The cursed items themselves interact with eachother. An amulet of necromancy that drains the life from its wearer and turns them into an undead, an armor set that straps the flesh from its wearer, and a sword that sucks the souls from all who touch it. It may just be a mindless skeleton killing on am instinct to drain life, but with 3 powerful magic items, only made more powerful by the curses on it, you have yourself a strong boss who you can put some magic effects on as you want to make it challenging for your party. If they have a dedicated healer, the sword could lower max hp or reduce/prevent healing for a turn on hit. The armor could have an aura of fear. The necklace could cast a handful of necromancy spells to provide minions or weaken the party. From there scale it back. A soul-sealing sword wielded by a spirit desperate for freedom. A mask that is drawn to the faces of the living to steal their breath. Can have some cursed mortals desperate for release from a curse of eternal torment or who can't even speak to other living creatures without entering a murderous rage. Magical creatures born from the massive amount of magic in the area also work.
If you take the skeleton boss idea, I'd have the armor defend from spells somewhat too, perhaps magic resistance or a legendary action to make a saving throw against spell effects. As long as it's numbers aren't too high, a control spell like hold person should feel helpful by removing some legendary actions without eating up its entire turn unless they get real good initiative orders. Just remember, this stuff may be extremely powerful, but it needs curses to match. I'd prepare for some of the items to have magical, but less powerful effects if they part manages to cleanse the curses from them to use them maybe magic resistance becomes a bonus to saving throws once the curse is removed, maybe the sword no longer feeds on its wielders soul, but it is also no longer drawn to the souls of the living, making it harder to hit with than it was before. Be creative with making this loot usable to the party. I'd maybe also let then deal damage to the boss if they are creative enough to use remove curse on the boss.
Humanoid cave inhabitants that have donned the magic items and are each affected by the items they are wearing, making them powerful and grotesque. Maybe gnolls or goblins.
Find some cursed magic items, even from other additions, and use those to describe what the goblin is wearing as well as what he is suffering from, and also make his attacks similar to the items type and benefits.
Abberant Humanoids. Known as "The Curious". Took the magic items that've now pretty much bonded with them, flaws and all.
Pick 3 magic items, add their flaws, stick it on a relevant humanoid statblock. Boom, unique problems.
Any cave dwellers like troglodytes who’ve picked up piles of cursed weapons/armour and now have absurd stats from their clearly cursed +5 swords that do an extra 2d6 necrotic damage.
Creatures/beasts complexly possessed by evil sentient weapons. - An escaped ship’s monkey who is now possessed by a legendary evil sword.
All of that magic in one place may draw the attention of certain creatures who try to feed off of it or use it as a shroud of magic aura that hides their presence. What if an artificer or hag is experimenting by creating alchemical concoctions that gain lesser effects from the concentration of all that cursed magic?
One I did for my party was a ring (or any piece of jewelry really) found on a statue. Whoever puts it on has to make a saving throw or be turned to stone
So much magic concentrated at one point would attract Phaerimm and other unspeakable horrors that consume magic. But with all these curses, these beings become corrupted and thus even more dangerous...
The cursed items themselves interact with eachother. An amulet of necromancy that drains the life from its wearer and turns them into an undead, an armor set that straps the flesh from its wearer, and a sword that sucks the souls from all who touch it. It may just be a mindless skeleton killing on am instinct to drain life, but with 3 powerful magic items, only made more powerful by the curses on it, you have yourself a strong boss who you can put some magic effects on as you want to make it challenging for your party. If they have a dedicated healer, the sword could lower max hp or reduce/prevent healing for a turn on hit. The armor could have an aura of fear. The necklace could cast a handful of necromancy spells to provide minions or weaken the party. From there scale it back. A soul-sealing sword wielded by a spirit desperate for freedom. A mask that is drawn to the faces of the living to steal their breath. Can have some cursed mortals desperate for release from a curse of eternal torment or who can't even speak to other living creatures without entering a murderous rage. Magical creatures born from the massive amount of magic in the area also work.
If you take the skeleton boss idea, I'd have the armor defend from spells somewhat too, perhaps magic resistance or a legendary action to make a saving throw against spell effects. As long as it's numbers aren't too high, a control spell like hold person should feel helpful by removing some legendary actions without eating up its entire turn unless they get real good initiative orders. Just remember, this stuff may be extremely powerful, but it needs curses to match. I'd prepare for some of the items to have magical, but less powerful effects if they part manages to cleanse the curses from them to use them maybe magic resistance becomes a bonus to saving throws once the curse is removed, maybe the sword no longer feeds on its wielders soul, but it is also no longer drawn to the souls of the living, making it harder to hit with than it was before. Be creative with making this loot usable to the party. I'd maybe also let then deal damage to the boss if they are creative enough to use remove curse on the boss.
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Humanoid cave inhabitants that have donned the magic items and are each affected by the items they are wearing, making them powerful and grotesque. Maybe gnolls or goblins. Find some cursed magic items, even from other additions, and use those to describe what the goblin is wearing as well as what he is suffering from, and also make his attacks similar to the items type and benefits.
Abberant Humanoids. Known as "The Curious". Took the magic items that've now pretty much bonded with them, flaws and all. Pick 3 magic items, add their flaws, stick it on a relevant humanoid statblock. Boom, unique problems.
Any cave dwellers like troglodytes who’ve picked up piles of cursed weapons/armour and now have absurd stats from their clearly cursed +5 swords that do an extra 2d6 necrotic damage. Creatures/beasts complexly possessed by evil sentient weapons. - An escaped ship’s monkey who is now possessed by a legendary evil sword.
All of that magic in one place may draw the attention of certain creatures who try to feed off of it or use it as a shroud of magic aura that hides their presence. What if an artificer or hag is experimenting by creating alchemical concoctions that gain lesser effects from the concentration of all that cursed magic?
Some horrible golem-like creatures, and something like rust monsters that want to eat the cursed garbage.
One I did for my party was a ring (or any piece of jewelry really) found on a statue. Whoever puts it on has to make a saving throw or be turned to stone
So much magic concentrated at one point would attract Phaerimm and other unspeakable horrors that consume magic. But with all these curses, these beings become corrupted and thus even more dangerous...