Corrupted Magical Artifacts

Corrupted Artifacts

As powerful as the enchantments placed on Unstable Artifacts are, they are not beyond the influence and malevolence of the many people of Alwaus. Sometimes, either through chance, deterioration, or ill will, and artifact's enchantment will be corrupted, and instead of providing the benefits it was initially designed for the artifact lashes out at whomever attempts to wield its power. The exact nature of each artifact's corruption is determined by the GM, but some examples are available in the chart below. As always, the example below are for illustrative purposes, and the GM will likely present curses than the ones below during an adventure.

Corrupted Item's Curse Effect
Curse of the Shapeshifter: The cursed character immediately goes through the transformation process described in the Lycean Ancestry Archetype ability. The first time it happens, the effect lasts for only a short time. After that, it follows the normal rules for the talent, with one exception: the transformation does not occur when the character is incapacitated due to having exceeded their strain threshold. Instead, the GM may spend h h generated in any check made by the character to trigger the transformation.
Curse of the Unyielding Spirit: A hostile spirit awakens. Shortly after the character falls asleep, the spirit appears to haunt them, and will stay around for a few hours. The ghost is immaterial and cannot be harmed by any means. The cursed character is the only one who can see or hear the spirit, and will not be able to rest until it is gone. The spirit whispers words to the character’s mind in an incomprehensible language. For every full day the character goes without getting enough sleep, besides regular effects, reduce their strain threshold by 2, recovering it all back on a full rest.
Curse of Silence: The cursed character cannot hear or speak. They will move their mouth, but sound won’t come out of it. They automatically fail any Perception checks that requires hearing, and add bbb to any social skill checks made to communicate with someone. Furthermore, they cannot cast spells.
Curse of the Fragile Body: The cursed character’s wound threshold is reduced to half (rounded up), and their Brawn is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1. Additionally, they upgrade the difficulty of any Resilience checks they attempt twice.
Curse of Enduring Wounds: The cursed character may not remove Critical Injuries they suffer by any means. Additionally, their wound threshold is reduced by 1 for each Critical Injury they are suffering.
Curse of Phasing: Before resolving any action, the GM may spend hh generated in any check made by the cursed character to force them to blink out of existence for a short time. During structured encounters, the effect is the first thing that happens when resolving an action or maneuver, and the character comes back at the end of their next turn. During narrative encounters, the effect lasts for a few minutes. They return as if resuming the motions they was previously making, and have no recollection of any gaps in their timeline. That means they may still hit an enemy who hasn’t moved with an arrow, or jump over a pit if circumstances didn’t change.
Curse of Fading: Any person who doesn’t come into contact with the cursed character for even the shortest of periods gradually and completely forgets they ever existed. In 1 day without any contact, anyone who knew the character well will only vaguely remember them as either a distant ally, someone unimportant or an irrelevant rival. In 3 days without any contact, anyone who knew them well will remember that they exist, and not much more. After a full week without any contact, anyone who knew them well will have completely forgotten any and everything about their existence. Breaking the curse will not restore the memory of those already affected, only prevent it from affecting any more people.
Curse of Rotten Odors: The cursed character starts to gradually and constantly produce a stench of rotten carcasses, which becomes stronger each day and cannot be washed off. During the first day, the odor intensifies to an unpleasant amount. Upgrade the difficulty of any social checks made by the character once. During the second and third days, it becomes very noticeable at medium range and closer. Anyone engaged with the character is disoriented. Upgrade the difficulty of any social checks made by the character twice. After 3 days, the odor can be felt from up to long range; anyone within short range of the character is disoriented. Upgrade the difficulty of any social checks made by them three times. Some social interactions become Impossible.
Curse of Truth: The cursed character becomes incapable of lying and actively tries to speak true information whenever someone asks for any. They cannot speak something they know to be false, automatically failing any check associated with the attempt. Additionally, upgrade the difficulty of any checks made to try to conceal the truth three times, even when simply trying to remain silent or hide the information sought after with truthful facts.
Curse of Time: The cursed character feels their very existence start to steadily fade away. If the curse is not lifted in 7 days, they disappear from space and time. Nobody ever recalls them existing. It is as if they had never existed in the first place. They always know exactly how much time they have left.

Once effected by a Corrupted Unstable Artifact's Curse, any character may make a Hard (ddd ) check in the Knowledge skill that best represents the curse's origin or effect. On a successful check, a number of a may be spent to gain further insight on the procedure required to life the curse, while TRIUMPH may be spent to either know the curse's exact effect, or the exact procedure to life the curse. On a failed check, a and t may be spent to know a place nearby that where more information might be found, or perhaps some old friend with a unique insight into this particular item's curse. In either case, it is usually imperative that the curse be dealt with as soon as possible, as they can be fatal if not cared for correctly.


Lifting a Curse


The effects of a Corrupted & Unstable Artifact are some of the most powerful magic known in Alwaus, and most who are afflicted by such an item's curse are doomed to suffer its effect until their death. But if a character is resolute in their desire to be rid of the curse they can begin their search to find a cure. Breaking most curses requires a variety of steps, varying with the severity and complexity of the initial item's corruption, with the most complex curses taking up to four steps to rid a character of the item's curse. The final step of breaking most curses is the ritual : after everything else is done, a ritual, simple or complex, makes everything come together and frees the character’s spirit from the curse.


The most likely steps needs to lift the curse of a Corrupted Artifact come in some flavor of the following tasks:

Task Required To Remove A Corrupted Item's Curse
Retrieve an Object : Be it a bark of the oldest oak tree in the kingdom or the long-lost Ceremonial Dagger of Unbinding, a step requiring characters to retrieve an item forces them to travel to a likely dangerous place. The challenge presented by this step should be the dangers of the place where the object can be found.
Get a Person Involved : Many curses need to be broken by a specific person. That person might need to be physically present during the ritual, or you might simply require their blood, or words might be needed to be spoken either to or by that person. No matter how the person may be needed, whether voluntarily or not, whether fully or partially, that should count as a “get a person involved” step. The challenge presented by this step should be either convincing the person to help or accomplishing to get their help regardless of their will.
Destroy an Object : Something binds the character’s soul to the cursed item. If that object is destroyed, then the curse can be broken. This can be an urn containing the ashes of the item’s previous owner, or a trinket with which they were buried, or even a porcelain doll made as a catalyst for the curse to be cast. Anything can be the required object, and it should be somehow tied to the curse itself. The challenge presented by this step should be locating the object and identifying it.
Defeat Adversary : Someone’s life is bound to the curse. If that person is killed, the curse can be lifted. Killing someone, in the context of the curse, must not be the same as killing the leader of the bandits who have been tormenting the local villages for the past few months. Instead, it should be presented to the players as a terrible moral choice. If you want the players to kill the bandit leader, or someone perceived as dangerous and bad, instead of using this step, you should make them retrieve an object that is currently in the villain’s possession. The challenge presented by this step should be both coming to terms with the decision and avoiding being arrested.
The Ritual : A physical and spiritual procedure that requires certain actions to be performed at a certain place is usually the final step to end the curse. The ritual can require mundane objects like candles, plants and minerals, or the drawing of specific patterns on the floor and on the walls, or the undivided concentration of individuals around the cursed subject, or any combination of these. The place can be the old home of a deceased person somehow related to the curse, or the crypt of the family with whom the curse originated, or the bell tower of a specific church. If multiple steps are required to lift the curse, every other step must be accomplished before the ritual can be attempted. The ritual could be as simple as a Dispel Action, or as complex as a multilayered procedure involving the purchase of dozens of candles and making a circle of 12 willing people around the cursed item and character, who must be covered in the dust of fine-powdered lapis lazuli. The only 2 elements that must always be present in the ritual are the cursed character and the cursed item.

Corrupted Artifact Abilities & Purifying Corrupted Artifacts

A Corrupted Unstable Artifact does not function normally before the corruption is removed. It is still a usable item, however it is hindered greatly but the corruption interfering with it's intended capabilities. If a Corrupted Artifact is a weapon, its stats are those of a regular weapon that closely resembles the Corrupted one’s profile with a slight buff to one of its stats to make it resemble the unstable weapon’s profile. It also does not have any unique qualities it would otherwise.

For example, if the players find a cursed Ivory Shooter, instead of its legendary-grade stats and abilities, treat it as a Longbow with regular stats and Damage 9.

Additionally, a Corrupted Artifact will normally have one of the cursed qualities shown below, at least until the corruption is lifted. This additional quality is not bound to the character, but rather to the item itself. Anyone who carries or uses the object will suffer the described effect. Once the Corrupted Artifact's Curse has been lifted and cleansed, the Corrupted Artifact is no longer considered corrupted and instead is treated like a normal Unstable Artifact.

Cursed Weapon Qualities
Unlucky : Every check made with the item automatically generates h h.
Haunting : Upgrade the difficulty of every check made with the item once.
Ominous : At the start of every encounter, move 1 Story Point to the GM’s pool.
Draining : While carrying the item, whenever a check generates at least THREAT, the character suffers 2 strain. This effect happens in addition to other effects the h generated may cause.
Unnerving : While carrying the item, whenever a character suffers any number of strain, they suffer 1 additional strain.