You can get rid of those sorts of curses later with a certain building unlock, but it takes a while to get that. Just have to kind of go for a mix of dropping some chars, adapting to curses with others, or ignoring the item if possible. (Just try to get your stagecoach to where you always have 4+ replacement choices available when you get back to town.. also pump up your barracks capacity.)
Re: trapped chests, you can avoid most problems with those by learning to spot mimics and using sacrificial chars to map out the consequences of the actions taken (as you encounter each potential result, the game will show % chances of outcomes for specific interactions.)
Kidnappings can feel devastating in the beginning, but as options increase they're really not so bad.