This post is partially rules-related but mainly Mystara-related, so administrators: please let it stay in this forum :D
I'd like to treat the subject 'cursed magic items'. First, I have a few general questions and then I'll introduce some thoughts I have for my campaign regarding Modrigsdwerg items and the curses associated with them.
So, straight off the bat:
How do you handle cursed items in your campaigns?
Do you use many or none at all?
IYC are cursed items created as traps or are they rather the result of an item slowly evolving into carrying a legacy of misfortune that affects its owner?
In your opinion, what are 'good curses' to use? (i.e. what can make a curse interesting to roleplay rather than just a penalty to hit rolls etc.)
Do you allow player characters to detect a cursed item's true nature with the Identify spell? Or only through use of the item?
I was once a player with a DM who didn't use cursed items in the sense of the DMG but from the philosophy 'Power at a Price'. The more powerful a magic item was, the more likely it was that there was some drawback in using it. Just a little, usually not enough to keep ambitious characters from using its powers.
For example: A fighter carries a legendary sword and puts it to much good use. But over time the fighter grew sick of having to kill every young hothead who came along looking to be famous for killing the wielder of the blade.
Or another: A blood red platemail +5 which only stays red and retains its magical bonus if every day it is stained with the blood of an innocent being...
Please let me hear how you handle cursed items IYC!
And then for the Mystara part of the post:
In my group one of the characters is Wulfgar, a 7th level barbarian, 1st level expert (sailor), 1st level Bear Warrior (Oriental PrestigeClass well suited to Northern Reaches). He hails from Ostland and has become involved in the intrigues at the court of King Hord and Queen Yrsa. So far, he has stayed on the good side of Asgrim the Bowed, the leader of the Cult of Odin, while Yrsa is trying to figure out where his loyalties truely lie - with Ostland and herself or with Asgrim.
Wulfgar wants to become a powerful lord in his own right. He is looking to colonize a place either on the Isle of Dawn or in Norworld and set up his own dominion.
I am planning to give him one or more mighty Modrigsdwerg items to help him in that respect. Of course, they will have some kind of drawback or curse, that is not evident to begin with. But gradually (in another 4-5 levels) it should be clear that old Wulfgar is no longer the brave hero of the North but a twisted despot - a shadow of his former self. Unless, of course, Wulfgar's friends realise what is happening to him and put a stop to it. It should be interesting.
I once heard a guy say that nothing is more corrupting than power. So that is what I'll give Wulfgar. I find the slow, gradual turn to evil so much more scary than the ones who are just plain old born evil. Imagine this: To begin with, Wulfgar needs friends and allies to achieve his goals, to give him advice and sometimes to hold him back when he feels a rage comming on. But as Wulfgar becomes more powerful, he also should become more inclined to making all decisions without counsil. Why be held back by lesser beings? When he is perfectly capable of getting everything done himself? Already, something is blowing at the small flame that is Wulfgar's inherent megalomania...
So, what would be cool Modrigsdwerg items to introduce in a campaing? They should not be openly evil. They should not be repulsive or require cruels acts. Just powerful items that speak dark whispers to the wielder's subconscious.
Below are a series of suggestions, please feel free to comment:
An intelligent Souldrinking sword that constantly demands new victims?
A beautiful diamond-studded golden chalice, which compels its owner to surround it with an ever increasing hoard of treasure...
A Ring of Rapid Healing (Epic Handbook) which brings its wearer an unrestful sleep, haunted by dreams and memories of people killed in battle...
A rod or crown of Rulership that causes slight paranoia and mild megalomania
A magical longship which can fly and travel into the Astral and Etheral Plane. Unfortunately any of its crew who die onboard return as restless spirits to haunt it...
Amulet of the Iron Heart - an amulet which grants a protective bonus but also kills of the wearer's sense of compassion and/or mercy.
Other suggestions/comments are most welcome!
:-) Jesper
by Spellweaver
How do you handle cursed items in your campaigns
Cursed Items - IMC, I don't use cursed items unless that's actually what happened to that item; it got cursed after it was made by some evil
. What I do use often though are items that are warded or somehow protected in an effort to avoid the item being used against the creator or the person for whom its being made. This is done during the creation process.Examples are items that can only be weilded by someone of the original owner's bloodline; someone of only a particular alignment; a certain race or gender; only if a proper prayer is recited first before handling it that day, etc.
If the requirement is not met then something negative happens; no holds barred when coming up with these, but it is relative with items power of course.
This makes a magic-user a little more useful too as one who has to research and "turn off" the ward. It also means that magical items that are "found" or "aquired" are not nessessarily free ;) .
Do you allow player characters to detect a cursed item's true nature with the Identify spell? Or only through use of the item?
Personally, I determine this on a case by case basis keeping in mind the items level of power, but I normally don't let an Identify spell detect curses or wards; especially wards since they were made to not be easily detected (i.e. "hidden" in the other enchantments).
Having a wizard work on an item to nulify a ward is a good way to create down time for the party and get them to spend some of that shiny new gold they just got their hands on. OTOH though, I don't spend much real time on it; just some rolls and descriptions of what happens and we're done (unless it's part of a storyline or the like).
I am interested in what you might come up with as a Modrigsdwerg item. I'm planning on introducing one IMC as the item one of the PCs father is hunting for (coincidently also from the Northern Reaches, Rainulph of Vestland).
Thoughts from others?
While I have no qualms about using the standard cursed items in my game, I do like to occasionally toss in an item that is a mixed blessing and curse. Here is an example.
Everstriker
This weapon functions as a normal sword. It confers no bonuses to hit or damage upon its wielder. The power of this sword is that it never fails to hit the target of an attack.
If the wielder fails a to hit roll with Everstriker, determine the margin by which the roll was missed. This is the number of hit points of damage that the wielder takes.
For example, Fred is using Everstriker and attacks a goblin. Fred's player needs to roll a ten for Fred to hit this goblin. Sadly, Fred's player is having some crappy luck and rolls a two. This means that poor Fred takes eight hit points of damage.
Everstriker will affect creatures that require either silver or magic to hit. Everstriker can even affect the Immortals. However, this increases the amount of hit points that the wielder will loose with a missed to hit roll.
If the target of the attack requires either a silver or +1 weapon, then the damage suffered due to a missed is doubled. If the target requires a +2 weapon, the damage suffered is tripled. If a +3 weapon is required, then the damage suffered is quadrupled. If a +4 weapon is required, then the damage suffered is multiplied by five. For creatures that require a +5 weapon to affect, the damage suffered for a missed roll is multiplied by six.
For example, Fred, who is not too bright, decides to show the Immortal Odin that he is a dangerous fellow. He hauls off and swings at Odin with Everstriker. Odin has an AC of -35. Fred, a puny first level fighter, needs to roll a 46 on a d20 in order to hit Odin. Also, since Odin is an Immortal, Fred needs at least a +5 weapon in order to affect Odin. Tragically, Fred's player is really having a bad day with the dice. He only rolls a 1. This means that Fred takes 270 hit points of damage.
On the bright side, Fred's player can now brag that his first level character was able to actually inflict damage on an Immortal. He exploded in the process, but damage was dealt.
Please note that it is entirely possible that the character who is wielding Everstriker will attempt an impossible attack at some point. For example, the player may declare that his or her character is going to swing at someone who is behind a wall some thirty feet away. Don't sweat it. Just give them a penalty to the to hit roll and let them suffer the consequences. If it seems impossible, then a penalty of -20 or more is certainly in order.
Regards and Best Wishes,
Donald Eric Kesler
The mixed blessings is also a cool idea and the Everstriker has an easily enforcible way of balancing the bad with the good.
I am a bit more weary of items that has a less game term specific penalty - such as an influence on the character's personality. It might be hard to enforce unless the player of the character actually sees it as a roleplaying challenge. I am still trying to figure out how to handle that.
Anyway, here is an example of a Modrigsdwerg item from my campaign. It is not really powerfull, just a good example of the craftsmanship of these twisted dwarves I think. I'll post more as I make them up.
The Mirror of Elbenar
The Modrigsdwerg dwarves Glonar and Glagnar made this beautifully polished silver mirror for the narcissistic Wendarian elf Elbenar. He was so much in love with his own good looks that he could spend hours every day admiring his reflection in a stream. The dwarves gave him the mirror in a terrible bargain for the elf’s soul, which they needed for another dark deed.
The mirror is almost two foot wide and three feet tall and beautifully decorated with gold and studded with pearls and tiny gemstones. Anyone who looks at their reflection in the mirror must make a Will Save DC 18 or be affected by the equivalent of a suggestion spell. They feel compelled to do anything to own the mirror so that they can watch their reflection in eternity. The magical nature of the mirror portrays everything reflected in it as more beautiful than it actually is.
:-) Jesper
------------------My players kindly keep out! ------------------------
Well, it is finally time for the solo adventures of my roughly level 9-10 party to begin. Wulfgar will be going home to Ostland and then off to search for some more powerful weapons and other magic. He will, most likely, come across a Modrigswerg and come into possesssion of a really twisted item or two along the way
These are some Modrigswerg items that I have come up with:
The Elkarur
This is a magical dragonship created by the Modrigswerg brothers Glonar and Glagnar for a powerful warlord long before the coming of the Cnutes in the Northern Realms. The Elkarur was the flagship of his majestic fleet which terrorized the oceans from Thyatis to Norwold. Eventually the warlord died and was burried onboard his ship in a magnificent tomb in an icy cavern in the middle of a glacier high in the mountains. Grave robbers have since looted the cavern several times, spreading the parts of the Elkarur all over the north.
Only the hull remains in the cavern today. The parts of the dragonship are all magically enchanted to have some effect on their own, but the true splendor of the Elkarur is only apparent, when they are all brought back together again. The parts are:
Fishing anchor (BoMM p. 8)
Figurehead of Protection (BoMM p.33)
Portable Mast (BoMM p. 50) but without the fire vulnerability
A pair of Ether Oars (BoMM p. 53)
Rudder of Guidance (BoMM p. 60)
The hull itself is a standard longship hull, enchanted only to take dammage from magic or creatures with 12 HD or more (such as sea giants or whales).
(BoMM = Book of Marvelous Magic)
Wow! It's gotten late
Gotta finish this tomorrow! 
:-) Jesper
Everstriker
This weapon functions as a normal sword. It confers no bonuses to hit or damage upon its wielder. The power of this sword is that it never fails to hit the target of an attack.
etc.
A barbarian character of mine (in Kalamar) picked up a sword that sounds identical. I missed an opponent once by so much that I had to make a massive damage check. The sword is posessed by a pit fiend which subconsciously makes my character draw it instead of any other weapon.
Regards,
Gary