Summary
- Some cursed magical items in Dungeons & Dragons can actually be fun and worth the risk despite their drawbacks.
- The benefits of certain cursed items, like the Shard of Xeluan and Devlin's Staff of Striking, can outweigh the misfortunes caused by their curses.
- The cursed Armor of Vulnerability and Shield of Missile Attraction offer unique advantages and disadvantages that can be strategically managed for the benefit of the player.
Dungeons & Dragons has hundreds of fantastic magical items for DMs to reward their players with, but it also has a fair amount of cursed ones, too. These may look like run-of-the-mill magical items, but each has a unique curse to them that can impact a player in numerous ways. While some cursed items should be avoided, others can actually be a lot of fun and even worth the risk.
Nothing beats the thrill of finding a cool new magic item as a DnD player, and there are even some overpowered low-level DnD magic items that can give players too much of an advantage a little too early. However, that feeling can wear off quickly when players learn they've just picked up a curse. While it might sound like a bad thing to find out that an item is cursed, some can create awesome roleplaying moments.
7 Shard of Xeluan
Found in the Keys from the Golden Vault adventure "Shard of the Accursed," the Shard of Xeluan is a rare and wondrous DnD item that gives players some great boosts. While attuned to the Shard, the player will get a Strength score increase of four points, and the item can also be used as a spellcasting focus, giving +1 to spell attack rolls. The downsides to the Shard of Xeluan are the misfortunes that may befall players due to the curse.
The Shard of Xeluan's curse activates whenever the DnD player holding it rolls a one on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. They would then have to roll on the Shard Misfortune table to see which of the six outcomes affects them. Some are minor, such as beasts with Intelligence lower than three becoming hostile, or more problematic, such as a disadvantage on all ability checks until the next dawn. However, because the Shard's curse has such a low probability of triggering, its benefits outweigh its misfortunes.
6 Devlin's Staff of Striking
Found in the DnD campaign Tomb of Annihilation, Devlin's Staff of Striking is a cursed version of the regular Staff of Striking. The staff can be found on Devlin's corpse inside the Tomb of the Nine Gods, along with his spellbook, his journal, and some gold. The staff is a +3 quarterstaff and has three charges which can be used to deal extra force damage.
What makes Devlin's version of the staff stand out is its curse. Immediately after attuning to Devlin's Staff of Striking, the character will start to turn into a strange goat-humanoid creature. Over the next three days, they will grow fur, horns, and hooves, and only remove curse or greater restoration will turn the player back. However, as the curse is only a superficial one and doesn't impact any of the player's stats or abilities, any DnD player able to look past being a goat person has a very cool staff.
5 Armor of Vulnerability
Not to be confused with the legendary DnD Armor of Invulnerability, the Armor of Vulnerability is a rare, cursed plate mail. While attuned to this armor, players will gain resistance to either piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage types. However, the fun curse on this armor makes it so that the wearer is vulnerable to the other two types of damage.
So, while wearing this, a paladin might be resistant to slashing damage, taking half damage from enemies using this. However, they would then take double damage from bludgeoning or piercing, but this risk is worth it. With careful planning, those damage types can be avoided, and giving a tankier DnD character resistance to a damage type without having to rely on spells or class features is a massive boost.
4 Shield of Missile Attraction
The Shield of Missile Attraction sounds like a cursed item DnD players should avoid. However, its curse can be turned into an advantage for clever players. When attuned to this rare shield, the player has resistance to damage from all ranged weapon attacks.
The curse on the Shield of Missile Attraction, as the name suggests, draws ranged attacks to the player holding it. Whenever a ranged weapon attack is made against a target within ten feet of the player with the shield, that player will become the target instead. It's obvious that in the hands of a paladin or cleric who sticks close to the squishier party , the Shield of Missile Attraction’s curse is barely an inconvenience.
3 Hell Hound Cloak
The Hell Hound Cloak is a dark cloak made from the hide of a hell hound, so it's of little surprise that it is also cursed. When attuned to this wondrous DnD item, players can use an action to transform into a hell hound for one hour. This works like the polymorph spell, and players can use their bonus action to turn back.
However, after using this ability six times, it becomes hard to turn back. Players will have to a DC 15 Charisma save, or they'll be unable to turn back until someone dispels the transformation, or they are reduced to zero hit points. It gets even worse because if the player gets stuck as a hell hound for over six hours, then they will become a hell hound permanently. While this sounds terrible, it could be great for roleplaying or further quests for high-level DnD parties to aid their companion in returning to normal.
2 Axe of the Dwarvish Lords
The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords is an amazing magical DnD weapon that functions as a Belt of Dwarvenkind, a Dwarven Thrower, and a Sword of Sharpness, as well as giving +3 to attack and damage rolls. It also gives players immunity to poison damage, increases their darkvision by 60 feet, and grants proficiency in typically dwarven tools such as blacksmith and stonemasonry. It gets even better as the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords also lets the player conjure an earth elemental once a day and grants teleport once every three days. If the destination is underground, there is no chance of teleport going wrong.
The cursed Axe of the Dwarvish Lords is weird but one that can easily be overlooked, considering just how powerful this battleaxe is. The curse only affects non-dwarf characters and will slowly turn them into a dwarf over the course of seven days. The change is purely cosmetic, with none of the DnD character's racial features changing, so if a player can overlook being a little shorter, then the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords is well worth picking up.
1 Scorpion Armor
Made from the chitin of a giant scorpion, this rare suit of plate armor not only gives any player attuned an AC of 18 but also +5 to initiative rolls. The Scorpion Armor also doesn't impose a disadvantage on stealth checks or saving throws made to resist extreme heat. This makes the armor great for tanks in desert DnD campaigns so long as they can handle the curse.
The curse of the Scorpion Armor is a brutal one but can be worked around, depending on the character's race. The curse activates whenever a character puts on or takes off the armor, and they must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 10d10 + 45 poison damage. With an average of 100 points of poison damage, the Scorpion Armor is not a Dungeons & Dragons curse to be taken lightly, but the boost to AC and initiative make it worth the risk.
