Curses!

[Thangorodrim]

I actually like the cursed objects in the vein of the Rings of Power (in Lord of the Rings) or some of the Eldritch magics in the Cthulhu Mythos ... you can gain extraordinary powers using them but the rings of power gradually destroy you and the Eldritch magics gradually drive you insane ... so using them becomes a strategy in itself ... use them too much too soon and you can't use them later when you really need them ... hold them back and you better have alternatives or you might never make it to the end when you really could use them ... I never really like cursed weapons and usually sold them off ... none of them were ever offering benefits that outweighed their penalties

[Rink]

Oh and I would really like to see a guy buying all the cursed weapons for his museum (well that is what he said it is for, in reality he is a masochist that just likes the curses - maybe you could find that out in dialogue with enough int while watching him suffer from all the curses he has to go through) :D

Cursed weapons usually aren't worth a dime. But I am sure in a fantasyworld there are some people interested in them, even though maybe only weirdos and assassins mostly. Depends on the curse though. A ring that makes u ugly may be a curse to most but maybe a relief to someone who just wants the other gender to stay away, etc. Would make for some funny quests for sure.

[JFSOCC]

Oh and I would really like to see a guy buying all the cursed weapons for his museum (well that is what he said it is for, in reality he is a masochist that just likes the curses - maybe you could find that out in dialogue with enough int while watching him suffer from all the curses he has to go through) :D

Cursed weapons usually aren't worth a dime. But I am sure in a fantasyworld there are some people interested in them, even though maybe only weirdos and assassins mostly. Depends on the curse though. A ring that makes u ugly may be a curse to most but maybe a relief to someone who just wants the other gender to stay away, etc. Would make for some funny quests for sure.

I like the idea of a tribe of cursebearers, known to be able to mitigate the negative effects of curses so that they actually value cursed items. (and be safe from theft to boot)

[quechn1tlan]

OK, I must ask. Am I not getting something? Why are there so many curse threads?

This is basically my experience with any cursed item in any game:

1-Get an unknown item.

2-Identify it.

3-See that it's cursed, stash it in a far corner of some bag and sell it to the first merchant.

All this time cursed items were nothing more to me than some sort of a heavy expensive gem. A piece of potential gold. Why did these sort of items leave some kind of impact on so many people?

[Jasede]

Because of the *idea* of a cursed item. What if the item actually gave you powers that would make it worth wielding? What if it was scripted, for example, to alter your dialogue options because it is influencing you in some way? What if it actually, in-game, aged your character and altered the way people perceived him in return for, say, incredible magic power? There's a huge potential in the idea of cursed items. They've been a staple of stories since not long after we began telling them. Maybe the execution in the past has been flawed but that doesn't end the dream, the idea of cool cursed items with flavorful, interesting curses.

 

Deals with the devil, given form.

[quechn1tlan]

Then, probably, I really jsut don't get it. Idea of penalizing yourself in any way doesn't sound appealing to me at all. So I'll just stay away from these threads, since it's not something I can appreciate. To each his own as they say.

[UncleBourbon]

Then, probably, I really jsut don't get it. Idea of penalizing yourself in any way doesn't sound appealing to me at all. So I'll just stay away from these threads, since it's not something I can appreciate. To each his own as they say.

 

In most tabletop rules, the check to identify the item as cursed is more difficult than the check to identify it as magical - meaning you could mis-identify a cursed belt of gender change as a belt of ogre strength, slip it on, scream in anger, then find it impossible to remove. That, or a fighter has his sword knocked away, and unthinkingly grabs the sword in the hands on a corpse in the hall, only to go bonkers and start killing everything. It sometimes doesn't carry over well into cRPGs. I like the idea that you have no idea that a piece of equipment is magical until you have some basic "spellcraft" equivilant skill level, and thing a higher level (or NPC help) to determine what it is.

[PsychoBlonde]

Curses always have confounded me, why would you place a curse on an item you intend to use?

 

In the original system, curses were the result of partially failed magical item creation. The only way to know whether you'd succeeded or not was to try using the item. Therefore, most wizards would delegate this task. That, and there are a few cursed items that are actually useful to malicious people. Give a Cloak of Poison as a gift to someone. When they put it on, they die.

 

And you could take them off--with the remove curse spell.

Edited October 30, 2012 by PsychoBlonde

[Gurkog]

A cursed item that alters dialogue choices.... showing your character's descent into madness!

 

An item that randomly causes the player to be confused upon being struck!

 

Shoes that increase speed but the soles burn your feet on contact so standing still causes damage!

 

Gloves that increase strength but cause excessive grip which can randomly break/damage weapon hilts.

 

Armor that snags weapons when struck , slowing enemy attack speed, but the design directs weapons toward vital areas so you take more damage.

 

I could do this all night.

[Dumarus]

I would love to see some quest based only on some curse, where removing the curse is only reward.

Go there, you just have too.

[Hassat Hunter]

I like curses. Probably the more "hidden" kind that only becomes apparent later than the BG method.

Also agree it should be on the user once afflicted, not the item.

Or maybe the +5 Holy Sword picked up a taint (in the form of the curse) when heroic long dead guy defeated some ginormous demon ages past?

Uh, I like this.

Me too.

Heck, it can even HAPPEN to the player. Defeating the legendary demon? The weapon it gets killed with gets cursed with it's soul (magic? Instant affliction to the user).

Sucks if it's your precious item, having to de-curse it before use (hopefully with a good quest rather than just casting cure curse).

In most tabletop rules, the check to identify the item as cursed is more difficult than the check to identify it as magical - meaning you could mis-identify a cursed belt of gender change as a belt of ogre strength, slip it on, scream in anger, then find it impossible to remove.

That would be good too.

Bad thing in the BG's was that it was either "unidentified" or "cursed". If you have not enough skill one could mis-identify it, and it would only become apparent later. A higher skill would show the cursed still though (making investiging properly in that skill for one member... useful)...