Curse items

Curse items is one of the most despicable monster spells in NetHack. It is usually cast by a lich. This spell will curse up to six random items in your inventory if it succeeds; blessed items will become uncursed and uncursed items will become cursed. If you have half spell damage or magic resistance, the number of items cursed is capped at three; if you have both, the number is capped at two.

Intelligent artifacts will resist the curse 80% of the time; Magicbane will abosrb the curse harmlessly 95% of the time, but only if you wield it.

While containers can themselves be cursed by this spell, their contents can not. Because a bag of holding becomes much heavier if cursed, it is common for players to carry some means of uncursing a bag of holding outside of the bag itself, such as in a non-magical greased bag or oilskin sack. Good items for uncursing a bag of holding include a blessed scroll of remove curse, potion of holy water, or a wand of cancellation.

In order to minimize the negative effects of this spell, it may be worthwhile to bless items in main inventory that are not intrinsically improved by being blessed (such as armor). Another tactic involves filling up inventory slots with individual rocks or gems, each given a different name so that they will not stack together. Since the cursing effect randomly chooses items from inventory, this reduces the chance that a valuable item will be hit.

Messages

"A malignant aura surrounds you. You feel as if you need some help."

Some random inventory items were cursed.

"You feel a malignant aura surround the magic-absorbing blade."

Magicbane, when wielded, has a 95% chance of harmlessly absorbing the curse, producing no ill effects.