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Old 04-01-2016, 11:32 PM   #1
Pseudonym
 
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Default Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

If I want to make an item with sorcery that gives the wearer a disadvantage instead of an advantage, or maybe a combination of advantages and disadvantages, how do I calculate the price of the ring?
I was thinking either of:
  1. Price it as if the disadvantage was named in positive points
  2. Or going a step further, since an affliction that creates an advantage or disadvantage has an enhancement equal to the cost of the advantage or 1/10th of the absolute value of the disadvantage, the cost of the enchantment is based on 1/10 of the absolute value of the points from the disadvantage.
Thoughts?
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Old 04-04-2016, 11:12 AM   #2
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Default Re: Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

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?
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Old 04-04-2016, 11:31 AM   #3
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Default Re: Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

Sounds good.

Use the cost for Innate Attack for curses that causes damage.
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Old 04-04-2016, 12:59 PM   #4
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Default Re: Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

Quote:
Originally Posted by PK View Post
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?
If I understand the guidance, Simply make a malediction affliction with disadvantage enhancement, probably use the Magical Modifier instead of the Sorcerous modifier (because the target is obviously not going to voluntarily spend FP or dance a jig to curse himself) and use an extended duration of permanent or cosmic-ish permanence to make it require a curse removal and calculate EP off of that?

Then I can consider, for example, a cursed ring that can't be taken off, a special effect? [Could be weird if someone with regrowth decided to cut off a finger to remove the ring though! I'd allow it as a GM.]
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Old 04-04-2016, 01:02 PM   #5
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Default Re: Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pseudonym View Post
[Could be weird if someone with regrowth decided to cut off a finger to remove the ring though! I'd allow it as a GM.]
Permanent +150% requires a dispelling condition of some sort, so with an item that cannot be removed, like that cursed ring, cutting off the affected body part could well serve as the dispelling condition.
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Old 04-06-2016, 11:52 PM   #6
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Default Re: Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

I wrote a blog post about my thoughts and your guys' contributions here.
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Old 04-07-2016, 12:29 AM   #7
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Default Re: Sorcery: Craft Cursed Item?

Quote:
Originally Posted by PK View Post
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.
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