I’ve been surprised how much I’ve enjoyed creating material for 13th Age games. It’s as though, after decades of supernatural and horror-based RPGs, my brain is throwing out all the fantasy & myth ideas it’s been saving up. Not surprisingly, the influence of darker RPGs still pokes through, as evidenced by a cursed magical item I created for a recent campaign.
True magic items in 13th Age are meant to be rare and priceless, even though the canonic world of the game is one of prevalent magic. How free that magic is, or who controls & directs such magic, is a common point of tension and narrative hooks. This item subverts that idea a bit.