Cursed Items

[Thaelis]

The way they work is a little...annoying?

Can we make them work like they do in Baldur's Gate (the game)? For anyone that doesn't know, that means Unidentified items are still equippable, and the curse only activates when the item is equipped.

At one point I picked up three cursed items in one day. I'm guessing that is incredibly unlucky. I really feel sorry for anyone with Str 8 who picks up a cursed full plate or two.

Either this or add one NPC who can Remove Curse. Thalantyr?

[Shadowspinner70]

I can live with that change to cursed moments. It makes sense, it activating when you actually use it instead of having it in your bag.

[MasterSilke]

It would certainly make sense realistically speaking if the cursed effects of an item took place once the item was equipped. Though from a game/mechanical perspective, cursed items may as well be removed if that route was taken since I'm assuming hardly any player would just equip an unidentified item since it is so easy to identify them in the first place.

I certainly don't have strong feelings on the matter, but I would say they should either be kept as they are or done away with completely.

[Kitunenotsume]

It is my recollection that the NWN2 engine is pretty hardcoded to prevent the equipping of unidentified and nonproficient items, which I suspect was a deliberate design choice to reduce potentially exploitive builds. I suppose a script could be written to forcefully identify and equip an item, then unidentified it if the equip fails at script speed, and attempt to add this script as a PC feat (since an unidentified item has none of it's default abilities visible), but that seems grossly heavy handed.

To my knowledge, cursed equipment only appears to apply when it is worn and after it has been identified (Source: My personal cache of cursed items), though non-equipment applies it's debuff just by being held in inventory. The Cursed flag primarily restricts the item from being dropped, sold, or traded, but not unequipped. This hasn't stopped my from seeing unidentified cursed scrolls dropped in the barrel next to Blunt that I had to Remove Curse of once I realized what they were, so it might be possible to be disposed of prior to identification.

Regarding your suggested alternatively, while I might be a bit of a contrarian, I am of the opinion that curse removal is one of the few remaining services a PC can reasonably provide. PCs can provide spells, the UMD to cast scrolls, or even potions (since Remove Curse is a 3rd level spell).
I feel that bypassing these options to providing it via an NPC would both cheapen the service and effectively cap the value of those abilities (Similar to how Raise Dead and Resurrection are worth no more than 500 gp in an RP area despite their canonical +1000gp component.)

That said, I admit that being one of the few remaining PC provided services suggests that the general server paradigm is trending towards removing PCs from the dungeoneering cycle, and if that is the case that adding an NPC would certainly accomplish that intention.

[zhazz]

If possible, how about making the curse only activate on a failed Will Save, with the DC based on the severity of strong the curses are on the item?

This dips slightly into the realm of sentient items, but it would be a fair bit better than what we currently have.

Obviously Protection from Alignment and/or Mindblank shouldn't block it, since that would just make Divine PCs and UMD even better than they already are.

[Thaelis]

If possible, how about making the curse only activate on a failed Will Save, with the DC based on the severity of strong the curses are on the item?

This dips slightly into the realm of sentient items, but it would be a fair bit better than what we currently have.

Obviously Protection from Alignment and/or Mindblank shouldn't block it, since that would just make Divine PCs and UMD even better than they already are.

That is a fantastic idea why didn't I think of that.

Maybe the Will save is kinda like for how the One Ring is always trying to get Frodo to put it on. The item in your inventory wants you to put it on and if you fail the save you give in

[Kitunenotsume]

I don't really think a "Will vs equip" is fitting, given that most cursed items hide themselves as beneficial ones.

A bit more in like with those outlined in the 3.5 srd [link] might be a script that generates cursed items that look like normal magical items (Prefferably strong for their loot tables), and have a hidden flag on the items. When an item with the flag is used or equipped, the stats are rerolled to those of a cursed item of appropriate magnitude*, the Cursed flag is set, and the hidden flag is removed.

*: The reroll could be probably performed by creating a new item with the same base item and material (if relevant), with the cursed values and flag, and swapping it in the PC inventory for the prior one.

This would potentially result in someone selling a magical item with a latent curse, but I see that as opportunity for merchant RP and tort claims.

The disadvantage is that, as MasterSilke stated above, probably 98% of all loot on the server gets sold straight to NPCs and never gets interacted with meaningfully by a PC. The use (and risk) of cursed items would probably only be incentivized if the apparent power of cursed items was clearly superior to those otherwise encountered, at which point every 'epic' item might be a gamble.

[zhazz]

The disadvantage is that, as MasterSilke stated above, probably 98% of all loot on the server gets sold straight to NPCs and never gets interacted with meaningfully by a PC. The use (and risk) of cursed items would probably only be incentivized if the apparent power of cursed items was clearly superior to those otherwise encountered, at which point every 'epic' item might be a gamble.

Or that the curse can be lifted for a monetary cost (and or gems), with the un-cursed items losing some benefits in favor of having no downside.

E.g. finding a +4 Full Plate with +3 Spot, but a 50% increased fire damage curse. Lift the curse and it becomes +3 Full Plate with +2 Spot. Or something along those lines.

[Kitunenotsume]

Remove Curse does not affect the item, it simply permits the cursed item to be discarded:

per d20srd:

Remove curse instantaneously removes all curses on an object or a creature. Remove curse does not remove the curse from a cursed shield, weapon, or suit of armor, although the spell typically enables the creature afflicted with any such cursed item to remove and get rid of it. Certain special curses may not be countered by this spell or may be countered only by a caster of a certain level or higher.

(Emphasis mine)

Having a caster level check might be reasonable, but given the CL 30 expectation and triviality of spamming the spell, thats more of an inconvenience for removal.

In either case materially altering the interaction of Remove Curse with a cursed item would require a substantial readjustment to the Remove Curse spell-script (Currently it just toggles the "cursed" flag to false when applied against items). I tend to have a mentality that in a given suggestion, the minimum number of proposed script changes should be the best option (In this case just addressing the activation of said curses), since it tends to result in the highest probability of being comprehensively completed.