not be too strong once we get a hold of it. I mean, I could contrive a narrative reason we can't keep the item, but I think it's better if we didn't have to resort to that. Plus, something unexpected could happen that ends with us keeping the item. It would also be a bit too cliche/campy if it was some kind of world-ending item.

Something like a Flame Tongue would certainly be threatening in the hands of an orc or goblin (especially against commoners), but it would also be fairly strong in the hands of a PC (especially a low level one). The Cloak of Protection might work, but I don't feel like it's strong enough on a monster, and is still pretty useful for a PC.

An example of the inverse of this would be a Dragon Slayer. Most villages and whatnot don't have any dragons, so it's little better than a sword +1 in the hands of a monster. But in the hands of a PC, who is much more likely to fight a dragon, it's actually a potent item. What I'm looking for is the opposite of this, where it's strong on a monster but not so much on a PC.

So we're probably looking at an uncommon magic item, something that wouldn't be too strong for a 1st level PC. Assume a Combat as War mindset. The monsters should be a threat to the surrounding villages and/or kingdom, not necessarily to a competent adventuring party.

[MaxWilson]

An example of the inverse of this would be a Dragon Slayer. Most villages and whatnot don't have any dragons, so it's little better than a sword +1 in the hands of a monster. But in the hands of a PC, who is much more likely to fight a dragon, it's actually a potent item. What I'm looking for is the opposite of this, where it's strong on a monster but not so much on a PC.

So we're probably looking at an uncommon magic item, something that wouldn't be too strong for a 1st level PC. Assume a Combat as War mindset. The monsters should be a threat to the surrounding villages and/or kingdom, not necessarily to a competent adventuring party.

You're probably looking for stuff that does not scale with level but does scale with other abilities, possibly a consumable. One example would be a Necklace of Fireballs: nine kobolds could use a Necklace of Fireballs to jointly cause 72d6 (252) HP of damage (DC 15 Dex save for half) in one round, but an individual PC will be loathe to ever use it and even if they did all they'd get is at most 16d6 (56) damage in one action.

Another example would be e.g. a Bag of Holding which bad guys are using to smuggle dozens and dozens of monsters into a secret hideout inside the town, e.g. a dozen Shadows per trip, ten trips per day, right into the the governor's son's old (empty) bedroom. PCs can't get that kind of mileage out of the Bag of Holding because they don't have dozens of Shadows to command.

[Tanarii]

Sword of Human slaying?

[Telok]

It just needs to have a cost that the players will not want to pay. A sword that, once drawn, fills the user and all allies within a mile with beserk rage, strength, and toughness until it is sheathed. However to sheathe it the user must hack several innocents and allies to death. If the sword is dropped or the user dies the rage afflicts everyone and becomes undirected until someone picks it up to kill that annoying twit talking at them.

The local bugbear chief will have no problem using it. Slaves count as allies or can be innocent. However adventurers would hate it as they are usually the only people left at the end of any fight.

[Sorinth]

Beserker Axe, Mace of Blood(Not sure it's been ported to 5e yet) or an evil sentient weapon

[JackPhoenix]

Any item that has some attunement requirements, like being a spellcaster, would be useless to a commoner, but usable by anyone who can cast spells.... having racial spellcasting is enough for that purpose.

Devastation Orbs from PotA (if kept in a box) are definitely dangerous, and PCs are less likely to find an use for it than evil monsters (and keeping it charged for too long makes them dangerous even to the user, hence the box).

Something that creates undead: somewhat useful for PCs, though there are moral and practical reasons to avoid using it. Much more useful in the hands of a villain lacking these considerations. Double so if the undead aren't controlled: another undead could use it just fine, but living creatures would be attacked.

[Chrizzt]

Perhaps something that cancels out weaknesses PCs don't even have?

For example a (homebrew) magical pot flower that produces liquid night* fruits?

Mashing those fruits into a salve protects from negative consequences induced by daylight? Orcs and drow don't suffer from daylight sensitivity. And vampires don't burn!

* Liquid night was an alchemical item in 3rd edition, I think in Book of Vile Deeds

[Emongnome777]

What about a Decanter of Endless Water? The village needs it as the sole source of water. Evil humanoid tribes nearby want it to control the water supply in the area and force the villagers to become their slaves or risk dying of dehydration.

[CheddarChampion]

A wand of dominate person?
Usable by PC's sure, but the implications of mind control...
Monsters don't care.

Or maybe a staff of trading lives?
Sacrifice a number of creatures of one type to kill nearby (10 miles or so) creatures of another type at a ratio of 2:1.
Monsters of high numbers but low individual strength could use this to wipe out cities easily while humans/elves/dwarves would be loathe to use this.

Finally, a rod that boosts the DC's of spell-like abilities (or whatever they're called) by 5 or something?
Tieflings and Tritons, for example, could use this like once or twice a day, but the right type of monster would be much stronger with this.

[nickl_2000]

Any item that has limited charges per day are much more powerful in the hands of monster than PCs. A PC needs to choose when it the best time to use an item like that, deciding each rounds if it is worth it or not. So, you have multiple encounters per day to worry about.

A monster doesn't care. They burn every charge they can in a single battle to make the PCs die and die quickly.

[Keravath]

Some suggestions ...

Talisman of the Sphere. Very good for controlling a Sphere of Annihilation if you have one. Useless otherwise.

Talisman of Ultimate Evil. Of great interest to any evil creatures or characters. Likely of very little interest to any commoner at all. A but nasty with 6 charges of a save or die effect but otherwise it is only +2 to spell attack rolls if you are holding it. Any good or neutral that touches it gets zapped so most folks probably wouldn't go near it. Most commoners probably aren't evil and the few actually evil ones are probably too self-centered to even risk picking it up given that they have heard what happened to others who picked it up.

Book of Vile Darkness. Extremely nasty but some evil creature might want it.

Any tome of evil lore or perhaps a lich's spell book that was hidden away. Perhaps it contains some secret ceremony or other information that could bring great harm. Of course the villagers have no idea of the true significance.

[DeTess]

A scroll of wish.

I'm not actually kidding here, btw. Sure, such a scroll could do something big and splashy in the hands of a pc, but unless the pC has something they desperately want, it'll most likely be put in their backpack until ta situation comes up where they do think that the scroll is the only possible solution (and PC's being hoarders, the scroll is unlikely to ever get used). However, in the hands of an evil creature its a vital part of their take-over-the-world scheme or something else really important.

[saucerhead]

Sword of Human slaying?

:smallsmile:
+3 short sword vs halflings, (+5 perception, wielder smells like cheese)
mace of the medusa, roll 20:target save or turn to stone, roll 1: wielder save or turn to stone (from a fun module we played)
or a poleaxe of lightning that can't be wielded by anyone in metal armor (they get shocked even under ground)

[col_impact]

Rod of Rulerships gives the monsters an army to command.

[noob]

Vorpal weapons.
It barely ever helps an adventurer(since they kill stuff in one hit or do not use weapons) but it gives to monsters some chance to instakill players.

[Chrizzt]

In a similar vein to the decanter idea previously mentioned: A druidlike amulet helping to grow the seeds in a far radius (a few km perhaps?) but which could also be used to make the crops wither away?

[Lupine]

I ran a sidequest the other day where the players made an agreement with a hag to retrieve some artifact. The artifact is one that simply protects the area around it from lightening strikes. The town with the artifact was a farming town, and lightening strikes caused fires with great frequency. So the players went to take the artifact, and not five minutes later, lightening hit the fields, and the town had to fight the fire.

So, to your question, something that really is important for the survival of the town/village the players are in. If they lose the artifact, they can try to get it back, but if there are two towns fighting over it, it will just get stolen over and over again. Anyway, it would have virtually no power at all for the players, but would be very difficult for the players to let leave.

In effect, since monsters are a rival civilization, the PC civilization is "in combat" with the monsters. So, as an attack, taking the artifact would be a completely overpowered attack, but it doesn't have a significant effect if the PC civilization society. This gives plenty of opportunity for variability, because the PCs can try to negotiate between the two civilization and make a peace, or anything more violently (Which means that the PCs will probably commit genocide)

[HappyDaze]

Arrow(s) of Slaying can be nasty if it applies to something (race, type, or group) that includes the PCs. Since it becomes nonmagical after use, each one fired at the PCs is loot lost forever.

[Breccia]

Literally anything with charges.

I read once that a movie henchman's job was to have exactly enough bullets to justify their level of obstacle, and then die with an empty gun. John Woo lives on this, especially in Hard Boiled.

The hero, meanwhile, has to count their bullets, because there's always another bad guy left to shoot. Die Hard and Dirty Harry are good examples.

The relevant context here is
a) a PC is going to be in every fight, and therefore needs to conserve charges and potions
b) a monster is going to be in one fight, and therefore doesn't need to conserve anything

Give a PC a wand of lightning bolts and, even with the generous 5E rules, they're conserving that last "bullet" until there's no other option but failure or death. Give a PC two healing potions, and at the end of the fight they'll have the one they saved for a real emergency.

Give an NPC foe a wand of lightning bolts and he will empty the clip. Give an NPC foe two potions of healing, and barring a lucky one-shot KO, the PCs will loot too empty bottles after an extra-long fight. Because from the point of view of their role, they have nothing better to do. Their role is to lose/die anyhow.

Now obviously, a long-term villain or even just a smart one can read a battle and bail if it makes sense to them. But we all know your average dungeon boss isn't done until the PCs have lost or they're dead. When your demon lord and master says "Don't let anyone through this door" you don't ask "what if my wand is down to two charges?" you say "yes, please don't eat my soul" and don't stop blasting until you hear nothing but clicks.

Related: the more random a combat is, the more it benefits the monsters. The PCs are supposed to win. This means monsters benefit from, say, a wand of wonder as "oh no I got luck screwed!" isn't as big of a penalty for them.

Now that advice was really generic. So here are a few items that might be more specific:

1) Nothing changes a battle like suddenly finding your enemy is wearing a ring of spell turning. This is especially hilarious when you remember wizards, warlocks and sorcerers tend to suck at the saving throws their spells require.

2) This one is far less fun: a scroll of anti magic shell. This ruins a lot of PCs ability to contribute to the battle, so either use it once, or make sure there are minions or traps or something for the spellcasting PCs to do in their turn.
2a) Or, use scrolls of dispel magic. Turn off the party buffs or use as selective counterspells, and the well-oiled machine of a PC vs monsters fight gets sand in the gears.

3) One-shot illusion items are hard for the PCs to defend against. Illusions are easier to defeat when you know there's going to be illusions. If all of a sudden, the NPC cleric has a fire elemental, what's telling you it's fake? If an evil knight smashes an orb, and poison gas or wraiths come flying out, what's the clue they're not real? No clue means players don't attempt to disbelieve. By contrast, half the damn monsters are immune to illusions, which is why nobody plays illusionists anymore.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

[LibraryOgre]

Something that ages the weilder for using certain powers. To a thri-kreen, suicidal. To a human, very carefully strategic. To a lich, inconsequential. To a dragon? An end in and of itself.

[MaxWilson]

Something that ages the weilder for using certain powers. To a thri-kreen, suicidal. To a human, very carefully strategic. To a lich, inconsequential. To a dragon? An end in and of itself.

That's OP in the hands of any wizard who can cast Magic Jar.

[Lupine]

One-shot illusion items are hard for the PCs to defend against. Illusions are easier to defeat when you know there's going to be illusions. If all of a sudden, the NPC cleric has a fire elemental, what's telling you it's fake? If an evil knight smashes an orb, and poison gas or wraiths come flying out, what's the clue they're not real? No clue means players don't attempt to disbelieve. By contrast, half the damn monsters are immune to illusions, which is why nobody plays illusionists anymore.

You sir, are about to be my player's least favorite person. That is absolutely malicious, and I wish I had thought of it.

[MaxWilson]

You sir, are about to be my player's least favorite person. That is absolutely malicious, and I wish I had thought of it.

Make sure you name the magic items appropriately. "Breccia's Orb of Phantasmal Malice" for example.

[Trandir]

Well a good old sentient item would fit the bill.

It can have all sort of incredible effects but the items will allow the wielder to get access to them only if they also help his shemes. Something lo
like the artifacts from 4e

[LibraryOgre]

Something that ages the weilder for using certain powers. To a thri-kreen, suicidal. To a human, very carefully strategic. To a lich, inconsequential. To a dragon? An end in and of itself.


That's OP in the hands of any wizard who can cast Magic Jar.

Perhaps, but Magic Jar takes time and resources... you have to have bodies to jump in to. Lichdom and Dragonhood are, of course, not without their costs, but they're pretty much paid by the time you get the item.

[MoiMagnus]

Deck of many things.

That artifact is not OP as it kills most of its users (well, maybe not most), so any PC that does not have a gambling addiction will refuse to use it.
But monsters using it to acquire power would be quite scary.

Anything that makes long term malus would be a great pick to.

For example, imagine a "dream eater bow", that does not do any additional damage, but makes the next long rest useless (maybe you still get part of your spell slots and capacities, so that Spellcasters are not made totally useless). Your PCs would be afraid to be hit by such an arrow, but that's quite useless for your PCs.

[J-H]

This was inspired by Aztec ritual sacrifices, and could easily be changed to be a sentient item, cursed, attunable only by a specific alignment, etc. It synchronizes very well with Hold Person or any other means of ensuring critical hits.

Heart-Taker Dagger +2 (A); This dagger is made from obsidian, chipped and flaked until both edges are incredibly sharp, then carved with runes of a style entirely unknown to you. On a critical hit made with the dagger against a living being of size Small or greater, it deals 2d12 bonus piercing damage (does not get doubled). This empowers the blade, and the wielder may choose one of the following effects when he next casts a spell:
o maximize the numerical effects (dice) of the spell cast
o Gain advantage on his spell attack roll
o Force the saving throw against the spell to be made with disadvantage
The dagger can only hold one charge at a time, and the charge expires after 1 hour.

[Sparky McDibben]

"By contrast, half the damn monsters are immune to illusions, which is why nobody plays illusionists anymore"

Wait, what monsters are immune to illusions?

[NNescio]

"By contrast, half the damn monsters are immune to illusions, which is why nobody plays illusionists anymore"

Wait, what monsters are immune to illusions?

Well, things with alternate or enhanced senses like Blindsight or Truesight (only within range of their senses though), but I think Breccia is referring to the propensity of DMs to metagame illusions because they can't effectively separate "DM knowledge" from "monster/NPC knowledge".

[Aussiehams]

Amulet of Turn resistance or similar.

[Magicspook]

Anything that doesn't lend itself to an adventuring lifestyle, for example something very heavy or breakable.

For example: a single red rose under a glass hood. Every day, one rose petal falls from the rose, from which a 1dX healing potion can be brewed (or whatever). However, the players can hardly take it with them on their adventures, because it'd shatter.

[HappyDaze]

Anything that doesn't lend itself to an adventuring lifestyle, for example something very heavy or breakable.

For example: a single red rose under a glass hood. Every day, one rose petal falls from the rose, from which a 1dX healing potion can be brewed (or whatever). However, the players can hardly take it with them on their adventures, because it'd shatter.

In 5e, most carried/worn objects are virtually immune to harm; it's only unattended objects that are vulnerable. Sure, it's stupid, but there are a lot of rules like these in 5e (and in many games beyond it too).

[Guy Lombard-O]

A magical salt shaker that can cast the inverse of the 8 hour version of Plant Growth. The "Stunt Plants" spell weakens and devastates the local crops, and the party has to stop the villain before he causes a full-blown famine in the region.

[Temperjoke]

Don't you know, PCs are the real monsters.

Anyways, this item sounds like it should be more of a specially created item, rather than a DMG listed magic item. If you want to modify an existing item, I'd give it extra powers if attuned by whatever race the leader of the monsters who steal it is. If you want to give the players a time component, make the attunement time longer than normal, so they can realistically try and stop it before it's too late.

As to what powers to give it, I'd just find a monster at the CR that you think will give the players a good fight, and re-skin it to be the leader after attuning the item.

[Sparky McDibben]

I really like a lot of these ideas, especially Breccia's list and the swords of human slaying.

[AvatarVecna]

Any item worded like "once you have used up all these charges, the item becomes nonmagical", or anything that has a slow recharge time. For an adventurer, you always have to weigh whether one of your three wishes, or your once/week blow of the horn, is really something you wanna use up for this situation, but when you're a monster, as soon as you see adventurers your time remaining on this earth became measured in rounds; may as well use it all up!

[Lunali]

Fountain that produces a potion that makes whoever drinks it effectively level 10 for a day, then kills them. The magical curse requires true resurrection if you want to bring someone back after.

[noob]

Fountain that produces a potion that makes whoever drinks it effectively level 10 for a day, then kills them. The magical curse requires true resurrection if you want to bring someone back after.

So it is an efficient poison that not only immediately reduce the power of the target(if it was a target worth assassinating) but also later cause death that needs 25000 gp to cure.

[TripleD]

Plot Armour.

It would only work in a game that is willing to go meta. It also lends itself to comedy, but if played straight it could go some interesting places.

“The Armour of Awakening” is a set of unremarkable leather armour. Once donned though, the creature realizes that they are a character in a game and are aware of everything that is happening at the table.

To PCs this is not that useful. The players already know what is happening at the table. Despite our best attempts to avoid metagaming (if we avoid it at all) it’s almost impossible to not react to what the other players are doing. Plus I can’t help but feel the PC’s character would despair, realizing everything they thought about their life was a lie. Sort of like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story when he discovered he wasn’t a space ranger.

For a villain or monster though? I’m thinking more like Benedict from Last Action Hero. If you think they were monsters before, wait until they realize that no one around them is actually “real”. They perfectly understand the “rules” of the world and can exploit them perfectly to create challenges custom-tailored to end the PCs and the world in general.

[sithlordnergal]

Most cursed magical items are more useful on NPCs then PCs. For example, Scorpion Armor from Tomb of Ahnniliation is plate armor that gives +5 to initative, and doesn't give disadvantage on Stealth checks or checks to resist extreme heat. It's also not made out of metal, so Druids can use it if they have a way to wear Heavy Armor.

However, every time you put the armor on or take it off you make a DC 15 Con save or take 10d10+45 poison damage, and you still take half on a successful save. An enemy NPC will never face those effects because you can just have them wearing the armor when they meet the party, and say they healed up beforehand. Where as a Player will be risking 200 poison damage a day as they put on and take off their armor every night.

[noob]

Most cursed magical items are more useful on NPCs then PCs. For example, Scorpion Armor from Tomb of Ahnniliation is plate armor that gives +5 to initative, and doesn't give disadvantage on Stealth checks or checks to resist extreme heat. It's also not made out of metal, so Druids can use it if they have a way to wear Heavy Armor.

However, every time you put the armor on or take it off you make a DC 15 Con save or take 10d10+45 poison damage, and you still take half on a successful save. An enemy NPC will never face those effects because you can just have them wearing the armor when they meet the party, and say they healed up beforehand. Where as a Player will be risking 200 poison damage a day as they put on and take off their armor every night.

Is there is not a feat that allows sleeping in armor?

[MaxWilson]

Fountain that produces a potion that makes whoever drinks it effectively level 10 for a day, then kills them. The magical curse requires true resurrection if you want to bring someone back after.

I would exploit that fountain so hard as an Enchanter or Bard. :) Even the time limit can be turned to my advantage, if I'm willing to lie about what causes the sudden death.


Most cursed magical items are more useful on NPCs then PCs. For example, Scorpion Armor from Tomb of Ahnniliation is plate armor that gives +5 to initative, and doesn't give disadvantage on Stealth checks or checks to resist extreme heat. It's also not made out of metal, so Druids can use it if they have a way to wear Heavy Armor.

However, every time you put the armor on or take it off you make a DC 15 Con save or take 10d10+45 poison damage, and you still take half on a successful save. An enemy NPC will never face those effects because you can just have them wearing the armor when they meet the party, and say they healed up beforehand. Where as a Player will be risking 200 poison damage a day as they put on and take off their armor every night.

Meh. Or you can just keep your armor on. Besides, Protection From Poison is cheap and no-concentration, and so is out-of-combat healing, especially if you're just about to long rest.

I would expect that armor to be highly coveted despite the ostensible drawback.

[CNagy]

I think someone mentioned it already, but the Decanter of Endless Water. It's hidden, unstoppered, inside the statue of a local deity/savior and the command for the 1 or 5 gallon stream has been passed down as a kind of ritual to produce water from the statue (like a barrel on the shoulder of the figure, or whatever). An intelligent aquatic monster has heard of the phenomenon, guessed at its true nature, and wants to take the item to flood a local mine/some other area that is subterranean and makes a nice lair. It's a loss for the town; the easily available source of water, the destruction of the statue and perhaps the local faith, the danger of an intelligent monster tribe establishing a lair nearby. It's a boon for the monster; being able to submerge a lair means a great deal of safety, especially if this isn't an area where mighty heroes are traveling through frequently. To the PCs? It's just an endless supply of water, and one that they might feel obliged to return to the town.

[TurboGhast]

Using a magic item that isn't consumable would be better to avoid the question "Haven't the monsters used it already, so chasing after them to get it back is useless?". A breakable item which could be used indefinitely, like a wand that could break if it runs out of charges, would add time pressure in a less overbearing way, since the monsters will also likely want to use it indefinitely but might be forced into risking letting it break. Of course, the villain proactively using their new magic item to advance their goals will be a natural source of time pressure.

[noob]

I think someone mentioned it already, but the Decanter of Endless Water. It's hidden, unstoppered, inside the statue of a local deity/savior and the command for the 1 or 5 gallon stream has been passed down as a kind of ritual to produce water from the statue (like a barrel on the shoulder of the figure, or whatever). An intelligent aquatic monster has heard of the phenomenon, guessed at its true nature, and wants to take the item to flood a local mine/some other area that is subterranean and makes a nice lair. It's a loss for the town; the easily available source of water, the destruction of the statue and perhaps the local faith, the danger of an intelligent monster tribe establishing a lair nearby. It's a boon for the monster; being able to submerge a lair means a great deal of safety, especially if this isn't an area where mighty heroes are traveling through frequently. To the PCs? It's just an endless supply of water, and one that they might feel obliged to return to the town.

Players like decanters of endless water possibly even more than aquatic monsters.
So it would end with the player characters saying "oh the monsters totally took the decanter and lost it" after stealing it and then afterwards if they are kind they will try to find any solution that is not giving back the decanter.

[sithlordnergal]

Is there is not a feat that allows sleeping in armor?

Nope, there's no feat that allows you to sleep in armor in 5e. That said, the only penalty for sleeping in Medium or Heavy armor is that you only regain a quarter of your hit dice back and you can't recover Exhaustion levels, provided your DM is using Xanathar rules


Meh. Or you can just keep your armor on. Besides, Protection From Poison is cheap and no-concentration, and so is out-of-combat healing, especially if you're just about to long rest.

I would expect that armor to be highly coveted despite the ostensible drawback.

You could, but occasionally you'll need to remove the armor for some reason or another, be it entering some place that doesn't allow you to keep armor on or if your DM penalizes sleeping in Heavy Armor. As for the cost, Protection from Poison is cheap, but its still two 2nd level spell slots being used, a spell prepared/learned, and the healing needed to recover the damage you take. And while maybe a Barbarian can tank the damage, keep in mind it was put in a hard cover designed for levels 1 through 10. Even a level 10 Barbarian with 20 Con will only have 125 HP if they take the average. You tend to find this around armor level 7 if I remember correctly. 100 damage could outright kill some players at that level if they have low enough HP.

EDIT: 100 damage is pretty dangerous, no matter what situation you're in. Think of it this way, a CR 22 Ancient Green Dragon only does 77 average damage with their poison, this armor does 100.

[col_impact]

Weapon of Wounding is good fun to give the monsters. Messes with the PCs max HP and ability to get healed.

[MaxWilson]

Nope, there's no feat that allows you to sleep in armor in 5e. That said, the only penalty for sleeping in Medium or Heavy armor is that you only regain a quarter of your hit dice back and you can't recover Exhaustion levels, provided your DM is using Xanathar rules

You could, but occasionally you'll need to remove the armor for some reason or another, be it entering some place that doesn't allow you to keep armor on or if your DM penalizes sleeping in Heavy Armor. As for the cost, Protection from Poison is cheap, but its still two 2nd level spell slots being used, a spell prepared/learned, and the healing needed to recover the damage you take. And while maybe a Barbarian can tank the damage, keep in mind it was put in a hard cover designed for levels 1 through 10. Even a level 10 Barbarian with 20 Con will only have 125 HP if they take the average. You tend to find this around armor level 7 if I remember correctly. 100 damage could outright kill some players at that level if they have low enough HP.

EDIT: 100 damage is pretty dangerous, no matter what situation you're in. Think of it this way, a CR 22 Ancient Green Dragon only does 77 average damage with their poison, this armor does 100.

You can't charge the hypothetical spell known and slot cost and then forget to give the benefit! : ) So it's 50 damage, DC 15 Con save with advantage for half, when you do want to don or remove the armor. Then you Healing Spirit away the damage.

You don't need to be a Barbarian to survive that. That item would be highly coveted among those with heavy armor proficiency and access to a friendly druid, and if there were a half-plate equivalent, druids would covet *that*.

Taking poison damage when you're ready for it and choose to is far less dangerous than taking it during a fight where every second down counts.

[NNescio]

Also, Yuan-ti.

[Greywander]

I think someone mentioned it already, but the Decanter of Endless Water. It's hidden, unstoppered, inside the statue of a local deity/savior and the command for the 1 or 5 gallon stream has been passed down as a kind of ritual to produce water from the statue (like a barrel on the shoulder of the figure, or whatever). An intelligent aquatic monster has heard of the phenomenon, guessed at its true nature, and wants to take the item to flood a local mine/some other area that is subterranean and makes a nice lair. It's a loss for the town; the easily available source of water, the destruction of the statue and perhaps the local faith, the danger of an intelligent monster tribe establishing a lair nearby. It's a boon for the monster; being able to submerge a lair means a great deal of safety, especially if this isn't an area where mighty heroes are traveling through frequently. To the PCs? It's just an endless supply of water, and one that they might feel obliged to return to the town.
I actually really like this idea! My only concern would be that a Decanter of Endless Water would actually be pretty useful to the PCs. If we had a reason to return it (the village is intact and needs it back), then we would, but if we didn't (the village is destroyed and there's no reason to take it back), then we would probably keep it.

There's been a lot of other good ideas here, too, so thank you all for taking the time to read the thread and make a post.

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Most cursed magical items are more useful on NPCs then PCs. For example, Scorpion Armor from Tomb of Ahnniliation is plate armor that gives +5 to initative, and doesn't give disadvantage on Stealth checks or checks to resist extreme heat. It's also not made out of metal, so Druids can use it if they have a way to wear Heavy Armor.
However, every time you put the armor on or take it off you make a DC 15 Con save or take 10d10+45 poison damage, and you still take half on a successful save. An enemy NPC will never face those effects because you can just have them wearing the armor when they meet the party, and say they healed up beforehand. Where as a Player will be risking 200 poison damage a day as they put on and take off their armor every night.

You don't have to even pull those kinds of shenanigans considering that adventure has Yuan-ti in it and they're just flat out immune to poison damage (interestingly, it also has a way for players to become Yuan-ti, so they can use the armor with no drawbacks).

[Lord Vukodlak]

Most cursed magical items are more useful on NPCs then PCs. For example, Scorpion Armor from Tomb of Ahnniliation is plate armor that gives +5 to initative, and doesn't give disadvantage on Stealth checks or checks to resist extreme heat. It's also not made out of metal, so Druids can use it if they have a way to wear Heavy Armor.

However, every time you put the armor on or take it off you make a DC 15 Con save or take 10d10+45 poison damage, and you still take half on a successful save. An enemy NPC will never face those effects because you can just have them wearing the armor when they meet the party, and say they healed up beforehand. Where as a Player will be risking 200 poison damage a day as they put on and take off their armor every night.
Three things, one, the pc’s will question how the npc gets around the curse. Second a 10th level Druid is immune to poison. And several magic items grant poison immunity.

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Three things, one, the pc’s will question how the npc gets around the curse. Second a 10th level Druid is immune to poison. And several magic items grant poison immunity.

A tenth level druid is usually not Plate Armor proficient, though I guess they could take a feat. However, given the adventure where it's introduced, the most likely answer is that the NPC is a Yuan-ti. In the case of PCs, while not immune, a Dwarf might also think it a worthwhile tradeoff, considering they're both resistant to poison damage and extremely likely to make the save.

[sithlordnergal]

Three things, one, the pc’s will question how the npc gets around the curse. Second a 10th level Druid is immune to poison. And several magic items grant poison immunity.

Ehhh, most Druids won't have Heavy Armor proficiency unless they have some very special things. Even then, the armor is made for Medium creatures, so its up to the DM if a Large Elemental can don armor made for a Medium Humanoid.

As for the NPCs, I find most players don't actually question how an NPC gets past the negatives of a curse, unless its a situation that would activate the curse itself. I can't think of a single situation where the PCs would come across an enemy NPC putting on or taking off their armor and actually let the NPC finish. And if the armor belongs to an ally NPC, that becomes the party's problem, because the NPC or PC's have to waste resources just so the NPC can put on their armor.

And finally, I can actually only think of one magic item that does so. While it doesn't require attunement, there's also no guarantee you can get it.



You don't have to even pull those kinds of shenanigans considering that adventure has Yuan-ti in it and they're just flat out immune to poison damage (interestingly, it also has a way for players to become Yuan-ti, so they can use the armor with no drawbacks).

And true, you can be a Yuan-Ti to get around all those penalties. However, there are a few things to take into account:

1) Yuan-Ti are commonly banned from tables for being OP

2) Even if they aren't, you're still using up your Race, which is generally a one time choice that never changes, on being a Yuan-Ti.

3) As a DM, I do not suggest using the ritual. It has a chance of insta-killing your character. When you do the ritual you take 1d6 levels of exhaustion...in an enemy compound, surrounded by evil Yuan-Ti that want to kill you. I have seen a player try it three times, he rolled a 6 two times in a row, gained 6 levels of exhaustion, and two of his characters died instantly...in a game where Raise Dead spells don't waork and you have a chance of permanently losing your character on a random dice roll after every long rest.

EDIT: The third time he rolled a 4, and the party dragged him into a fight against Ras Nsi while he had 4 levels of exhaustion. Meaning his HP was halved, his attacks and saves were made at disadvantage, his speed was halved, and he had disadvantage on ability checks.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Ehhh, most Druids won't have Heavy Armor proficiency unless they have some very special things. Even then, the armor is made for Medium creatures, so its up to the DM if a Large Elemental can don armor made for a Medium Humanoid. I was speaking of circle of the land Druid’s actually.

[Makorel]

Plot Armour.

It would only work in a game that is willing to go meta. It also lends itself to comedy, but if played straight it could go some interesting places.

“The Armour of Awakening” is a set of unremarkable leather armour. Once donned though, the creature realizes that they are a character in a game and are aware of everything that is happening at the table.

To PCs this is not that useful. The players already know what is happening at the table. Despite our best attempts to avoid metagaming (if we avoid it at all) it’s almost impossible to not react to what the other players are doing. Plus I can’t help but feel the PC’s character would despair, realizing everything they thought about their life was a lie. Sort of like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story when he discovered he wasn’t a space ranger.


Is that what you want? Because that's how you get CHIM.