Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by PK

Good question. I haven't come up with anything canonical for this yet, so it's open to discussion.

(Note that, below, when I capitalize Advantage or Disadvantage, I'm referring specifically to the special modifiers for Affliction, not to the general GURPS concepts of advantages or disadvantages; the latter are never capitalized.)

Since Enchant is based on a simple permanent Affliction, one's gut reaction might be that this is simply swapping the usual Advantage-based build for a Disadvantage-based one. So an "always on" cursed item would be based on the usual value for the disadvantage(s), multiplied by -1/10 and then rounded up. However, that makes it dirt cheap to build cursed items, while also leaving it possible for the person to simply remove the cursed item. At first, I was going to suggest adding something like a Divine Curse or Vow to keep the item on for -5 points, but that's not really a fair value, because the true disadvantage value of being forced to wear the item is equal to the disadvantages it inflicts.

So what seems like the best way to handle this IMO is by building the actual curse spell as its own thing -- as an Affliction that contests the wearer's Will or HT and, if it wins, permanently imposes disadvantages, afflictions, and/or attribute penalties on the wearer. (Whether he can remove the cursed item or not afterward is a matter of taste; the point is that the curse itself lasts until Remove Curse is cast.) Then calculate EP based on the "curse spell" as a whole. Does that make sense?

There are two approaches to cursed items. One is to make the curse sticky. The other is to make the cursed item itself sticky. Either it can't be removed without a remove curse, or it just keeps reappearing in your possession.