Curses! Cursed Items and Calamities in Your Campaigns – September RPG Blog Carnival
This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is all about cursing. Whether it’s your favourite ways to use the Curse spell, ideas you have about cursed magic items, or stories you have about the predicaments of cursed PCs in your campaign, any blog post about curses is welcome.
I’ll join the carnival later this month with some tips on making cursed magic items for your adventures. Meantime, let me tell you a quick story of how a simple curse resulted in the entire party rejecting the first magic sword treasure of my Murder Hobos campaign earlier this year.
The Curse of Muirakaska
Can you believe it? One small drawback, and every PC refused to take the magic sword. My players are too entitled, I tell you. Spoiled!
So the group has been beat back by the villain twice now. With heavy casualties. The first time the flaming skull roused his pack of ghouls and ghosts to swarm the PCs, and though the party won, they were left too weak to challenge Mormesk himself, so they retreated to lick their depleted souls.
The second assault, Mormesk brought forth a few golems he acquired from a certain shady wizard in Neverwinter, and the last of his zombie and ghoul servants. Plus a few stalwart followers animated from the previous battle.
The undead were no problem for the PCs this time. The party had some tactics and experience at this now. But the golems clobbered them to near TPK, and the group had almost no magical ways to harm the creatures.
The party retreated to heal again and decided to explore the dungeon one more time, just to see if they overlooked anything. Indeed they had. Following a creek through a crack in the wall, they discovered a pool and a massive crayfish. After the battle, while enjoying some roasted crayfish over the campfire, a couple PCs dove into the deep pool depths. One returned with a magic longsword. My players whooped and celebrated. Finally, a magic weapon for loot.
The wizard scooped up the weapon and took it to his corner to study. After some time he returned with his report. It was indeed a magic longsword, guaranteed to penetrate any armour. The weapon was created for a legendary general named Muirakaska. The general never lost a battle with that sword, and he eventually fell to poison from vile foes.
The Magic Sword With One Small Flaw
The sword came with one small catch, though. You had to change your name to Muirakaska to wield it. Surely a small price to pay to never lose a battle again?
However, not one PC was willing to change their name! No one wanted to be the new Muirakaska.
Well, the group found another way to defeat the golems and take down Mormesk, and the magic longsword still sits in the party inventory. The fighter keeps chewing his lip, wondering if he should change his name. But he hesitates.
Season Two of the Murder Hobos begins this month. We’ll see what happens to the party and the sword. What do you think? Should the fighter change his name to wield a powerful magic weapon? Would you?
Have a great, accursed month!
[Photo Credit: Bex Ross]