holt@convex.UUCP (10/15/84)
[immune to line printer bugs. Hey Orkin...]
As far as magical booby traps are concerned, I say, why not?
I can certainly see the use for cursed magic items from the
perspective of an evil wizard. He is building an item which will destroy
his enemy. The fact that it will be done by deception, as opposed to
direct confrontation, probably appeals to the guy. He doesn't risk his
own hide, but instead invests a lot of time in conjuring an item. Think
about it. After the item is created, an assassin or other of like ilk
replaces a like object in the intended victims belongings with the
cursed item. When the victim goes to use it, voila, the desired result is
achieved, and noone is the wiser for who was really behind the scenes.
Whether it be the loss of a Paladin's charisma due to a potion,
the death of a Mage due to a "cloak of blending", or an arrow of slaying
returning to burrow itself in an archer's heart, a cause for this type
of item's creation can be thought of. Granted, the probabilitity of finding
such an item should be greatly less than a beneficial magic item, but they
should and do exist.
I do agree with others who have said that such items should not be used to
"control" unruly, or overly powerful characters. They should simply exist
in the range of "possibilities".
Dave Holt
Convex Computer Corp.
{allegra,ihnp4,uiucdcs,ctvax}!convex!holtach@pucc-h (Stephen Uitti) (10/16/84)
My favorite "cursed" magic items are not cursed at all. They just have side effects. For example: Potion of water breathing. It's permanant, or at least until a potion of air breathing is applied, or some such. (You don't give the player both, circumstances may have been that whoever made it hadn't gotten around to the other potion.) The potion of water breathing allows you to breath in the water only. Of course air breathing allows you to breath air only. Water breathing may (50%-ish) have other side effects, such as giving you gills or scales. These may be considered good and bad (but at least differant). Charaisma might drop, but armor class might increase. Also, transitions to/from air/water breathing are painful, since one is almost instantly choking due to all that air or water in his/her lungs. From The Cave Of The Mt. King, Steve Uitti
martys@mhuxt.UUCP (SKEER) (10/17/84)
> [immune to line printer bugs. Hey Orkin...] > > As far as magical booby traps are concerned, I say, why not? > > I can certainly see the use for cursed magic items from the > perspective of an evil wizard. He is building an item which will destroy > his enemy. The fact that it will be done by deception, as opposed to > direct confrontation, probably appeals to the guy. He doesn't risk his > own hide, but instead invests a lot of time in conjuring an item. Think > about it. After the item is created, an assassin or other of like ilk > replaces a like object in the intended victims belongings with the > cursed item. When the victim goes to use it, voila, the desired result is > achieved, and noone is the wiser for who was really behind the scenes. > Whether it be the loss of a Paladin's charisma due to a potion, > the death of a Mage due to a "cloak of blending", or an arrow of slaying > returning to burrow itself in an archer's heart, a cause for this type > of item's creation can be thought of. Granted, the probabilitity of finding > such an item should be greatly less than a beneficial magic item, but they > should and do exist. > > I do agree with others who have said that such items should not be used to > "control" unruly, or overly powerful characters. They should simply exist > in the range of "possibilities". > > Dave Holt > Convex Computer Corp. > {allegra,ihnp4,uiucdcs,ctvax}!convex!holt How aboat cloak of mysticle powers