One thing we are not sure about in our group is what makes an item an evil item? we all agree that good pc's should not use evil items unless they are willing to pay xp penalties, fall out with their god etc. but what makes an item evil? is it an evil spellcaster who made the item, or an evil spell used in its creation, does it have to be an intelligent evily aligned item or does it have to state it as evil in the item description?
One thing we are not sure about in our group is what makes an item an evil item? we all agree that good pc's should not use evil items unless they are willing to pay xp penalties, fall out with their god etc. but what makes an item evil? is it an evil spellcaster who made the item, or an evil spell used in its creation, does it have to be an intelligent evily aligned item or does it have to state it as evil in the item description?
Intent and purpose, I think, is what makes an item evil. If a dagger was created solely for the purpose of sacrifices, then I would deem that as Evil. If an item was used in the slaying of innocents, then I would deem it as Evil. I would say items that require a Necromancy spell, or a spell with the Evil descriptor have a higher chance of being Evil themselves. As far as item intelligence, I think that's something that would develop over time.
Are you going with the premise that using an Evil item has a chance of corrupting the wielder? If so, cool! Could be how many a paladin became a blackguard.
Creative Director
|
One of the great things about 3.5 is that the evil magic spells are labeled as such. You can extend this easilly to magic items: if a magic item duplicates an evil spell, it's evil. Often, the text of the item's description makes this apparent too, as is the case for an unholy weapon or a nine lives stealer sword.
Most of the time, if an item doesn't say it's evil, you can pretty much safely assume it's not.
I'd usually go with its creation. The Book of Vile Darkness adresses the issue to a certian extent. Basically if the item was forged in the life blood of 100 innocent children you can safely assume its evil.
For me normal items are typically not evil in corrupting sense, it's only the actions for which they are used (there was a nice article once in Dragon about interesting uses for "evil" or cursed items like cleansing and filling that Dagger of Venom with holy water...) Owning eg. a Necklace of Demon Summoning doesn't do anything for the alignment if it is not used.
Now this thing changes with items with at least some level of intelligence an down will (many artifacts are put in this group). Now those can include stuff which can do alignment damage even if used only for the purest reasons...
I don't think an item would be considered evil unless the user was evil. A dagger used to kill children would be evil while used for that purpose, but if used for cutting rope afterward, it wouldn't nessesaraly be evil anymore. Then again, that's just the thoughts of an old vampire.
A normal everyday, run-of-the-mill dagger isn't going to be evil because it was wielded by an evil character and used for evil purposes. But once magic is involved it becomes totally different. Magic changes everything, and once that dgger has become magically enhanced (and I don't mean just with a +1, usually adding unholy or something along those lines) and used in such horrible acts like slaughtering children or hundreds of innocents, it takes on an evil aura. As time goes on, the item can begin manifesting intelligence as it grows in power and evilness. Then you also have the items that start out evil. As was mentioned earlier, a weapon forged for sacrfices, espcially if already magically enhanced, would begin as evil.
A bit from my Hoarde
Basically, if the item once belogned to, or was a gift from, my mother-in-law; It's evil!
Ultradamned
I would say:
Intelligent items with evil alignments are a given.
Artifacts created by evil dieties are a given.
Divine magic items are almost certainly evil if they're created by evil clerics.
Arcane magic items are probably not evil, even if users can do evil things with them. I see arcane magic as an inherently neutral force, unlike divine magic (which always represents the alignment of its source on some level).
ok thanks all. it was just pointed out once that a hand of glory uses animate dead in its creation, so i take it it is an evil item as that spell has the evil descriptor. thats gonna bug all the good pc's wanting to use a 3rd ring :) it doesnt feel like an evil item though unlike an unholy flesh eating vampire sword for example.
ok thanks all. it was just pointed out once that a hand of glory uses animate dead in its creation, so i take it it is an evil item as that spell has the evil descriptor. thats gonna bug all the good pc's wanting to use a 3rd ring :) it doesnt feel like an evil item though unlike an unholy flesh eating vampire sword for example.
Well...it is a mummified hand. No telling whether or not the person who gave up the hand was willing or not. :-D
ok thanks all. it was just pointed out once that a hand of glory uses animate dead in its creation, so i take it it is an evil item as that spell has the evil descriptor. thats gonna bug all the good pc's wanting to use a 3rd ring :) it doesnt feel like an evil item though unlike an unholy flesh eating vampire sword for example.
Maybe he should consider a rabbit's foot -a non-fiendish rabbit's foot.
GGG