One of my professional projects and working on Citadel LARP have converged on exploring magic item flaws of varying severity. The space between a flaw and a curse is largely semantic, but if you’re compelled to keep using the item that doesn’t work quite as advertised, that’s definitely a curse. In this post, I’m just trying to get the creative molasses flowing, because I’ve been so buried in other projects that this blog has been quiet… too quiet.

I’m using the assumptions and language of 5e D&D here. These don’t all work for every item—not even close. That’s not my goal. Look for effects that do mean something for a given magic item.

1d20 Result – Effect

1. Dormant. The item’s powers go dormant each day at dawn when it renews its charges. The item has no beneficial properties other than indestructibility until a creature uses an action to expend a Hit Point Die. (Alternatively, a spell slot; also, the number of Hit Point Dice or level of the spell slot might scale with item rarity.)
2. Sparking. When you expend a charge from the item, make a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw. On a failure, you take 1d10 Force damage from magical static.
3. Crumbling.When you use any of the item’s beneficial properties or make an attack with it, it seems like it’s about to break. When you finish a Long Rest, you must make a DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check using a toolkit appropriate to the item and expend 10 GP in materials. On a failure, you can expend the material cost again and retry. If you use the item again without performing these repairs, it is destroyed after 24 hours.
4. Jealous. When you first attune this item and when you finish a Long Rest, your attunement to one other magic item ends. To attune that item again, you must spend an hour and succeed a DC 18 Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion) check. On a failure, you can’t try again with that item for 23 hours.
5. Infernal/Chthonic/Abyssal. While you are attuned to this item, your Type is Fiend, and a Lower Plane is your home plane: the Nine Hells (Infernal), the Gray Waste of Hades (Chthonic), or the Infinite Layers of the Abyss (Abyssal).
6. Ethereal Hunt. When you teleport while attuned to this item, and when you start your turn affected by Blink, ethereal entities reach out to claw at you. Melee Attack Roll: +6. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) Force damage and the ethereal entities can move you to a space of their choice within 15 feet of your intended destination.
7. Virtuous. You can’t choose yourself as the target of a beneficial effect from this item.
8. Voice Thief. After you use this item’s beneficial properties, you can’t speak or use Verbal components for 10 minutes.
9. Distracting. The DC of saving throws you roll to maintain Concentration increases by 5.
10. Hesitant. You have Disadvantage on Initiative rolls.
11. Reluctant in Battle. You can’t draw this weapon until you take damage. You can wield other weapons normally. When you have no enemies within 90 feet, the weapon returns to its sheath, scabbard, or other storage.
12. Ephemeral Transformation. When you target a creature with a Transmutation effect created by this item, the target’s Hit Point Maximum decreases by 5 until they finish a Long Rest.
13. Unnamable. You can’t speak the name of this item, or any of the words of its name other than articles or prepositions. If you do, make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw; on a failure, gain 1 Exhaustion level.
14. Fey Deceit. When you finish a Long Rest, 2d10 GP in your possession become worthless leaves and flower petals. If you have no GP in your possession, the magic item returns to the Feywild, replacing itself with a nonmagical copy.
15. Doomed. The DC of death saving throws you roll increases by 5.
16. Nightmare Touched. When you finish a Long Rest, roll a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, pick one: you don’t regain Hit Points, you don’t regain expended spell slots, or you gain 1 Exhaustion level.
17. Whispers of Intent. Disembodied voices whisper your true intentions, audible to anyone within 30 feet. You can’t hide your intentions and automatically fail many forms of Charisma (Deception) checks.
18. Dolorous Wound. This item reopens old wounds. When you attune this item, you must drink a Potion of Healing or become unable to regain Hit Points through any other means. Every seven days thereafter, or each time you attune the item, you must drink another Potion of Healing.
19. Frail. When you take damage while Bloodied, you have Disadvantage on your next D20 Test that you make before the end your next turn.
20. Silver-Corded. This item is projected from the Astral Realm. When a creature scores a critical hit on you, you can’t use any of the item’s properties for 1 minute, as its silver cord to the Astral is temporarily disrupted. If you receive a critical hit from a Greater Silver Sword, the item returns to the Astral Realm permanently.

I know that it’s tough to keep track of flaws, because players don’t have an instinctive incentive to remember things that work against their goals. To me, the response to that is, “Ah, well, do your best, none of us are perfect,” and maybe “why not sweeten that pot with Heroic Inspiration every now and again?”

You can tell a lot about the kind of thing that I like based on these. I mean, if you haven’t already been reading my blog for fifteen years and just already know. I’m going for meaningful mechanical drawbacks that are inconvenient but not ruining anyone’s gameplay (but maybe don’t give Whispers of Intent to something you want a Rogue to enjoy). I find no joy in flaws that make a joke at the player’s expense or that generally detract from a mood somewhere on the heroic-to-grim spectrum—I think that creating that mood is a highwire act for everyone at the table, so what if we didn’t make it harder? Many wonderful gamers don’t share this perspective, but that’s okay as long as they know I will probably spend the whole game taking myself too seriously.

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