Have you as a DM ever spent your creative
energies putting a really fun (for you)
cursed magic item in your dungeon, only
to be faced with a player who can give
you a complete inventory of them from
the Dungeon Masters Guide? Even without
this problem, there are so few
malignly charmed articles that you could
conceivably run out of tricks ?from the
book? to pull on your players. To fill this
vacuum, here are a few additional items
to pop into your campaign:

Ring of gaseous form -- What would
normally be a boon in potion form
becomes the opposite when in the shape
of a ring. It will operate exactly like the
liquid, turning any character and all of
his equipment, carried or worn, into an
indefinable mist. While at first the player
may be excited, his enthusiasm will
quickly wane once he realizes that he
can?t find his finger to remove the ring.
He will remain in gaseous form until the
proper magics can be cast. While wearing
the ring, the affected character will have
all the abilities, and lack thereof, that are
usually attributed to the potion, i.e., base
movement at 3?/round; unharmable
except by magical fires, lightning, or
whirlwinds; no combat ability; no spell
casting abilities. The only way to remove
this cursed ring is to cause the character
to return to solid form by a remove curse
spell cast upon the gaseous character
(which will suppress the ring?s effect for
one turn) followed by a second remove
curse before the character turns gaseous
again. A single wish spell, properly
worded, will also suffice, as will two
limited wishes or a pair of castings of
alter reality.

Medallion of protection from thieves,
30? radius -- This ornately jeweled
medallion, an item no greedy thief could
possibly resist, is actually quite beneficial
to the party ? everyone, that is, except
the thief. It is most effective if the filcher
of the group is the first to spot it and
decides to lift a little extra treasure for
himself. Regardless of who is carrying
this item, it will cause the thieving abilities
(including back stabbing) of any thief
or assassin character within 30? to drop to
zero percent. Under no circumstances
should the players be told of this predicament;
all attempts by thieves to use their
abilities should be rolled by the Dungeon
Master as normal, but all dice results
should be ignored. Note that thieves will
still have the usual 20% chance over the
base rate (now zero percent) of going
undetected on a pickpocketing attempt,
although the actual attempt will still fail.
Back stabbing becomes a normal rear
attack (at +2) for purposes of the medallion
?s effects. It is always possible to take
this item off, although it functions
whether it is worn or carried.

Helm of enemy nondetection -- This
helm radiates magick if such is detected
for, and is curious only in the fact that
while it has a hinged visor, the visor is
immovable, apparently stuck in the ?up?
position. The helmet can easily be put on
and taken off until it is "triggered,"
which happens the first time any fighter
wears it into actual combat. At this point,
the visor will snap shut, and since it has
no slits in it, this leaves the wearer
blinded. Attacks will be made at -4 ?to
hit,? and all attacks against the user are
at +4 ?to hit.? The visor will automatically
open once the battle ends or the
character loses consciousness; however, at
this point the helm is not removable
without a remove curse spell. 

Dagger of monster calling -- This little
weapon operates just like a standard +l
dagger until it comes within sighting  <distance>
of any evil-intentioned monster.
Then it will begin calling out, in a very
loud, high-pitched voice, to these nearby
evil creatures in their native tongue, and
will curse and insult them intolerably. If
the encountered creature does not speak
any language, the dagger will emit a
screaming wail sounding remarkably like
a poor, defenseless animal waiting to be
eaten. This dagger can easily ?teleport?
into a character?s possessions, like any
cursed weapon, if the owner makes a
simple attempt to discard it.

Ring of hypochondria -- This ring
may frustrate the most thorough of trialand-
error examinations, since it will do
nothing for one week after the owner begins
wearing it, although it will radiate
magic (an identify spell may work to
reveal its talents). Unlike most cursed
rings, this ring is always removable. After
the wearer has had the item on for the
requisite week, he will believe himself to
be suffering the symptoms of a randomly
determined disease (see page 14 of the
DMG). The symptoms will continue to
be felt for one entire week once begun
whether the ring is worn or not; note,
however, that the disease itself is not
actually present. If the ring is still worn
after the second week, a new randomly
determined disease will be believed to
plague the individual, but as before no
actual disease will be present. This process
will continue indefinitely, with the
symptoms changing each week until the
ring is taken off and left off permanently.
Of course, there won?t be a doctor anywhere
who will be able to find anything
wrong with the character. Other rings of
this sort might provide +l protection or
some other minor magical benefit, making
them of debatable usefulness.

Arrows of conscientious objection --
These magickal arrows absolutely refuse to
FIGHT. Once placed in a quiver or container
with a character's regular arrows,
they will transmute themselves to look
exactly like the other arrows. Their difference
will become obvious as soon as <someone> attempts to use them. When one is
fired, it will vanish only inches before
striking a hostile target (doing no damage
to the target). Since the cursed arrows
have changed their appearance, it should
be impossible to separate the mundane
from the magickal without a detect magick
spell (and not even then, if the cursed
arrows are in the same container with
regular magical arrows). 20%
of these arrows will NOT vanish, but will
turn into daisies just before reaching their
destination (also doing no damage, of
course, unless the creature has an allergic
reaction). 

SEPTEMBER 1983