D&D 5E Cursed items : yes or no ?

[n0nym]

Hi folks,

I have a bit of a moral dilemma on my hands and I'd like to hear your suggestions regarding 2 problems :

1) My players angered the wrong people. The bad guys hired a bunch of sellswords to deal with them, the leader of which was wearing an Armor of lycanthropy (based onthe Demon armor from the DMG)which curses its wearer with wolf lycanthropy.

I intended the NPC to flee during the fight and become a somewhat recurring vilain whom they could try to free from his curse. Unfortunately, I had forgotten how impossibly hard it is to flee a fight in D&D... The players killed the guy and looted the armor.

They have no idea it is cursed and plan to use it.

Questions :

_Does Identify reveal a Demon armor is cursed ?
_Would you let the player know that he's cursed immediately after attunement or make things more subtle ?
_Shall I just say it's a regular armor and forget about the curse ?

2) The players discovered a treasure cache in the same scenario and I had them roll several times on table B. They all got potions, which made them mad. But worse, one of them found a Potion of poison... and thinks it is a Potion of greater healing.

The character's got a really bad Constitution and will probably drink it when low on hit points.

Questions :

_Does the poison stop when a character drops to 0 hit points or does it keep ticking, causing failed death saves ?
_Assuming the character drops to 0 hit points and is healed immediately. Does the poison damage resume ?
_Am I a bad person if I let the player drink it ? Shall I just say it's a regular potion ?

 

[MechaPilot]

I'll let others deal with the actual mechanics involved. For my money, spells like Identify are meant to serve the story. Sometimes the story is best served if a player doesn't know an item is cursed.

I would do this:

The armor is cursed. The players don't get to find that out from using an Identify spell. But, before the curse actually affects the PC wearing it I would describe a behavioral shift on the part of the player. For example, becoming more of a night owl, craving meat more frequently, having a slightly heightened sense of smell, etc. If the PC doesn't get the hint and abandon the new armor, then after a suitable period of time (probably a couple weeks or a month of in-game time) I'd let the curse take hold.

I think that solution balances both the needs of the story and my desire to be fair to my players.

 

[Tony Vargas]

If you're going to use magic items, you might as well throw in the odd cursed item. Not much point if all you need to do is wave your tricorder over it, so I'd be tempted to go with the old-school take on Identify, that using it most likely triggers the curse.

As for the potion, well, there's no FDA...

 

[Rhenny]

You should decide before hand if you think the curse should be revealed or not. That's just a judgment call.

In my last session, the group found a magical great axe. One of the pcs was really hyped up (and has been talking about finding a magical great axe, so I threw one in). He let the bard identify it and I allowed the bard to know about the curse. Then I left it up to the bard whether or not to tell the other PC, a Half-Orc fighter. It made for some great roleplaying as the bard decided to tell the Half-Orc the bad news. The Half-Orc tried to rationalize that he should still use it, or that maybe the bard was wrong. Then, the others in the party wouldn't even let the other PC hold on to it for fear that he might try to use it. Now, the Half-Orc is plotting and planning to find someone who can remove the curse from the weapon.

For us, it worked out great even when the identify revealed the curse.

 

[Draegn]

Rather than a curse I use twisted side effects. In the case of the armor I would have a player need to rub charcoal over himself and eat raw meat for it to work. Then have the group role play the negative social impacts of such odd behavior.

 

[Langy]

By the RAW, the Identify spell does not reveal whether or not an item is cursed:

Most methods of identifying items, including the identify spell, fail to reveal such a cruse, although lore might hint at it.

 

[Sunseeker]

_Does Identify reveal a Demon armor is cursed ?

Yes, and no. It will tell them what it is, so if you call it "Armor of the Wolf", it ID's it as "Armor of the Wolf". If you call it "Armor of Lycanthropy" then that's what Identify will tell them. If you say that it "imbues the wearer with the strength of the pack" then that's what Identify tells them. Identify is very plot-heavy in this edition. It's not the ultra-rulsey spell of the past that will give detailed breakdowns of effects and power levels and so on. It essentially tells them what you would tell them, nothing less, nothing more.

_Would you let the player know that he's cursed immediately after attunement or make things more subtle ?

No. I might say something like "you feel stronger the moment you put this armor on but realize there's an itch in the back of your mind you just can't identify" (bloodlust). I might say they immediately become hairer, maybe say their ears get a little pointed. And then sit back and wait for the next full moon.

_Shall I just say it's a regular armor and forget about the curse ?

Oh heck no. Have fun with it. Make the plot now about helping the cursed party member.

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_Does the poison stop when a character drops to 0 hit points or does it keep ticking, causing failed death saves ?

Your call really. I would say yes it keeps ticking, but I use negative hit points (negative Con score) before I call for death saves.

_Assuming the character drops to 0 hit points and is healed immediately. Does the poison damage resume ?

Well, I keep it ticking, but I would say if you stop it at "0", then I would not resume it.

_Am I a bad person if I let the player drink it ? Shall I just say it's a regular potion ?

No. You're letting the players make their own decisions. If they don't take the time to investigate and look into things properly, sometimes they get screwed.

 

[CapnZapp]

Cursed items : yes or no ?

No.

 

[the Jester]

Cursed items are a Hell Yeah! in my campaign. So far, the most fun was an elixir of madness that one pc sampled, then passed around.

 

[Guest 6801718]

As others have said, Identify doesn't usually point out the curse. Otherwise what's the point of cursed items if they are so easy to avoid? In the case of the armor, I would use it as is. It can lead to a good story as the party realizes the curse and tries to free the PC from it. I like the idea of starting small, like craving meat and heightened senses. Then get more dramatic with the PC waking up after a long rest covered in blood or have animals/people go missing. Like in more traditional werewolf tales. Then the group has to saved the cursed PC.

As for the potion, that's really up to you. I don't know that I would put two cursed items in play at the same time and poison a PC while another is cursed. Though nothing wrong with keeping it in your back pocket for now. You could always say that the potion they have now is normal healing and then switch out the poison with another potion they get down the line.