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submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by rockSlayer to c/pathfinder@ttrpg.network

I'm working on a campaign that starts at level 1, and once the players reach level 2 I want to give a cursed party item along with each player receiving a powerful item that carries 2 curses. The intent is that the item becomes their signature symbol and grows with the player. There seems to be very few curses in PF, so I had to homebrew, modify, or borrow some curses from other sources. I feel like I've achieved a solid balance for benefit and hindrance, but I'm a new GM and need help. These were the items I'm thinking:

  1. (intermittent backbiting) +2 greater striking cold-iron Warhammer. Lvl-1 free hits with +2 greater striking per day, 20% chance to activate after free hit, chance to activate increases by 20% every 2 lvls and intermittent curse vanishes at lvl 10. Backbiting has a 60% chance to roll dmg against self on crit fail, chance decreases by 5% every lvl until min of 10%

  2. (notorious) +2 thievery Greater Charlatan Gloves. Gloves will always etch the wielder's name on the nearest surface to the item, including on worn fabric, if it is not returned within 10 minutes. Unbeknownst to the wielder, the teleport feat will instantly reveal the item stolen, true name, current appearance, and precise location of wielder to the victim, regardless of distance from the item

  3. (ravenous and arsonous) lvl4 Wand of Elemental Toss. A randomly selected ally within 30ft takes 1d10 fire dmg. If no allies are near, the dmg will target the wielder with a 30% chance to ignite the environment instead. The next day the wielder must consume 10x normal food intake or they starve

  4. (restless arrow attracting) +1 ready cold-iron Chainmail. lvl+1 ranged attacks per hour which miss an ally within 120 feet of the wielder makes them the next target. Once the arrow attracting curse is revealed, the wielder must always wear the armor which causes a minimum of fatigued 1 at all times and unconscious AC is calculated as if the wielder was unarmored. Sleep will allow fatigue to reduce to minimum

  5. (Erastil's bloodthirsty haunted) +1 wounding longbow. The weapon must be used 10 minutes after it's wielded (drawn, readied, whatever) or the wielder takes 1d8 dmg. Every time a creature is killed with the weapon and not honored as a sacrifice to Erastil, the wielder is surrounded by an illusion of all creatures they've killed with the weapon and must make a will saving throw to dismiss the illusion. The Haunted effect only occurs after the second unhonored kill, and immediately ends the wielder's turn as well as prevents the wielder from taking any action on subsequent turns until 1 minute passes or the illusion is dismissed. If a creature is honored to Erastil, it must be buried without eating or looting the corpse, otherwise the effect will last for 1 hour and cannot be dismissed. The number of creatures in the illusion can be reduced by 1 when asking for forgiveness from a creature on a crit will save, and will not occur if there are no creatures that have not forgiven the wielder

  6. (dreary crepuscular) minor reinforcing silver spiked buckler. 1d6 silver shield bash. Only gains the effects of minor reinforcing between 1hr before to 1hr after twilight. The wielder always has a personal stormcloud that rains heavier as the wielder gets happier, disrupts sleep, soaks cloth within an hour, and ruins paper within 10 minutes

  7. (raucous) spacious bag IV. The bag is a backpack of 2 bulk, which can carry 150 bulk. Every time a person opens the bag they are compelled to yell, all non-allies within 50 feet are compelled to look at the affected person if they aren't already, and everyone within 50 feet instinctively knows what item(s) is being grabbed or stored

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[-] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

With something more than an incidental curse, you really need player buy-in. I recommend meeting with each player, telling them you'd like to give them a cursed item that will be a major part of their character's arc throughout the story, and the broad strokes of what you have in mind for their particular curse. Then, be receptive to feedback on that. Good players will recognize that this is a roleplay opportunity for them and try to fit it into the arc they had in mind for their character, but they may want the details tweaked to fit their particular narrative goals...eg to make the curse an ironic reflection of their flaws or a nod to their backstory or whatever. I recommend you try to approach this premise with a collaborative mindset.

[-] rockSlayer 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Good advice, tyvm.

All of these players are new to ttrpg in general. I wanted this to be more like a homebrew adventure path for them, since I created the characters that they could choose from. I wanted the curses to be ironic to the character. For example the Greater Charlatan Gloves are a huge boon to a low level rogue but the rogue will probably never know about the curses until the consequences of their actions become apparent, the Champion is the party tank and so gets a very powerful weapon but their weapon is unreliable and could kill enemies before they're given a chance to accept mercy which could be anathema in some situations, etc.

Any advice for this campaign goal?

[-] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah I mean, basically anything can work with the right campaign, players, characters, etc. But my opinion doesn't matter; your player's opinions are the ones that do.

I'll also add that the element of surprise is overrated. You think it will be cool when the player discovers this effect at a dramatic moment but it is far, FAR more likely that they never discover it at all. Or they only discover it after it's been frustratingly negating everything they've tried to do so far. Or that they discover the curse at an un-dramatic moment and make the rational decision to just never trigger it again. That's why I say it's much better to tell the players ahead of time and set the expectation that being cursed will be a major part of their story; then they can DECIDE to have their character "accidentally" trigger the curse at a dramatic moment or what have you. You won't have to tell the player "you're compelled to yell now" they'll automatically go "GOD I just feel like YELLING right now FOR SOME REASON!" and feel good about playing their character instead of feeling bad that you're taking over their character.

[-] rockSlayer 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Hmm, perhaps I could leave room for people to level up at the end of the session while I pull each of them aside to explain the items and that the curses will drive the plot

this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2026
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