I have all of the main books, even Ultimate Equipment. However, all it says is that cursed items pop up only when the item creation roll fails by 5 or more.
But, what's the chance of a cursed item appearing:
1 In a shop of some sort
2 In an enemy's possession
3 as part of found treasure
None of that is listed. They have random tables for EVERY kind of treasure in Ultimate Equipment, but NOT for how often cursed items actually appear!
As a side question, why aren't these cursed magic items more on the funny side? I've seen very few items that are inherently silly, like the goblin bomb. One would think that more than just a handful of cursed items would be funnier, yet Paizo kinda ignored the opportunity altogether.
I suppose not everyone appreciates a good (practical) joke.
Would a magical crinoline be considered a cursed item? :-)
You could always use older editions cursed item lists. I used 2nd ed's Encyclopedia Magica.
Or you could make up your own. I once gave my PCs a cursed hat of disguise, but the disguise it gave you was the most hated person of the viewer.
For fun items, I've always loved the mace of healing. You have to hit with a successful attack roll, and roll for "damage." "Damage" dealt actually healed. Once they got used to it, it was no problem, but imagine trying to convince the random injured NPC you meet on the road that it'll help. "Don't kill me!" "No, this will help you, I promise!"
I had a DM give us an intelligent item that would grant wishes, but in order for a wish to be granted, you had to kill a bard. The sword had an imprisoned soul of a woman who fell for a bard's wiles, and through him she ended up getting trapped in the sword. So now she blames and hates all bards. The best part was in that game, it was the bard who found the sword first. She kept telling him that she would grant him any wish, but first he had to commit suicide. :)
I dunno. It wouldn't take much to curse that thing. Or stiletto heels, now that I think of it.
I do know I laughed my tuckus off when I introduced a Barrel of Monkeys to my group once via the old Encyclopedia Magica. Or the time I ensured there was a magical teddy bear for the Dwarven Battlerager that was SO inappropriate, I just had to give it to him.
Or the Dwarven Thrower? You didn't throw the axe, IT threw YOU.
At least the old Rod of Wonder is still there. Sigh. Where's the jokes? WHERE'S THE PUNS, DAMMIT?
:)
I'm still trying to get a hold of the spell Transmute Rock to Jazz
That's the link to Olik's AD&D pages. Remember those? There's some good items and other ideas you can use. One of my favorites was the Bag of Pebbles.
It's like a bag of holding, except whatever you put in (and anything you try to put in up to gargantuan size will fit) becomes just another pebble inside. When you look inside, it always looks like there are about 30 or so pebbles (so you have no idea how many pebbles are inside, nor what any of them really are). When you take one out, it comes out as a random item that was put in. When the last one is pulled out, it explodes - 20d6 at ground zero, and -1d6 every ten feet out.
It made for some great randomized or DM fiat scenarios. When I used it, I made a list of what was already in it and had the player roll to see what came out. One time, they were being swamped with goblins. They were on a narrow pathway on the side of a cliff trying to get away. They came up to the a badly built bridge (could only handle the weight of one character at a time), so they ended up getting crowded at the edge with goblins piling up. One player got desperate enough to pull a pebble; he rolled, and a charging rhino came out and saved the day, pushing most the goblins off the cliff! Now, that could have easily been a bad thing to pull - imagine if he pulled that rhino while in town!
Or the Ring of Water Walk. It has two runes on it. One for water, one for walk. When it is donned, the nearest source of water gets up and starts walking to the character, and then attacks him!
From the 3.5 srd
Quoted here:
"Cursed Items
"Some items are cursed—incorrectly made, or corrupted by outside forces. Cursed items might be particularly dangerous to the user, or they might be normal items with a minor flaw, an inconvenient requirement, or an unpredictable nature. Randomly generated items are cursed 5% of the time."So 5%, or 1 in 20.
Of course, you can make them as frequent or not as you like!
If it's in a shop, the curse effect might be known, for example, if it makes the temperature around it colder, or makes your skin turn blue when used. Some curse effects might not be known, and that's more likely for one-shot items.
If a curse effect is known it might affect the market value or not. Ie, if it requires certain skill ranks, race, class etc the market value is generally reduced (see "Other Considerations" on page 549 of the Core Rulebook).
That's for item creation. What about how often it appears in found treasure? They have random tables for treasure already, but those tables do not include cursed items.
I'm still trying to get a hold of the spell Transmute Rock to Jazz
Here's your spell, Transmute Rock to Jazz.
I once made a set of cursed coins - about 50 of them, and threw them in with a pile of treasure. The curse was every time a coin changed hands, it had a 50% chance to spread a disease (I chose bubonic plague). The coins were made by a leukodaemon (a daemon of disease). Unfortunately, we didn't play that campaign long enough for the players to get into the disease plotline I planned.
I'm still trying to get a hold of the spell Transmute Rock to JazzHere's your spell, Transmute Rock to Jazz.
Thanks, but I meant for my character in an actual game. :)
I recall a few spells from back in the day that were pretty funny.
The DM basically sneaks in a few spell scrolls labeled "fireball" into a treasure haul, and then giggles when the results hit.
Fire Ball: You and everyone in the area are plane shifted to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and you take continual fire damage while there. It's a ball, where you are expected to dance properly whilst enduring the fire. Good performance means half damage.
Firebawl: You summon a seriously depressed fire elemental, who rains fiery tears down on everyone in a 20 ft radius. This lasts for as many rounds as the Fireball spell would have had d6's if the DM hadn't been a prankster and the spell had been real. I dunno, maybe 1d4 fire damage per round, with a Will save each round or be confused....
I once had a invented magic item to teach a Barbarian and Rogue to start working together or perish. It was a set of manacles with a 10ft chain, totally indestructable and unpickable. Only way to get them off is to find the key, which a sadistic female sorcerer vampire had placed on them at the Ravenloft inn... Worse, if one of them died, so too does the other because their lives are linked.
I did think that Cannibal Ring in the UE book was particularly sadistic and nasty. I wouldn't wish that one on my worst enemy!
I always saw cursed items as a challenge. Most of the time, they are powerful items in their own right, with innovative effects. Understanding them and their workings perfectly usually allows you to use them with massive efficiency in some way or other - because the effects are so powerful.
Also, I loved the Robe of Useless Items.
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I always saw cursed items as a challenge. Most of the time, they are powerful items in their own right, with innovative effects. Understanding them and their workings perfectly usually allows you to use them with massive efficiency in some way or other - because the effects are so powerful.
What do you mean? I am afraid I don't quite understand.
There was an old book I once read, but I can't remember the name of it. Sorry :(
Anyways, the story was about a man who acquired a cursed sword. The sword was a powerful sword in its own right - he often won the battles he was in, but the curse was that he couldn't die and he couldn't get rid of the sword.
You might ask yourself why not being able to die is a curse. Well, the book when through centuries of his life, and all the horrible and painful ways he died (from falling in lava, to getting cut into little pieces, to poisons) and he felt every ounce of pain. But no matter what, he would regenerate back. He had to watch his loved ones die. He was burnt alive a few times for being a witch. People heard of his "ability" and came to him to test it all the time. Others heard of the powerful magical sword of his, and tried to steal it all the time - which put his family and friends in danger.
Many times he tried to get rid of it, and it would always show back up. He would sell it, and it would appear in his closet the next day. Someone would steal it, and it would be leaning against the door in a few hours. He threw it in the ocean and two days later an earthquake happened near his home, and the sword came flying out to him.
From the 3.5 srd
Quoted here:
"Cursed Items
"Some items are cursed—incorrectly made, or corrupted by outside forces. Cursed items might be particularly dangerous to the user, or they might be normal items with a minor flaw, an inconvenient requirement, or an unpredictable nature. Randomly generated items are cursed 5% of the time."So 5%, or 1 in 20.
Of course, you can make them as frequent or not as you like!
If it's in a shop, the curse effect might be known, for example, if it makes the temperature around it colder, or makes your skin turn blue when used. Some curse effects might not be known, and that's more likely for one-shot items.
If a curse effect is known it might affect the market value or not. Ie, if it requires certain skill ranks, race, class etc the market value is generally reduced (see "Other Considerations" on page 549 of the Core Rulebook).
Problem is that 3.5 doesn't apply here. This is PF, and from what I can see so far, PF doesn't say a thing about how often cursed items appear in treasure, just how often they occur during item creation. Those two are not necessarily linked, since logically most people would destroy a cursed item as soon as they found out it was one. Most cursed items are just that, cursed, so anyone using them is screwed.