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Armor of Vulnerability

Armor Of Vulnerability
  • Category: Armor (Any Light, Medium, or Heavy)
  • Rarity: Rare (Requires Attunement)

While wearing this armor, you have Resistance to one of the following damage types: Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing. The GM chooses the type or determines it randomly.

Curse. This armor is cursed, a fact that is revealed only when the Identify spell is cast on the armor or you attune to it. Attuning to the armor curses you until you are targeted by a Remove Curse spell or similar magic; removing the armor fails to end the curse. While cursed, you have Vulnerability to two of the three damage types associated with the armor (not the one to which it grants Resistance).

Tactical Applications​

Combat Strategy: Provides resistance to one physical damage type while creating severe vulnerability to the other two. Requires extremely careful tactical positioning and enemy knowledge to use effectively.

Class Synergies:

  • No Class Benefits Directly: The curse generally makes this armor detrimental to all classes
  • Potential Edge Cases: Characters with other sources of resistance might mitigate some vulnerabilities
  • Last Resort: May be useful when facing enemies that exclusively use the resisted damage type

Build Considerations: Generally avoided due to the curse. Only potentially viable in very specific scenarios with extensive magical support or facing known single-damage-type threats.

Acquisition Methods​

Crafting Requirements: Often created accidentally by inexperienced enchanters or deliberately by malicious creators. May result from corrupted armor enhancement processes.

Common Sources:

  • Trapped treasure hoards designed to deceive adventurers
  • Shops run by unscrupulous or incompetent merchants
  • Cursed armories of fallen kingdoms
  • Rewards from entities with hidden malicious intent

Alternative Acquisition: Sometimes appears as "enhanced" armor that reveals its true nature only after attunement, making identification crucial before use.

Value & Trade​

Estimated Value: Negative value once the curse is known. May be sold for 1,000-3,000 gp by those unaware of the curse.

Trade Considerations: Extremely dangerous to trade without full disclosure. Selling cursed items unknowingly may result in legal and ethical complications.

Character Integration​

Roleplay Elements: Characters may struggle with the decision to use potentially beneficial but ultimately harmful equipment. Creates opportunities for curse-breaking quests.

Character Concepts:

  • Desperate warrior who knowingly accepts the curse for the resistance benefit
  • Victim of deceptive equipment acquisition seeking curse removal
  • Scholar studying cursed items and their effects
  • Paladin sworn to destroy cursed equipment

Adventure Hooks​

The Cursed Armory: An entire military unit has been equipped with vulnerability armor, requiring the party to help break the curse before a crucial battle.

The Malicious Merchant: A traveling equipment dealer is unknowingly selling cursed armor, and the party must track down previous customers to warn them.

The Desperate Bargain: An ally is dying from attacks of one damage type and willingly dons vulnerability armor, accepting the risks for temporary survival.

The Curse Study: A magical academy requests the party's help in safely studying cursed items to develop better protection and removal methods.

Variants & Customization​

Greater Vulnerability Armor (Very Rare Curse): Provides immunity to one damage type but vulnerability to multiple others, including magical damage types.

Adaptive Vulnerability Armor (Legendary Curse): The resistance and vulnerabilities change randomly each day, making tactical planning nearly impossible.

Malicious Vulnerability Armor (Artifact Curse): Cannot be removed even with Remove Curse and spreads its curse to other equipment over time.

Specialized Variants:

  • Elemental Vulnerability Armor: Affects elemental damage types instead of physical
  • Mental Vulnerability Armor: Provides psychic resistance but vulnerability to charm and fear effects
  • Divine Vulnerability Armor: Affects radiant/necrotic damage with additional curse effects

Lore & History​

Origins: Most often created through magical accidents, sabotage, or deliberate creation by malicious entities seeking to weaken their enemies.

Historical Significance: Several military defeats in history have been attributed to armies unknowingly equipped with vulnerability armor by enemy agents.

Cultural Impact: In many societies, the existence of such armor has led to mandatory magical identification of all enchanted equipment before military deployment.

Curse Theory: The curse represents a fundamental imbalance in protective magic, where the enhancement of one aspect requires the sacrifice of others.

Balancing Notes​

Introduction Timing: Can be introduced at any level as a cautionary element about magical identification and the risks of unknown enchanted items.

Campaign Impact: Serves as a lesson about the importance of magical identification and the potential dangers of cursed items.

Curse Management: The difficulty of curse removal creates meaningful consequences for hasty equipment decisions while providing quest opportunities.

Encounter Design​

Recommended Challenges:

  • Situations where the party must decide whether to risk using potentially cursed equipment
  • Encounters that test the party's knowledge about magical identification
  • Mixed damage type encounters that exploit the armor's vulnerabilities
  • Social encounters involving the ethics of cursed item trading

Tactical Adjustments: Intelligent enemies may learn about the curse and deliberately target the vulnerabilities it creates.

Cursed Equipment: Other cursed items that provide benefits at significant costs, teaching players about risk assessment.

Curse Detection:

  • Items and spells that can identify curses before attunement
  • Equipment that provides protection against curse effects
  • Tools for curse removal and mitigation

Complementary Equipment: Items that might mitigate the vulnerabilities created by the curse, though these combinations are rare and expensive.

Roleplay Opportunities​

Moral Dilemmas: Characters must decide whether to warn others about cursed items or how to handle merchants selling them unknowingly.

Trust Issues: Discovering cursed equipment may create suspicion about other magical items and their sources.

Quest Motivation: The need for curse removal creates strong motivation for seeking powerful clerical magic or rare curse-breaking artifacts.