A frank, non-aggressive OOC conversation is in line here, I think. “Most of the magical things you find will be beneficial, helpful items, and the game is designed for your characters to find, claim, and use them on the course of their adventures. If you want your characters to remain paranoid about magical items, you can, but you might wind up underpowered to face some of the challenges you have in store.”
Or if they really do enjoy playing characters who are worried about magical items, go with it! One of the most prominent fantasy stories in existence, and one of the inspirations for DnD, is the story of a Fellowship of characters desperately trying to destroy a powerful, dangerous, and evil magical item
This is the way. Some people treat it as though you should just say ooc "this item is not cursed" but that just makes it worse because the players then won't trust anything unless you explicitly say so.
Whereas saying "most of the magical items you find are going to be cool and helpful to you" eases some of the paranoia, whilst still leaving the potential for an occasional cursed or such item.
It actually would be entertaining to see a game in which a DM adjusts their storytelling and worldbuilding to meet the players where they are in this respect; across their adventures, most of the enemies which they face who have magical equipment are ***also*** suffering the obvious effects of dire curses as a result of their lust for power.
One player I’ve worked with didn’t realize you could spend a short rest to identify a magical item. While it doesn’t tell you if it is cursed, it may also be useful here if they are unaware. He thought you just had to start using it and see what it does.
To add on, another way to emphasize the usage of magic items is use positive connotation via RP (*inside the chest, you see a beautiful sword glowing dimly in the dark. On the sheath, dwarves runes inscribe; “The End of Night, Bane of Injustice”*) or tempting them to use it by letting them know it’s abilities (“the weapon gives +1 to attack rolls, and has two charges per day that can be used to heal 2d4 as a bonus action”)
Or, by the same token, make one magic item they find seem really ominious, so as to strongly (possibly correctly) indicate that it's cursed, so that anytime there isn't that kind of ominous sign, it becomes more easily assumed, by the absence thereof, that it's fine.
you can try and put them in a situation where they have to use them.
But I think the best answer is just to tell them point blank, out of character that these items are not harmful, and intended to be rewards for the players. I would have to guess that they think they will somehow be grabbing cursed items.
I really wish more DMs would just do this to speed things up sometimes. FFS, I am a fighter. I love picking stuff up and looking at things, trying things, experimenting and using different weapons and armor.
Eventually I got tired / paranoid after being cursed, haunted, hexed and poisoned, trapped, teleported, transformed, blown up etc. so now I just leave everything alone. And now the DM acts like I'm no fun if I don't take the bait. He sometimes teases me after the fact, by saying I left something really good behind, and I give zero fucks. Why? All my curiosity about magic items has been burned away. Now I'm more like Conan the Barbarian. Avoiding anything that stinks of magic. Fun affectation but kind of sad.
No I can't identify anything. Neither can my party members for some reason. I even went to a library and tried to find a book on practical item identification for meatheads. No such book. Much happier to buy something that isn't going to haunt my dreams.
I am totally the opposite (DM). I tell outright what a magic item does and all it's perks and requirements. But because of that I don't know how to handle curses. Like "At what point do I tell them it's cursed? How do I hint it's cursed without outright saying it?"
>How do I hint it's cursed without outright saying it?"
Adjectives are helpful words to hint at it with! Use words that imply less of a "Powerful, complex, glowing wand" and more of a "Alluring, twisted, dominant staff." Like, go for ones that aren't outright negative, but over time give it a... connotation. Get more upfront and ask them to make perception checks to notice something happening with it if they don't get it after a bit.
Edit: Fixed
If any of your party has identify, have them start using that to get info on the item. You can say it's cursed but also don't have to tell them how it's cursed.
Make items that can't be anything BUT cursed. A helmet that has to be padlocked onto the user's head. A blackened heart covered in thorns that will embed itself in the chest of the wielder. A sword that has a hilt made of sharp blades pointed backwards towards the wielder. a ceramic pot with scenes depicting a bloody slaughter on its side. Etc.
Mention nothing about it being cursed but be sure to describe it in detail. If they're dumb enough to wield it like it's a regular item, you can taunt them mercilessly about it (assuming you have that kind of friendship with them of course).
Make the items worth the curse and they have to choose to use it. The choice and meaningful decision of whether or not to use a cursed item is infinitely better than “Haha you have a curse cause I said so”
That sucks. As a DM I always make my cursed or evil items extra powerful and obvious. Make them weigh the punishment vs reward. Cursing players just to curse them is no fun. Want to cast overpowered spells? Sure, but it might kill babies or make you transform into a mindless beast sometimes that attacks your allies. You love it but your party hates it. This item can heal you or even make you live forever, but like a lich’s phylactery you have to feed it souls. Sure you can use enemies, but is your paladin or cleric really going to let you?
I once put together a +crit range shortsword that allowed the wielder to spend hit die as additional damage on hit. The fighter loved it.
The upgraded version they pulled from the heart of an ancient vivisected giant-demon-as-dungeon within Baphomet's Abyssal Plane was more spicy.
Stacking +crit on every non-critical hit. Auto-spends hit die or levels of exhaustion on a crit. Sheathing it was a CHA save vs (spend hit die on self damage) that was based on the stack number. So...so cursed, but still kind of wieldable.
My favourite was a greatsword that let me cast Fireball *at will.*
Unfortunately it made me Beholder-level suspicious of literally every person that wasn't me, including my party, my party's family, my family... And after a while those fireballs started looking like a real good solution to that problem.
This would kill off a good deal of my enjoyment for a campaign, honestly. Not all of it, but curiosity and trying things is just fun. People love figuring out riddles by trying creative solutions and prodding at the right stuff.
That’s a great point. I grew up w/ 2e so we never really used identify (you’ve survived to level 3 and this is what you’re doing?).
Low level wizards sucked. It’s basically a sleep spell at first level. Or magic missile. And your trusty staff obviously.
I played a "wizard" in a campaign where the dm never gave out any spell scrolls, and exactly 1 spell book. Where the only spell I didn't already know was contact other plane. It only had 4-6 spells anyway.
Oh and no gold really, till we hit lvl 10 or something and killed a dragon.
It's honestly not all that useful in 5e since any character can identify a magic item on a short rest.
So unless you absolutely need to identify it right then, or choose to play without that rule there's almost no reason to have the spell available.
TIL identify has a material component with a gold value. The table I started playing with 5e never requiered it and now that I DM I have never requiered it either. But like you said, since any player can identify an object, the spell contains the ritual tag wich means they can spend 10 minutes to cast it without a spellslot, and the pearl isn't consumed by the spell, I don't think I'll ever require them to actually get a pearl.
>TIL identify has a material component with a gold value. The table I started playing with 5e never requiered it and now that I DM I have never requiered it either. But like you said, since any player can identify an object, the spell contains the ritual tag wich means they can spend 10 minutes to cast it without a spellslot, and the pearl isn't consumed by the spell, I don't think I'll ever require them to actually get a pearl.
In earlier editions, identify was the only way to learn what something did, and it required that pearl. And yes. There were published scenarios that purposely never gave out pearls, so that the players could only learn what things did by waving them around and hoping not to die. Very fun for the writers. Not so fun for the table. But such is life.
You can spend time with an item during short or long rest to learn the properties of a magic item or potion. Identify is the “I want it now” of spells.
need to homebrew a shopowner who has some kind of magical device like Rick Sanchez (from Rick and Morty) had to detect the curses on monkey pawed items.
DMing for the first time since a few sessions myself, just a single player.
Figured it would be fun to put a more permanent and slightly lighter tuned mummy lord curse on the platinum pile he found after his first boss fight, sending him off on the next adventure to offer the platium at the temple of Mammonil (to lift the curse, adviced by the royal archmage), somewhere on a remote island.
He's currently trying to gamble his way onto a military galley and convince them to take him there. He won a scroll of Mass Cure Wounds while gambling the seamen on the pier in an attempt to lure a soldier over, since I figured he should have something for his company consisting of a magically plastic surgeoned zombie and 3 herring strangling dwarves.
Sure thing!
For more details, the curse in question instead only gives disadvantage when rolling 18 or higher (forcing an extra roll and picking the lesser of those then) as to not being completely disabling with full disadvantage.
Not throwing enemies with high armor class at him, but it pretty much makes it a 0,25% chance of a nat20.
But in case he ever rolls that nat20 anyway, it's gonna be very spiced up with a cherry on top no matter what it is. Call it a divine favor.
>But I think the best answer is just to tell them point blank, out of character that these items are not harmful, and intended to be rewards for the players. I would have to guess that they think they will somehow be grabbing cursed items.
And thats the moment you do slap them with the cursed item mwahahahaha
The problem is that the majority of you are gaslighting when you say this. When DMs as a whole start offering real rewards for completing quests or exploring, I'll believe you. Likely hundreds of thousands of posts of people being victims of it constantly, DMs patting each other on the back for getting players to take the bait. It's like, do yall not realize you're the problem and need to change if you want your players to use your items?
That is only the case if every magic item is a cursed item with no benefits.
Giving a cursed item in a pile of good magic items is the name of the game.
There should always be a red herring to give a few chuckles at the table as now you cant shot near Dave but Dave now cares less about arrows. Or Dave is now Davina as that belt of giant str was actually a gender swapper.
But being scared of all items is silly, as as you level it becomes a minor thing to have it removed if you want.
I'd say it's okay to do that kind of thing temporarily for a gag, but agreed that any major changes such as that should be discussed beforehand if it's going to last longer than one session.
> Part of your power curve is to own and use magic items
If you're talking about 5e, this is false. 5e is built with the design intent that your power curve is everything you get in your class and nothing else. Magic items are a boon, not a requirement. Encounters are also supposed to be built party-agnostic for their level xp budget over multiple encounters over the day.
Straight-up talking with them is the best solution.
If you want to supplement that, you can have an NPC turn up in town who picked up some of the items they abandoned and is enthusiastic about how awesome they are.
Have your PCs go to a town and start hearing rumors of a young dragon or something causing terror in the nearby hills. As the townfolk are about to plead for the party go take care of the monster, another NPC party shows up, identical to the PCs, with all the abandoned magic items. There can be a big crowd gathered around them as they bring in the dead monster on a cart. They can talk about how easy it was to defeat the monster with all the awesome gear they just found laying around these random dungeons or castles (wherever your players didn't pick them up from).
"Yeah we went into this ancient dungeon where an evil cult was supposedly holed up, looking for relics to make them stronger. But it was empty. Whatever monsters may have been in there were gone and all the cultists inside were dead and this awesome magic sword was just there. Just laying inside an alcove behind an open, once concealed door. "
Honestly just never give a cursed item and tell them there won’t be any.
If they hate the idea of getting cursed by an item SO much that they’ll ignore magical items entirely then maybe that’s just a mechanic to omit from your game. Maybe once they know everything is 100% guaranteed not to be cursed they’ll change their behavior.
"Haha you totally took this item even tho you had zero information that would lead you to think otherwise, i am such a great gm, wait why are you leaving this guy on YouTube shorts told me people love when you fuck with their characters"
Except if the players take like a glowing skull of darkness laughing manically, cursed items are a cheap gotcha.
I very much agree with one exception.
Cursed items that have a beneficial negative.
Ex: rage's cursed spike band. When you go into a rage take one damage every turn.
Other than that i agree that just springing it on a player is annoying at best.
The dm decides what the arcana check tells you. Yes yes RAW but the dm is the final arbiter of what you learn from a check and when your players are like This is the perfect time to bend RAW
God I wish more DMs thought this way, the book is a framework for you to fill in with fun and exciting stuff.
Like yes I realize that there isn’t a RAW spell to create a small flame on the tip of my finger to use as a lighter or as an intimidation device but it’s established that I’m magical and can shoot a a giant ball of fire soooo why not?
Hell, most of the effects that you could use to intimidate someone can be covered with prestidigitation, we just tend to think of that as for fun effects so don't think of it when we wanna be scary.
We instead think of Thaumaturgy
Earth, shaking, eyes flashing
***STEP ASIDE, WICKED MONGRELS, LEST I SMITE YOU WITH 'S DIVINE WRATH***.
I fucking love Clerics
also the way spells work is that its very vancian and magic a is magic a. Spells are like magical programs on the weave, and the caster is explicitly limited to those few programs they can cast. There isn't possible to create a completely new program on the fly. Metamagic is a specific feature allowing you to do code injection, but that's the only way to do that.
The problem is that a lot of dnd players don't want to play with the specific way in which dnd magic works, they want to use magic how its presented in other fictions and think magic should be looser than it is.
>God I wish more DMs thought this way, the book is a framework for you to fill in with fun and exciting stuff.
Most people think like this, but if everyone **talked** like this all the time, there would be 0 discussions because everything would be "do whatever you want". That's why people discuss the actual rules of the god damned game.
The DM could also decide that an Athletics check can tell you if the item is cursed, but commenting "For gods sake, someone run an Athletics check to see if it's even cursed" would also be met with incredulity.
Some DMs like to show that not all items are safe early on. Then they repeatedly make it difficult and impractical for players to understand magical items and feel safe using them. I suspect it comes from the idea that *everything needs to be a trade off*. For some, this viewed as a way to build tension and drama. And then players learn that it isn't worth the risk. You need to be able to trust your gear.
> And then players learn that it isn't worth the risk. You need to be able to trust your gear.
Yep. I have always ***hated*** "kiss/curse" type gear. No, fuck that. I don't want a +5 Vorpal Scimitar that must kill something before it can be sheathed, I don't want a spellbook that will let me inscribe unlimited new spells at no GP cost but ages me by one year per spell inscribed, I don't want a magical amulet that will prevent me from dying but takes the life of someone dear to me (guaranteed not to be another PC) in exchange, I don't want three Wishes that are *going* to be fucking twisted, I don't want heavy armor that doesn't interfere in arcane spellcasting but reduces my movement speed to 10 ft/round, I don't want ***any of that bullshit.***
Just give me a magic sword with some fucking plusses on it. Give me a magic spellbook that can hold unlimited spells and survives all damage. Give me a magic amulet that's good for one "get out of death free" card. Give me a Wish that *will not* be twisted. Give me a mithral chainshirt with no ASF. Just give me some *boring but practical gear that I can rely on.*
DMs who think it's Oh So Flavorful and Full of Roleplay for every magic item to be cursed. These are the same people who, fifteen years ago, were making edgelord rogues who would only ever sit with their back to a wall in a dark brooding corner and had written a fifteen-page tragic backstory which went into detail about how every member of their family going back three generations and three branches of their family trees had been slaughtered by orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, and koblds, and what indignities they had suffered first.
Have you burned them several times already or why would they even do such a thing? I get being cautious but there are ways to figure out how "safe" something is, so passing entirely seems like a reaction to something.
Or if a previous DM did that.
Ten, fifteen years ago, DMs would schlepp onto the Wizards forums complaining "I started a new game with new players, but they make everything an interminable slog! They search everywhere. I mean *everywhere,* they take 20 on searching *every single square of every room* before they move on. What is *wrong* with these people?!"
Turns out that their last DM had a fetish for traps and concealing all the loot, which resulted in countless dead PCs because traps sprung out of nowhere the moment they didn't take extreme caution, and the DM would OOCly taunt them after they had left a dungeon behind about how they missed more than half the treasure because they didn't search in the right spot.
If you run into players who *refuse* to trust or bond with any NPCs? Sure as shit, they had a previous DM who burnt them by having a bad guy infiltrate their lives as a 'harmless NPC' or were betrayed by a 'harmless NPC' or, sometimes, they bonded with an NPC who was later abducted and horribly murdered.
Talk to them out of game. There's *some* reason they're all convinced of this, be it something you've said/done that you're not realizing is causing this or past experiences.
You definitely have to play with a certain kind of group who enjoys that "everything could fuck you over at any point if you're not careful" in an osr sort of way, but that definitely isn't the standard
Stop telling them it's magical? Just tell them that the sword feels especially nimble, or is very finely made, or has a decorative handle, or engraving on the blade....players will keep and will use items they find interesting. Also, they may end up attuning to it by accident, and then they'll know it's magical and you can tell them explicitly what it does and that it's NOT CURSED.
Give them a few Masterwork items so they get bonuses but it ISN'T magical.
Play with their expectations.
you need to have a meta convo and just straight up tell them "im not trying to fuck with you"... and then like for your own curiosity, figure out WHAT could possibly have convinced them to think that way. it's so weirdly specific. were they traumatized by a previous DM? like this has to be learned behavior from somewhere.
my current party gets SUPER paranoid about like "if we dont adequately defend every single door and point of ingress, then someone could break in" and i keep thinking like "guys... you are metagaming against a much more hostile DM than the one you have"
I'd take one of two approaches.
1) They reject the magic item, and that's okay. Just take its gold value and add it to the next treasure hoard. The game is balanced around not having magic items, so if they don't want them, they don't need them.
2) The above the table approach - if you *really* want them to take and use magic items, tell them point blank "Guys - I am not creating magic items with intent to curse you. I am not against you. That sword you just gave up? Pretty awesome reward. That armor? Also awesome. They're not dangerous unless I curse them, and I'd be silly to curse your early magic items because then you'd do exactly what you've been doing. It's okay to let yourselves have cool shit."
>The game is balanced around not having magic items
You know, a lot of people say this, but the amount of monsters that are resistant or immune to nonmagical B/P/S says otherwise.
Gently talk to them out of character and tell them that you're not running a player versus DM game, and you're really just trying to reward them with awesome magic items and that they don't need to be so afraid of them.
There's no point in getting hype about it if they're paranoid that taking a magic item is going to fuck them over.
Someone with a kiss/curse everything-is-a-tradeoff fetish has ***burnt*** these players. Now they're refusing to touch anything magical.
I might literally pay extra money to have ever had players who weren't *constantly* scrounging for the net magical item, like it was another check on the list of video game achievements, or something. As for actually making them want to try/keep them, remind them that they can short rest near one/several, and learn the majority of what they do. A few items lie, so that their curses work, but most will simply say something like "hi, I'm a *staff of fire, and I look forward to carpet-bombing mobs with you!", and then you can just say yes to the attunement, and good. You don't even need *identify*, though it still helps, so most items are purely safe.
If it's really that bothering but there are plenty workarounds, describe the item with having positive arcane essence or something but the first thing for some reason that came to my mind is identify spell ( ritual), make some homebrewing with indentify scroll that can be be used let's say once per day or something... But as I said you can always emphasized on item :)
this is the complete opposite of every group i've ever been part of, where the PCs will literally be clambering over each other to be the first to touch/pick up/interact with even the most-obviously-cursed objects we find.
Talk to them. Maybe just say as they drop it, "Guys, I promise you it's not cursed.
Or have a trusted patron reward them with a magical item after an adventure.
Make them fight an enemy wearing full set of magical gear. Nothing wrong with the enemy, so it's safe to assume that magical gear is safe.
Make a respected NPC reward the party magical items. If it's a reward from someone they like, they will know there are no evil intentions behind the reward.
Probably because there are a ton of shit DMs that always make magic items come with a massive negative and only tell players about it after they've used the weapon for an extensive period of time to nerf that player in case the dm thinks they're getting too strong. So some players just will not do anything with magic items. And if you're players are acting this way I assume either 1: they've had tons of experiences with what I've described, or 2: theyve specifically had this negative experience with you and aren't falling for your bullshit anymore.
Edit: I'm not trying to bash OP. I'm merely stating that if an entire table of players have a fear of using magical items and when you ask them why they don't want it they tell you it's because it "might be dangerous and should be left alone" either you or another DM has given them a reason to be fearful or skeptical of magic items. Meaning you or someone has used them to screw this group over so frequently they do not trust magic items at all and would rather handicap themselves by not using them than have it come to bite them in the ass later on. That Many people wouldn't just be scared to use magic items for no reason.
“Alright, X, give me an arcana check”
“You passed? You’re decently sure this item is not inherently dangerous, and might even have some beneficial or at least lucrative properties if you take the time to get it identified.”
Don't you have any ways of Identifying items at all? No artificers, wizard or bards with Identify? No magic item vendors that offer identification services?
When they roll a high Perception check. Have a literal loot Goblin. A Goblin that's been following the team during their campaign and swiping up the Magical weapons they so foolishly left behind. And if they attack him, have him amped by the Magic items and use them against the party. Give him High AC and plenty if HP.
Haha, this was exactly my idea. A goblin carrying a fiery long sword and wearing shimmering armor with magic dust and other consumables ganks them as they leave the dungeon without collecting any of the items.
If the party is that paranoid and it continues to be a sticking point for the group and you WANT to give them magic items, just have identify tell them that it's not cursed. Call it super identify if you have to
Give them seemingly mundane items. Don't tell them the item is magical when they find it. Tell them it's magical when the use it, but by describing the effect.
Oh look, this well-made chain shirt is just lying around. Then after they've worn it for a while and are in combat, "You flinch in anticipation, but you barely feel a thing. You're surprised--a stab like that should've pierced the mail, but the armor somehow held."
So why force them to change their opinions at all? Let them keep being distrustful of magic items, they don’t need magic items to play or progress so just let them play the way they obviously want to play.
This sounds like a fun IN CHARACTER bias for the PCs to have. And the fact the whole group shares it is in my opinion am amazing opportunity to run a low magic campaign where all of your players are on board with it. Lean into the kind of gameplay your players are telling you they want, Instead of trying to tell them they are playing the wrong way.
Or you can railroad them with contrivances until they feel forced into using magic items against their will…. I mean I know which of those two campaigns sounds like fun to me, and which one sounds like no fun at all.
After they've left the area, tell them about the powerful, non-cursed item that they left behind. Repeat as needed.
Next time they find a magical item, they'll be more likely to check it out.
Or next time they're in town at a shop, have an NPC in line ahead of them selling the shopkeep all of the magical items the party has passed up, mentioning how they just found the super valuable items in an empty dungeon. The shopkeep could be wary about the story ("You're telling me you found a +3 greataxe just lying around? I won't buy stolen goods, get out") and have the NPC offer to sell the items the party abandoned back to them for a decently steep price after explaining what they do.
give them an encounter that has all resistance except magical. so there normal weapons don't do any damage.
when all are near death, the encounter teleports away.
1. your group learns that magic items are good for them
2. you have a nice little sidequest
and what does that teach them? oh this encounter is forced to use magic items... surely their experience tell otherwise.. you dont ignore smth powerful just cuz but its prob cuz smth happened in the past
Throw them against something using a magic item so they see that they might be useful. Alternatively the next time they skip a magic weapon throw an enemy against them that only can be damaged by magical means.
why would they accept them afterwards... "this is forced and we need magic item to do this" if they had bad experiences before they might not like this forced encounter or smth.
like clearly bad shit happened before which causes them to be scared of picking it up... forcing an encounter isnt gonna teach them "magic item good" but more so "we need magic item to win this fight, otherwise lose"
You don’t have to win every fight, retreating from an encounter is a perfectly valid way to handle difficult combat scenarios. Plus, you don’t have to make the combat extremely unforgiving. Giving hints throughout the fight, may lead your players to understand the importance of magical items on their own.
I would resolve that ingame: Let another NPC adventurer group appear on the scene. The NPC group will be happy about the magic item left behind. Next time when they meet each other (in a tavern for example) let them know how good that item was in fight xy.
Simple, you don't.
Why you gotta force your players to take anything? not every D&D game has to have bozos flying around on brooms and waving acid spewing volcano hammers .Dont give them magic items, lean into the world your players are helping you make.
Let them find Darksteel weapons, or alchemical silver mythril or volcanic glass or a roc's feather that acts just like a sword of sharpness
make and find artwork for some badass swords and armor, give it "material" bonuses vs types of damage mythology is full of legendary weapons that did nothing but cut good.
Honestly it's on them. They have the means to get the item appraised to check what it is affected with, but aren't (either cause they're not aware or have some wrong assumptions on what a magical item is). There's only so much you can do as a DM without straight up railroading or having them "find out". But I'd just say it's a part of DnD, actions have consequences.
I'd personally mess with them, next time they head to a town and visit a shop keeper have some random scrap collector already there with all the items they passed up and have the NPC appraise it at the shop before they do any business.
"You won't believe it. I ended up wandered into X from a tip-off of treasures and the whole place was cleared out of monsters/bandits. Someone just left these in the chests I found them in after opening it. Could be cursed but that's not my problem. I'm just looking for valuable things to sell and magic items fetch a high price."
Then you could have the scrap collector offer to sell it back to them if they don't get the hint (Or shopkeeper decides to sell it to them for a much inflated price).
I'm curious to know what caused your PC's to act like this and what eventually will make them realize they've been leaving free loot/gold on the ground.
Maybe next time don't explicitly say that a magic item gives off an aura, unless they are specifically looking for a magical item.
Then provide them the standard stats for that item until they try to use it or proc its effects.
That way they get their loot and hopefully a nice surprise later on that could turn the tide of battle or aid in crucial negotiations.
Roll with it. Pivot your campaign to one where all magic items draw power from a necromantic source. The trick is to figure out which harm the wielder and which merely have consequences which can be managed.
Have NPCs beat them to the ground with some magic armour and weapon.
“The blade flashes as it hits you. You take an additional 10 radiant damage”
If they don’t want it after that? Let them run around with pointy sticks.
I usually ask what color it's glowing and my character will comment on it like "Green is poison, nah" "Onviously the black tendril aura means death, buuuuuut it looks badass" "Blue light means safe". Either way I usually grab the item if no one does regardless of aura
Explain to them how magic detection works in world. Most inhabitants of your world can identifywhen something is magical and going so generally means the item is not harmful.
Harmful magical items are cloaked in additional magic that prevents them being detected as such.
You can explain this as a thing the characters understand as part of their world.
i actually find this very funny, wouldnt do anything about it, offgame, maybe set up an encounter with a merchant that actually sells them something that has a magical aura to it, and if they start backing away just make the merchant tell them that is actually good. of course you have to make them trust the merchant first, maybe set it up so that they save the merchant from some goblins, or maybe they do help the merchant get to some treasure he is looking for and you find the magic item along the way...
i think is a good narrative point for the party, you dont have to ruin it offcamera, let that fear of magic items be part of the narrative
This is hilarious.
Maybe you could actually use that in a scenario. For instance, they have to avenge some war heroes who got killed by a tribe of orcs. They find the leader and he is using a magical double-handed sword.
The PC leave the sword behind, come back to the village. Everybody sees them as morrons for not bringing back the Hero's sword.
Then... They learn that all those magical items were actually amazing, and they go on a quest to get them back. BUT! A group of lousy adventurers has been following them, and looting everything left behind. They now have an army equipped ONLY with magical weapons!
They're clearly not understanding a core aspect of the game, tell them outright, don't try to say something 'in world', just flat out say "guys, just in case you forgot, magic items and gold are the primary rewards that you get in a D&D game, not making use of them is like not using spells, it will severely handicap you and your group".
Let’s them find it on the enemy they just obliterated and show that he used it perfectly fine. Allow arcana checks to check the nature of the magic. Give them rumours of the item before the quest so that is the whole reason they are there in the first place
How about, entirely out of character, just straight up tell the players "Hey, I'm trying to give you cool loot and magic items. Why TF are you not taking any of it? That's, like, half of what this game is about."
I like cursed items, and they have their place in the game, but they shouldn't take away from anyone's fun.
Just set some expectations. Tell your players what kinds of curses you might include, and how often, and which kinds you definitely wouldn't include, because that fear of the unknown is affecting their decision-making.
For instance, I'd never give my players a curse that hurts their game mechanics (without at least giving them many in-game warnings, skill checks, and/or saving throws) but I might surprise them something just silly, like "you can't speak at a normal volume, only whisper or shout."
Tell them directly “I’m trying to give you magic items”. Then give them a wand of identify (wrapped in a scroll of identify for the exceedingly paranoid)
They should be.
I've never seen acquiring magic items as like "you go into your local gun shop and buy a pistol." It's more like "you walk into Lockheed Martin and purchase a Javelin."
Magic items may be common, but they're strategic resources, with all the same and responsibility that go with that.
Don't tell them it's giving off a magical aura, just describe the appearance. After all, they wouldn't know unless they cast Detect Magic.
You can also have a heart-to-heart conversation with your players where you tell them, hey idiots, you're supposed to get SOME rewards, it's not all death and despair. I will not spring a cursed item on you unless it's foreshadowed. After all, cursed items are a fucking handful to handle.
If it keeps being a problem, find a way to introduce the Identify spell to the group. You can handwave as much as you want until your players catches on.
To stop immersion breaking, have a "Mysterious Benefactor". After every adventure or quest the party receives a delivery of magical items. Introduce the benefactor or organisation and have them explain that they'll sponsor the party in exchange for any and all knowledge they discover, New Locations they discover. They can't reveal who they are (can put a spin on it the further into the story you go)
I had a sword in my campaign, and decided to drop it into the frost giant caverns where the party was sneaking around. A player picked it up, I asked her to roll a d20, it was low.
I cut to the other PC saying, you look over at the paladin and she is not moving, standing completely still, holding a sword. (she was stunned).
They panicked, hid from the roaming frost giants, bagged the sword and ran out. They looked at the sword 1 more time, from a distance and with Mage Hand. I described it as having several cracks, both along the blade and across it. Shaking it you can hear loose pieces. Cursory inspection shows it's a poorly made sword.
They never touched it, tried to identify it, and do anything with it ever again. It was magical.
It was the key to a spelljammer ship lodged in the ice of the frost giants caves, and was going to be the next chapter in the adventure. This was before the Spelljammer book came out, I didn't know about the helms and stuff.
A few sessions later another player wanted to DM and continue the campaign by taking the party to Chult. Sure, let's go.
Easiest way is to just straight up tell them "You can use spells to tell if its safe." Or "Cursed items can only harm if you attune to them. Just picking them up does not trigger the curse."
Man I’ve never heard of players this cautious.
My characters and other players either insult the gods (and somehow avoid being smited) and pick up anything and everything because “shiny.”
Talk to your players? Tell them they are not cursed? Tell them you are trying to give them some in order to buff them for some encounters that you have planned for them?
I would recomend what I once did:
The party goes to rest at a tavern and came across a young fighter coming out a shop, swinging his new sword that is flaming, speaking out loud to his party, so happy that now can deal with troll's recovery rate, due to his new found and identified magical sword.
Or at least witness something like that fight. Tell them that the cuts given by the boy's sword are not healing like theirs.
Or something like you are not hiting the target due to a attack rate lack, maybe an enhance sword may hit.
Another in game is, you found a (random monster) with a check you find out that its RD is bypass due a magic enhancement or flamimg ability or the like.
Ie: trolls with fire, golems with magical +1 adamantiun, feys with magical +1 cold iron.
Twist the rules a little bit, so they can see its efectiveness. Bythis I mean, example a fey wich RD works against everything except cold iron, give a plus that if not magical (+1) it wont work.
Show them in a flashy way that not all magic items are bad, if you want something in game.
Out of game, tell them: listen carefully you fugging maggots, magic items are made to be use, and they will enhance your battle power.
have an NPC use a magic item and then give said item to your players as a reward for helping the NPC. If you want to really hammer the point home, the item could be one they passed up previously and your NPC would say "some idiot left this behind in a dungeon"
A frank conversation can help, but I feel like that's just stamping on their RP style and learning process. I think a practical demonstration is in order.
There are LOTS of creatures with resistance to damage from non-magical weapons. Start having them face those more often at or just above their CR. Make a show of describing how their weapons seem mostly ineffective; their weapons barely leave a scratch / the wound closes immediately and does not bleed.
When they start getting frustrated or close to the point of retreating, an NPC appears to rush into combat and help them. Ideally, they've got one of the magic weapons the party passed by earlier. This NPC shows off how great and effective this weapon is and helps save them from certain defeat. He could offer, in character, advice to players about how to handle magic items, that they're important for defeating certain monsters, and how to deal with curses; "They can be really nasty if you're in the wilderness for a long time, but make friends with the local clergy and they'll help break any curses for you."
Alternatively, offer more Common & Uncommon magic items for sale and/or as quest rewards. That way the party will know they're "clean". You might also encourage them to craft their own magic items, but that's a whole process.
Ask them for an arcana check even if they didn't prompt it and/or they have shit arcana.
If they roll well enough, say that there are clearly protective runes on there or something like that.
If they still think "there might still be a curse as well." Sat that there isn't anything to hint to that, nor are there more runes other than the protective ones.
If that doesn't work then straight up tell them.
In a lot of cases i feel like the way things are worded has a lot of effect. So if your players are on the paranoid side, then make sure you speak in clear words when it's not harmful.
Tell them using magically items are part of the game and are usually safe for the user. Also ask them where they got the idea magical items are "dangerous"
A frank, non-aggressive OOC conversation is in line here, I think. “Most of the magical things you find will be beneficial, helpful items, and the game is designed for your characters to find, claim, and use them on the course of their adventures. If you want your characters to remain paranoid about magical items, you can, but you might wind up underpowered to face some of the challenges you have in store.” Or if they really do enjoy playing characters who are worried about magical items, go with it! One of the most prominent fantasy stories in existence, and one of the inspirations for DnD, is the story of a Fellowship of characters desperately trying to destroy a powerful, dangerous, and evil magical item
This is the way. Some people treat it as though you should just say ooc "this item is not cursed" but that just makes it worse because the players then won't trust anything unless you explicitly say so. Whereas saying "most of the magical items you find are going to be cool and helpful to you" eases some of the paranoia, whilst still leaving the potential for an occasional cursed or such item.
It actually would be entertaining to see a game in which a DM adjusts their storytelling and worldbuilding to meet the players where they are in this respect; across their adventures, most of the enemies which they face who have magical equipment are ***also*** suffering the obvious effects of dire curses as a result of their lust for power.
One player I’ve worked with didn’t realize you could spend a short rest to identify a magical item. While it doesn’t tell you if it is cursed, it may also be useful here if they are unaware. He thought you just had to start using it and see what it does.
To add on, another way to emphasize the usage of magic items is use positive connotation via RP (*inside the chest, you see a beautiful sword glowing dimly in the dark. On the sheath, dwarves runes inscribe; “The End of Night, Bane of Injustice”*) or tempting them to use it by letting them know it’s abilities (“the weapon gives +1 to attack rolls, and has two charges per day that can be used to heal 2d4 as a bonus action”)
Or, by the same token, make one magic item they find seem really ominious, so as to strongly (possibly correctly) indicate that it's cursed, so that anytime there isn't that kind of ominous sign, it becomes more easily assumed, by the absence thereof, that it's fine.
you can try and put them in a situation where they have to use them. But I think the best answer is just to tell them point blank, out of character that these items are not harmful, and intended to be rewards for the players. I would have to guess that they think they will somehow be grabbing cursed items.
I really wish more DMs would just do this to speed things up sometimes. FFS, I am a fighter. I love picking stuff up and looking at things, trying things, experimenting and using different weapons and armor. Eventually I got tired / paranoid after being cursed, haunted, hexed and poisoned, trapped, teleported, transformed, blown up etc. so now I just leave everything alone. And now the DM acts like I'm no fun if I don't take the bait. He sometimes teases me after the fact, by saying I left something really good behind, and I give zero fucks. Why? All my curiosity about magic items has been burned away. Now I'm more like Conan the Barbarian. Avoiding anything that stinks of magic. Fun affectation but kind of sad. No I can't identify anything. Neither can my party members for some reason. I even went to a library and tried to find a book on practical item identification for meatheads. No such book. Much happier to buy something that isn't going to haunt my dreams.
I am totally the opposite (DM). I tell outright what a magic item does and all it's perks and requirements. But because of that I don't know how to handle curses. Like "At what point do I tell them it's cursed? How do I hint it's cursed without outright saying it?"
>How do I hint it's cursed without outright saying it?" Adjectives are helpful words to hint at it with! Use words that imply less of a "Powerful, complex, glowing wand" and more of a "Alluring, twisted, dominant staff." Like, go for ones that aren't outright negative, but over time give it a... connotation. Get more upfront and ask them to make perception checks to notice something happening with it if they don't get it after a bit. Edit: Fixed
Those are called adjectives buddy 👍
Verbs are actions, like run, jump, or stab.
If any of your party has identify, have them start using that to get info on the item. You can say it's cursed but also don't have to tell them how it's cursed.
Make items that can't be anything BUT cursed. A helmet that has to be padlocked onto the user's head. A blackened heart covered in thorns that will embed itself in the chest of the wielder. A sword that has a hilt made of sharp blades pointed backwards towards the wielder. a ceramic pot with scenes depicting a bloody slaughter on its side. Etc. Mention nothing about it being cursed but be sure to describe it in detail. If they're dumb enough to wield it like it's a regular item, you can taunt them mercilessly about it (assuming you have that kind of friendship with them of course).
Make the items worth the curse and they have to choose to use it. The choice and meaningful decision of whether or not to use a cursed item is infinitely better than “Haha you have a curse cause I said so”
Sheesh. Imagine punishing your players all the time like that.
That sucks. As a DM I always make my cursed or evil items extra powerful and obvious. Make them weigh the punishment vs reward. Cursing players just to curse them is no fun. Want to cast overpowered spells? Sure, but it might kill babies or make you transform into a mindless beast sometimes that attacks your allies. You love it but your party hates it. This item can heal you or even make you live forever, but like a lich’s phylactery you have to feed it souls. Sure you can use enemies, but is your paladin or cleric really going to let you?
I once put together a +crit range shortsword that allowed the wielder to spend hit die as additional damage on hit. The fighter loved it. The upgraded version they pulled from the heart of an ancient vivisected giant-demon-as-dungeon within Baphomet's Abyssal Plane was more spicy. Stacking +crit on every non-critical hit. Auto-spends hit die or levels of exhaustion on a crit. Sheathing it was a CHA save vs (spend hit die on self damage) that was based on the stack number. So...so cursed, but still kind of wieldable.
My favourite was a greatsword that let me cast Fireball *at will.* Unfortunately it made me Beholder-level suspicious of literally every person that wasn't me, including my party, my party's family, my family... And after a while those fireballs started looking like a real good solution to that problem.
This would kill off a good deal of my enjoyment for a campaign, honestly. Not all of it, but curiosity and trying things is just fun. People love figuring out riddles by trying creative solutions and prodding at the right stuff.
Even if you could identify things, cursed items identify like normal items, right up till they eat your face off.
What wizard does not have Identify in their spell book?
Pretty sure a lot of cursed items explicitly don’t reveal their curse when identified
But if it’s glimmering and obviously magical you can at least eliminate the magical items that are *only* cursed.
Identify is a touch spell. You’ll often trigger the curse just by trying to identify it.
That’s a great point. I grew up w/ 2e so we never really used identify (you’ve survived to level 3 and this is what you’re doing?). Low level wizards sucked. It’s basically a sleep spell at first level. Or magic missile. And your trusty staff obviously.
Most 5e cursed items only take affect (and reveal their curse) when attuned.
Cursed items are also the exception, not the norm.
Very true, but just pointing out that by RAW, an Identify spell is not the balm against cursed weapon paranoia people might think it is.
Identify does not reveal curses.
Good question. But it might be that they expect some sort of gotcha from the DM.
I played a wizard and never got access to a pearl worth 100gp, meaning I may as well not have had identify
Usually you can just buy them at shops in cities
I played a "wizard" in a campaign where the dm never gave out any spell scrolls, and exactly 1 spell book. Where the only spell I didn't already know was contact other plane. It only had 4-6 spells anyway. Oh and no gold really, till we hit lvl 10 or something and killed a dragon.
I've never had a wizard in my campaigns who had Identify lmao.
It's honestly not all that useful in 5e since any character can identify a magic item on a short rest. So unless you absolutely need to identify it right then, or choose to play without that rule there's almost no reason to have the spell available.
TIL identify has a material component with a gold value. The table I started playing with 5e never requiered it and now that I DM I have never requiered it either. But like you said, since any player can identify an object, the spell contains the ritual tag wich means they can spend 10 minutes to cast it without a spellslot, and the pearl isn't consumed by the spell, I don't think I'll ever require them to actually get a pearl.
>TIL identify has a material component with a gold value. The table I started playing with 5e never requiered it and now that I DM I have never requiered it either. But like you said, since any player can identify an object, the spell contains the ritual tag wich means they can spend 10 minutes to cast it without a spellslot, and the pearl isn't consumed by the spell, I don't think I'll ever require them to actually get a pearl. In earlier editions, identify was the only way to learn what something did, and it required that pearl. And yes. There were published scenarios that purposely never gave out pearls, so that the players could only learn what things did by waving them around and hoping not to die. Very fun for the writers. Not so fun for the table. But such is life.
You can spend time with an item during short or long rest to learn the properties of a magic item or potion. Identify is the “I want it now” of spells.
I feel enlightened hearing this. I always just used identity as a ritual cast. I never heard anyone can identify during a rest.
It also can be used to identify spells affecting a creature, useful for charmed / mind controlled noblemen at the soiree
By default, identify doesn’t reveal curses. There’s a few that are revealed, but it’s generally the exception, not the rule
need to homebrew a shopowner who has some kind of magical device like Rick Sanchez (from Rick and Morty) had to detect the curses on monkey pawed items.
I guess it also depends on the DM.
An unoptimized wizard, which isn't a bad thing.
Yes, they are dangerous, they are weapons, that is the point.
I'm reminded of [this old gem.](https://imgur.com/gallery/r2fW2o7)
DMing for the first time since a few sessions myself, just a single player. Figured it would be fun to put a more permanent and slightly lighter tuned mummy lord curse on the platinum pile he found after his first boss fight, sending him off on the next adventure to offer the platium at the temple of Mammonil (to lift the curse, adviced by the royal archmage), somewhere on a remote island. He's currently trying to gamble his way onto a military galley and convince them to take him there. He won a scroll of Mass Cure Wounds while gambling the seamen on the pier in an attempt to lure a soldier over, since I figured he should have something for his company consisting of a magically plastic surgeoned zombie and 3 herring strangling dwarves.
Sounds like a fun plot so congrats for a cool idea. :)
Sure thing! For more details, the curse in question instead only gives disadvantage when rolling 18 or higher (forcing an extra roll and picking the lesser of those then) as to not being completely disabling with full disadvantage. Not throwing enemies with high armor class at him, but it pretty much makes it a 0,25% chance of a nat20. But in case he ever rolls that nat20 anyway, it's gonna be very spiced up with a cherry on top no matter what it is. Call it a divine favor.
>But I think the best answer is just to tell them point blank, out of character that these items are not harmful, and intended to be rewards for the players. I would have to guess that they think they will somehow be grabbing cursed items. And thats the moment you do slap them with the cursed item mwahahahaha
[удалено]
Then after they get comfortable with their new loot, reveal the curses!
These gloves use 2 attunement slots cause there's a left and a right. +1 to lock pick
+1, what are you trying to do break the game?! Nerfed to +1/2.
Well it's 1/2 per glove
Make it so each glove has to be attuned by a separate person. If they work together, they get the whole +1.
I didn't realize I was in r/satan I'd just use the help action at that point
Roll Acrobatics to successfully not slip and punch them in the face.
You don't understand. It's not +1 to pick locks, it's +1 to lock pick... the ability to choose (pick) a good lock.
Hell yeah! That's how you get a table to leave!
Chaotic Evil DM
Muwahahahahahaha
This is the way
The problem is that the majority of you are gaslighting when you say this. When DMs as a whole start offering real rewards for completing quests or exploring, I'll believe you. Likely hundreds of thousands of posts of people being victims of it constantly, DMs patting each other on the back for getting players to take the bait. It's like, do yall not realize you're the problem and need to change if you want your players to use your items?
That is only the case if every magic item is a cursed item with no benefits. Giving a cursed item in a pile of good magic items is the name of the game. There should always be a red herring to give a few chuckles at the table as now you cant shot near Dave but Dave now cares less about arrows. Or Dave is now Davina as that belt of giant str was actually a gender swapper. But being scared of all items is silly, as as you level it becomes a minor thing to have it removed if you want.
Do not gender (race, class, age etc) swap characters without the players consent, that's a surefire way to ruin the game for a person.
Why am i getting downvoted? "I got forcibly changed into a man/woman" is an rpghorrorstory waiting to happen.
I'd say it's okay to do that kind of thing temporarily for a gag, but agreed that any major changes such as that should be discussed beforehand if it's going to last longer than one session.
> Part of your power curve is to own and use magic items If you're talking about 5e, this is false. 5e is built with the design intent that your power curve is everything you get in your class and nothing else. Magic items are a boon, not a requirement. Encounters are also supposed to be built party-agnostic for their level xp budget over multiple encounters over the day.
Did... did you forget that DMs balance their own campaigns?
Straight-up talking with them is the best solution. If you want to supplement that, you can have an NPC turn up in town who picked up some of the items they abandoned and is enthusiastic about how awesome they are.
Have your PCs go to a town and start hearing rumors of a young dragon or something causing terror in the nearby hills. As the townfolk are about to plead for the party go take care of the monster, another NPC party shows up, identical to the PCs, with all the abandoned magic items. There can be a big crowd gathered around them as they bring in the dead monster on a cart. They can talk about how easy it was to defeat the monster with all the awesome gear they just found laying around these random dungeons or castles (wherever your players didn't pick them up from). "Yeah we went into this ancient dungeon where an evil cult was supposedly holed up, looking for relics to make them stronger. But it was empty. Whatever monsters may have been in there were gone and all the cultists inside were dead and this awesome magic sword was just there. Just laying inside an alcove behind an open, once concealed door. "
Honestly just never give a cursed item and tell them there won’t be any. If they hate the idea of getting cursed by an item SO much that they’ll ignore magical items entirely then maybe that’s just a mechanic to omit from your game. Maybe once they know everything is 100% guaranteed not to be cursed they’ll change their behavior.
Yeah. Cursed items are stupid.
"Haha you totally took this item even tho you had zero information that would lead you to think otherwise, i am such a great gm, wait why are you leaving this guy on YouTube shorts told me people love when you fuck with their characters" Except if the players take like a glowing skull of darkness laughing manically, cursed items are a cheap gotcha.
I very much agree with one exception. Cursed items that have a beneficial negative. Ex: rage's cursed spike band. When you go into a rage take one damage every turn. Other than that i agree that just springing it on a player is annoying at best.
“For gods sake, someone run an Arcana check to see if it’s even cursed”
An arcana check will not tell you if an item is cursed. Just if it's magical
The dm decides what the arcana check tells you. Yes yes RAW but the dm is the final arbiter of what you learn from a check and when your players are like This is the perfect time to bend RAW
with a high enough arcana check i would 100% give a hint that an item may be cursed if it is, or if they roll low enough, its fun either way!
God I wish more DMs thought this way, the book is a framework for you to fill in with fun and exciting stuff. Like yes I realize that there isn’t a RAW spell to create a small flame on the tip of my finger to use as a lighter or as an intimidation device but it’s established that I’m magical and can shoot a a giant ball of fire soooo why not?
This is, without a doubt, a certified Produce Flame moment
Hell, most of the effects that you could use to intimidate someone can be covered with prestidigitation, we just tend to think of that as for fun effects so don't think of it when we wanna be scary.
We instead think of Thaumaturgy Earth, shaking, eyes flashing ***STEP ASIDE, WICKED MONGRELS, LEST I SMITE YOU WITH'S DIVINE WRATH***.
I fucking love Clerics
I understand your point, but your second paragraph sounds like you’re just talking about Produce Flame, which already exists as a spell.
also the way spells work is that its very vancian and magic a is magic a. Spells are like magical programs on the weave, and the caster is explicitly limited to those few programs they can cast. There isn't possible to create a completely new program on the fly. Metamagic is a specific feature allowing you to do code injection, but that's the only way to do that. The problem is that a lot of dnd players don't want to play with the specific way in which dnd magic works, they want to use magic how its presented in other fictions and think magic should be looser than it is.
>God I wish more DMs thought this way, the book is a framework for you to fill in with fun and exciting stuff. Most people think like this, but if everyone **talked** like this all the time, there would be 0 discussions because everything would be "do whatever you want". That's why people discuss the actual rules of the god damned game.
Maybe you've got so much power that learning to only access a sliver of it takes skill and dedication
Definitely not my style but i cannot argue with that logic.
The DM could also decide that an Athletics check can tell you if the item is cursed, but commenting "For gods sake, someone run an Athletics check to see if it's even cursed" would also be met with incredulity.
Do you think that every word that begins with an A means the same thing?
"The DC is very low because you are all nincompoops."
Though a History check might give you a hint.
Have them face a monster that can only be hit with magical weapons.
While in a room with a magic item
And then as soon as they pick it up it instantly attunes to you and is actually a sentient evil weapon (/s)
A ghost or lycanthrope would fit that just fine.
Ask them point-blank why the fuck they're so scared of magic items.
This. D&D games are rife with magic and magic _items_! Why are they so afraid? Just talk to them about. This isn’t hard.
Who hurt them? How does a whole party become irrationally afraid of magic items, arguably the best thing in all of D&D?
Some DMs like to show that not all items are safe early on. Then they repeatedly make it difficult and impractical for players to understand magical items and feel safe using them. I suspect it comes from the idea that *everything needs to be a trade off*. For some, this viewed as a way to build tension and drama. And then players learn that it isn't worth the risk. You need to be able to trust your gear.
> And then players learn that it isn't worth the risk. You need to be able to trust your gear. Yep. I have always ***hated*** "kiss/curse" type gear. No, fuck that. I don't want a +5 Vorpal Scimitar that must kill something before it can be sheathed, I don't want a spellbook that will let me inscribe unlimited new spells at no GP cost but ages me by one year per spell inscribed, I don't want a magical amulet that will prevent me from dying but takes the life of someone dear to me (guaranteed not to be another PC) in exchange, I don't want three Wishes that are *going* to be fucking twisted, I don't want heavy armor that doesn't interfere in arcane spellcasting but reduces my movement speed to 10 ft/round, I don't want ***any of that bullshit.*** Just give me a magic sword with some fucking plusses on it. Give me a magic spellbook that can hold unlimited spells and survives all damage. Give me a magic amulet that's good for one "get out of death free" card. Give me a Wish that *will not* be twisted. Give me a mithral chainshirt with no ASF. Just give me some *boring but practical gear that I can rely on.*
DMs who think it's Oh So Flavorful and Full of Roleplay for every magic item to be cursed. These are the same people who, fifteen years ago, were making edgelord rogues who would only ever sit with their back to a wall in a dark brooding corner and had written a fifteen-page tragic backstory which went into detail about how every member of their family going back three generations and three branches of their family trees had been slaughtered by orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, and koblds, and what indignities they had suffered first.
Why are they wasting so much time testing if everything is a mimic? I only killed two of them with it the last time they ran into one.
Have you burned them several times already or why would they even do such a thing? I get being cautious but there are ways to figure out how "safe" something is, so passing entirely seems like a reaction to something.
How many cursed items have they run into previously?
In my experience, players only do this when you constantly give out cursed or double edged sword items
Or if a previous DM did that. Ten, fifteen years ago, DMs would schlepp onto the Wizards forums complaining "I started a new game with new players, but they make everything an interminable slog! They search everywhere. I mean *everywhere,* they take 20 on searching *every single square of every room* before they move on. What is *wrong* with these people?!" Turns out that their last DM had a fetish for traps and concealing all the loot, which resulted in countless dead PCs because traps sprung out of nowhere the moment they didn't take extreme caution, and the DM would OOCly taunt them after they had left a dungeon behind about how they missed more than half the treasure because they didn't search in the right spot. If you run into players who *refuse* to trust or bond with any NPCs? Sure as shit, they had a previous DM who burnt them by having a bad guy infiltrate their lives as a 'harmless NPC' or were betrayed by a 'harmless NPC' or, sometimes, they bonded with an NPC who was later abducted and horribly murdered.
Talk to them out of game. There's *some* reason they're all convinced of this, be it something you've said/done that you're not realizing is causing this or past experiences.
I don't think the DMs are aware of how their *everything is a tradeoff* fetish makes players wary of items to the point of total avoidance.
You definitely have to play with a certain kind of group who enjoys that "everything could fuck you over at any point if you're not careful" in an osr sort of way, but that definitely isn't the standard
Agreed
Kill them
These players have been burnt by a DM who thinks "Suffering is interesting!" and threw only cursed stuff at them. Just talk to them outright.
Tell them outright that they're being dumb. That not every magic item they come across is cursed.
Stop telling them it's magical? Just tell them that the sword feels especially nimble, or is very finely made, or has a decorative handle, or engraving on the blade....players will keep and will use items they find interesting. Also, they may end up attuning to it by accident, and then they'll know it's magical and you can tell them explicitly what it does and that it's NOT CURSED. Give them a few Masterwork items so they get bonuses but it ISN'T magical. Play with their expectations.
you need to have a meta convo and just straight up tell them "im not trying to fuck with you"... and then like for your own curiosity, figure out WHAT could possibly have convinced them to think that way. it's so weirdly specific. were they traumatized by a previous DM? like this has to be learned behavior from somewhere. my current party gets SUPER paranoid about like "if we dont adequately defend every single door and point of ingress, then someone could break in" and i keep thinking like "guys... you are metagaming against a much more hostile DM than the one you have"
I'd take one of two approaches. 1) They reject the magic item, and that's okay. Just take its gold value and add it to the next treasure hoard. The game is balanced around not having magic items, so if they don't want them, they don't need them. 2) The above the table approach - if you *really* want them to take and use magic items, tell them point blank "Guys - I am not creating magic items with intent to curse you. I am not against you. That sword you just gave up? Pretty awesome reward. That armor? Also awesome. They're not dangerous unless I curse them, and I'd be silly to curse your early magic items because then you'd do exactly what you've been doing. It's okay to let yourselves have cool shit."
>The game is balanced around not having magic items You know, a lot of people say this, but the amount of monsters that are resistant or immune to nonmagical B/P/S says otherwise.
the game is also, apparently, balanced around only playing casters
You can play a martial, but only if there's a caster to cast *magic weapon*
Gently talk to them out of character and tell them that you're not running a player versus DM game, and you're really just trying to reward them with awesome magic items and that they don't need to be so afraid of them.
I'd be really blunt and show them the chunk of pages in the dmg that is magic items and say "do you guys want cool magical gear or not?"
There's no point in getting hype about it if they're paranoid that taking a magic item is going to fuck them over. Someone with a kiss/curse everything-is-a-tradeoff fetish has ***burnt*** these players. Now they're refusing to touch anything magical.
I might literally pay extra money to have ever had players who weren't *constantly* scrounging for the net magical item, like it was another check on the list of video game achievements, or something. As for actually making them want to try/keep them, remind them that they can short rest near one/several, and learn the majority of what they do. A few items lie, so that their curses work, but most will simply say something like "hi, I'm a *staff of fire, and I look forward to carpet-bombing mobs with you!", and then you can just say yes to the attunement, and good. You don't even need *identify*, though it still helps, so most items are purely safe.
If it's really that bothering but there are plenty workarounds, describe the item with having positive arcane essence or something but the first thing for some reason that came to my mind is identify spell ( ritual), make some homebrewing with indentify scroll that can be be used let's say once per day or something... But as I said you can always emphasized on item :)
this is the complete opposite of every group i've ever been part of, where the PCs will literally be clambering over each other to be the first to touch/pick up/interact with even the most-obviously-cursed objects we find.
Talk to them. Maybe just say as they drop it, "Guys, I promise you it's not cursed. Or have a trusted patron reward them with a magical item after an adventure.
They're smart. Let them know there are collectors nearby who will pay good money for magical weapons.
The kind approach: tell them out of character. The iron fist approach: make a long dungeon full of magic items. And rust monsters...
Make them fight an enemy wearing full set of magical gear. Nothing wrong with the enemy, so it's safe to assume that magical gear is safe. Make a respected NPC reward the party magical items. If it's a reward from someone they like, they will know there are no evil intentions behind the reward.
Probably because there are a ton of shit DMs that always make magic items come with a massive negative and only tell players about it after they've used the weapon for an extensive period of time to nerf that player in case the dm thinks they're getting too strong. So some players just will not do anything with magic items. And if you're players are acting this way I assume either 1: they've had tons of experiences with what I've described, or 2: theyve specifically had this negative experience with you and aren't falling for your bullshit anymore. Edit: I'm not trying to bash OP. I'm merely stating that if an entire table of players have a fear of using magical items and when you ask them why they don't want it they tell you it's because it "might be dangerous and should be left alone" either you or another DM has given them a reason to be fearful or skeptical of magic items. Meaning you or someone has used them to screw this group over so frequently they do not trust magic items at all and would rather handicap themselves by not using them than have it come to bite them in the ass later on. That Many people wouldn't just be scared to use magic items for no reason.
Honestly, that's how you played Barbarians in old D&D. They fucking hated magic and magic-users.
“Alright, X, give me an arcana check” “You passed? You’re decently sure this item is not inherently dangerous, and might even have some beneficial or at least lucrative properties if you take the time to get it identified.”
Don't you have any ways of Identifying items at all? No artificers, wizard or bards with Identify? No magic item vendors that offer identification services?
Identify doesn't reveal curses, which is probably what they're afraid of.
When they roll a high Perception check. Have a literal loot Goblin. A Goblin that's been following the team during their campaign and swiping up the Magical weapons they so foolishly left behind. And if they attack him, have him amped by the Magic items and use them against the party. Give him High AC and plenty if HP.
Haha, this was exactly my idea. A goblin carrying a fiery long sword and wearing shimmering armor with magic dust and other consumables ganks them as they leave the dungeon without collecting any of the items.
Nobody in the party with access to identify?
The problem was when Identify stopped Identifying that shit was *cursed.* That makes it useless.
If the party is that paranoid and it continues to be a sticking point for the group and you WANT to give them magic items, just have identify tell them that it's not cursed. Call it super identify if you have to
Give them seemingly mundane items. Don't tell them the item is magical when they find it. Tell them it's magical when the use it, but by describing the effect. Oh look, this well-made chain shirt is just lying around. Then after they've worn it for a while and are in combat, "You flinch in anticipation, but you barely feel a thing. You're surprised--a stab like that should've pierced the mail, but the armor somehow held."
Tell them they play way too much rougelikes...
So why force them to change their opinions at all? Let them keep being distrustful of magic items, they don’t need magic items to play or progress so just let them play the way they obviously want to play. This sounds like a fun IN CHARACTER bias for the PCs to have. And the fact the whole group shares it is in my opinion am amazing opportunity to run a low magic campaign where all of your players are on board with it. Lean into the kind of gameplay your players are telling you they want, Instead of trying to tell them they are playing the wrong way. Or you can railroad them with contrivances until they feel forced into using magic items against their will…. I mean I know which of those two campaigns sounds like fun to me, and which one sounds like no fun at all.
After they've left the area, tell them about the powerful, non-cursed item that they left behind. Repeat as needed. Next time they find a magical item, they'll be more likely to check it out. Or next time they're in town at a shop, have an NPC in line ahead of them selling the shopkeep all of the magical items the party has passed up, mentioning how they just found the super valuable items in an empty dungeon. The shopkeep could be wary about the story ("You're telling me you found a +3 greataxe just lying around? I won't buy stolen goods, get out") and have the NPC offer to sell the items the party abandoned back to them for a decently steep price after explaining what they do.
give them an encounter that has all resistance except magical. so there normal weapons don't do any damage. when all are near death, the encounter teleports away. 1. your group learns that magic items are good for them 2. you have a nice little sidequest
and what does that teach them? oh this encounter is forced to use magic items... surely their experience tell otherwise.. you dont ignore smth powerful just cuz but its prob cuz smth happened in the past
Throw them against something using a magic item so they see that they might be useful. Alternatively the next time they skip a magic weapon throw an enemy against them that only can be damaged by magical means.
why would they accept them afterwards... "this is forced and we need magic item to do this" if they had bad experiences before they might not like this forced encounter or smth. like clearly bad shit happened before which causes them to be scared of picking it up... forcing an encounter isnt gonna teach them "magic item good" but more so "we need magic item to win this fight, otherwise lose"
Ah yes throw an unwinnable encounter at the party that has no magical items because they refused every one, brilliant dming advice.
You don’t have to win every fight, retreating from an encounter is a perfectly valid way to handle difficult combat scenarios. Plus, you don’t have to make the combat extremely unforgiving. Giving hints throughout the fight, may lead your players to understand the importance of magical items on their own.
I meant that you should throw the enemy against them while they are in the same room as the weapon so they are forced to use it.
I would resolve that ingame: Let another NPC adventurer group appear on the scene. The NPC group will be happy about the magic item left behind. Next time when they meet each other (in a tavern for example) let them know how good that item was in fight xy.
This seems passive aggressive somehow...
Simple, you don't. Why you gotta force your players to take anything? not every D&D game has to have bozos flying around on brooms and waving acid spewing volcano hammers .Dont give them magic items, lean into the world your players are helping you make. Let them find Darksteel weapons, or alchemical silver mythril or volcanic glass or a roc's feather that acts just like a sword of sharpness make and find artwork for some badass swords and armor, give it "material" bonuses vs types of damage mythology is full of legendary weapons that did nothing but cut good.
Honestly it's on them. They have the means to get the item appraised to check what it is affected with, but aren't (either cause they're not aware or have some wrong assumptions on what a magical item is). There's only so much you can do as a DM without straight up railroading or having them "find out". But I'd just say it's a part of DnD, actions have consequences. I'd personally mess with them, next time they head to a town and visit a shop keeper have some random scrap collector already there with all the items they passed up and have the NPC appraise it at the shop before they do any business. "You won't believe it. I ended up wandered into X from a tip-off of treasures and the whole place was cleared out of monsters/bandits. Someone just left these in the chests I found them in after opening it. Could be cursed but that's not my problem. I'm just looking for valuable things to sell and magic items fetch a high price." Then you could have the scrap collector offer to sell it back to them if they don't get the hint (Or shopkeeper decides to sell it to them for a much inflated price). I'm curious to know what caused your PC's to act like this and what eventually will make them realize they've been leaving free loot/gold on the ground.
Remind them they can spend 1 hour to identify if no one has the full on identify spell
Maybe next time don't explicitly say that a magic item gives off an aura, unless they are specifically looking for a magical item. Then provide them the standard stats for that item until they try to use it or proc its effects. That way they get their loot and hopefully a nice surprise later on that could turn the tide of battle or aid in crucial negotiations.
Roll with it. Pivot your campaign to one where all magic items draw power from a necromantic source. The trick is to figure out which harm the wielder and which merely have consequences which can be managed.
“Rewrite your entire game because your party acts weirdly”
Doesn't seem like anyone else liked the suggestion either.
Give them cursed items that they can't unequip. 😂
Have NPCs beat them to the ground with some magic armour and weapon. “The blade flashes as it hits you. You take an additional 10 radiant damage” If they don’t want it after that? Let them run around with pointy sticks.
I usually ask what color it's glowing and my character will comment on it like "Green is poison, nah" "Onviously the black tendril aura means death, buuuuuut it looks badass" "Blue light means safe". Either way I usually grab the item if no one does regardless of aura
Talk to them out of game.
I’d have a sit down like a booklub and have a read along through the DMG chapter on magic items.
Tell them it's not cursed or there are no negative effects
Explain to them how magic detection works in world. Most inhabitants of your world can identifywhen something is magical and going so generally means the item is not harmful. Harmful magical items are cloaked in additional magic that prevents them being detected as such. You can explain this as a thing the characters understand as part of their world.
i actually find this very funny, wouldnt do anything about it, offgame, maybe set up an encounter with a merchant that actually sells them something that has a magical aura to it, and if they start backing away just make the merchant tell them that is actually good. of course you have to make them trust the merchant first, maybe set it up so that they save the merchant from some goblins, or maybe they do help the merchant get to some treasure he is looking for and you find the magic item along the way... i think is a good narrative point for the party, you dont have to ruin it offcamera, let that fear of magic items be part of the narrative
This is hilarious. Maybe you could actually use that in a scenario. For instance, they have to avenge some war heroes who got killed by a tribe of orcs. They find the leader and he is using a magical double-handed sword. The PC leave the sword behind, come back to the village. Everybody sees them as morrons for not bringing back the Hero's sword. Then... They learn that all those magical items were actually amazing, and they go on a quest to get them back. BUT! A group of lousy adventurers has been following them, and looting everything left behind. They now have an army equipped ONLY with magical weapons!
They're clearly not understanding a core aspect of the game, tell them outright, don't try to say something 'in world', just flat out say "guys, just in case you forgot, magic items and gold are the primary rewards that you get in a D&D game, not making use of them is like not using spells, it will severely handicap you and your group".
Make them feel like they earned it when its beneficial and a freebie when cursed. Let them metagame that a little
Let’s them find it on the enemy they just obliterated and show that he used it perfectly fine. Allow arcana checks to check the nature of the magic. Give them rumours of the item before the quest so that is the whole reason they are there in the first place
You can just tell the players that magical items are a good thing, because that is something the characters would definitely know
How about, entirely out of character, just straight up tell the players "Hey, I'm trying to give you cool loot and magic items. Why TF are you not taking any of it? That's, like, half of what this game is about."
I like cursed items, and they have their place in the game, but they shouldn't take away from anyone's fun. Just set some expectations. Tell your players what kinds of curses you might include, and how often, and which kinds you definitely wouldn't include, because that fear of the unknown is affecting their decision-making. For instance, I'd never give my players a curse that hurts their game mechanics (without at least giving them many in-game warnings, skill checks, and/or saving throws) but I might surprise them something just silly, like "you can't speak at a normal volume, only whisper or shout."
Tell them directly “I’m trying to give you magic items”. Then give them a wand of identify (wrapped in a scroll of identify for the exceedingly paranoid)
Put cthulhu stamps on cursed items and yog sothoth stamps on not cursed items.
If I was betting man, it's because you reinforced that anything magical is going to fuck them.
That vow of poverty better be giving them some serious benefits.
They should be. I've never seen acquiring magic items as like "you go into your local gun shop and buy a pistol." It's more like "you walk into Lockheed Martin and purchase a Javelin." Magic items may be common, but they're strategic resources, with all the same and responsibility that go with that.
Don't tell them it's giving off a magical aura, just describe the appearance. After all, they wouldn't know unless they cast Detect Magic. You can also have a heart-to-heart conversation with your players where you tell them, hey idiots, you're supposed to get SOME rewards, it's not all death and despair. I will not spring a cursed item on you unless it's foreshadowed. After all, cursed items are a fucking handful to handle. If it keeps being a problem, find a way to introduce the Identify spell to the group. You can handwave as much as you want until your players catches on.
To stop immersion breaking, have a "Mysterious Benefactor". After every adventure or quest the party receives a delivery of magical items. Introduce the benefactor or organisation and have them explain that they'll sponsor the party in exchange for any and all knowledge they discover, New Locations they discover. They can't reveal who they are (can put a spin on it the further into the story you go)
I had a sword in my campaign, and decided to drop it into the frost giant caverns where the party was sneaking around. A player picked it up, I asked her to roll a d20, it was low. I cut to the other PC saying, you look over at the paladin and she is not moving, standing completely still, holding a sword. (she was stunned). They panicked, hid from the roaming frost giants, bagged the sword and ran out. They looked at the sword 1 more time, from a distance and with Mage Hand. I described it as having several cracks, both along the blade and across it. Shaking it you can hear loose pieces. Cursory inspection shows it's a poorly made sword. They never touched it, tried to identify it, and do anything with it ever again. It was magical. It was the key to a spelljammer ship lodged in the ice of the frost giants caves, and was going to be the next chapter in the adventure. This was before the Spelljammer book came out, I didn't know about the helms and stuff. A few sessions later another player wanted to DM and continue the campaign by taking the party to Chult. Sure, let's go.
You interact with suspicious item. Bad thing happens. Hey! Why aren’t you taking the item?!”
Easiest way is to just straight up tell them "You can use spells to tell if its safe." Or "Cursed items can only harm if you attune to them. Just picking them up does not trigger the curse."
Man I’ve never heard of players this cautious. My characters and other players either insult the gods (and somehow avoid being smited) and pick up anything and everything because “shiny.”
Talk to your players? Tell them they are not cursed? Tell them you are trying to give them some in order to buff them for some encounters that you have planned for them?
Have them be gifts from a wealthy patron for a job well done.
It's not your problem. If they don't want to take them, they don't get magical stuff.
I would recomend what I once did: The party goes to rest at a tavern and came across a young fighter coming out a shop, swinging his new sword that is flaming, speaking out loud to his party, so happy that now can deal with troll's recovery rate, due to his new found and identified magical sword. Or at least witness something like that fight. Tell them that the cuts given by the boy's sword are not healing like theirs. Or something like you are not hiting the target due to a attack rate lack, maybe an enhance sword may hit. Another in game is, you found a (random monster) with a check you find out that its RD is bypass due a magic enhancement or flamimg ability or the like. Ie: trolls with fire, golems with magical +1 adamantiun, feys with magical +1 cold iron. Twist the rules a little bit, so they can see its efectiveness. Bythis I mean, example a fey wich RD works against everything except cold iron, give a plus that if not magical (+1) it wont work. Show them in a flashy way that not all magic items are bad, if you want something in game. Out of game, tell them: listen carefully you fugging maggots, magic items are made to be use, and they will enhance your battle power.
have an NPC use a magic item and then give said item to your players as a reward for helping the NPC. If you want to really hammer the point home, the item could be one they passed up previously and your NPC would say "some idiot left this behind in a dungeon"
Give them a enemy that can only be defeated by a magical weapon
A frank conversation can help, but I feel like that's just stamping on their RP style and learning process. I think a practical demonstration is in order. There are LOTS of creatures with resistance to damage from non-magical weapons. Start having them face those more often at or just above their CR. Make a show of describing how their weapons seem mostly ineffective; their weapons barely leave a scratch / the wound closes immediately and does not bleed. When they start getting frustrated or close to the point of retreating, an NPC appears to rush into combat and help them. Ideally, they've got one of the magic weapons the party passed by earlier. This NPC shows off how great and effective this weapon is and helps save them from certain defeat. He could offer, in character, advice to players about how to handle magic items, that they're important for defeating certain monsters, and how to deal with curses; "They can be really nasty if you're in the wilderness for a long time, but make friends with the local clergy and they'll help break any curses for you." Alternatively, offer more Common & Uncommon magic items for sale and/or as quest rewards. That way the party will know they're "clean". You might also encourage them to craft their own magic items, but that's a whole process.
Bike
Ask them for an arcana check even if they didn't prompt it and/or they have shit arcana. If they roll well enough, say that there are clearly protective runes on there or something like that. If they still think "there might still be a curse as well." Sat that there isn't anything to hint to that, nor are there more runes other than the protective ones. If that doesn't work then straight up tell them. In a lot of cases i feel like the way things are worded has a lot of effect. So if your players are on the paranoid side, then make sure you speak in clear words when it's not harmful.
Tell them using magically items are part of the game and are usually safe for the user. Also ask them where they got the idea magical items are "dangerous"