10 Cursed Items

These items are cursed in that they usually grant a powerful effect at a price. Most of these are supposed to be slightly more interesting then the Roguelike style “cursed means -2 and also you can't take it off lol”

10 Cursed Items

[1] Waveblade – Magic Sword +2

Stats- (2d6 +2) Damage +1 to Initiative, Move Thru

This is a powerful magic sword enchanted with the magic of water and the strength of the waves. The weapon is curved with a beautiful blue handle, and has a golden decorative hilt that mimics a spraying, foaming ocean wave. Its slashes sing and the blade always feels slick; like metal just washed and dabbed with a towel but not yet fully dried to the air.

Whatever system for initiative you use in your game, make the character wielding this blade get a +1 to the roll, or add it to their chance to avoid being surprised, or to go first by that many units. Secondly, whenever this weapon is used, the character holding it can move through spaces occupied by other units with their attack; a combination of knocking them aside with a rush of force and a sort of liquid-like agility to slip between tight spaces while maintaining control. Those holding this blade are also known to be able to glide on thin sheets of water, kicking up a wake behind them with each flashy sword strike.

However, the Waveblade has a cost. Every time it rolls maximum damage on either (or both) of its dice, the DM marks a secret tally count for each character who uses the Waveblade.

At 3 marks or less, nothing unusual happens.

At 4 to 7 marks, the character will feel woozy after each battle where they acquired at least one mark.

At 8 to 9 marks, the character feels water pooling in their shoes after a battle where they acquired a mark. They must make a saving throw or lose 1d2 points of Strength as their body feels weaker.

At 10 marks or more, the character must make a saving throw after a battle where they acquired a mark, and on failure they die. Their body liquefies and turns to pure water, their belongings and the sword falling to the ground in a wet heap. On a successful save, they lose 1d4 points of Strength.

[2] Black Ring

This is a magic ring, made of a dark black metal. It is engraved with nothing and socketed with no gemstone; the ring is as smooth and exact of a craft as it can get. Once placed on a finger, the ring magically binds itself to the wearer; even if the ring is removed or destroyed a black brand appears around that finger which symbolically represents the ring. There is no way to remove the curse of the ring, unless you cut off the finger which bears the sooty blemish. The powers of the ring remain even for those who wear the ring or who are marked by it; as long as that finger remains.

As long as you are marked by the Black Ring, you gain protection at a price. You first feel the call of the void beneath us all; the dark realms beyond the blackest infinities where unformed beings live. These places, the “dark place”, the outer realms, whatever they are called- you can feel their calling. This grants a sense of unease, but also a sense of security. Any failed save or die saving throw you make or any banishment spell you suffer from instead drops you firmly into the black infinity. After 1d6 turns, you will be returned to where you disappeared from the nearest shadowy corner or pool of water. Each turn you spend in the black infinities causes you a permanent lose of 1 Wisdom, but you may gain Terrible Knowledge from the whispering of the beings in that cold place.

Secondly, you gain a strange compulsion to cover your body totally when you sleep, preferably behind closed and locked doors in windowless rooms. This is because your body loses form when you sleep; the entire area or space instead is filled with a deep and supernatural darkness which is your sleeping form. Any assassins sent to kill you in your sleep will just find a dark room. The darkness that is your sleeping body also acts on its own accord in self defense; those who try to disturb the darkness will take 1d6 damage per round they remain within it; it is a hungry shadow that pulls away pieces and sends them to the black infinities, a bottomless void. This also means that light of any kind will damage you while you sleep, though as long as there is a shadowy corner for the darkness to retreat to your physical form will not be harmed. If the room you are sleeping in is fully lit and uncovered, you disappear with the last shadow and never return.

[3] The Prick

The tiny metal needle is greenish at the base, giving the impression of some kind of tarnish, but is clean at the tip. The needle is incredibly sharp and can be stabbed through chainmail or leather, but iron plates or better armor will stop it. It deals no damage on a hit, the wound it leaves is so fine as to only ever drip a single drop of blood. It won't even wake up sleeping people stuck with it.

The Prick has two powers. Firstly, any wound made by it never heals. This is a very minor wound, the person with the wound will only bleed a single drop of blood once every day at most, but it simply refuses to fully scab over and be gone. This means that any creature that can smell blood like a shark or monsters that can sense injured people will be able to smell this person from a long way away, even if they are at full hit points. Secondly, spells or magical effects (such as necrotic gas) that requires an entry into the body from a wound or that deals damage to wounded beings can be used against them.

Second, the bearer of the prick gains an unspoken connection to the people he stabbed with it. Their blood flows through his veins now. By stabbing yourself with the prick, you can make invisible streams of blood and life energy flow from your victims into yourself from any distance. This only takes a tiny amount of life from each person you stabbed, only a droplet of blood, but together they can form a mighty ocean. If anyone stabbed by the prick dies, you can no longer channel their blood. This power requires a turn to use and can only be used once per day.

If you stabbed 1 to 9 people, you gain no benefit beyond a slight feeling of euphoria.

If you stabbed 10 to ~50 people, you heal +1d4 hit points. The life energy is being stolen, but is so minor from each victim they will barely notice.

If you stabbed ~100 people, you heal +1d6 hit points and count as being fed for that day, no longer requiring a ration.

If you stabbed ~250 people or more, you heal +1d8 hit points, don't need to eat that day, and restore 1 point of any damaged attribute.

Since the wounds caused by this cannot be healed, you only need to stab someone and get away with it to later drain them. However, every person you stab with this has a tiny amount of their blood mixed with yours; your mind and body alter in subtle ways. If you have stabbed ~75 people or more, you gain a random mutation. If you have stabbed over ~200 people, you gain a mental instability; delusions, weird fetishes or phobias, amnesia, false memories, alternate personalities, etc. This is from all of the life energy of radically different lives then your own entering your body at all times.

Also, if you lose the Prick, you can no longer use its power to channel, but the instability from all the beings you have drawn blood from remain in you. Just as unhealing as the wounds the needle caused, so to you are unable to remove the traces of the minds and souls of other beings from yourself. Even if you massacred every single person you drew blood from, their blood would still be within your veins.

[4] Blue-Gold Bangle

This is a golden bangle of a specific alloy, with a blue tint. It is a smooth, simple ring of metal with no ornamentation. It is wide enough to be worn on the wrist of most medium/human sized races, around the neck of most small races, or around the thumb or big toe of large races. If a race is described as having a heavy or thick tail, then they can probably wear it there too.

Putting the bangle around your wrist or on the body part of choice has two effects. The first is that you feel a tingling sensation in that limb, and can now make attacks by that limb strike ghosts, intangible spirits, or other beings that can only be struck by magic. Weapons or spiked armor on that body part will work under this effect, but not if the weapon is held in the opposite hand or what have you. Secondly, the blue gold bangle starts to turn you into a ghost. Every time you put the bangle on or off, or each consecutive week you wear it, you lose -1 maximum hit points. Your body becomes slightly less tangible and your life force is slowly drained away. If you can find a holy man, he can take the amulet off your arm without you losing a hit point- this encourages people to keep it on longer and risk having it tick down every week until they can find a holy man.

[5] Magic Doll

It's a doll in a red dress. Carved from wood and painted, it appears as a medium quality toy with little ornamentation, but is quite valuable. Anyone who knows what this doll is will pay you 2,500c for it.

If this doll is played with by a child with a congenital illness or terminal disease, they will die peacefully in their sleep the following night.

[6] Bottled Spirit

Within this small glass bottle is a tiny, writhing spirit-fire. The pale blue flame hints at the presence of the spirit within. When the bottle is opened or smashed, the spirit is freed. It will answer one question or perform one favor for the person who opened the bottle. It can answer questions about the spirit world or physical things; it can do this by flying to a place to check something out and then return to report on its findings- acting as an indirect form of scrying. It can also simply share knowledge about the spirit realm, such as the destination of a dead person's soul and where they ended up, or if they are still trapped as a ghost in the physical world.

Once this exchange is complete, the spirit is freed and will leave. But it is bound by an ancient law to arrange that the person who opened the bottle be trapped inside one themselves upon their death. The opener will end up as a spirit in a bottle after they are killed or die of old age, but cannot exchange information until the bottle is opened, meaning their friends may free them in kindness not realizing then they are marked to become the next bottled spirit as well.

[7] Fantastic Classic

The fantastic classic is a mix of herbs, vegetables, and a bitter honey-like spread sold in a small metal tin. It is magically enchanted. Anyone who eats something with this spread, such as some bread or dipping in some vegetables, will proudly declare how good it is, and will gladly give it to anyone who asks for it or share it. It actually tastes awful, it's just magically enchanted so you'll say how good it is. Everyone wants to get rid of it, hence why they'll share it so readily.

[8] Gremlin Stick

These sticks are nothing more then common wooden sticks, but all were once claimed to be used to beat a gremlin out of a house or workshop. The gremlin stick seemingly exudes an aura of chaos around it from then on; small mechanical latches will open, buttons will be pressed in, levers switched and safety binds pulled free. These magical effects will happen when not observed, simply having the stick in the same building or leaning against its outer walls will cause these minor annoyances and accidents to happen. Some people say that is the only reason people get to see gremlins at all; they reveal themselves to be beaten and as a side effect can mess up people's work by proxy.

The Gremlin Stick's magical aura can be ended by just burning or getting rid of the stick, though it is hard to figure out why everything is going haywire for no reason. The chaos caused by the stick can however be focused; any place with deadly mechanical traps or complex machinery used to keep away intruders will instead have their traps reset automatically. Many dungeons have gremlin sticks stuck within their depths for this reason, hidden among a pile of cobweb covered wizard staves or hidden under a pile of ashes from long dead fireplaces.

[9] Spear of Voyage – Magic Spear +1

Stats- 1d8+1 Damage, Disjointment on 1 in 6

This is a magic spear, painted with a purple pattern along the head of the spear, and a long tattered yellow tassel from an ancient desert nomad tied around the neck. It is a magical weapon with decent killing potential, but its most unique feature is its disjointment. The spear is an interdimensional tool; different magical realms that exist in side with our can be pierced by the spear; the 'veil' between realms being punctured like a lung or heart. Upon striking a creature, there is a 1 in 6 chance that this spear can shunt them away into another realm. Creatures will automatically return their own realm if they are alien origin, OR will send them to the most dangerous realm for them if they are not. Striking humans with this will likely shunt them into the netherrealm or other places of dark, negative energy. Nature beings may be sent to opposing elemental planes, where as golems and the lifeless will instead be sent to the depths of the astral realm.

This spear is infamous. While this powerful ability makes it formidable, as being shunted means at minimum a journey through a strange and dangerous land far from home, which often results in death or permanent exile from your dimension, the spear itself is infamous for its curse. The moment the spear is touched, that person will become lost for the rest of their life. They will not be able to return home, and will be constantly set on paths into uncharted places or strange lands of which they will know no comfort. Anything from the weather, politics, to plain bad luck will constantly interrupt their journey, any map they carry or consult will have its ink fade away to nothing, meaning that for the rest of their life they will be lost.

[10] Bad Gammon

This cursed game board is similar to a popular game in your setting. The case of this is an old, dark and luxurious hardwood with ivory playing pieces and well balanced dice. If the owner of this board challenges someone to a game on it with something on the line, they'll always win. The dice can't be detected to be fake or weighted, the board itself has no secret levers or traps, it's just a magical board that always lets its owner win in the game.

However, every time you use this board you become more cocky and less cautious. For every 5000c worth of money or equivalent goods you steal from others by using the magic board, you lose -1 Wisdom score. This works best if Wisdom modifier = saving throw bonus to all saving throws. This represents that the person using the board has thrown all caution to the wind off their incredible “luck” and starts to become complacent. Eventually, it will catch up with you.