Not to mention, Identify does not work against the arcane aura spell, which could be infused onto the ring. Or you could write a clause saying 'the Identify spell sees this as a Ring of Satiety, the nearly identical ring that removes the hunger of the wearer and keeps them nourished.'
I like the idea of giving a ring of hunger to a warforged to stave off hunger when rations run out, since they don't get hungry in the first place so the ring has a "full belly" to project at all times
from the description we've been given it seems like the body still needs food, it merely project the feeling of that need onto those around the wearer as opposed to the wearer feeling it. If it could project the "full belly" feel, it would more be a comfort thing than an actual benefit of not needing the food, though if moral is a bigger concern then the actual lack of food it would still be pretty good
The Ring 💍 of Hunger feels like Unseelie magic. Twisting this curse to do "good intentions" will backfire. Also, Fey (light and dark) are antithetical to constructs. Putting the ring on a Warforged might produce a screaming feedback that attracts all Fey in 1 mile radius to stop the noise.
@@macoppy6571 the first part makes sense, the second doesnt within the dnd mechanics or lore. May make some sense in some regional folklores, but also is not universal :/
@@Fernando_Cabanillas whilst it may be exaggerated it does make sense outside of just forgotten realms and main dnd World settings given how other TTRPG handle Antithetical things .i.e in one official DNS module you can destroy something utterly and completely by casting antipathy/sympathy on it yet not wish since its kinda immune to wish
@@wellhellothere8993 it's not enherently antithical at all though. Fey could be the ones making the artifacts or even the ones who made the warforged. Maybe they are similar to Wraithbone constructs from 40k etc etc. Don't forget DMs answer these questions and whatever you do at your own table doesn't mean anything to anyone else.
"A creature that only the wearer can see" got my imagination going. It'd be fun to have, say, a ring that appears to be a ring of light or something - but after going through a couple of dungeons wearing it, the wearer starts seeing a li'l mouse sitting on his shoulder that lets him know where traps are. The mouse seems really helpful for a few sessions, with the players probably becoming quite fond of it, but then it starts getting occasional things a little bit wrong, and is like "oopsie, sorry. I meant you should step on the OTHER floor tile." Then it starts getting things more and more wrong until it's clearly trying to walk the ring's wearer straight into deathtraps, stifling sadistic little mouse giggles. They can't touch or otherwise effect the mouse - hands, weapons, and spells pass straight through it - and when it appears and disappears is completely outside of their control. It'd be interesting to see whether they could work out that it only appears while they're wearing the ring. ...I think I'm gonna do this. ¬w¬
Remember to account for player paranoia. The first time Mr Mouse leads them wrong they'll stop listening to it. MAAAAYBE the second time if it's an especially naive player. And particularly grizzled or scarred players won't wait for it to lead them wrong.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 always "roll" for the mouse. It will look like a bad roll the first few times. Remember the goal is "I hate that mouse" not "that mouse got my PC killed".
Thing about making the ring a cursed item that can't come off unless you have Remove Curse, it'll pretty much inform everyone that this ring is bad news and they'll start to immediately try to figure out what it does and try to get it off as soon as they can. By not having the item in question be clingy, they won't realize that this item is going to cause problems until the problem reveals itself.
Do be mindful, players will turn a cursed item into a huge weapon if they can. I approve of doing this, but you have to be aware of it. The "welds itself to the player, is destroyed when removed" template mostly exists to keep a devastating item out of player leverage
On the other hand, having that be a random quirk of an otherwise normal magic item can throw them for a loop; it's all upsides, but because it won't come off they think it _must_ be equally cursed.
@Alicia Cordero I've done this to a party before. I like my magic items to have a little bit of backstory you see. In this case, an old men's wedding band that can't be removed once put on. After investigating, they tracked the ring back to a minor noble family and an infidelity scandal several generations back. It had no other magical effects and could be removed by any lady baring that families blood.
I have a plan about a kid going to some ruins where he was warned not to go near. Finding a cool looking bracelet and showing it to his friends. He doesn't know its magical, but slowly undead will begin to appear. It isn't a cursed item, and the only effect is attracting undead to the wearer, but the undead won't attack them. The undead will attack everyone else, though. So the party has to find the source of what is making the undead come to this town.
Reminds me of a small4th edition adventure. Essentially, a small obsidian skull that was a part of a greater magical item had a small effect on its own of attracting undead. A group of ghouls eventually found it and took to kidnapping and sacrificing villagers from nearby to the item as an attempt to appease it like a crude totem. This did in fact have a small effect of charging the skull with necromantic energy. The adventure was open-ended on what the group can do with the item, though it leaned against trying to complete the item.
I made an item similar to that, one time. It was an iron ring (like Xena used, not like jewelry) that could trap incorporeal undead, like the genie flask, but sometimes they could temporarily escape. Every once in a while, you'd have a ghost or spectre just *surprise!* pop up and create a little havoc before disappearing just as mysteriously. My poor players were so confused for so long 😂
Not really on the same level as the video, but a fun little cursed item I've come up with is the Ring of Attunement. If touched by bare skin, it will automatically teleport itself onto an available finger, instantly attuning itself to you. Beyond that, it does nothing. It is simply an irremovable ring that takes up an attunement slot, ending a player's oldest attunement if need be, and you need to use a curse removal spell to get rid of it.
Neat. Once you do get if off you could use it to remove other cursed items that aren't subject to a remove curse spell. Just make the cursed item your oldest attuned item, maybe by deattuning and reattuning two other magic items, then touch the ring. It should replace the cursed item with the ring which *is* subject to a remove curse spell. Heck, that may be why the ring was created in the first place, as a workaround to more powerful and detrimental cursed items.
It's funny, I misunderstood the title of this video. I read "set pieces" to mean one item as part of a full set like in a dungeon crawling game like Diablo. It got me to thinking about nerfing or homebrewing magic items that can have an enhanced effects once combined as a complete set! Great story about the Ring of Hunger!!
Here's a simple idea I just whipped up; Ring of the Persuer: causes the weather to occasionally see an illusiory figure that appears to be following them. The figure takes the shape of something the weather fears, and always appears for only brief moments to dart out of sight, such as around corners or under furniture.
This is a fun scenario! Cursed items that give the PCs interesting (and often dramatic) choices are way more my speed than “your life sucks now, you played yourself” dead-end items. I have a two-part adventure planned where the first part revolves heavily around a magic item and what it’s implications on the world might be! Honestly when I read the video title I got excited for a rundown on using/designing magical item sets that awaken extra abilities when you wear the associated items together, hahah. Though I did like the narrative set piece direction after all!
I DM'd a campaign where I rewarded all players with a magical item that allowed them to see in any darkness (magical and the mundane). The drawback is they started to hallucinate and see monsters where there weren't any (began by appearing in their periphery). Eventually, the monsters they saw were actually each other, and they started to attack each other. It was a lot of fun. It was my first attempt at horror-themed campaigns. The party was hunting some medusae, and they appeared to them in disguise, offering them a means to get passed their deadly gaze.
We have a similar item to this in Ta Mando that's called the ring of gab. It makes anyone around the wearer thoughtlessly blurt out scandalous rumors about the wearer in mixed company
@@bestaround3323 no! As a matter of fact, they are completely ridiculous. IF you are wearing the ring and go see a fancy, high ranking dignitary at his manor upon being introduced to you his wife will start spinning a rag about how you were flirting with her just two weeks ago while she was in town at the market. You've never met her in your life.
Victims of the ring will even come up with stories that cannot have been true.. Like telling their partner that they caught you stealing a handbag during a time when they weren't even in the city and you were giving a speech in front of seven thousand people in a crowded stadium.
This makes Identify so useful. Also allows the introduction of other curse items later because you primed your players to be less carefree with magic item equipping. Great video as always, thank you.
Don't forget, a few Cursed items have properties that defy Identify by giving false information! I loved dropping the Stone of Ill Luck into my party's hands. They Identified it as a Stone of Good Luck (as part of its traits), which gives a +1 bonus to all rolls... but this cursed item actually gives a -1 penalty to all rolls. So I had to apply a secret -2 to that player's rolls to make up for the +1 they were adding. It was a great reveal when they finally found out about it and got it removed!
I love this and use them in my game! I basically ask the question "you break into Steve the magic accountant's office. What kind of items are on his desk that makes you feel like he's a real person" Well, he has pictures of his kids. Maybe a few knickknacks, things to remind him of the camping trip he took 3 years ago or when the family went to a touristy city. And tourists by little gag items and gifts, Like wands that spew bubbles, floating rocks, optical illusion toys and more. Maybe a mask that puts an illusion on their face that makes them look like a ogre or a dragon. Magic items are a product, and every product has to be produced somewhere in the world. Be it another plane, or just your local blacksmith. The items, their effects and designs are all determined based on the personality and traits of some random guy out in the world. I have a magic potato in my world that blinks teleports into the future and is capable of hitting you with the force equal to an ICBM. Why? Because some wizard was experimenting to use magic to solve food problems (because in a world with magic being able to make food out of thin air why do people starve?) and was working on fixing the problem when his apprentice drew a rune in time-based spell incorrectly and ended up dying in the resulting accident. The apprentice, who wasn't there at the time couldn't afford to buy the tower so was forced to sell everything to pay off their debts. Thus, TPoDV, The Potato of Delayed Vindication was born when a player in a dark alley bought it from a shady NPC for 500 gold because they were told "it is a weapon that has brought down kings and generals and ended wars" so obviously they had to. They realized they had been ripped off by a silver leaf covered potato, threw it away, I rolled a 3 on a d6 behind the screen and 8 hours later the potato blinks back into existence, having followed them the 25 miles they traveled that day out of town and then hit them for 48 damage, knocking them unconscious only to realize just what this potato was capable of.
This is like "the Butterknife" from WFRP e1 (can't find the full name atm) A mercenary was betrayed by his band and engaged a wizard to make a runic sword that would "cut through anything like butter" The resulting sword gives -3 damage against mortals, ethereal beings, dragons, trolls, orcs and all other creatures But +3 damage against all dairy produce, such as cheese and yoghurt Love a magic item with a history behind it!
As an ARPG player, I was immediately filled with dread that you meant a set of magic items in D&D where you'd gain additional effects the more pieces of the set you wore. "And with that, you find the fifth and final piece of the Arvandor's Glory! To compliment the gleaming plate armor that now resonates with holy power, about to unlock its true power, a shining Longsword inscribed with the Crest of House Arvandor and the very same holy symbol you wear around your neck!" "Uh... I took Polearm Master. And no one else in the party uses Heavy Armor." "Well, sorry, that's what the book says so... if you want that +2 AC and Lay on Hands to recharge on a short rest, you gotta use the longsword."
@@bestaround3323 I don't DM games because I want to listen to what some book has to say about things. Especially when it comes to magic items. If I'm putting enough effort into my game to seef the pieces of a legendary set of equipment for my players, I am either going to choose a set that fits a particular player's build, alter the set to fit that build, or give the player the option to A) have the offending item modified to fit them or B) Respec their character to make use of the new item. Or, hey, maybe spread the love. Maybe someone else in the party uses a Longsword, and when the person wearing the armor, and the person wielding the sword stand together, they both gain some amount of the set bonus.
My players love getting cursed with out expecting it. So long as it is a fun and interesting curse. It can even have dire effects, so long as the there are also benefits. I have a monk player who wanted a the + to hit that a magic weapons gives but to continue be “unarmed” so I made some curse of vengence hand wraps for now they give them what he wants plus to hit and damage but his anger has been more explosive and he puts himself in more dangerous situiations to finish off enemies. One time he even attacked another players summon because he took damage from it. It was fun and interesting and the other players are begining to notice something is wrong.
Look up Call of Cthulhu's adventure The Secret of Castronegro. It has a lovely creature named Podduck that is VERY helpful for as long as you wear the ring they're connected to. Of course, you can't take the ring off without removing the finger, and you no longer age, and any wounds heal within moments, so he has a VERY LOOOOOONG time to convert you to the dark god he worships, so of course he's going to take his time and be helpful. He has a literal eternity to corrupt you.
I like the idea of stuffing yourself with food before putting it on as a way of warding off hungry beast while traveling. If you couldn't eat another bite neither could the wolfs
I don't think it would work that way. It seems like it would just project the hunger you should be feeling to all creatures within its radius... but in addition to any hunger they already feel. It wouldn't replace (or negate) any of their hunger, it can only make the hunger stronger. ie: [Other creature's hunger] = [Their base hunger: 0-10] + [Your hunger: 0-10]
@@JarieSuicune both would be cool magic items. Because it completely overwrite the users hunger to 0 it's not out of the question that it would overwrite the victims hunger to the users true hunger. The true purpose of the ring id imagine would be for a glutinous villain that eats only for pleasure forcing all his minions to feed him and not themselves because they knew they were under the effect of the ring. It mostly depends on if your DM wants a full curse item or a trade off item were it's dangerous but useful
This is great because it emphasizes the biggest thing: Talk to your players! I had a really good idea for a time jump 300 years back and it wouldve been a great narrative surprise, but I ended up asking because going back meant giving up a lot of things they built in the world. Everyone agreed to it and the mission leading in was great! Hopefully we can stick the landing now that we're here 😅
For those asking about the Identify spell here’s how I handle it. I use it kinda like dispel magic on more obscure or particularly powerful items. The level of spell or magic used to craft or enchant the item is added +10, then you must roll using Int modifier. You can learn the type of magic and spell level associated even if you fail. That way the gravity of such an odd item is relayed. But its abilities are not. Like for example The One Ring is an artifact, use identify but you’re not a very powerful spellcaster. You’d learn its imbued with incredible power, and has wisps of alteration glittering off its golden band. Now you know you’ve got something incredible. But what do you do with it? I’d allow like historians to obv know of that great legend, or get an idea it might be related, so factoring that in they could learn it may just be The One Ring. Making identify more FUN for DM’s. Just imagine Samwise picking up the ring and using identify per RAW just to be all “omgsgfkfjpk YEET THIS THING MR FRODO” In my example Gandalf could be argued to be using Identify and not passing the check, so he’s pretty heckin sure what it is. Does some research and learns to throw it in the fire. Boom One Ring revealed.
Identify is really more of a legal "cheat code" in the game mechanics for spellcasters. It doesn't make a lot of sense (unlike Detect Magic) because you can learn innate and otherwise unknowable details about something via "magic aether/brain powers". That said, I think it is a GOOD (and sometimes necessary) "cheat code", since learning the details of magic items the "proper" way could be both VERY time-consuming and dangerously... dangerous. Both of which are likely to become anti-fun for the players and ruin the game itself.
Here's a magic item set piece idea: A ring that if you attune to you get troue sight for a small range but the immense power of the ring is slowly dragging you to the etherial realm. Once you take the ring off you slowly drift either to the matterial realm or the closest realm, if you want your players to go on a rescue mission in the ethereal realm. Identify would fail to recoginize the unintentional effect and it does not count as curse (optional). The ring could be a creation of a powerfull wizard from his younger days, when he couldn't control his vast power or a relic intended for extinct spicies that has strong connection to the matterial plane.
I misunderstood the title. Thought it meant a collection of magical items that work together as a set. Not a magical item that's purpose is a "setting"
"As per tradition, the member of the party with the most monster kills chooses their pile of loot first." That's one way to do it I suppose. I think the best methods I ever saw were in the AD&D PHB, Appendix V (five). However, there is that problem of characters not touching anything magic without casting Identify first (which is smart). I guess if your campaign is different, this would be a good way to let them work it out.
I like this ring of hunger! And I have a bit of a horrifying idea as to why it's a cursed item but still removable. When you talked about controlling a kingdom with this ring, what if the ring was made for a revolutionist to take down the ruling elite? They get a job as a servant and when the king holds a massive banquet, inviting all of the nobles to join, the revolutionist puts on the ring and helps serve the food, knowing that it will never be enough. I don't want to go into too many details, but I could see the revolutionist withering away as the days roll on and the people effected by the curse turn to more desperate measures. Maybe the revolutionist had friends who made sure to bare the nobles in - helping what servants they could escape. The whole point is that this person willingly took on the curse's side effects all to end the current form of rule.
There is a huge point against the ring as being self-destructive: It does nothing to prevent eating. It only relocates your feelings of hunger. ie: you can still eat (just like anyone else who can eat while not feeling hungry). In fact, doing so would allow you to wear the ring and control its effects on the populace around you! So, any person with this ring would have to be ridiculously stupid to let it themselves starve far enough that it was causing significant problems for themselves. They can still eat without any problem, they just won't feel hungry. It also doesn't (to our knowledge) affect their feelings of "fullness", only hunger (unless the DM treats those as two sides of the same coin of relativity, such as hot/cold or fast/slow).
@@MahoganyDesk Not necessarily. It just means that your revolutionist can snack on occasion to keep up appearances and to see the job to the end. Also, he can use the opportunity to go on a poisoning spree.
I thought this was going to be a video on magic item sets, like where equipping both the helm and boots of Nightrock gives a bonus, third effect. I like the video, but I now want the other one too.
Imagine using that ring to force an evil diplomat into eating poisoned food, or slowly lure a creature out of a cave, or calm down a pack of hungry beasts. You could also just use it to be an inconvenience to unfriendly people. I love this kind of idea so much
This item described in the video is interesting. You could sneak into X enemy camp while invisible from a spell or ability put the ring on for X hours, take it off have some food, then put it on again. Rinse repeat to destroy the camp from the inside out over the course of a few days or weeks. I suppose you could even have evil NPC's do this to friendly towns and villages could be a fun little detective thing. This idea came to me from a game which has stealthy enemies who do exactly this, spread hunger and disease in the province they're hidden in. They're called hunger demons or something. The counter in the game is the patrol with lots of troops to flush the spy out. But re-enacting this in DnD could be much more interesting. The idea of using basic human functions as a curse might come from a few Greek myths as well. So if you want more ideas you could do worse than go into a history book to see how the myths did it.
I like the idea of having an abundance of low level curses - like this ring of hunger, with how easily it's managed- being like. a young enchanter wizard trying things out, and is trying to be edgy and evil lmao (Toss them in an old collapsing wizard tower, a bunch of weird curses. and then maybe find the wizard locked in something and they can chose whether or not to free them)
i think a really good way to turn this into a constant "shadowy" antagonist in the campaign is when the player first equips the ring you tell them "you feel full of vitality, more alert and awake than usual almost like youve eaten a really hearty meal. this ring increases your perception by [BLANK] and your health by [both by whatever amount you see fit at that point in the story] you notice you can also remove it whenever you want". this will make them think the explination is just explaining the immediate feeling of their stats increasing and also dispel any worry of it being cursed. but what you can do is the rings hunger affect curse is only when someone has come into contact with the ring but isnt wearing it. so say this is the rogue and they are a "touchy" type of person when they are trying to win someone over in a conversation. what you can do is make a rumor that the guard they were talking to, that noble they wanted a better reward from or that shop keep they were trying to get a deal from has been acting strangely. maybe THEY are under suspicion. this could be a really fun long term thing thats going on in the campaign, a smart player that keeps notes may figure it out after meeting with a few of the afflicted or maybe a player with detect curse figures it out right away but that would be ok too because maybe the players have to decide if having a magic ring is worth it for the effects as long as they take it off while in town. this video really does make me think of some cool ideas lol
Loved it! Though I was quite confused from the title... I expected it to be about magic items that work as a set (like you need the full combination for their true powers).
The ring that transfers hunger is actually perfect for one of my current games. One of the villains (long term, the PCs are low level at the moment) is attempting to harness the power of a demon whose domain is in pestilence, plagues and gluttony. A person wielding the ring could very subtly sow chaos in a population and then ritually gorge when the day is done. Now the question is, would the hunger be split between nearby people or multiplied to fit and would it affect nearby animals as well?
even as an item for the players to actually use I can think of another use for that ring of hunger, say you are doing a massive war campaign and you have to deal with an enemy encampment but you're low on resources (hence why you would need to deal with it), your party has enough rations to last a week for each party member, you set up camp close enough to the enemy base for easy access to it's walls but far enough that the rest of the party won't be effected by the ring, have one character who is already a light eater go to the base and equip the ring and only eat every 2-3 days (long enough for the hunger to be immense but not so much that they will resort to cannibalism), you make the enemy burn through their rations which then puts them in a weakened state from over eating allowing for the party to come in and easily clear it out
Imagine giving this ring to a Flind. Gnolls normally are always hungry and will ravenously eat. A gnoll army blessed with the ring of hunger could make everyone feel so insatiably hungry, that it drives them mad or weakens them if in the ring's aura for too long.
So this is a fantastic video. My only complaint is the point around 8:30 brought up about Dark Souls. I'll admit there are a few instances of sporadic death, such as the Capra Demon boss fight early in the game, but as a general rule Dark Souls gives its players every opportunity to see what's coming ahead of time, or at least assume that something *is* coming. The difference between Dark Souls and other games is that it's more subtle in this notion. You don't get a few seconds of a dragon roaring as it circles you over head, but you do get to look up as you're walking across the bridge to see a Fire Drake perched on the tower at the end of it. There's no sign that says 'here thar be traps' in Sen's Fortress, but there are suspiciously raised floor panels and odd holes in the walls that, if you're paying attention, alert you to the possibility of traps. I agree that dying in Dark Souls is part of the learning experience, but the opportunity to notice incoming danger is always present. If there's something to learn from death in Dark Souls, it's where to look when you get to the next area, not just what already found you and killed you in this one. EDIT: To be clear, what I'm saying is not even Dark Souls kills its players without telling them it's going to do it ... in most cases. So basically, in any kind of game design, springing death and lasting injury on your players isn't a very good idea and should be avoided whenever possible!
So i made a Deteriorating Bracer. It sets your AC to 15, it's cursed, and every time you get hit it will "deteriorate" and apply a -1 to the AC. If it reaches -10 stack (AC 05) it will finally break apart. It was supposed to be used by our Bard/Wizard, but the tank had to try it. Already got hit once.
Huh. I thought this video was going to be about items that make a set, for instance, the Invulnerable Coat of Arndt, the Sword of Arndt, and the Boots of Arndt. The actual video was still interesting; just ... different than I expected.
My ad&d centaur cleric watched as a skull was put in a font which came out as a living person. I got my centaur to dive in and he instantly died. That's fair. The font did something uber positive to the first item of a type that was put in it and then uber negative things to items of that type thereafter. We just didn't figure it out and my character took a huge risk. The PC with the skulls happened to be able to reincarnate my character but, with all posessions destroyed and no materials to reference, he came back as a troll. Honestly it would have been better to reroll the character but it was a great and memorable encounter. I'd prefer my character hadn't been so stupid but I'm glad the GM didn't fudge the situation.
Bind items to your players all they want. And remember, it's not bad luck when a player gets a curse after deciding to use an item without knowing what it does.
You still have to be careful. Some cursed items also fill an Attunement Slot, which everyone (except high-level Artificers) only get three of. While it can feel justified, it can also totally wreck the game by being anti-fun for the sake of "realism" or whatever. That's not to say I'll protect my players from their stupidity, but I try to make sure there are options to help make it it not encourage them to either walk out (the game becomes un-fun) or murder their character for the sake of a new one (the character becomes un-fun). If they do something stupid, we work with it rather than just punish them. Unless everyone dies, but that's not happened... yet.
There is a huge point against the ring as being self-destructive: It does nothing to prevent eating. It only relocates your feelings of hunger. ie: you can still eat (just like anyone else who can eat while not feeling hungry). In fact, doing so would allow you to wear the ring and control its effects on the populace around you! So, any person with this ring would have to be ridiculously stupid to let themselves starve far enough that it was causing significant problems for themselves. They can still eat without any problem, they just won't feel hungry. It also doesn't (to our knowledge) affect their feelings of "fullness", only hunger (unless the DM treats those as two sides of the same coin of relativity, such as hot/cold or fast/slow), so they can also know when to stop eating to avoid overeating.
Here are a few cursed and cursed-adjacent items I've hit my players with: - An amulet that the wearer thinks is an Amulet of Nondetection, but it actually causes any divination or scrying spells targeting the wearer to automatically succeed. - A saddle which causes the rider to suffer the effects of any levels of exhaustion gained by the mount. - A circlet which, instead of shielding the wearer from having their mind read, transmits the wearer's thoughts to everyone within 30 feet. - An axe that can only attune to barbarians that grants a bunch of benefits, but if you take any damage you automatically rage, and while raging you can't end the rage early, it ignores the rules for ending early, you have to attack the nearest target, and you can't tell the difference between friends and enemies. - My personal favorite, a silver amulet shaped like a lifelike pixie head on a simple silver chain. When attuned, the wearer sees it become a golden pixie head on a fine gold chain, and once per day they can summon a loyal pixie companion that will perform tasks for them. This pixie can't cast spells or do anything too complicated, and it can't be stealthy because it's constantly laughing and singing. _However,_ everyone else sees the amulet turn into a mummified pixie head cruelly attached to a tarnished cold iron chain. The summoned undead pixie is terribly mangled and covered in gruesome wounds, and constantly moans in agony and begs for the sweet release of death. If they try to tell the wearer what's happening, they won't believe them; _obviously_ they're all jealous and want to steal this loyal pixie friend for themselves!
in my homebrew world i actually have a -5 wooden spoon. it's the remnants of a sword, it's hilt that was supposed to be a god artifact to spite a Dark Lord who took posession of it, cursed it and "destroyed" it. this spoon when killing the Dark Lord will undo all evil he done. the "sword" can't be fully destroyed and thus the wooden spoon
What I find interesting is cursed items that initially seem very helpful. The thing I thought of is a ring of luck. When the player puts it on, they almost feel luckier. Maybe a nearby peasant might trip and drop a gold coin right into the player's hand. The player might want to loan the ring to someone, but only then realises it can't come off. Odd, as it seems beneficial. The ringbearer gets luckier and luckier as more and more things go their way. Then the party starts failing rolls, and it becomes obvious that it doesn't just grant luck. It leeches the luck from everyone around them. Effectively, every day (or other appropriate time period) the bearer gains a +1 on all rolls, but everyone within a decent radius (say, 100 ft) get that same amount as a penalty. In the end, it may truly be a useful item if the player wasn't trying to exist in a party context.
Always give Permanent Cursed items an equal badass or Useful power. Tell your players exactly what it does before they use it. Watch them make incredibly poor life decisions.
@@stortrut I really dont like appraising an individuals work. How much is healing worth compared with damage? Is eliminating only worth the hp it takes? What about getting someone up from 0HP? How do you calculate giving someone advantage, enableing someone to sneakattack, preventing an enemy to attack a vulnerable member by clever positioning? I mean, sure if everybody feels similarly it might work, but it invites people thinking they are not appreciated as much as they deserve. Dissent, grudges, even if they may keep it in to not disturb the peace. I find it easier to say everybody gets the same money, and useful items are lend out to the one with the most use for the item or having the least items overall. It doesnt prevent dissent, but I find it the most agreeable.
@@indestructiblemadness8531 There’s also the issue that if someone gets better loot early on in a campaign, it gives them more chances to be the MVP later down the line, giving them better loot again and again
Im tryna think what, in any of the Dark Souls games, outright kills you just because you didn't know about it. The only thing I think would be the first fight with Seath the Scaless, but that's a single instance. More commonly are events like the Four Kings or Ariamis. Dialogue and item descriptions inform you that you'll need a ring to enter the Abyss of the Four Kings, or that to leave the painted world of Ariamis you must leap from Priscilla's tower, but that there is no danger. Even magic items like the Ring of Favor informs you that the ring will be destroyed if you remove it, setting expectations for players.
I've been toying with the concept of 'lesser vestiges' based on the vestiges from the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting to similar effect; my take is that 'true' vestiges were intentionally created, while lesser vestiges are more like byproducts or anomalous consequences from direct divine (be they 'bad or good' gods) interaction in the past or even powerful divine spells and rituals. Objects that are infused or coalesced unintentionally that produce 'curse like' effects with mixed boons but can easily be removed or halted...though if worn or kept in function, can have 'milestone' effects. A fun take on the concept of cursed objects, though I've been rightly accused (affectionately) of just making DND setting SCP objects.
The idea of "the DM shouldn't engineer bad luck to cause harm to players" is a philosophy I often extend to things like character dice, in that my general philosophy is that characters should only die heroically or due to their own stupidity/recklessness. Essentially, if a player is going to meet their end, it's going to be by their own deliberate choices in knowing that they're taking a risk or doing something stupid because they think they have plot armor; I'll give you some grace for acting in a reasonable manner and the dice just weren't agreeable that day, but I won't pull my punches if you start behaving like I won't have characters suffer consequences for their actions.
This Ring of Hunger could destroy whole towns in a matter of days. This is the kind of magic that small wars are fought over. Imagine if you will, the cunning courtesan gives this ring as a gift to a lower noble of a rival kingdom shortly before said kingdom is to host a grand banquet. When the trick is discovered it would be an act of war, but the rival kingdom will have all of its movers and shakers incapacitated or worse and the royal vaults dangerously empty.
I use it kinda like dispel magic on more obscure or particularly powerful items. The level of spell or magic used to craft or enchant the item is added +10, then you must roll using Int modifier. You can learn the type of magic and spell level associated even if you fail. That way the gravity of such an odd item is relayed. But its abilities are not. Like for example The One Ring is an artifact, use identify but you’re not a very powerful spellcaster. You’d learn its imbued with incredible power, and has wisps of alteration glittering off its golden band. Now you know you’ve got something incredible. But what do you do with it? I’d allow like historians to obv know of that great legend, or get an idea it might be related, so factoring that in they could learn it may just be The One Ring. Making identify more FUN for DM’s. Just imagine Samwise picking up the ring and using identify just to be all “omgsgfkfjpk YEET THIS THING MR FRODO” In my example Gandalf could be argued to be using Identify and not passing the check, so he’s pretty heckin sure what it is. Does some research and learns to throw it in the fire. Boom One Ring revealed.
I’ve been playing almost 20 years with multiple groups. I’ve never heard mvp gets to choose. Most groups have a Pirate mindset. Everyone splits the coin and if you want the item discuss it and give your coin share.
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For those of you commenting "What about wizards with the Identify spell?", per the Dungeon Master's guide (pg. 138) Identify fails to reveal curses.
Not to mention, Identify does not work against the arcane aura spell, which could be infused onto the ring. Or you could write a clause saying 'the Identify spell sees this as a Ring of Satiety, the nearly identical ring that removes the hunger of the wearer and keeps them nourished.'
I like the idea of giving a ring of hunger to a warforged to stave off hunger when rations run out, since they don't get hungry in the first place so the ring has a "full belly" to project at all times
from the description we've been given it seems like the body still needs food, it merely project the feeling of that need onto those around the wearer as opposed to the wearer feeling it. If it could project the "full belly" feel, it would more be a comfort thing than an actual benefit of not needing the food, though if moral is a bigger concern then the actual lack of food it would still be pretty good
The Ring 💍 of Hunger feels like Unseelie magic. Twisting this curse to do "good intentions" will backfire. Also, Fey (light and dark) are antithetical to constructs. Putting the ring on a Warforged might produce a screaming feedback that attracts all Fey in 1 mile radius to stop the noise.
@@macoppy6571 the first part makes sense, the second doesnt within the dnd mechanics or lore. May make some sense in some regional folklores, but also is not universal :/
@@Fernando_Cabanillas whilst it may be exaggerated it does make sense outside of just forgotten realms and main dnd World settings given how other TTRPG handle Antithetical things .i.e in one official DNS module you can destroy something utterly and completely by casting antipathy/sympathy on it yet not wish since its kinda immune to wish
@@wellhellothere8993 it's not enherently antithical at all though. Fey could be the ones making the artifacts or even the ones who made the warforged. Maybe they are similar to Wraithbone constructs from 40k etc etc.
Don't forget DMs answer these questions and whatever you do at your own table doesn't mean anything to anyone else.
Bard: "This is the storied ring The Bane Of Bellhaven." Fighter: "I've never heard of a place called Bellhaven." Bard: "Exactly..."
"A creature that only the wearer can see" got my imagination going. It'd be fun to have, say, a ring that appears to be a ring of light or something - but after going through a couple of dungeons wearing it, the wearer starts seeing a li'l mouse sitting on his shoulder that lets him know where traps are. The mouse seems really helpful for a few sessions, with the players probably becoming quite fond of it, but then it starts getting occasional things a little bit wrong, and is like "oopsie, sorry. I meant you should step on the OTHER floor tile."
Then it starts getting things more and more wrong until it's clearly trying to walk the ring's wearer straight into deathtraps, stifling sadistic little mouse giggles.
They can't touch or otherwise effect the mouse - hands, weapons, and spells pass straight through it - and when it appears and disappears is completely outside of their control.
It'd be interesting to see whether they could work out that it only appears while they're wearing the ring.
...I think I'm gonna do this. ¬w¬
Remember to account for player paranoia.
The first time Mr Mouse leads them wrong they'll stop listening to it. MAAAAYBE the second time if it's an especially naive player.
And particularly grizzled or scarred players won't wait for it to lead them wrong.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Well, that'd be up to the players.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 always "roll" for the mouse. It will look like a bad roll the first few times. Remember the goal is "I hate that mouse" not "that mouse got my PC killed".
"The skeleton in the spike pit is wearing a magic ring."
"Cool, I put it on."
I'm gonna do that too
Thing about making the ring a cursed item that can't come off unless you have Remove Curse, it'll pretty much inform everyone that this ring is bad news and they'll start to immediately try to figure out what it does and try to get it off as soon as they can. By not having the item in question be clingy, they won't realize that this item is going to cause problems until the problem reveals itself.
Do be mindful, players will turn a cursed item into a huge weapon if they can.
I approve of doing this, but you have to be aware of it.
The "welds itself to the player, is destroyed when removed" template mostly exists to keep a devastating item out of player leverage
On the other hand, having that be a random quirk of an otherwise normal magic item can throw them for a loop; it's all upsides, but because it won't come off they think it _must_ be equally cursed.
@Alicia Cordero I've done this to a party before. I like my magic items to have a little bit of backstory you see. In this case, an old men's wedding band that can't be removed once put on. After investigating, they tracked the ring back to a minor noble family and an infidelity scandal several generations back. It had no other magical effects and could be removed by any lady baring that families blood.
@@haroldsaxon1075 amazing
Yeah, that makes sense. The one ring didn't glue itself to the person who had it.
I have a plan about a kid going to some ruins where he was warned not to go near. Finding a cool looking bracelet and showing it to his friends. He doesn't know its magical, but slowly undead will begin to appear. It isn't a cursed item, and the only effect is attracting undead to the wearer, but the undead won't attack them. The undead will attack everyone else, though. So the party has to find the source of what is making the undead come to this town.
Reminds me of a small4th edition adventure. Essentially, a small obsidian skull that was a part of a greater magical item had a small effect on its own of attracting undead. A group of ghouls eventually found it and took to kidnapping and sacrificing villagers from nearby to the item as an attempt to appease it like a crude totem. This did in fact have a small effect of charging the skull with necromantic energy. The adventure was open-ended on what the group can do with the item, though it leaned against trying to complete the item.
I made an item similar to that, one time. It was an iron ring (like Xena used, not like jewelry) that could trap incorporeal undead, like the genie flask, but sometimes they could temporarily escape. Every once in a while, you'd have a ghost or spectre just *surprise!* pop up and create a little havoc before disappearing just as mysteriously. My poor players were so confused for so long 😂
Not really on the same level as the video, but a fun little cursed item I've come up with is the Ring of Attunement. If touched by bare skin, it will automatically teleport itself onto an available finger, instantly attuning itself to you. Beyond that, it does nothing. It is simply an irremovable ring that takes up an attunement slot, ending a player's oldest attunement if need be, and you need to use a curse removal spell to get rid of it.
That's just a nuisance
Neat. Once you do get if off you could use it to remove other cursed items that aren't subject to a remove curse spell. Just make the cursed item your oldest attuned item, maybe by deattuning and reattuning two other magic items, then touch the ring. It should replace the cursed item with the ring which *is* subject to a remove curse spell. Heck, that may be why the ring was created in the first place, as a workaround to more powerful and detrimental cursed items.
@@notoriousgoblin83 Yes, that's the point.
JUST A NUISANCE?! This is *evil* and I'll be using it extensively
Calm down, Satan. I love it.
I usually don't like long intro stories, but this one was really well made! Probably my favorite video, I really liked the ideas discussed
Ever notice how only cursed items can't be easily removed? Does that mean a finger trap is a cursed magic item?
No, it's just a cursed non-magic item. Unless it also has magic properties, then you're probably doomed to lose at least a few fingers permanently.
idk about magic but it's definitely cursed XD
Nope, only an int/str check
It's funny, I misunderstood the title of this video. I read "set pieces" to mean one item as part of a full set like in a dungeon crawling game like Diablo. It got me to thinking about nerfing or homebrewing magic items that can have an enhanced effects once combined as a complete set!
Great story about the Ring of Hunger!!
Here's a simple idea I just whipped up;
Ring of the Persuer: causes the weather to occasionally see an illusiory figure that appears to be following them. The figure takes the shape of something the weather fears, and always appears for only brief moments to dart out of sight, such as around corners or under furniture.
This is a fun scenario! Cursed items that give the PCs interesting (and often dramatic) choices are way more my speed than “your life sucks now, you played yourself” dead-end items. I have a two-part adventure planned where the first part revolves heavily around a magic item and what it’s implications on the world might be!
Honestly when I read the video title I got excited for a rundown on using/designing magical item sets that awaken extra abilities when you wear the associated items together, hahah. Though I did like the narrative set piece direction after all!
I DM'd a campaign where I rewarded all players with a magical item that allowed them to see in any darkness (magical and the mundane). The drawback is they started to hallucinate and see monsters where there weren't any (began by appearing in their periphery). Eventually, the monsters they saw were actually each other, and they started to attack each other. It was a lot of fun. It was my first attempt at horror-themed campaigns. The party was hunting some medusae, and they appeared to them in disguise, offering them a means to get passed their deadly gaze.
The Rogue needs to open up a restaurant and rake in the coin. Alignment permitting, of course.
only if the rogue is a warforged, or has a ring of sustenance.
Give that ring to a dragon, and now you have a plague of "living zombies" cannibalizing their way through the local cities
We have a similar item to this in Ta Mando that's called the ring of gab.
It makes anyone around the wearer thoughtlessly blurt out scandalous rumors about the wearer in mixed company
Are the rumors true?
@@bestaround3323 no!
As a matter of fact, they are completely ridiculous.
IF you are wearing the ring and go see a fancy, high ranking dignitary at his manor upon being introduced to you his wife will start spinning a rag about how you were flirting with her just two weeks ago while she was in town at the market.
You've never met her in your life.
Victims of the ring will even come up with stories that cannot have been true.. Like telling their partner that they caught you stealing a handbag during a time when they weren't even in the city and you were giving a speech in front of seven thousand people in a crowded stadium.
This makes Identify so useful. Also allows the introduction of other curse items later because you primed your players to be less carefree with magic item equipping. Great video as always, thank you.
Don't forget, a few Cursed items have properties that defy Identify by giving false information!
I loved dropping the Stone of Ill Luck into my party's hands. They Identified it as a Stone of Good Luck (as part of its traits), which gives a +1 bonus to all rolls... but this cursed item actually gives a -1 penalty to all rolls. So I had to apply a secret -2 to that player's rolls to make up for the +1 they were adding. It was a great reveal when they finally found out about it and got it removed!
I love this and use them in my game! I basically ask the question "you break into Steve the magic accountant's office. What kind of items are on his desk that makes you feel like he's a real person"
Well, he has pictures of his kids. Maybe a few knickknacks, things to remind him of the camping trip he took 3 years ago or when the family went to a touristy city. And tourists by little gag items and gifts, Like wands that spew bubbles, floating rocks, optical illusion toys and more. Maybe a mask that puts an illusion on their face that makes them look like a ogre or a dragon.
Magic items are a product, and every product has to be produced somewhere in the world. Be it another plane, or just your local blacksmith. The items, their effects and designs are all determined based on the personality and traits of some random guy out in the world. I have a magic potato in my world that blinks teleports into the future and is capable of hitting you with the force equal to an ICBM. Why? Because some wizard was experimenting to use magic to solve food problems (because in a world with magic being able to make food out of thin air why do people starve?) and was working on fixing the problem when his apprentice drew a rune in time-based spell incorrectly and ended up dying in the resulting accident. The apprentice, who wasn't there at the time couldn't afford to buy the tower so was forced to sell everything to pay off their debts. Thus, TPoDV, The Potato of Delayed Vindication was born when a player in a dark alley bought it from a shady NPC for 500 gold because they were told "it is a weapon that has brought down kings and generals and ended wars" so obviously they had to. They realized they had been ripped off by a silver leaf covered potato, threw it away, I rolled a 3 on a d6 behind the screen and 8 hours later the potato blinks back into existence, having followed them the 25 miles they traveled that day out of town and then hit them for 48 damage, knocking them unconscious only to realize just what this potato was capable of.
This is like "the Butterknife" from WFRP e1 (can't find the full name atm)
A mercenary was betrayed by his band and engaged a wizard to make a runic sword that would "cut through anything like butter"
The resulting sword gives -3 damage against mortals, ethereal beings, dragons, trolls, orcs and all other creatures
But +3 damage against all dairy produce, such as cheese and yoghurt
Love a magic item with a history behind it!
What they didn't tell you was after the ring came off it was like the great pie eating contest from "Stand by Me". Great video, great idea!
Love this idea. It would be a great alternative to "You meet in a tavern "
Hmmm, imagine an unscrupulous inn keeper or tvern keeper with this ring. Sold out every night!
Love it, the urge to use the hunger ring is strong haha
As an ARPG player, I was immediately filled with dread that you meant a set of magic items in D&D where you'd gain additional effects the more pieces of the set you wore. "And with that, you find the fifth and final piece of the Arvandor's Glory! To compliment the gleaming plate armor that now resonates with holy power, about to unlock its true power, a shining Longsword inscribed with the Crest of House Arvandor and the very same holy symbol you wear around your neck!"
"Uh... I took Polearm Master. And no one else in the party uses Heavy Armor."
"Well, sorry, that's what the book says so... if you want that +2 AC and Lay on Hands to recharge on a short rest, you gotta use the longsword."
If your DM can't adjust what the items are to fit the party that's a bit worrisome, ngl.
@@TheTrueArkher Sorry bud, that's what the book says. Take the longsword or bust. World doesn't revolve around you.
Tape the longsword to a mop
@@bestaround3323 I don't DM games because I want to listen to what some book has to say about things. Especially when it comes to magic items.
If I'm putting enough effort into my game to seef the pieces of a legendary set of equipment for my players, I am either going to choose a set that fits a particular player's build, alter the set to fit that build, or give the player the option to A) have the offending item modified to fit them or B) Respec their character to make use of the new item.
Or, hey, maybe spread the love. Maybe someone else in the party uses a Longsword, and when the person wearing the armor, and the person wielding the sword stand together, they both gain some amount of the set bonus.
@@bestaround3323 - you must be fun at parties
My players love getting cursed with out expecting it. So long as it is a fun and interesting curse. It can even have dire effects, so long as the there are also benefits. I have a monk player who wanted a the + to hit that a magic weapons gives but to continue be “unarmed” so I made some curse of vengence hand wraps for now they give them what he wants plus to hit and damage but his anger has been more explosive and he puts himself in more dangerous situiations to finish off enemies. One time he even attacked another players summon because he took damage from it. It was fun and interesting and the other players are begining to notice something is wrong.
I gave our druid a potted plant that can cast sunbeam once a day, it's gonna be fun
I hope that you used the plants vs zombies images.
Look up Call of Cthulhu's adventure The Secret of Castronegro. It has a lovely creature named Podduck that is VERY helpful for as long as you wear the ring they're connected to. Of course, you can't take the ring off without removing the finger, and you no longer age, and any wounds heal within moments, so he has a VERY LOOOOOONG time to convert you to the dark god he worships, so of course he's going to take his time and be helpful. He has a literal eternity to corrupt you.
I like the idea of stuffing yourself with food before putting it on as a way of warding off hungry beast while traveling. If you couldn't eat another bite neither could the wolfs
I don't think it would work that way. It seems like it would just project the hunger you should be feeling to all creatures within its radius... but in addition to any hunger they already feel. It wouldn't replace (or negate) any of their hunger, it can only make the hunger stronger.
ie: [Other creature's hunger] = [Their base hunger: 0-10] + [Your hunger: 0-10]
@@JarieSuicune both would be cool magic items. Because it completely overwrite the users hunger to 0 it's not out of the question that it would overwrite the victims hunger to the users true hunger. The true purpose of the ring id imagine would be for a glutinous villain that eats only for pleasure forcing all his minions to feed him and not themselves because they knew they were under the effect of the ring. It mostly depends on if your DM wants a full curse item or a trade off item were it's dangerous but useful
I am so "yoinking" this idea!
I dont know how you see yourself and what you do, but you are a game designer at heart, and i love this video
What a FANTASTIC concept, thanks a lot!
This is great because it emphasizes the biggest thing: Talk to your players! I had a really good idea for a time jump 300 years back and it wouldve been a great narrative surprise, but I ended up asking because going back meant giving up a lot of things they built in the world. Everyone agreed to it and the mission leading in was great! Hopefully we can stick the landing now that we're here 😅
I was really confused at first because I thought this was a video about sets of magical item, not as a plot piece. A fantastic story none the less.
For those asking about the Identify spell here’s how I handle it.
I use it kinda like dispel magic on more obscure or particularly powerful items.
The level of spell or magic used to craft or enchant the item is added +10, then you must roll using Int modifier.
You can learn the type of magic and spell level associated even if you fail.
That way the gravity of such an odd item is relayed. But its abilities are not.
Like for example The One Ring is an artifact, use identify but you’re not a very powerful spellcaster.
You’d learn its imbued with incredible power, and has wisps of alteration glittering off its golden band.
Now you know you’ve got something incredible. But what do you do with it?
I’d allow like historians to obv know of that great legend, or get an idea it might be related, so factoring that in they could learn it may just be The One Ring.
Making identify more FUN for DM’s.
Just imagine Samwise picking up the ring and using identify per RAW just to be all “omgsgfkfjpk YEET THIS THING MR FRODO”
In my example Gandalf could be argued to be using Identify and not passing the check, so he’s pretty heckin sure what it is. Does some research and learns to throw it in the fire. Boom One Ring revealed.
Identify is really more of a legal "cheat code" in the game mechanics for spellcasters. It doesn't make a lot of sense (unlike Detect Magic) because you can learn innate and otherwise unknowable details about something via "magic aether/brain powers".
That said, I think it is a GOOD (and sometimes necessary) "cheat code", since learning the details of magic items the "proper" way could be both VERY time-consuming and dangerously... dangerous. Both of which are likely to become anti-fun for the players and ruin the game itself.
@@JarieSuicune yup. I don't much like it but I can see the use in it. So for my table I just tweaked it a little.
ah the benefits of playing Van Richten's Reborn 👍
That story/example magic item was hysterical, clever, and cute. Thanks for the video!
The craftdwarfship on this video is of the highest quality :3
What good fun
This is brilliant
"Peasants are made of meat" is just "Peasants are made of XP" with extra cleanup. 😈🤣
One of the best DM channels on RUclips. Keep it up!
Here's a magic item set piece idea:
A ring that if you attune to you get troue sight for a small range but the immense power of the ring is slowly dragging you to the etherial realm. Once you take the ring off you slowly drift either to the matterial realm or the closest realm, if you want your players to go on a rescue mission in the ethereal realm. Identify would fail to recoginize the unintentional effect and it does not count as curse (optional). The ring could be a creation of a powerfull wizard from his younger days, when he couldn't control his vast power or a relic intended for extinct spicies that has strong connection to the matterial plane.
I misunderstood the title. Thought it meant a collection of magical items that work together as a set. Not a magical item that's purpose is a "setting"
"As per tradition, the member of the party with the most monster kills chooses their pile of loot first."
That's one way to do it I suppose. I think the best methods I ever saw were in the AD&D PHB, Appendix V (five). However, there is that problem of characters not touching anything magic without casting Identify first (which is smart). I guess if your campaign is different, this would be a good way to let them work it out.
Very nice "They Live" quote :)
I like this ring of hunger! And I have a bit of a horrifying idea as to why it's a cursed item but still removable. When you talked about controlling a kingdom with this ring, what if the ring was made for a revolutionist to take down the ruling elite? They get a job as a servant and when the king holds a massive banquet, inviting all of the nobles to join, the revolutionist puts on the ring and helps serve the food, knowing that it will never be enough. I don't want to go into too many details, but I could see the revolutionist withering away as the days roll on and the people effected by the curse turn to more desperate measures. Maybe the revolutionist had friends who made sure to bare the nobles in - helping what servants they could escape. The whole point is that this person willingly took on the curse's side effects all to end the current form of rule.
There is a huge point against the ring as being self-destructive: It does nothing to prevent eating. It only relocates your feelings of hunger.
ie: you can still eat (just like anyone else who can eat while not feeling hungry).
In fact, doing so would allow you to wear the ring and control its effects on the populace around you!
So, any person with this ring would have to be ridiculously stupid to let it themselves starve far enough that it was causing significant problems for themselves. They can still eat without any problem, they just won't feel hungry. It also doesn't (to our knowledge) affect their feelings of "fullness", only hunger (unless the DM treats those as two sides of the same coin of relativity, such as hot/cold or fast/slow).
@Jarie 水栓(Suisen) Oh, that's actually a good point. Guess if anyone goes with my idea, then they'd have to tweak the curse.
@@MahoganyDesk Not necessarily. It just means that your revolutionist can snack on occasion to keep up appearances and to see the job to the end. Also, he can use the opportunity to go on a poisoning spree.
@@joshtr-sd3mr Oh, damn, you're right! That's devious!
This was a really good video!
Thanks for making it!
I thought this was going to be a video on magic item sets, like where equipping both the helm and boots of Nightrock gives a bonus, third effect.
I like the video, but I now want the other one too.
Imagine using that ring to force an evil diplomat into eating poisoned food, or slowly lure a creature out of a cave, or calm down a pack of hungry beasts. You could also just use it to be an inconvenience to unfriendly people. I love this kind of idea so much
This item described in the video is interesting.
You could sneak into X enemy camp while invisible from a spell or ability put the ring on for X hours, take it off have some food, then put it on again. Rinse repeat to destroy the camp from the inside out over the course of a few days or weeks.
I suppose you could even have evil NPC's do this to friendly towns and villages could be a fun little detective thing.
This idea came to me from a game which has stealthy enemies who do exactly this, spread hunger and disease in the province they're hidden in. They're called hunger demons or something. The counter in the game is the patrol with lots of troops to flush the spy out. But re-enacting this in DnD could be much more interesting.
The idea of using basic human functions as a curse might come from a few Greek myths as well. So if you want more ideas you could do worse than go into a history book to see how the myths did it.
I would go a step furether and call it a ring of empathy where others feel what you do (in this case, hunger)
I am 100% ripping this off for my game! I can’t wait to see what happens.
Big props for this lovely little item.
I don't know why, but I really like that you used goulash in this one
I like the idea of having an abundance of low level curses - like this ring of hunger, with how easily it's managed- being like. a young enchanter wizard trying things out, and is trying to be edgy and evil lmao (Toss them in an old collapsing wizard tower, a bunch of weird curses. and then maybe find the wizard locked in something and they can chose whether or not to free them)
i think a really good way to turn this into a constant "shadowy" antagonist in the campaign is when the player first equips the ring you tell them "you feel full of vitality, more alert and awake than usual almost like youve eaten a really hearty meal. this ring increases your perception by [BLANK] and your health by [both by whatever amount you see fit at that point in the story] you notice you can also remove it whenever you want". this will make them think the explination is just explaining the immediate feeling of their stats increasing and also dispel any worry of it being cursed. but what you can do is the rings hunger affect curse is only when someone has come into contact with the ring but isnt wearing it. so say this is the rogue and they are a "touchy" type of person when they are trying to win someone over in a conversation. what you can do is make a rumor that the guard they were talking to, that noble they wanted a better reward from or that shop keep they were trying to get a deal from has been acting strangely. maybe THEY are under suspicion. this could be a really fun long term thing thats going on in the campaign, a smart player that keeps notes may figure it out after meeting with a few of the afflicted or maybe a player with detect curse figures it out right away but that would be ok too because maybe the players have to decide if having a magic ring is worth it for the effects as long as they take it off while in town. this video really does make me think of some cool ideas lol
once again, really useful stuff! thanks for making this! and the art is so coooool i wanna meet these characters!
Great koncept!
Loved it! Though I was quite confused from the title... I expected it to be about magic items that work as a set (like you need the full combination for their true powers).
The *best* Set Piece magic item is the Happy Fun Ball, hands down.
The ring that transfers hunger is actually perfect for one of my current games. One of the villains (long term, the PCs are low level at the moment) is attempting to harness the power of a demon whose domain is in pestilence, plagues and gluttony. A person wielding the ring could very subtly sow chaos in a population and then ritually gorge when the day is done.
Now the question is, would the hunger be split between nearby people or multiplied to fit and would it affect nearby animals as well?
even as an item for the players to actually use I can think of another use for that ring of hunger, say you are doing a massive war campaign and you have to deal with an enemy encampment but you're low on resources (hence why you would need to deal with it), your party has enough rations to last a week for each party member, you set up camp close enough to the enemy base for easy access to it's walls but far enough that the rest of the party won't be effected by the ring, have one character who is already a light eater go to the base and equip the ring and only eat every 2-3 days (long enough for the hunger to be immense but not so much that they will resort to cannibalism), you make the enemy burn through their rations which then puts them in a weakened state from over eating allowing for the party to come in and easily clear it out
Imagine giving this ring to a Flind. Gnolls normally are always hungry and will ravenously eat. A gnoll army blessed with the ring of hunger could make everyone feel so insatiably hungry, that it drives them mad or weakens them if in the ring's aura for too long.
Love the WoW Brewfest reference
So this is a fantastic video. My only complaint is the point around 8:30 brought up about Dark Souls. I'll admit there are a few instances of sporadic death, such as the Capra Demon boss fight early in the game, but as a general rule Dark Souls gives its players every opportunity to see what's coming ahead of time, or at least assume that something *is* coming. The difference between Dark Souls and other games is that it's more subtle in this notion. You don't get a few seconds of a dragon roaring as it circles you over head, but you do get to look up as you're walking across the bridge to see a Fire Drake perched on the tower at the end of it. There's no sign that says 'here thar be traps' in Sen's Fortress, but there are suspiciously raised floor panels and odd holes in the walls that, if you're paying attention, alert you to the possibility of traps. I agree that dying in Dark Souls is part of the learning experience, but the opportunity to notice incoming danger is always present. If there's something to learn from death in Dark Souls, it's where to look when you get to the next area, not just what already found you and killed you in this one.
EDIT: To be clear, what I'm saying is not even Dark Souls kills its players without telling them it's going to do it ... in most cases. So basically, in any kind of game design, springing death and lasting injury on your players isn't a very good idea and should be avoided whenever possible!
0:56
Wizard: "I cast identifty"
theses videos are incredible and im just glad you keep uploading
A ring that make you able to read mind, and see what others are thinking, it can remove the cursed
This is wonderful! And much better than a +1 sword 😊
This sounds like a fun idea!
That's a really neat video. I'm gonna try to keep this in mind.
So i made a Deteriorating Bracer. It sets your AC to 15, it's cursed, and every time you get hit it will "deteriorate" and apply a -1 to the AC.
If it reaches -10 stack (AC 05) it will finally break apart.
It was supposed to be used by our Bard/Wizard, but the tank had to try it. Already got hit once.
>10 rounds of combat
>may take only one hour to resolve
oh my sweet innocent cinnamon roll
Huh. I thought this video was going to be about items that make a set, for instance, the Invulnerable Coat of Arndt, the Sword of Arndt, and the Boots of Arndt. The actual video was still interesting; just ... different than I expected.
Solid video. I think cursed ideas are often done poorly in games.
My ad&d centaur cleric watched as a skull was put in a font which came out as a living person. I got my centaur to dive in and he instantly died. That's fair. The font did something uber positive to the first item of a type that was put in it and then uber negative things to items of that type thereafter. We just didn't figure it out and my character took a huge risk. The PC with the skulls happened to be able to reincarnate my character but, with all posessions destroyed and no materials to reference, he came back as a troll. Honestly it would have been better to reroll the character but it was a great and memorable encounter. I'd prefer my character hadn't been so stupid but I'm glad the GM didn't fudge the situation.
The Ring of Hunger is game breaking in any ICRPG setting.
"Peasants are made of meat." 😄😄😄😄😄
Thanks for another funny and interesting video.
Bind items to your players all they want. And remember, it's not bad luck when a player gets a curse after deciding to use an item without knowing what it does.
You still have to be careful. Some cursed items also fill an Attunement Slot, which everyone (except high-level Artificers) only get three of. While it can feel justified, it can also totally wreck the game by being anti-fun for the sake of "realism" or whatever.
That's not to say I'll protect my players from their stupidity, but I try to make sure there are options to help make it it not encourage them to either walk out (the game becomes un-fun) or murder their character for the sake of a new one (the character becomes un-fun).
If they do something stupid, we work with it rather than just punish them. Unless everyone dies, but that's not happened... yet.
@@JarieSuicune please re-read my first sentence.
There is a huge point against the ring as being self-destructive: It does nothing to prevent eating. It only relocates your feelings of hunger.
ie: you can still eat (just like anyone else who can eat while not feeling hungry).
In fact, doing so would allow you to wear the ring and control its effects on the populace around you!
So, any person with this ring would have to be ridiculously stupid to let themselves starve far enough that it was causing significant problems for themselves. They can still eat without any problem, they just won't feel hungry. It also doesn't (to our knowledge) affect their feelings of "fullness", only hunger (unless the DM treats those as two sides of the same coin of relativity, such as hot/cold or fast/slow), so they can also know when to stop eating to avoid overeating.
*Sticks magical ring on finger.* Well, it's not cursed.
Great plan.
Here are a few cursed and cursed-adjacent items I've hit my players with:
- An amulet that the wearer thinks is an Amulet of Nondetection, but it actually causes any divination or scrying spells targeting the wearer to automatically succeed.
- A saddle which causes the rider to suffer the effects of any levels of exhaustion gained by the mount.
- A circlet which, instead of shielding the wearer from having their mind read, transmits the wearer's thoughts to everyone within 30 feet.
- An axe that can only attune to barbarians that grants a bunch of benefits, but if you take any damage you automatically rage, and while raging you can't end the rage early, it ignores the rules for ending early, you have to attack the nearest target, and you can't tell the difference between friends and enemies.
- My personal favorite, a silver amulet shaped like a lifelike pixie head on a simple silver chain. When attuned, the wearer sees it become a golden pixie head on a fine gold chain, and once per day they can summon a loyal pixie companion that will perform tasks for them. This pixie can't cast spells or do anything too complicated, and it can't be stealthy because it's constantly laughing and singing. _However,_ everyone else sees the amulet turn into a mummified pixie head cruelly attached to a tarnished cold iron chain. The summoned undead pixie is terribly mangled and covered in gruesome wounds, and constantly moans in agony and begs for the sweet release of death. If they try to tell the wearer what's happening, they won't believe them; _obviously_ they're all jealous and want to steal this loyal pixie friend for themselves!
in my homebrew world i actually have a -5 wooden spoon. it's the remnants of a sword, it's hilt that was supposed to be a god artifact to spite a Dark Lord who took posession of it, cursed it and "destroyed" it. this spoon when killing the Dark Lord will undo all evil he done. the "sword" can't be fully destroyed and thus the wooden spoon
What I find interesting is cursed items that initially seem very helpful. The thing I thought of is a ring of luck. When the player puts it on, they almost feel luckier. Maybe a nearby peasant might trip and drop a gold coin right into the player's hand.
The player might want to loan the ring to someone, but only then realises it can't come off. Odd, as it seems beneficial. The ringbearer gets luckier and luckier as more and more things go their way.
Then the party starts failing rolls, and it becomes obvious that it doesn't just grant luck. It leeches the luck from everyone around them.
Effectively, every day (or other appropriate time period) the bearer gains a +1 on all rolls, but everyone within a decent radius (say, 100 ft) get that same amount as a penalty.
In the end, it may truly be a useful item if the player wasn't trying to exist in a party context.
Could call it the Vainglorious Ring, as it makes you better while everyone else bumbles around you.
Always give Permanent Cursed items an equal badass or Useful power.
Tell your players exactly what it does before they use it.
Watch them make incredibly poor life decisions.
"The member with the most monster kills", well, that sure discourages support characters and teamwork
Some groups like it, I don't judge
You could also do things like mvp, the member who contributed the most - which includes healing and support
@@stortrut that makes a lot more sense. And encourages team play a lot more :)
@@stortrut I really dont like appraising an individuals work. How much is healing worth compared with damage? Is eliminating only worth the hp it takes? What about getting someone up from 0HP? How do you calculate giving someone advantage, enableing someone to sneakattack, preventing an enemy to attack a vulnerable member by clever positioning?
I mean, sure if everybody feels similarly it might work, but it invites people thinking they are not appreciated as much as they deserve. Dissent, grudges, even if they may keep it in to not disturb the peace.
I find it easier to say everybody gets the same money, and useful items are lend out to the one with the most use for the item or having the least items overall.
It doesnt prevent dissent, but I find it the most agreeable.
@@indestructiblemadness8531 There’s also the issue that if someone gets better loot early on in a campaign, it gives them more chances to be the MVP later down the line, giving them better loot again and again
I miss you guys fr
Instead of a binding curse make the items effect addictive so the player has a need to use it even though it can harm the player, party or world
Im tryna think what, in any of the Dark Souls games, outright kills you just because you didn't know about it. The only thing I think would be the first fight with Seath the Scaless, but that's a single instance.
More commonly are events like the Four Kings or Ariamis. Dialogue and item descriptions inform you that you'll need a ring to enter the Abyss of the Four Kings, or that to leave the painted world of Ariamis you must leap from Priscilla's tower, but that there is no danger. Even magic items like the Ring of Favor informs you that the ring will be destroyed if you remove it, setting expectations for players.
Subs, YES! Ty.
I've been toying with the concept of 'lesser vestiges' based on the vestiges from the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting to similar effect; my take is that 'true' vestiges were intentionally created, while lesser vestiges are more like byproducts or anomalous consequences from direct divine (be they 'bad or good' gods) interaction in the past or even powerful divine spells and rituals. Objects that are infused or coalesced unintentionally that produce 'curse like' effects with mixed boons but can easily be removed or halted...though if worn or kept in function, can have 'milestone' effects. A fun take on the concept of cursed objects, though I've been rightly accused (affectionately) of just making DND setting SCP objects.
I love this channel.
The idea of "the DM shouldn't engineer bad luck to cause harm to players" is a philosophy I often extend to things like character dice, in that my general philosophy is that characters should only die heroically or due to their own stupidity/recklessness. Essentially, if a player is going to meet their end, it's going to be by their own deliberate choices in knowing that they're taking a risk or doing something stupid because they think they have plot armor; I'll give you some grace for acting in a reasonable manner and the dice just weren't agreeable that day, but I won't pull my punches if you start behaving like I won't have characters suffer consequences for their actions.
This Ring of Hunger could destroy whole towns in a matter of days. This is the kind of magic that small wars are fought over.
Imagine if you will, the cunning courtesan gives this ring as a gift to a lower noble of a rival kingdom shortly before said kingdom is to host a grand banquet. When the trick is discovered it would be an act of war, but the rival kingdom will have all of its movers and shakers incapacitated or worse and the royal vaults dangerously empty.
Love this video and love the artwork! Just found you, here's my sub
Good video and idea. Taste like Gnome ?
@master the dungeon, how do you feel about when a player uses identify on the object, would it still tell the player about the weird effects?
I use it kinda like dispel magic on more obscure or particularly powerful items.
The level of spell or magic used to craft or enchant the item is added +10, then you must roll using Int modifier.
You can learn the type of magic and spell level associated even if you fail.
That way the gravity of such an odd item is relayed. But its abilities are not.
Like for example The One Ring is an artifact, use identify but you’re not a very powerful spellcaster.
You’d learn its imbued with incredible power, and has wisps of alteration glittering off its golden band.
Now you know you’ve got something incredible. But what do you do with it?
I’d allow like historians to obv know of that great legend, or get an idea it might be related, so factoring that in they could learn it may just be The One Ring.
Making identify more FUN for DM’s.
Just imagine Samwise picking up the ring and using identify just to be all “omgsgfkfjpk YEET THIS THING MR FRODO”
In my example Gandalf could be argued to be using Identify and not passing the check, so he’s pretty heckin sure what it is. Does some research and learns to throw it in the fire. Boom One Ring revealed.
As someone who generally doesn't feel hunger anyways, I wouldn't notice at all. It's so hard to know when I should eat.
Excellent ideas!
I love this channel!!!
Identify will take a lot of fun out of this, but I don't like banning spells. And thoughts for resolving it?
One way is to make it so your cursed items come with some sort of benefit, to tempt the players to use them even if they know about the curse.
I’ve been playing almost 20 years with multiple groups. I’ve never heard mvp gets to choose. Most groups have a Pirate mindset. Everyone splits the coin and if you want the item discuss it and give your coin share.