It's a Treasure AND a Hazard: Dazzling Gemstone
Posted: December 2nd, 2015, 11:14 amI wanted to introduce "cursed treasure" that had very simple rules, something that went in line with the vanilla HQ flavor. In the UK treasure deck, there is a "roll 1d6 x 10 gold coin" treasure card that forces you to miss your next turn. This is a good concept, the Hero is so busy gathering coins they lose track of time. However, I noticed my players often forget, (and I forget to remind them) to actually miss their next turn, because the card is simply titled "Gold!" and blends in with the rest of the mundane gold coin treasure cards.
So, I thought of something that had a more of a cursed identity. However instead of "tricking" the player after they touch an treasure, it could actually be worth something, but cause a hinderance. So, if perhaps they were close to the end, they might manage it, but if it's early on, they'd have to choose if it was worth holding onto this treasure or leaving it behind.
So here is the Dazzling Gemstone, (with art from the D&D module, Tomb of Horrors!):
Here it is greed itself that curses the Hero! (Almost like the splendor of the Arkenstone in the Hobbit) I didn't want to assign a crazy value of gold to it, (as there is a possible exploit that a clever player could think of to minimize the "curse" of this object that I haven't considered yet), but enough value that it would raise a considerable eyebrow, and act as a reminder for the player that they must adhere to the rule of the card so long as they choose to keep the treasure!
So, I thought of something that had a more of a cursed identity. However instead of "tricking" the player after they touch an treasure, it could actually be worth something, but cause a hinderance. So, if perhaps they were close to the end, they might manage it, but if it's early on, they'd have to choose if it was worth holding onto this treasure or leaving it behind.
So here is the Dazzling Gemstone, (with art from the D&D module, Tomb of Horrors!):
Here it is greed itself that curses the Hero! (Almost like the splendor of the Arkenstone in the Hobbit) I didn't want to assign a crazy value of gold to it, (as there is a possible exploit that a clever player could think of to minimize the "curse" of this object that I haven't considered yet), but enough value that it would raise a considerable eyebrow, and act as a reminder for the player that they must adhere to the rule of the card so long as they choose to keep the treasure!
After the final fight, in the "we search the rest for treasure" phase, they would likely keep it. But before? No way! To be tested!
so this treasure card is an addition to my 225 edition, not currently part of the batch! 
