I need some suggestions for creative cursed items

Basically any SCP, then.

So... what happens if you re-use the arrow?

>inb4 "I'm a vampire/werewolf/skeleton/human/orc/troll/dragon hybrid"

That's...not a bad idea

How about some kind of ring / glasses / amulet whatever that give boosts to sensory checks or some other good but not overpowered effect, but very slowly over time (think taking several sessions to reach full power) creates an aura that warps the perceptions of the wearer and everyone around them, which lingers for some time once it's removed or you're seperated from the wearer.

The effect is to twist perceptions such that you end up doing the work of the Old Ones, e.g. at low power you might see an absolutely good and fair king as slightly untrustworthy but no more than an average politician, at medium power it might make them seem corrupt in some way, and at high power you will be absolutely sure that they're a high-level agent of the dark powers. Or the opposite, tricking the players into trusting someone they shouldn't.

The trick is to turn up the heat on the perception warping gradually and make it seem like it has no connection to the ring. You can also make it very selective, to further confuse the issue.

Just make sure that you don't be too heavy handed with it and ruin the fun, and that you should have some way for the players to realise what's happening and overcome it. Done right, it can be amazing, done poorly it can kill a game.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrfing

Cursed sword, everytime it's pull out it must kill (see inside for more info)

Game shatteringly good sword (+5 or equivalent) that has a 1d20 chance of turning into a rubber chicken on any given attack.

that sounds dope as hell

An urcyclopedia that will give the real answer to any question asked of it, once.

Pure nightmare fuel

man dr who used to be good

A glass ring, that renders the wearer almost immune to physical damage, expecti if the ring shatter when worn, so does the wearer. It's believed that the ring reconstructs itself from shards after this after some time, but this is unconfirmed.

The Flow Dagger

The more this dagger successfully draws blood, the faster its wielder becomes, gaining up on the initiative and moving faster all together. After a particulary messy bloodbath caused by it, the wielder goes so fast that he effectively seems like two different people are on the battlefield, giving him a second turn inside the initiative.

However, along with the bloodletting comes and a toll on the wielder's mind. The more blood gets spilled, the more unhinged and battle-crazy they become. The wielder needs to concentrate in order to stop and that becomes increasingly more difficult with every new strike against the enemy. If he succeeds, he'll need at least half an hour's rest before doing anything physicaly demanding or fatigue sets in. If they fail, the bloodbath continues.

Once all enemies die, then he goes against any neutral party. Once they are dead too, he goes against his allies. And if there is left nobody else around, they start going at it on their own body.

The most common place for the Dagger to be found at is sticking on top of its previous owner's self-mutilated corpse.

Is the dagger black? Does it make the user recite "pshh, nothin' personnel" at every turn?

OK then, go for the classic. Sword is awesome but over time warps the wielder's psyche so they gradually start to treat whomever they've been killing with it as inherently evil.

Been smiting that evil human cult, paladin? Watch out.

What do you mean your god wouldn't let you fall, it's not like you had the sword glued to your hand, it was your own choice to use that the entire time.

if they do dedicate the cursed weapon to their god in an appropriate ceremony and meditate on the answer they might notice some hints that it's not entirely legit. But hey, who does that, it's the smiting that counts :^)

awesome

This armor has several aquatic-themed embellishments to it, with small anchor designs or maybe a decorative metal starfish, and it is always moist like someone had just splashed water on it no matter what. Middle of the desert in the baking sun? Still dripping wet. The water it drips with is salt water, however.

If the armor is ever immersed in water while being worn, even a little bit, the armor itself will struggle to dive into the water more. If it's just from the knees down only a simple strength check should be needed, from the waist it should be a pretty dicey thing but the biggest danger there is that the gauntlets will also struggle to reach down and immerse themselves, forcing almost impossible strength checks to avoid diving in. Once underwater the suit sinks and resists all attempts to surface again, and will actively try to swim to the deepest darkest most hidden place it can take its wearer, especially if the wearer passes out.

The suit does not provide the ability to breathe underwater.

-No random Critical Hits

A goblet that grants immortality, but removes the feelings of being loved, and sexual gratification.

Strong sword inhabited by a guiding voice belong the party take down the BBEG.

(The voice is the old BBEG, having been betrayed by his apprentice. Taking him back to his keep where the apprentice has installed himself will allow him to reform. Granted, he has little reason to tell the party.)

No, but it makes the user nihilistic with a wicked sense of humor.

>the goblet of wizardry (lvl 30 and up)

>The goblet of permanent friendzone

A battleaxe with two times the chance to dismember target body parts.
When used to slay an opponent, gives the wielder a copy of the happiest memory the target ever knew.
This can go one of two ways:
>1: User knows these are not their own memories and will suddenly empathize with the target as if they always had fond memories together. Like hearing some nice aquantience from high school was murdered
>2: User does not automatically know these memories are their own, and frequent use of the axe will end up causing the user a great deal of mental anguish as they forget what thoughts and experiences really happened to them. Maybe each memory can replace one of the wielder as well for added effect

A mask that lets the user see the reality as it really is. The downside is that you're seeing reality as it really is. And if you can see them, that means they can see you

So, Bloodborne flavor, then?

>Cursed Flask of Mind
A large, elaborate silver flask, filled to the brim with a thick, red liquid that gently swirls inside it. The flask holds 1d10 servings of the liquid.

The liquid is distilled from the mind of a sentient creature (usually human), and contains their memories, experience, and personality. Each drink from the flask fortifies the drinker's own self with these, giving +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha, and +2 to all Int, Wis, and Cha based skill checks, duration 1 hour.

When brewed properly, the sentient creature's consciousness is removed during the process and it acts as free intelligence (barring the gruesome process of creating it). However, this cursed version still has the original creature's will, and each drink from the flask will force a will saving throw as the creature's personality tries to usurp the drinkers. If the save is failed, the victim is compelled to guzzle whatever remains of the flask, then seek out anyone else who drank from it and distill their brains into brew in an attempt to recover the rest of their lost memories. The player is treated as possessed during this state, and allowed 1 saving throw per day to take back control of their body, however the possessor will continue to fight and attempts another takeover each day. Protection from evil blocks possession attempts, but to fully remove the curse requires targeted memory removal spells, inflicting Int, Wis, and Cha damage equal to the amount gained from the drink while the possessor is active, or other such things. Remove curse will not work.

(Second one is kind of long, new post coming up)

Don't forget the other angle of turning the user into a monster
>Kill evil people
>Happiest memories are them being rapey/torturing people/molesting children
>User starts becomimg fond of such things

>The foci of Deviants
>Gives at-will castings of things like enlarge/reduce, hold person, and sleep
>Each time casted the character must pass a hard Wis save or else gain a horrible fetish related to such things
>Fetish makes the user weaker against such spells
>Overtime it corrupts them to make them look more poorly drawn/fetishised

Have it add a bonus to int/wis/Cha saves too, because right now it's not really good enough for a player to indulge himself in such a risky item

This already exists.

t. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

>phantasm infestation
Tiny, parasitic, pearly slug creatures that live inside people and whisper eldritch secrets. An infestation is contracted through contact or close encounters with the eldritch (or Arcane, if using Bloodborne terminology), acting similar to a contagious disease. The phantasms will slowly reproduce on their own, adding 1 more each day, affecting any bonuses, penalties, and abilities gained through them, though the fastest way to gain more is through further contact with eldritch beings.

The phantasms whisper Arcane secrets to the player, leading them to new discoveries, which, incidentally, often results in the player making further eldritch contact and harboring ever more phantasms (increase bonus for related knowledge checks by 1 for each phantasm the player harbors). The phantasms will assist the player in understanding anything at all related to the Arcane/eldritch, up to and including mind-shattering revelations (increase save DC vs sanity damage or wisdom damage from eldritch sources by 1 for each phantasm).

As the phantasms age and grow, they begin to impart their own abilities to their host. The player gains the abberant subtype, and is counted as having 1 evolution point per phantasm, which can be used to purchase evolutions from the attached list. Once purchased, the evolutions cannot be removed.

A phantasm infestation is contagious, and players or characters who are near the infected character must pass a fortitude save each week or risk contracting 1 phantasm. Infected players or characters with visible mutations will, of course, be treated as hostile aberrations unless they can disguise or otherwise conceal it.

>Have it add a bonus to int/wis/Cha saves too, because right now it's not really good enough for a player to indulge himself in such a risky item
Good idea, thanks.

Boy, it's a bummer how edgy and murderkill these all are.

>>Master's Brush
>>A paintbrush that confers great skill to the user. Pieces that have been painted with it are universally regarded as masterpieces.
>>[The more you use it, the more your skills atrophy and the more dependent on it you become as it damages your fine motor skills. And your eyesight. It starts with slowly developing cataracts and stiff fingers and ends in full blown paralysis, but usually stop at being blind and completely unable to use their hands]

When a party member takes the item he always slays every other party member and fulfills the role of a future end game big bad. BE SURE TO let party know that the item is super awful in a sense that it'll FUCK everyone over and characters obviously will end there save for the one who grabs the item and becomes an NPC next game

>I don't like all the murder items
It's for adventurers though, so if it can't kill thing or help kill thing ain't gonna be used

>Paintbrush that makes beauty but makes the user into paralyzed carrot
Yeah buddy I can see the dumb meathead party fighter using that a lot, real fucken useful buddy

Further thoughts:

In more severe campaigns, the player may not even know they're infected, and may not have reason to guess until they start manifesting evolutions. In such a case, the player may not be the one choosing evolutions, and they may just manifest randomly. If using random evolutions, roll 1d10 when the player gains 4 phantasms, and again for every 4 after that. 1 gives Basic Psychic Magic, 2 is Tentacle Mass, and so on. On a 10, the player gains no new evolutions. If the player already has that evolution and it cannot be gained more than once/cannot give anything new, the player gains no new evolutions. If the player does not have enough unused evolution points to afford the evolution, they don't get it. If the player ever becomes aware of their infestation, they can consciously choose to spend any spare points on evolutions, but they may still randomly gain new ones after every 4 new phantasms.

If the player's sanity or Wisdom ever drop to zero, their mind is thoroughly shattered and the phantasms assume control. At this point, their creature type is only abberation and they are an NPC under the GM's control. The new creature seeks to further its own Arcane/eldritch advancement. It does not consciously try to spread the infection, though collateral is all but inevitable as they obsessively trawl through libraries, wander through towns, or tangle with people trying to hunt them down. If left to its own devices for long enough, it will begin summoning alien creatures into the world.

Curing an infestation requires the equivalent of a full bloodstream purge.

>Cursed Flask of Mind
Add a +2 circumstance bonus to saving throws, owing to the source creature's memories and experience.

While under the effects of a Flask of Mind (whether cursed or not), the player can choose to remove one negative mind effect. Doing so suppresses the bonuses from the Flask of Mind for the duration of that effect.

That's all from me.

>Boy, it's a bummer how edgy and murderkill these all are

Well, yes. That's pretty much what the OP was asking for.

>These items grant immense power, but they also need a dark drawback

>Bowl of Cassandric Visions

This small, shiny silver bowl is designed for use in casting divination spells. When filled with water and used as a focus, all spells cast with the divination subtype are treated as two spell levels higher for the purposes of determining effects. However, the knowledge and visions gained by these spells are themselves cursed and all friendly targets must make a DC 20 will save to believe the caster or act on the knowledge provided by these visions.

>adding 1 more each day
This was actually supposed to be 1 more each week. Progression is slow, encouraging the player to seek out powerful aberrations to speed up the process. Of course, a hostile aberration could take advantage of the sanity save penalties pretty easily, and reduce the player's Wisdom score to a wibbly pile of jelly, and bring them closer to the whole "you are the slugs now" part.

my favorite kinds of cursed items are the ones that have a power that is also a drawback at the same time:
>the Fractal Knife
a knife that is impossibly sharp seemingly thanks to a fractal edge. while normal blades can be monomolecular at most, this one has an edge so fine that no modern microscopes can see it's end, if it even has one
it cuts through anything with almost no force required. this is useful when you want to make a hole in a wall, but if you ever happen to drop the knife or touch anything by accident...
it also has no scabbard, so good luck with that

>Nephrite Bracelet of the Mind

Ostensibly created as a defense against abberant creatures, this jade rosary bolsters the wills of those who fought against the unknowable beyond at the cost of one's health.

The wearer of this bracelet receives a +15 bonus to all Will saves against mind- or sanity-altering affects. However, each time that the wearer uses this bonus, they must succeed on a DC15 Fortitude save or suffer CON damage equal to the DC of the above-mentioned Will save divided by 5. With each use of the bracelet, the DC of the Fortitude save increases by 5.

>Flute of the Outer Gods
A large but otherwise unassuming clay flute. It is said that by playing one can alter the very laws of nature. While theoretically this would give the player nearly limitless ability to alter reality to their liking, in practice eveyr person who has tried it so far (as well as anything unlucky to exist in their immediate vicinity) has met a very quick end after accidentally altering the value of some fundemental force or another, causing every atom in their body to rapidly fly off into random direction or collapse into themselves. Still, if you could play it just right...

Crown of Torment
Once per round when the wearer is struck in melee, the crown does an equal amount of damage to the attacker.

The wearer may take 1d6 subdual damage per level to inflict the same amount of lethal damage to a visible target.

Both uses cause 1d3 constitution damage unless the creature is killed, in which case it's soul is trapped in the crown to suffer from all eternity. Likewise, if the wearer dies while wearing the crown their soul is trapped in the crown.

Keep the constitution damage secret until the player figures it out.

Sword of the Blind God
- Sword of extraordinary quality
- will never degrade
- gives user the ability to sense enemies around him
- prolonged use worsens eye sight while the sensing ability becomes more powerful
- eventually user will turn blind but sense anything and anyone around him
- Using it even further will make eyes grow on and inside the user
- Discarding the weapon will make the eyes disappear...
- ...leaving ghastly holes in the user

>Hurt guy for as much as he hurt me
>Con damage is inflicted
I don't think that's really a fantastic power and the con damage is too harsh for that
I mean it's fucking avoided if you just shoot the crownboi with a gun/bow

I'd play a campaign with that as the main plot MacGuffin.

>Medallion of the Shifter

When used, this amulet allows one to change form as per Alter Self. However, each time that the amulet is used in this way, one small aspect of the transformation is "locked", and will not change with future transformations. It is up to the GM's discretion what this aspect is - whether a single fang from a bugbear, a patch of skin from a drow, or the goatlike eye of a satyr. These changes are considered part of the user's "true form," and will not revert when the amulet is taken off.

Repeat users of the Amulet often end up as horrible, patch-work abominations dotted with tumors as their DNA fuses with other species' in awkward, clumsy ways.

>Spectacles of True Seeing
>Can see people for what they really are
What's your problem?

>A two headed coin.

This coin seems like a perfectly normal coin, except it has two heads.

Used by being flipped this coin switches the user with another creature of the same size as said character and the creature has to be in directly in line of sight, if the user doesn't directly target a creature it will instead switch him with a random target, this is counted as a half-action-

There are two drawbacks, first the user can't switch with the targeted creature again.

And the second is that buried bodies are the same size as humans.

You know those parasites that replace the tongues of fish? That's now your cursed item that lets the user speak all languages.

Can't have a eldritch setting without some good old fashion body horror.

Like a reverse babelfish, but terrifying!

How can you say no to those eyes?

>Eclipse Marble
This orb allows you to teleport to any location of your choosing, but each time, the bearer leaves behind a twisted visage, intent on hunting down the relic and its wielder.
Plot Twist: You're the one left behind, not the one who teleported.

>Ring of Notoriety
On its own, anyone who meets the bearer of this ring will know its wielder and his deeds (or misdeeds), at least until they part ways again. However, soak it in the fresh blood of a person, and the ring will instead project the identity of the victim, no matter how implausible. A young girl may bathe in the blood of the king, and immediately be recognized for her numerous years of rule. However, be careful not to lose the ring, or the only person to be deluded will be it's no-longer owner, convinced to be someone they are not.

>Garment of False Life
This immaculate embroidery bestows the wearer with the ability to resist the pull of the grave far beyond normal capabilities. However, each time the hero bridges the gap back to life, it takes a small price in blood, another detail in the threads of silk. (Makes you able to act and survive at negative HP. Whenever your hp dips back into the positive, your max hp is permanently decreased, but the negative health threshold it grants also increases.)

Stealing this

You could make a scabbard that clamps the flat of the blade

And how would you draw it then?

Grab the handle, release the clamps.

What if the knife has an omnidirectional cutting edge?

>Ghost's Map
>Always gives you the shortest, simplest path for the creature holding the map
>Completely ignores non-solid obstructions, i.e. fire or cliffs, and living creatures
>Doesn't project any other paths than that

Rigid scabbard with a protruding bar and straps that fix the hilt in place. If the hilt doesn't move, the blade doesn't move. Drawing would be difficult but let's be honest here, you wouldn't want to pull this thing out in a hurry under the best of circumstances.

Eh, if Jedi can make it work...

Jedi can see the future.

Also lightsabers have a safety feature that shuts them off if they're dropped.

>Tome of Expanded Self
Based on memetic tomes that allowed mortal men to ape the powers and wills of great heroes. This version was created by an order of paladins working with several masters of mind magic. The result was this horrific tome that when read curses the wearer, whenever the character scores a critical (either failure or success) the result of this is magnified tenfold.

>Tome of Infernal Memetic Magic
Such a tome is transcribed spells directly from the dreams of ancient evils and their slumber. Grants one spell instantly "infesting" the mind that reads its dark pages.

such spells are varied however the most common involves speech that grinds the world around them into a vaguely suiting mockery of what one wants, that is of itself quite powerful.

such spells however "breed" while within the mind of the character gradually mutating and changing over the generations, one spell of fireball if not cast (or if it infects other fireball spell slots) will quickly become a fireball, iceball and maximized thunderball.

if such spells replicate too quickly such creatures will "force" themselves to be cast to roughly 9 individual spells giving the new mage roughly one week before having to "empty" themselves without hazard.

if such spells grow in population that are equal to or greater than their main casting stat, such spells will start to quickly and maliciously be cast to force their host to start casting them more and more often for more and more trivial use.

at the final critical point where the spells outnumber the mind entirely, the poor and twisted creature will find the older (and more powerful spells) start to warp reality in ways to protect themselves and harm the indecent host.

scrolls will start to burst out of the creatures skin made of their nerves, bones will start to shape into ancient wands and scepters of power, while large wreaths of flesh and skin bound themselves into tomes of power written in ichor, with more specific organs and parts of the creatures physiology turning into grander items, blood turns into unseen potions, bile and acid into mystic alchemical reagents and items, eyes into gems!

and the soul! the soul is turned into something truly mystic and powerful for those foolish enough to let it grow that far.

eventually all that will be left is just a shade being spun into something dark...

Anything powerful enough to give the player all they've ever dreamed for.

However, upon obtaining the item, give the player who has it a scary-looking, preferably heavy black die, and tell them they're only allowed to use that for their rolls.

Nothing wrong with the die, but watch as the player's paranoia devours them from within.

Also, giving someone near-absolute power and throwing any kind of obstacles in their way will result in the player becoming evil, especially if the consequences for said actions don't include immediate retribution by celestial powers.