| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| michaelcroket |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 03:58:20
A current mod I'm running calls for a cursed item, but allows me to come up with the actual mechanics of the curse. I'm wanting something special for my players, seeing how they have been on a powergaming streak, and are becoming overly full of themselves. Thus far they have just barely survived getting Coup de Graced by a mindflayer sorcerer who snuck up on them while they were resting with the help of a wonderful spell called Invisibility. I'd like to kick it up a notch. Think somewhere along the lines of a Greater Glyph of Warding (fire) on a Helm of Brilliance, placed on a skeleton who is instructed to voluntarily fail its saving throw on detonation (or Tactical Skeletal Weapon as I call it). The two party members in question are a fighter type who uses Katanas (aka. Chuckles the Evil Silly Piggy), and a Warmage 5/Favored Soul 3 who is soon to take Mystic Theurge (aka. My Wife, who shall make me sleep in the living room after this). Suggestions? |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| michaelcroket |
Posted - 12 Nov 2007 : 12:38:53
Well, the magical gauntlets that make a PC absolutely useless was a really nice item, but I stumbled across an interesting little bit of evil DM goodness while building my character for another game (my lich Favored Soul of Myrkul). The end result was a +2 unholy dagger that would catch the eye of one of my PCs, mostly the not-quite-evil rogue of the party. The only downside of the dagger that could be identified (it actively resisted divination spells) is you couldn't get rid of it unless someone willingly accepted it. The real curse on it activated if you have 0 or less HP (partly because of the curst weapon). At that point, it casts Bestow Curse on you, followed by Create Greater Undead. The end result is the rogue of the party ending up with the template Curst (Lost Empires), an unkillable undead creature. It was worth the damage of making an unkillable charater (template ability) just to watch him disarm traps by blowing himself up repeatedly only to come back within the hour. On the bright side, the money from selling the dagger covered the cost of diamonds to bring him back from an ECL of 3. |
| Gelcur |
Posted - 11 Nov 2007 : 23:19:26
I like Wooly's item I may have to throw that into one of my drops.
But if you want to be mean I have the item for you, I have been looking at this for a long while, scroll to the bottom of this page. This would lend itself to awesome RP, an major artifact level cursed item. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 11 Nov 2007 : 21:02:19
Here's a cursed item I once thought up: a magical gauntlet that appears to be beneficial. At some point, particularly when it's inconvenient to the wearer, all the joints freeze, permanently stuck in a position that doesn't allow the wearer to wield weapons or do much else offensively. And, of course, at the same time, the gauntlet becomes stuck to the wearer, and can't be removed without a remove curse spell.
Put a pair of those on the main fighter, and watch the fun when he goes from a tank to a walking wall.  |
| Austran |
Posted - 10 Nov 2007 : 22:22:20
Intelligent cursed longsword that needs a bath of blood from the owner each week (each bath drain one temporary point of constitution (you can make the natural restoration of the drained constitution one point per week when the owner lost it to the sword, keeping the character always with a low cons.)) to satiate the sword, otherwise it will slowly taken control of the character and begin to permanent drain of constitution (one per week or something around that) until the sword has full control of the ownder.
Oh yes! The sword is Chaotic Evil, but has a Undetectable Alignment spell permanently at work in it (but not in the owner). |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 20:53:26
I like the whirlwind attack because it allows him to hit every target around him (on the first round when he wins initiative) with 5d6 sneak attack damage. That was the goal with it...to make him a deadly hit and run specialist. |
| michaelcroket |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 06:47:28
ummm... I'm running a mod, a pregenerated game, so I can't play with NPCs that much. It let me decide the exact curse of an item though, so I wanted something with a little more carnage without letting them sell the item later for a huge profit (minus the cost of a Raise Dead of course), and an intelligent sword that can beat the fighter type's Will Save (Warblade, Tome of Battle) is going to cost an arm and a leg (though I like it costing the Arcane caster's arm and leg idea though). Maybe something more in the area of Symbol of Death, but with a lower CR (don't want them gaining a lot of EXP from it either). Mostly, something in the line of my previously stated "Tactical Skeletal Weapon" in ouch, but not so much in the "hey, I own my own castle now" sort of way if they defeat it.
Like the goblin by the way. Play those a lot myself. I would have chosen Low Blow and Improved Low Blow as feats instead of Whirlwind Attack and Quick Draw, but that's just because I'm evil like that. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 30 Oct 2007 : 06:10:50
Well, if they start getting wise to your mechanical destructions of their characters...start getting sneaky on them in a long term way.
You can actually retro-fit something into the campaign without them even knowing you have done it...insert a villain into the game in the guise of someone they trust already (if they say: "Hey! I cast detect evil on that guy when we first met him!" then all you have to say is: "Hey! It isn't the same guy now! Ever hear of disguise chuckle-head!?").
I posted a pretty nasty guy named Sklek in the Valuable Villains Thread.
http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10088
If you want to make him more of an Artemis the Assassin type, then it doesn't take much to make him even more dangerous by making him human and removing his flaws.
If that isn't the way you want to go...then go for a Cursed Katana.
Make that sucker Intelligent, with some serious Ego...and then make its special purpose to slay Arcane Casters. To be fair, make sure the Neo-Samurai and the wife know at exactly the same time what this weapon is all about when the Samurai picks it up (i.e. the sword takes over the fella and then he shouts out: "All Arcane Casters must die!") Then sit back and enjoy while your party goes after each other with a vengeance.
Whatever you do, make sure they have fun with it too...it sucks when you have a really good idea that is wasted because the party hates what has happened as a result of something unintended. |
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