Creative cursed items.

[Tweed]

Finishing the Shining Series got me to thinking about cursed items. Most cursed weapons in games reduce the player's ability to hit and glue themselves to their hand, which is boring, but in the Shining series cursed equipment is often the most powerful. In Shining Force most cursed items are boring and either stun or hurt you, but Shining in the Darkness got creative. For example the Hexwhip, Pyra's most powerful melee weapon can hit every monster in a group for good damage, but has a 25% chance of tangling her up and making her lose a random set of rounds. Another cursed staff acts as a backbiter, hitting a random party member with a percentage of the damage dealt.

I listed a JRPG for an example, but another amusing weapon is the Vampire's Revenge in BG which heals the target when struck while draining the wielder. What are some more creative cursed items that do more than just the basic negative to hit or reduced stats?

[rusty_shackleford]

the speed boots in morrowind that blind you while they're on

[Lich]

Infra Arcana has a unique item that gives nearby creatures effects of malign potions you drink. So you could drink a potion of confusion and prevent nearby cultists and wizards from casting spells, or drink a potion of blindness and move past some enemies without fighting. You could take traits that nullify some of these effects for your character so they only affect other creatures.

[Goth-Girl-Supremacy]

It's an arcade beat 'em up but Shadow over Mystara had a cursed sword that would injure you every time you swung it and actually kill making you have to spend quarters. After swinging enough times it becomes the Sword of Legend and you can proceed to curbstomp every boss with ease.

I just think it's pretty ballsy to make people spend like 1-2 bucks in quarters to get an overpowered weapon that only becomes available after 80% of the game is finished.

[KnightoftheWind]

the speed boots in morrowind that blind you while they're on

That one made me laugh when I first used it. They are called the boots of BLINDING speed, so it kinda tells you what's going to happen.

[Phos]

Stoneshard:



https://stoneshard.com/wiki/Blessings_&_Curses

[WhiteShark]

Obsidian Axe
the +16 obsidian axe
+16 broad axe

Draining brand
Drains the user on unequip
Allow flight
See Invisible
Evil
Mesmerizes user if any hostile monster present. While mesmerized, you can not unequip the Obisdian axe.
Each attack has a 10% chance of summoning a friendly common demon (36% chance of a Tier-4 demon; 64%, a Tier-3 demon). These have a small (~4%) chance to be generated hostile.

Used to be cursed by default. 'Mesmerize' is a status effect that makes you unable to move away from an enemy.

[wndrbr]

I like how no one bothered to mention the girdle of femininity because it's so ubiquitous.

[J1M]

Infra Arcana has a unique item that gives nearby creatures effects of malign potions you drink. So you could drink a potion of confusion and prevent nearby cultists and wizards from casting spells, or drink a potion of blindness and move past some enemies without fighting. You could take traits that nullify some of these effects for your character so they only affect other creatures.

Does drinking a health potion heal nearby enemies? Also, outside of this item, why would a potion of blindness exist?

[WhiteShark]

Also, outside of this item, why would a potion of blindness exist?

Two reasons: the classic roguelike ID dilemma in which you might be forced to try unknown potions in combat, and because potions can be thrown to apply their effects to a struck target.

[Gregz]

A good DM can make an ego/sentient item so annoying that you want to get rid of it.

[somerandomdude]

Something that saps HP, but can inflict massive damage is a decent trade off. A cursed item that doesn't have a functional use due to the penalties hugely outweighing the benefits is a wasted opportunity to add something interesting.

[WhiteShark]

A good DM can make an ego/sentient item so annoying that you want to get rid of it.

The legendary animate sword, Excalibur. By far the strongest weapon in the setting when he's in sword form, but will not allow himself to be wielded by anyone who won't endure his obnoxious behavior and cater to his every whim.

[Lich]

Infra Arcana has a unique item that gives nearby creatures effects of malign potions you drink. So you could drink a potion of confusion and prevent nearby cultists and wizards from casting spells, or drink a potion of blindness and move past some enemies without fighting. You could take traits that nullify some of these effects for your character so they only affect other creatures.

Does drinking a health potion heal nearby enemies? Also, outside of this item, why would a potion of blindness exist?

It appears to only work with malign potions according to my limited testing. You can throw malign potions at enemies, to give them the potions' effects if you hit them. There are late-game enemies (e.g. enemies that make you frenzied - unable to walk away from seen enemies, and unable to cast spells - when you see them, then teleport away from you when you get close) that can create situations where it's better to drink malign potions than deal with those enemies' abilities.

[Humbaba]

I don't think that generally video games get what a curse is supposed to be. 99% of the time, it's just a stat tradeoff, the likes of which you see in many other games but in those we call that type of weapon a sidegrade. Curses should be thematic and cool and not be reduced to numbers and get glued to your hand.

The one ring is a cool cursed item, granting an in-universe OP ability (invisibility) but at the cost of the bearer's sanity and eventually soul. In a game that would probably be modeled as a passive stat drain but that's boring. Such an item should impose permanent stacking and unremovable afflictions.

Tyrfing is a cursed sword of myth that forces the wielder into a blind bloodlust and forces the wielder to kill against his will. This is usually modelled as some sort of berserk effect. I think BG1 had one of those and it's actually very good, I remember soloing the spider fatso by sending in my Paladin alone with the sword and watching him go autopilot.

While this is a cool and thematic implementation of the archetype, it also means that the weapon is borderline useless when travelling with a party. A cursed item should be worth the curse and potentially killing a party member a risk worth taking, which it isn't in BG1.

I'd plant a cursed +5 sword right at the beginning of the game, a temptation that no lvl1 adventurer can resist. That sword would last the player until the endgame and would be the strongest weapon of all. HOWEVER at certain intervals, the game would prompt the player to kill an NPC immediately or it's game over. I'd even go so far as to force the player to kill important NPCs and quest givers, locking them out from certain things.




-Humbaba

[maidenhaver]

I think a good curse would be forcing the player to use pronouns.