AD&D - Cursed Items and Identifying them..

Cursed items can be fun and create great stories...

Cursed items. The bane of adventurers everywhere and the mischievous delight of dungeon masters. You know the drill—our plucky hero picks up a shiny new sword, only to find out it’s not so much “Sword of Slaying” as it is “Blade of Bondage.” But what makes cursed items so delightfully dangerous in AD&D isn’t just their effects—it’s the mystery surrounding them and the inherent gamble in figuring out what you’ve got. Enter the Identify spell.

Now, here’s the kicker: Identify isn’t the omnipotent panacea your magic-user thinks it is. First, you’ve got a costly material component—100gp worth of that sweet pearl. That’s a lot of gold to blow on a maybe. But worse yet, the spell doesn’t just hand over the full spec sheet on your shiny loot. Oh no, this isn’t a user manual; it’s more like a cryptic Yelp review. You might get the item's general function, but you’re not guaranteed to learn about any hidden surprises.

And those surprises? They’re what make cursed items unforgettable. Sure, that Gauntlets of Ogre Power might look legit at first glance, but once they’ve bonded to your poor fighter and reduced their Strength to a laughable 5, the real fun begins.

The beauty of cursed items in AD&D is the narrative potential they bring to the table. A cursed ring might trap a character’s soul, but it can also hook them into a quest to remove the curse—cue dramatic negotiations with a wizard or a dangerous trek to a holy site. And the tension? Chef’s kiss.

So next time you’ve got a shiny bauble in your campaign, think twice before you casually toss an Identify spell at it. Not every truth needs revealing—especially when ignorance can lead to a far more entertaining disaster.

Dungeon masters, remember: cursed items aren’t about punishing your players—they’re about creating unforgettable moments. After all, what’s a story without a little chaos? And adventurers? Well, maybe take a second before you strap that mysterious helmet to your noggin. You’ve been warned.