While building my adventure for this week’s re-start of the Gears of Ruin campaign, I needed a special treasure to be found on the Gnomish Airship. I initially wanted it to be a Gygaxian joke item like an Arcane Locked vaulted door guarding a few bags of flour and then I started playing the What if game with Dave.
What if the Gnomes guarded this one room on the airship that no-one was allowed to penetrate?
What if it had this fabulous but oh so very gnomish treasure behind it?
What if the treasure had a double-edged effect on the game?
What if it was an extremely valuable cursed magic item?
And there everything fell into place.
Upon freeing themselves from the Fomorians, the gnomes knew that they could not rely on the other, more powerful races, to guarantee that they would not fall back into slavery. While many champions of the Gnomish causes have risen in the last centuries, the masters of trickery have created their own tricks to ‘convince” the world’s best heroes and scoundrels to help them.
It starts with a simple box
Gnome settlements and ships often have a hidden treasure in them, one they carelessly hint at whenever adventurers are around. Should said adventurers perform some heroic act for the Gnomes or, better yet, should they penetrate the many illusions and wards protecting it, they shall obtain a gold and platinum-encrusted jewelled music box.
Now the box can be sold for a very high amount of money and that’s that, the box leaves the story and the PCs have a some more money.
But it’s so much more.
But if the box is investigated, the box is found to be highly magical. The box is closed by a simple golden clasp and can by wound by a finely-engraved platinum key.
Opening the box reveals a series of small golden ferret-like animals rising that start dancing to this tune.
Oh and the box will not close. Nor can it be easily destroyed, not without using some of the tricks used to destroy artifacts described at the back of all those Dungeon Master Guides. It keeps playing that song on and on and on.
Of course, throwing the box away returns it to the hands/backpack of the owner in the next round.
The only way to stop the music is to seek out a Gnome leader and pledge to accept a geas dictated by them. This is usually some dire service serving the cause of the Gnomish race.
When the geas is accepted, the music stops, the box closes and a new copy of the box materializes. The PCs are encouraged to sell them both in the nearest city for a fat price.
Mwa Ha Ha!
D&D effects of the box:
I’m not a big fan of having cursed items have a mechanical effect in my games. I see them more as roleplaying enablers and story constraints that can be used to drive the story in an unexpected direction.
If you must, you could inflict a penalty to will defences/saves to anyone standing withing 2-3 squares from the box. More lenient DMs could allow the box to be placed on the floor and ‘tolerate’ being within 2-3 squares (i.e. 10-15′) from it’s owner. More evil DMs would make muffling the music impossible and make all monsters spot the Party from afar.
But I would be more interested in using such an item to discover and explore how a Gnomish plot line could unfold in my campaign.
So, how about you, how do you see cursed items in your D&D games (regardless of edition), do you have (or had had) similar ideas in the past and have you implemented them.
By the way, while I’m not going to use the box, it’s a bit too cheeky for our campaign’s tone, it sure was fun to create.
maybe the song it plays is the sort that you just can’t get out of your head.
I might use that box. 😉
You already know that I agree with your take on cursed items.
.-= Chris Sims´s last blog ..Mailbag 3 – The Pitch =-.
I love this item! It’s hilarious, and it holds some really interesting ideas for roleplaying. It’s not something that would work with my current campaign, but it definitely inspires ideas for things I could create.
Cursed items, like everything else, should have to pass the “fun test”. Sure, there can be unfortunate things that happen due to the item.. but never should the group’s good time be impinged by such a thing. So, I really like what you’ve done with this one.
Add me to the list of people that might use it, but almost entirely for the chance to play that song/animation for a large majority of an adventure to drive my players slightly insane! 😀
Hmm, you are a fiendish DM aren’t you?
Personally i like cursed Relics, Artefacts and Items, i think they add flavour and make for very interesting plot hooks. Curses in general can be a fun addition to any game and in repitition of many of the people above me, as long as cursed items (or any mechanic/component) doesn’t have a negative impact on the game and your players, use them freely. As soon as something becomes boring or worse, detrimental, toss it.
Just a quick aside, i coincidently added a spin on cursed items to my article this week. They are normal magical items in the sense they grant the owner a benefit (usually greater than a magical item of the same level), however there is also a negative effect that usually triggers under certain conditions. I’ve used them in my campaign for awhile and players really way up the extra benefits against the possible problems, i find it makes items that much more interesting compared to the usual, there is a magic item, i want it, i own it, apply bonuses, move on, style of RPG items.
Thanks
Scott
.-= Scott´s last blog ..The Planar Orphan =-.
I had almost forgotten about cursed items, as I have not seen one in any of my games for quite a while. Hmmm… that might be changing soon…
-Tourq
.-= Tourq´s last blog ..Rescuing Racel – Steal this Adventure =-.
Just mix this idea with at-will’s Tragic Imprint. If the music box is cursed that way for a reason — to characterize a villain as a trickster, or a one-track mind who actually likes the same music over and over, or simply annoying — it’ll get your players hating him before they even meet the guy, and that’s got to be a good thing.
@Sian: Oh it’s an earworm all right. My kids love the song I linked. But you could also use ‘Numa, Numa’ or ‘They’re taking the Hobbits to Isengard’.
@Chris: Please feel free to do so. Let’s add cursed magic items to our ever growing list of subject. In fact, we could totally do a Dungeon Master Guys segment on Cursed Magic items, from their historical roles to the roles they could play in modern times.
@Jim: Thanks Jim! I’m glad you liked it! I think that Rickrolling is a perfectly acceptable Curse mechanic in D&D and I can already imagine multiple variants to the theme.
@Micheal: I could not agree more. Cursed items should be fun for the party and DM… then ridding ourselves of it becomes a one session adventure. Great creativity fodder.
@Bartoneus: I’d answer your comment, but you’ll likely print it, fold it into a voodoo doll of our russian Goalie and burn it so we get killed by Pittsburg in 4… Oh and
Go HABS go!!!!
Seriously, thanks man. I will spring the song on them (or the Pork one from the same gang)
@Scott: Yeah the agreement does seem to be general.
I may have scopped you on this here, where we had the same idea:
https://critical-hits.com//2009/11/06/dm-chronicles-nipples-of-chaos-part-2/
So of course, I agree that it’s a great idea!
@Tourq: You know that if you partake of this sweet sweet nectar, you may never get back from it. Hey, nice looking blog by the way, sweet setup you and Charisma have…
@Noumenon: That is an awesome idea and is giving me an idea for tomorrow’s Friday Chat. Thanks!
Indeed you did scoop me. It was more that i find it ironic in that we both wrote about cursed items in the same week without any correspondence.
@Scott: The irony of great minds. Were I not so implusive a writer, I could help Dave drive more theme weeks like the homebrewed one you did a few weeks ago.
@Chatty, hear hear on impulsive writing, if my short term memory isn’t failing me i think i had a good weeks worth of prep time for my article in the theme week. I was just glad something came to me in that time, otherwise most of my ideas happen in the strangest of situations with no actual link to what i’m currently doing. I do tend to let my mind wander though… Like now, off on my own tangent again. Actually i just realised your the best person (apart from our glourious editor Dave) to run an idea by, expect an email from me tomorrow. Haha not often you get a forewarning on emails.
Scott
Just let the song playing all the time until they see the gnome elder!
Then drop ANOTHER gnome music box latter in the campaign ^^
If you want to be really vicious, have it play the Narwhal song; complete with illusions manifesting the animation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykwqXuMPsoc
Last time I saw a cursed item in a campaign, it was an incredibly powerful magical sword. That wanted to be used only in flashy fights; even if another weapon was better suited (like a club vs skeleton giant). Otherwise, it demanded to be kept in the sheath ‘you want to slash that, with me!? Are you nuts? I’ll get nicked!” Plus, it demanded special oils to rub it and a _highly_ decorated sheath and sword belt. Fully half the player’s money went to keeping it ‘needs’ for adornment satisfied.
Great idea! You should get and play the song using an mp3 player and speakers , it will increase the dramatic effect and motivate your players to stop it from playing! 🙂
@Chatty : Write the DnD-themed badger song and I’ll record it for you 😛
.-= Eric Maziade´s last blog ..Revenge of the dailies =-.
This is the kind of curse item that could relatively be easily done with physical props and would gain from it.
You take a toy jack in a box with a MP3 player with a switch and the viral song of your choice. Put it in the box with something that will turn it on, on the door’s release. Decorate the box as you wish.
At the game when the players found the item you take it and put it on the table… Whoever opens it must keep it near him until the curse is resolved… (or until the fun factor is about to disappear and transform into loating.)
That reminds me of the Twilight Zone Button episode. Press the button and someone you don’t know dies, and you get $1,000,000. After considerable debate, the button is pressed, the man comes back to award the money and pick up the button. “Wait, where are you taking that?” “Don’t worry, I won’t give it to anyone you know….”
The only cursed items I came across were the old 1e style with grave grave consequences. Come to think of it, 1e wasn’t very fun for those of us who got caught out for any of various reasons.
I remember one player begging for a magic item. So the DM rewarded him… with a -1 cursed sword which talked and talked and wouldn’t shut up. He tried to throw it away, and it hopped along behind *ting ting ting* begging the player to be nice and take him back.
I think the secret to really making your idea work, is to make it look like one of the player selected treasure parcels (if you do such things). An amulet of protection AND dancing badgers!
Oh oh oh… Give them two boxes! “Are you going to open the second one?” If you think about it, its a test of greed. The other guy just got cursed with the first box. You’d have some good role playing with that.
WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN!!!!
A cursed magic item that incessantly plays the Badger Song? My mind is ready to explode from the awesome…
@UHF: Woooo….I like that setup from the Twilight Zone…might be fun to toy with.
.-= Andy´s last blog ..Hiatus =-.
Oh wow! I love the response so far! Thanks!
@Scott: You know where to find me, I have more RPG-related email addresses than emotional states.
@balard: Yes, I could totally go for something like that. Although Chris Sims warned me that I’d likely cause the game’s first case of PC-driven Gnomish dispora.
@Sewicked: OMFG, you broke my brain dude. This is awesome! I’d totally reskin the box into a gen-encrusted seashell-music box and have this!
Best song ever! Now excuse me, I’ll go listen to it again.
And yes, strong personality cursed items can redefine a campaign and generate more cool than normal gear… That -1 sword was awesome!
@Tio: My plan was to click ‘play’ from my laptop when the box opened. The song plays in an eternal loop. But I might get my laptop busted on top of my bi-weekly tire slashing. 🙂
@Eric: I KNEW you’d say that! Like my trollish Waving Flag song… “And then it grows back, and then it grows back!”
@Yan: This would be Instigator bait of the highest order. It would be totally worth it! Or just a plain box with Staple’s big red ‘Easy’ button on it… standing there.
@UHF: Hey, they made a movie about that recently! And yes, putting the box as a normal treasure parcel, chosen by players would be totally awesome!
@Andy: I live but to serve dear reader. 🙂
I had my wifes character pick up an old jesters cap, when she tried it on it clung to her head for several play sessions, they had to obtain some bullywugs blood for a goblin shamaness to remove it from her head. All the while there was lots of pointing and laughing at her character.
.-= Jerry´s last blog ..Teaching my 3 year old D&D =-.
Is it bad that I’m just thinking about a big barbarian type that stops up his ears with wax (or worse, just loves the song so much they sing along), using this as a thrown weapon since it has returning on it?
Also, once they’ve done it once, you could put them in situations where they have to open it again for some reason.
Thanks Chatty.
-Tourq
.-= Tourq´s last blog ..Rescuing Racel – Steal this Adventure =-.
that’s a great item! I like your attitude to cursed items, too. I like the thought of the thief grabbing it first, and then being forever unable to use stealth. Crime never pays!
I gave my PCs a cursed baby once. That created some complexities for them, but with no strong game mechanical effects, and a fun plotline.
.-= faustusnotes´s last blog ..Current gaming: The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness =-.
So I see you’ve been peeking inside gnome warehouses again, Phil. That kind of thing can be dangerous you know . . .
Joking aside, that is a seriously cool item with a nice implementation.I agree with you about cursed items. Leveling a numbers penalty seems to minimal for something that is “cursed”. It should really make the PCs feel the effects of it.
I agree that cursed items should be plot hooks. I great site for inspiration is the SCP foundation: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/ Some really scary stuff there (and a few more light-hearted ones).
What a terrific item, sir….. Although when I saw the link, I fully expected to hear the original “Hamsterdance” come from my speakers…. A more insidious earworm I cannot imagine. “Badgers” comes close, however.
Chatty, I stole part of this idea last night for the second part of my Japanese gnome-y mini-campaign. Instead of stealthing into the camp for the big attack, the Ranger fumbled, fired an arrow accidentally into the camp and hit a bell, a dinner pot and finally a closed gnomish music box, flicking it open and starting the music. This not only alerted everyone to the impending attack, but also meant that the entire battle was conducted against a backdrop of really really annoying music (which one player obligingly hummed briefly for effect).
Fortunately, 2 attacks later the same player rolled a critical that killed a foe, and he chose to make his critical effect pinning the gnome to the music box, thus stopping the music.
Anyway, everyone loved the randomly placed (uncursed) music box, so thanks for the idea!
.-= faustusnotes´s last blog ..Japanese Role-playing game “Double Cross 3?: Introduction =-.
@Jerry: How does your wife recall the experience? Did she find it funny? I often find my group in situations where they push making fun of one player just a tad bit too far. Fortunately its not always the same one. Great cursed item.
Way back when, Yan picked a random hat from a Dracolich’s Hoard and the hat had him sing opera during the fight… it was quite impressive… although we didn’t ask Yan to roleplay it. There are limits to what the human brain can stand.
@Dean: Your devious suggestions make my post all the more worthwhile! That would be a great way to use it! Hell I’d coinsider making the box switch ownership (and double) whenever it ‘tastes’ blood. (Badgers are vicious creatures after all).
@Faustus: Dude, you honour me by borrowing my ideas. I’ve read your first experience GMing in Japanese and I’m humbled. I hope it generated some laughter.
And your players openly criticize the game on Social Media afterwards? Wow… I’d need to thicken my skin methinks.
@John: Friend Arcadian! So nice to hear from you again! Yeah, I’ve always LOVED gnomes, you know that. 🙂 But I prefer mine pan friend. I’ll probably make discussing cursed items a Podcast/post subject.
@shilling: Thanks for the link! That’s a very disturbing wiki… making me unsure if you were spamming or not… but it’s too fucked up not to leave the link there..
@Wild: Have you tried the Narwal song yet? 🙂
love it. i remember a sword i gave to one of my players it immediatly bonded with their hand. it also had the nasty habit of shattering after the first succesful hit. my player had to spend the rest of the campaign with a sword handle stuck in their hand. the pc kept forgetting that he had a sword handle in his hand, so i would kindly remind him after he would do something that would involve two hands like tieing a knot or rideing a horse. it was funny when he tried shooting a bow. ah but i am out of time my friends. i must return to my lair, i have much unguarded gold. I am a dragon after all.
Your Dragon Friend,
Elderon Analas (and translator Alan Patton)
Thanks chatty, though you’re not as humbled as I was by trying warhammer. I’ve put up and additional post about the next game, check it out if you want. It has chocolate koalas!
.-= faustusnotes´s last blog ..GMing Pathfinder in Japanese: Some additional notes =-.
That is one evil box.
Mind you I cannot see this working for the Gnomes.
If a party gets the box as a “reward” I do not see them meekly accepting a Geas. This box basically enslaves the party to their new Gnomish masters. I see them mentally moving the Gnomes from the “Ally” to the “Walking treasure bag” catagory and burning the village. It might take time. They might not be strong enough to take the gnomes right away. They might even have to do the geas in order to get the power they need. But the PC’s will come for the Gnomes.
I also do not see a good aligned party agreeing to sell the mind controlling box on behalf of the Gnomes.
An evil aligned party would. But this is still bad for the gnomes. Say the party sells the box. Who will buy? It’s expensive so we are talking nobility.
1.So king buys box and gives to queen.
2.Queen plays box and is cursed.
3.Queen does not know to go to the Gnomes to remove the curse.
4.Queen kills herself to get the noise out of her head.
5.Grief-stricken formerly good king points the resources of his kingdom at finding out who placed the curse that killed his love.
6. A bit of divination points to Gnomes.
7. Gnomes. Meet army.
Heck if I was subject to the box but was not tough enough to paste the Gnomes. I would try to sell the boxes to the toughest and most politically hardline folks I could find just to get something like this to happen.
or am I missing something
@Will: I’d say you’re overthinking the narrative implications of the box and somewhat defeating its intended purposes, the RPG equivalent of the Fridge Logic trope. Were my party to start exploiting this, I’d allow one good, awesomely clever exploit and then make sure the item disappears from the story faster than Minions in the middle of an Invoker’s Daily.
@Chatty
Perhaps, I tend to grab ideas and run with them.
However the existance of this box in the game world says something about the way that world works. This box would not be found in a morally black and white world. The box works through manipulation, trickery, and threats. It is a really cool idea but it were in a D&D movie it would have to have been done by the Cohen brothers. This is gnomish noir (Gnoir?)
I know it is just a little throw away magic item but as a player these things matter. We players have very little to go on in visualizing the shared world. Little things like this set the tone. If, as a player, I went through the help the gnomes-get box-get geased to get free of box-complete geas sequence I would loathe the gnomes who extracted this involentary servitude. This slavery is the basic function of the box so I don’t think I am over thinking this part.
Anyway you are correct I overthink things
@Will: Just so you know, Chris Sims’ first reaction when I sent him the idea that generated that post was saying something like ‘You just invented a reason Gnome genocide” so your gut feeling, which would likely be shared by a subset of players, has total validity.