Can you craft cursed items with controlable curses?


Advice


Sometimes, parts of your party may or may not be completely on your side, and at those times it may pay off having a contingency plans. Like having the magic weapons you crafted for said partymember stop working or some other cursed item effect.

Is this possible? Can you craft cursed items who's curse only appears after a certain phrase is spoken?


Intentionally Crafting Cursed Items wrote:
Intentionally crafting cursed items requires the same item creation feats and skill checks as does crafting a normal item of that type, but in addition to such requirements, intentionally cursed items require bestow curse or major curse as a spell prerequisites.

The effect you're after sounds like an item with an intermittent effect. While that's listed as a -30% cost, I don't think I'd allow that as a GM (unless you're a hoaxer bard), or I'd add to the cost for the bestow/major curse requirement.


I checked out the cursed item section, but I couldn't find anything about items that only act cursed when it's convenient. :p

Seeing as pathfinder is a cooperative game, I can imagine there not being written rules for it.


It's not listed, no. If you're limited to listed intermittent options you might want it to not work when within 10' of a member of your race, and try to stay away from the suspect ally at most times.


The thought was that, as the party's provider of all things wonderous, I would be the one providing these... erm.. unorthodox items. And in case of backstabbery, the cursed items would act as a failsafe. So they would have to work as normal weapons until I activate some trigger.


The only thing that comes to mind is the Cult Master archetype for the Mesmerist class. Not entirely sure how the penalty suppression thing works without further reading, but I'm guessing you could choose to apply any penalties you might inflict via stare feats or whatever at your option.


You have to ask yourself this...why are you working with someone that you need to plan to protect yourself from. If this weren't a game you would simply stop associating with that person.

You should talk with the player in question about working amicably with the party and not fostering this level of inter-party conflict.


Claxon wrote:
You have to ask yourself this...why are you working with someone that you need to plan to protect yourself from.

Because the big bad is a much bigger a&%!#!~ than the pc in question.

But just to be clear, there's no bad blood around the table, it's just how this particular game evolved

Shadow Lodge

You're basically looking to make custom magic items, so this falls entirely in your GM's domain. There probably aren't any official rules anywhere, as this option should logically drive the crafting cost up while reducing the sale value (even if it comes with a free frogurt)...

Keep in mind the Pandora's box you might be opening, however: If you can create 'safe' items like this, your opponents can as well, and maybe all their cool loot ceases to function (and loses all resale value) when you kill the current owners (flashback to every 'Well-equipped Drow attack your village' scenario ever)...


Are you saying there would be a market for cursed items if they came with free frogurts?

I do see a bunch of issues with the plan (I'm mainly trying to find precedence for this sort of crafting), but imagine the look on peoples faces when they realise that they've been betrayed, that they're at my mercy and that I...... nevermind that.....just doing this for self defence after all.

Shadow Lodge

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Greeeit wrote:
Are you saying there would be a market for cursed items if they came with free frogurts?

Perhaps...


Screw the party, I'm setting up my own cursed item shop. Or I would, if I knew how they are supposed to make money. I can't really see any gain appart from non-profit dickishness, which I guess might be its own reward.


Greeeit wrote:
Screw the party, I'm setting up my own cursed item shop. Or I would, if I knew how they are supposed to make money. I can't really see any gain appart from non-profit dickishness, which I guess might be its own reward.

Do you realize how good a cloak of immolation on an iron golem is?


Not until you just reminded me of that combination just now. But appart from those sorts of exeptions, I cant see alot of day to day bussiness going on in a cursed item store. Selling them as genuine magical items would probably leave you with a lot of unhappy customers (or their next of kin) and I don't see there being a large market for cursed items in the general public. He only customer base I can see are people who are more than a little into frogurt.


For a tenuous link to the crafting rules, maybe you could look into adding a command word ability to the item that casts Dispel Magic on the item itself or - for a crueler approach - Hold Person/Hideous Laughter/Detonate on the wearer.

It wouldn't be a cursed item as far as the rules go, though, so the wearer could still simply remove it.


There are some cursed items that are brokenly good

http://archivesofnethys.com/MagicCursedDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Dust%20of%20Sn eezing%20and%20Choking

This is a no save 5d4 stun, its aamzing


it sounds to me like you don't want a Cursed item, you want an item only you know a locking Command Word to.

Some things to consider
1) you have to pay for it... this would be a GM added cost as no rule for it. I would add a % to the end cost.
2) Spellcraft can find out what the Command Word is. But if you are the one they go to for this, your good.
3) Use Magic Item Skill can still Activate Blindly.


You CAN, but for what you're describing, you're effectively adding a security measure to it. My Oracle has Inscribe Magical Tattoo, and used it to place a miniature bag of holding on his forearm (it holds a MW set of Thieves' Tools, a dagger, and a garrotte wire... or one regular bag of holding). It can only be opened by someone descended from a specific ancestor of his. TECHNICALLY, that's cursed. But I'm just happy my GM didn't want me to pay MORE for it, he knew I would.

A truly CURSED item is one that in some way detriments everyone, or is given to the party that way. If you made his sword, and had it have a 10% chance on every blow to center a fireball on him, THAT would be cursed. Being able to turn it off when you want to wouldn't qualify.

That said, yes. As long as you have the Bestow Curse spell, you CAN apply curse-like effects to it. Just don't be surprised if your GM wants you to pay more for it.


As the others have said, assuming you are allowed to create custom items you could create such an item. It would be more akin to a 'drawback' or a 'quirk' than an actual curse, but rules-wise, you would need bestow curse as a requirement (though I might be inclined to waive that possibly).

Basically you would just be giving your item or weapon the drawback that it does not effect you. For instance, you could make a magical sword with a drawback that it doesn't harm dwarves (which is great, if you're a dwarf) but that would apply to all dwarves. You could further narrow it to doing no damage to dwarven clerics... or redheads... or redheaded dwarves... or red-headed, dwarf wizards of the (whatever clan you are). So, basically just making them unable to harm or affect you. I wouldn't give a discount for such a narrowly defined drawback to the creation costs, but I don't see anything wrong with you making an item that has no effect on you.

As such, in theory you could create items that cease functioning (forever or for a certain time) if they are ever used on a member of a certain adventuring party (yours), but that would not be a good restriction to place on items that are supposed to help or work on your party (like cloaks of resistance or wands of cure light wounds. In such cases, I would also add an additional cost (not much) for such specific limitations, as I would consider that kind of magical research and creation to be more exacting.

So yes, you could make an item that ceases functioning if someone said "Oh no, they've stolen my wand of obliteration!" or whatever (preferably nonsensical) phrase you want, since you don't want it being said in conversation. And you could also have it set to cease functioning if only you say the words.


Aside from the applications in the original poster's party, I could see this being a flavorful tool for GMs to put on their evil masterminds . . . .


UnArcaneElection wrote:

Aside from the applications in the original poster's party, I could see this being a flavorful tool for GMs to put on their evil masterminds . . . .

....and I was thinking the same thing. Whenever a player of mine comes up with a clever/out-of-the-box idea I ask, "Are you ok with the bad guys doing it to you?"

I'm just going add my voice to the chorus, this is not a drawback. Depending on how you work it, this could be an added feature and cost more.


Seems this project would be expensive. I'll have to bring much tribute to placate the final arbiter.


Greeeit wrote:

Sometimes, parts of your party may or may not be completely on your side, and at those times it may pay off having a contingency plans. Like having the magic weapons you crafted for said partymember stop working or some other cursed item effect.

Is this possible? Can you craft cursed items who's curse only appears after a certain phrase is spoken?

They wouldn't necessarily be cursed, but they would be customized from you, which means you'd need the GM's permission to create a failsafe to disable the magic in question.

Because based on what you want, you're looking at adding an Anti-Magic Field or similar effect that functions upon the crafted items when you speak the command word (a Standard Action to do, I might add), which means it requires high power to do.

Granted, you don't actually need the spell (can just increase the craft DC by 5), If I were GM, I'd actually hard-require that spell on your list since you're purposefully adding it as a generic override to the stuff you craft. I'd also suggest cheaper means of protecting yourself from your PCs turncoating and using your own creations against you; think Batman with individual plans to defeat every "superhero" that would turn rogue.

Or, I'd simply charge them 75% of Price for each item they request to discourage them from trying to munchkin off of your character choice that you took (mostly) for yourself. Even if they question why you're charging party members, just say it's for an insurance policy (which it actually is technically speaking).


CWheezy wrote:

There are some cursed items that are brokenly good

http://archivesofnethys.com/MagicCursedDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Dust%20of%20Sn eezing%20and%20Choking

This is a no save 5d4 stun, its aamzing

Indeed!

Mix one naughty Epic Rogue and this dust ... and pray the foes are all immune to sneak damage

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