Cursed Tome

Cursed Tome is an Act 2 event where the player finds a mysterious tome. Reading it deals 1, 2, then 3 HP damage across three page turns as you progress deeper, ultimately rewarding you with a random relic upon completing the reading. You can stop reading at any point, but only receive the relic after reading all three pages.

Cursed Tome costs 6 total HP to fully read (1+2+3) in exchange for a random relic. Whether this is worthwhile depends on your current HP and what relics you already have. A random relic is often strong enough to justify the 6 HP cost, particularly if you are at high HP in Act 2. Stopping early (after 1 or 2 pages) yields no reward, so the decision is binary: read all three pages for the relic, or avoid the event entirely. At low HP, the 6 HP cost may be too dangerous.