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I picked up a gem lying on the floor of a shop in Berdusk. (I forgot to log this - sorry). I immediately got a message that angry undead were beginning to stir because I had violated the tomb. This message appeared in my qlog:

You have angered the dead of the Eleven Tombs by stealing from them.

Of course, I haven't even been to the Eleven Tombs yet. I had no idea what the discarded gem was. The gem in question should probably only activate if it is actually stolen from the tombs.

I don't know. Maybe.

That's pretty standard fare from media though: you picked up an accursed object and incur the wrath of the lost pharaoh Bubba-Hotep.

I don't watch much of that genre, but a tracer spell that would work out of the immediate area would need a decently powerful caster, I'd think. None of the mobs I've seen there are casters, so unless there actually is a secret lich-pharoah Bubba-Hotep, I think it'd make sense to limit it to the area. That said, I would totally support adding Bubba-Hotep.

In the end, though, does the spell eminate from the object or the area? It seems to me like the breakdown would go something like this: PC grabs object, object bestows curse, area reacts to subtle curse placed on PC. The IC wording doesn't reflect that, though, so something--the flavor text or the function--needs a small amendment imo.

I'm not an expert on magical lore, but besides the tracer spell, the other sort I can think of would be one that woke the undead and acted as a beacon as long as the person held it. Mummies hate the living, so that's all the compulsion they'd need. A wizard could bind spells of detect magic or detect living into mummies he created, giving them a way to locate the intruder. An item could be cursed so you can't drop it, but I think you'd need an active caster to bind a curse to a specific person.

From my reading/viewing in this genre, the curse follows the item. "Oh, you have Blackbeard's gold? Wonderful! That can't go ba-OH GOD WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? Hey.... free gold. I'll just take this and be on my w-"

Alitar wrote:From my reading/viewing in this genre, the curse follows the item. "Oh, you have Blackbeard's gold? Wonderful! That can't go ba-OH GOD WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? Hey.... free gold. I'll just take this and be on my w-"

More or less that's how I usually understand a curse from beyond or the grave to work. I agree.

I adjusted this object and its bits to respect where you found the object. It won't be perfect of course, but it should be a little better. Thanks for the lively discussion.

Pending copyover to the game port.