Frugal GM Review: #30 Cursed Treasures

Some of you may know that I used to work in retail management, and that my wife still does. On several levels I just don't "do" Black Friday. Getting up super early to save a few bucks and fight crowds largely over crap I don't need is something I don't need. Usually the stuff I want is on sale at "close-enough" to the Black Friday prices.

"Close Enough" being that when you compare the savings versus the resources-other-than-cash price it isn't worthwhile to me. I like to consider all resource allocation when determining if something is worthwhile.

Of course I still usually get up at oh-dark-thirty to support the Mrs. This morning I drove her to work before the 4 AM sale started and I'll pick her up from work when she's spent from the working side of Black Friday.

Now I actually did me some shopping, or at least some shopping that readers of this blog might care about. Instead of flipping through DriveThruRPG looking for stuff I might want to review, I bought a bunch of stuff off of my wishlist that I wanted for my own use.....and will review anyway. The first thing I chose to review had been on the wishlist for some time and I'm glad I finally put it into my online shopping cart.

#30 Cursed Treasures, from Rite Publishing, is specifically designed for Pathfinder, but easily adapted to any game system. There isn't really a lot to tweak from this gem of a product. I think  this sat in my wishlist for so long specifically because it was for Pathfinder, a game I don't play, and after only reading a few pages I was sorry I wanted so long.

This resource isn't for simply dumping a cursed item into your campaign because some random roll indicated an item should be cursed. If you want to put in an epic item with a rich history that can drive either the main action or a cool sub-plot, then #30 Cursed Treasures is for you.

The PDF is 23 pages and when you cut out the covers and OGL you have 20 great pages of content covering 30 cursed items. It might be important to note that these are cursed "items", not necessarily cursed "magic items". There are two pages depicting how to use the items in your campaign. Each item has a back-story, a triggering event, and how to get rid of the thing. I love the fact that simply donning or using these items don't automatically inflict the curse.

Before I had even read my first cursed item I was hooked on this product. There is a great in-character explanation of a non-specific cursed spear that took me back to one of my favorite fantasy books, "The Misenchanted Sword". Now I want to re-read the book....and cannot find my copy.

Well, that's my problem. While I realize that my own nostalgia might bias my review quite a bit. I think that the most useful portion of the PDF are the initial few pages talking about the generalities of these cursed items. That information, coupled with 30 great examples, is perfect for a GM to fashion their own cursed items that can really have a big impact on the game and not just be a minor annoyance that requires a quick visit to the local Cleric for a Remove Curse.

Now I don't know if this is a Black Friday or general sale, but at least today (well...right now) #30 Cursed Treasures in on sale for nearly 50% off. After reading this I think the PDF is worth the normal $3.96, so at $1.99 I suggest you stick this in your online cart as well.