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One of my players had the misfortune of creating a cursed headband of intelligence, and is hoping to uncurse it. There's nothing about uncursing items in the Cursed Items text, but Break Enchantment seems fuzzy on the matter:
"This spell frees victims from enchantments, transmutations, and curses. Break enchantment can reverse even an instantaneous effect. For each such effect, you make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level, maximum +15) against a DC of 11 + caster level of the effect. Success means that the creature is free of the spell, curse, or effect. For a cursed magic item, the DC is equal to the DC of the curse.
If the spell is one that cannot be dispelled by dispel magic or stone to flesh, break enchantment works only if that spell is 5th level or lower.
If the effect comes from a permanent magic item, break enchantment does not remove the curse from the item, but it does free the victim from the item's effects. "
Any thoughts? If not Break Enchantment, then is there a way to reforge a cursed item?
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What's the curse? Cause Mr.Fishy needs a Headband of Zombie Attaction.
It's for a friends...er, Birthday.
As DM you can rule that the item can be unmade and reforged into an uncursed item but Mr. Fishy would stick a cost penalty to the item.
You could also have this cursed item spawn an adventure. The heandband is stolen and sold to a powerful and vindictive noble who sents it to a rival as a "gift". The party needs to get it back before it starts a war.
I would allow a cursed item to be "fixed" with a wish or limited wish spell.
I'd agree with Ravingdork on that, but I'd also add Miracle to the list. Note that if the cursed item were intelligent, or an artifact, I'd likely require greater steps to be taken than simply a wish or miracle.
A cursed item is not a normal item that's gone wrong. It's an item that was never made right to begin with.
Not true. You seem to be thinking of Specific Cursed Items like the Armor of Rage, Bag of Devouring and the like. Are you completely forgetting the section right before that, about "common cursed effects"? Items created using that section are basically normal items that just have a drawback on top of what they normally do. (There's even charts to roll on for what drawback occurs, what situation makes it occur, etc.) I mean, if you still maintain that cursed items aren't actually cursed items but rather items that just do bad things (and thus can't be un-cursed), well, that's fine, but that sounds more like a house rule than RAW.
(I suppose you could even argue that even specific cursed items can be un-cursed. But, again, saying that all cursed items are cursed to the core seems kind of arbitrary and campaign-specific.)
Mr.Fishy for screwing with the player by making the "cursed" item a plot item. Make them chaseit down and give them a lesser item in exchange. The player lose the cursed item but is reward for play it off. If your playing with a unreasonable player then "Quote" the book and move on.
Remove Curse?
Doesn't make the item "un-cursed." Remove Curse only removes the curse from the creature, and allows the creature to "escape" the hold the cursed item has on them.
Cursed items are magic items with some sort of potentially negative impact. Occasionally they mix bad with good, forcing characters to make difficult choices. Cursed items are almost never made intentionally. Instead they are the result of rushed work, inexperienced crafters, or a lack of proper components. While many of these items still have functions, they either do not work as intended or come with serious drawbacks. When a magic item creation skill check fails by 5 or more, roll on Table 15–27 to determine the type of curse possessed by the item.
By inference, some, albeit very few, items are intentionally made to be cursed.
Since failing a crafting check by 5 or more makes a random cursed effect on an item, I'd say that an intentional effect would require some specific spells and/or materials to be added to the process (up to the GM).
I might add bestow curse to the spells needed to make the item, as well as something like unicorn's blood or some such material. I'd also rule that intentionally crafting a cursed item is an evil act.
Remove Curse?Doesn't make the item "un-cursed." Remove Curse only removes the curse from the creature, and allows the creature to "escape" the hold the cursed item has on them.
Correct. Same thing with Break Enchantment.
I agree with Dork that a Limited Wish (or greater) could alter a cursed item to remove the curse completely.
Creating a helm of opposite alignment to stop the tyranny of a evil demon summoning king, is an evil act? Sorry, for me, intent is everything.
And of course, you have to pick the one damn exception to the general theme of most cursed items. :P
Consider, however, that the crafter is also taking the risk, that the heroic paladin, who is the one hope of the nation, could wear the helm and then join his father in giving in to the dark side of the...
At best, the crafter is a misguided fool.
BUT FOR EVERY OTHER DAMN ITEM (a la necklace of strangulation), making one carries a gross irresponsibility on the part of the crafter.
BTW, if you've never read it, do a search for "The Monkey's Paw," and see if it's available to read. Best short story I ever read about a cursed object.
Creating a helm of opposite alignment to stop the tyranny of a evil demon summoning king, is an evil act? Sorry, for me, intent is everything.
Forcing an alignment change is basically the greatest form of mind-rape there is. Think about it: for the rest of the king's life, he would be acting against all of his hopes and dreams. Most heroes and villains would rather die than take on the opposite alignment. Oh, and if you did this, you would be denying the evil king his after-life, since he did not want to frolic in Elysium.
Look at it this way: Whats worse, a villain who slaughters a village, or one who binds the minds of the people and forces them to serve in his dark army? Why is it less reprehensible when the good guys do it?
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Can you purposely make a cursed item? How would it effect the crafting process?
You could ask your GM for the requirements to make an item with an effect that's normally listed as a curse. It's a completely new custom magic item. Its costs and prerequisites must be designed from scratch and are unrelated to the cursed item's creation method.
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Creating a helm of opposite alignment to stop the tyranny of a evil demon summoning king, is an evil act? Sorry, for me, intent is everything.Forcing an alignment change is basically the greatest form of mind-rape there is. Think about it: for the rest of the king's life, he would be acting against all of his hopes and dreams. Most heroes and villains would rather die than take on the opposite alignment. Oh, and if you did this, you would be denying the evil king his after-life, since he did not want to frolic in Elysium.
Look at it this way: Whats worse, a villain who slaughters a village, or one who binds the minds of the people and forces them to serve in his dark army? Why is it less reprehensible when the good guys do it?
The greater good. Denying oneself a single act, because it is believed to be "evil", when not committing the act ends with the torture and death of thousands is common mistake of many adventurers. Many a real life heroes committed despicable acts for the greater good. Some were remembered as heroes, others as villains.
What if the evil king was an ettin, though? Now that would be an act of pure comedy.