Clever Curses


Homebrew and House Rules

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Ravingdork wrote:
You can do that while keeping within RAW. See the above link. :D

How exactly is something like that RAW? Per the spell description, "You may also invent your own curse, but it should be no more powerful than those described above" (emphasis mine).

Yes, the Sanity and Madness rules do say what happens to someone with amnesia. But that doesn't necessarily make it a valid option for Bestow Curse. I would definitely consider losing "all class abilities, feats, and skill ranks" to be more powerful than the default options.


Tamago wrote:
Ravingdork wrote:
You can do that while keeping within RAW. See the above link. :D

How exactly is something like that RAW? Per the spell description, "You may also invent your own curse, but it should be no more powerful than those described above" (emphasis mine).

Yes, the Sanity and Madness rules do say what happens to someone with amnesia. But that doesn't necessarily make it a valid option for Bestow Curse. I would definitely consider losing "all class abilities, feats, and skill ranks" to be more powerful than the default options.

RD is referring to this line in the text of the rules he linked:

Sanity and Madness wrote:
Insanity can also be inflicted via magic. Consider allowing the spell insanity to merely inflict 1 randomly determined insanity per 5 caster levels on its victim rather than causing permanent confusion. Bestow curse can also inflict a single insanity on a foe, although in this case the insanity is also a curse.

Since Amnesia is one of the options- there you go.

Is it more powerful than the previous? Yes. Is it in keeping with most actual amnesia? Not really, since the majority of amnesia types interfere with making new memories rather than erasing old ones, particularly large swathes of both event- and procedure- based ones.

Interesting curses. I might use some of the "lesser" ones as low-level Necromancy and Transmutation spells, coupled with a few new spells that suspend curses, shorten their durations faster, or break weak ones (determined by spell level). Curses are an awesome part of stories, and I want more than one or two spells capable of causing them...


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A long time ago, I came up with the Curse of the TerrorBoner, but never put it to good use.

When under the effects of this curse, a male target will, immediately upon sight of a member of the opposite sex (or same sex, depending on the target's orientation), develop a particular anatomic enlargement that will refuse to go away under any circumstances, EXCEPT when the target finds himself in a situation where said enlargement would be advantageous. At that point, the enlargement reverses itself, and no manipulation will be able to return it to any other state until the advantageous situation no longer applies.

Best when cast Silent & Stilled right before your political rival goes out to make an important public speech.


Curse them so that every time they speak, it comes out sounding like a chicken clucking. Then apply sovereign glue and a bunch of feathers.

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darth_borehd wrote:
Curse them so that every time they speak, it comes out sounding like a chicken clucking. Then apply sovereign glue and a bunch of feathers.

It's the second part of that idea that really makes it :-)

One I just gave to one of my players, a Cleric of Erastil: every time he casts a spell, his Holy Symbol turns into an Unholy Symbol of Lamashtu. He's started carrying around a bagful of spare holy symbols to draw when necessary!


How about a curse that makes someone magnetic or anti-magnetic. The curse could prevent them from drawing metal weapons, or cause any metal that is on them to push away from them.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Tamago wrote:
darth_borehd wrote:
Curse them so that every time they speak, it comes out sounding like a chicken clucking. Then apply sovereign glue and a bunch of feathers.

It's the second part of that idea that really makes it :-)

One I just gave to one of my players, a Cleric of Erastil: every time he casts a spell, his Holy Symbol turns into an Unholy Symbol of Lamashtu. He's started carrying around a bagful of spare holy symbols to draw when necessary!

I like this one. Not only does it help spread Lamashtu's faith, it hinders the follower of Erastil.

That would be like a wizard losing his entire spell component pouch with EVERY SINGLE spell. Sure, they're cheap to buy, but the weight of carrying one for EACH spell is going to kill your average 8 strength wizard.


Some of these curses are unreasonable, especially the curse of amnesia. FAQ flagged; RAW or not, that needs to be fixed.


We had a rogue in 2e that ended up with a cursed coin that made him give away his money to the poor. He still stole and gathered loot but whenever he was in civilization he would dump all his coin to beggars and the local charities.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Foghammer wrote:
Some of these curses are unreasonable, especially the curse of amnesia. FAQ flagged; RAW or not, that needs to be fixed.

Considering it requires a touch attack (which puts you in danger), requires a save (which is strong for most), must get past spell resistance, and is equivalent to other 4th-level spell effects (like phantasmal killer, or being stuck taking no actions half the time FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE), I'm not seeing anything that needs to be fixed here.

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Ravingdork wrote:
Tamago wrote:
One I just gave to one of my players, a Cleric of Erastil: every time he casts a spell, his Holy Symbol turns into an Unholy Symbol of Lamashtu. He's started carrying around a bagful of spare holy symbols to draw when necessary!

I like this one. Not only does it help spread Lamashtu's faith, it hinders the follower of Erastil.

That would be like a wizard losing his entire spell component pouch with EVERY SINGLE spell. Sure, they're cheap to buy, but the weight of carrying one for EACH spell is going to kill your average 8 strength wizard.

Yeah, it's not too bad for a Cleric, particularly if he's got a Handy Haversack or something. But having to spend an extra move action every time he wants to cast a spell is suitably annoying, while still not being as crippling (and un-fun for the player) as losing half his actions.


Hey RD, if you want to have fun with curses go a gravewalker witch. bestow curse at 5th level, and you can stick pins in your doll to avoid having to get into close combat.
plus, of course, you're a witch cursing people by sticking pins into a doll. i mean, that has to count for something...

Curse of the bimbo (works best on female targets.): target becomes unusually attractive, and any clothes they wear become revealing to the point of inappropriate. the target takes -6 on diplomacy and intimidate checks, as anyone who meets them gets the impression that they are shallow and vain. recommended target: that apprentice rival of yours just before she goes and makes her graduation presentation in front of the whole board of the university... or on a politician as they start their campaign... or on some random in the street who look like they take themselves too seriously.


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I'm surprised no one has gone for the alternate form curse. I don't just mean a reskinned polymorph, but rather conditional transformations, such as in Ranma 1/2, where protagonist is transformed into a female version of himself and back again when touched by water of varying temperatures. That example only really holds weight in a more role-play based game, where the embarassment and attempt to hide one's gender or other transformation get played up. Alternate versions of the curse involve the character taking on an animal shape when conditions are met, which may have its advantages, but should definitely be disadvantageous as well, and the alternate form should be carefully selected by the GM or caster. Being able to transform into a killer panda may make you able to fight on the front lines, but if you're the caster, then the party might find themselves in a sticky wicket when you can't vocalize your spells.

This curse can be further played up if the alternate form has its own personality and motives, and even class levels. If your brave male cavalier transforms into a buxom, but ditzy sorceress during high tide, that makes for interesting roleplay opportunites.

-EDIT-

It's these kinds of curses that may often be less harmful to the target, but can lead to stories all there own. Imagine going on a quest to rid oneself of the curse of an night-gaunt alter-ego, but then learning to accept it as part of they are.

Then again, It may be that I watch too much anime.


How about a curse to submit to hostile spells? Or at least remove the auto succeed of a save on a natural 1.

Curse a target to always identify itself for the purposes of Magic Jar, so as to remove the randomness associated with trying to possess the body.

Curse the target to not be hostile to the caster, unless it is obviously under attack.

I am thinking that these set of curses, maybe even combine with multiple other castings to reduce mental stats, and Will save, will make the target into a very good body to possess (nearly indefinitely) via Magic Jar.

This would probably only be suitable for an evil PC, or a Big Bad to do. I am thinking a powerful body such as a Dragon or maybe even an Outsider (note, this would not give access to SU abilities of the target (so no at will spell like abilities from possessed demons/etc).


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So, at one point, I cursed a thief to never lie. The character was really upset, with no ability to ever make saves, or stop telling the truth whenever asked, save paying a bunch after finding someone to remove the curse. (And a lot of people weren't seeing his lying as a bad thing.)

He played true to character. He systematically stole from PC's and NPCs, and then just killed anyone questioning him. Got away with hiding it long enough that by the time PC's were on the way to apprehend their "friend" He had wove a trail of blood into a city, tortured a spellcaster until he promised to remove it. When our party got to the scene of his ruined house, the dead family, and the disembowled 'curing agent,' the party was shocked. The now NE Aligned Thief had his villanous rant, equating to "I warned you, I told you, I asked for help, and you all wanted to me keep this. MY TEETH ARE BLUE." (He had a need to lie by this point.) Then 'detonated' a surprise he left in the fighter's bag, spilling out a magical poison that killed one PC, and left the other two with permanent ability damage, then ran off to become a villain NPC.

Our player's weren't happy with it, but nobody could fault the playing in character that well. (It really was true to spirit, and both player and character had given warnings that the thief would not stay like this, no matter what.) My point is, for better or worse (Both, according to my example) Curses like that can lead to great RP, or terrible campaign derailment. Our player is still mourning the loss of his burglar, as are some of the other party members for their respective losses, but it was all done tried and true. My personal rule? When inventing a curse, talk it out with the target first, so that I don't have to worry about a psychopath endangering an entire city. :p


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Surbrus wrote:
Curse a target to always identify itself for the purposes of Magic Jar, so as to remove the randomness associated with trying to possess the body.

As a BIG fan of both magic jar and bestow curse, I find that I really love this idea.

Shiney wrote:

So, at one point, I cursed a thief to never lie. The character was really upset, with no ability to ever make saves, or stop telling the truth whenever asked, save paying a bunch after finding someone to remove the curse. (And a lot of people weren't seeing his lying as a bad thing.)

He played true to character. He systematically stole from PC's and NPCs, and then just killed anyone questioning him. Got away with hiding it long enough that by the time PC's were on the way to apprehend their "friend" He had wove a trail of blood into a city, tortured a spellcaster until he promised to remove it. When our party got to the scene of his ruined house, the dead family, and the disembowled 'curing agent,' the party was shocked. The now NE Aligned Thief had his villanous rant, equating to "I warned you, I told you, I asked for help, and you all wanted to me keep this. MY TEETH ARE BLUE." (He had a need to lie by this point.) Then 'detonated' a surprise he left in the fighter's bag, spilling out a magical poison that killed one PC, and left the other two with permanent ability damage, then ran off to become a villain NPC.

Our player's weren't happy with it, but nobody could fault the playing in character that well. (It really was true to spirit, and both player and character had given warnings that the thief would not stay like this, no matter what.) My point is, for better or worse (Both, according to my example) Curses like that can lead to great RP, or terrible campaign derailment. Our player is still mourning the loss of his burglar, as are some of the other party members for their respective losses, but it was all done tried and true. My personal rule? When inventing a curse, talk it out with the target first, so that I don't have to worry about a psychopath endangering an entire city. :p

Did anyone else envision a wildly-eyed, blood-soaked, murderous Jim Carey while reading this?


Ravingdork wrote:
Surbrus wrote:
Curse a target to always identify itself for the purposes of Magic Jar, so as to remove the randomness associated with trying to possess the body.

As a BIG fan of both magic jar and bestow curse, I find that I really love this idea.

Shiney wrote:

So, at one point, I cursed a thief to never lie. The character was really upset, with no ability to ever make saves, or stop telling the truth whenever asked, save paying a bunch after finding someone to remove the curse. (And a lot of people weren't seeing his lying as a bad thing.)

He played true to character. He systematically stole from PC's and NPCs, and then just killed anyone questioning him. Got away with hiding it long enough that by the time PC's were on the way to apprehend their "friend" He had wove a trail of blood into a city, tortured a spellcaster until he promised to remove it. When our party got to the scene of his ruined house, the dead family, and the disembowled 'curing agent,' the party was shocked. The now NE Aligned Thief had his villanous rant, equating to "I warned you, I told you, I asked for help, and you all wanted to me keep this. MY TEETH ARE BLUE." (He had a need to lie by this point.) Then 'detonated' a surprise he left in the fighter's bag, spilling out a magical poison that killed one PC, and left the other two with permanent ability damage, then ran off to become a villain NPC.

Our player's weren't happy with it, but nobody could fault the playing in character that well. (It really was true to spirit, and both player and character had given warnings that the thief would not stay like this, no matter what.) My point is, for better or worse (Both, according to my example) Curses like that can lead to great RP, or terrible campaign derailment. Our player is still mourning the loss of his burglar, as are some of the other party members for their respective losses, but it was all done tried and true. My personal rule? When inventing a curse, talk it out with the target first, so that I don't have to worry

...

I doubt there was anyone who didn't.


(In a fit of thread necromancy, I'd thought I'd revive this.)

How about a curse that prevents the subject from resting until they collapse from exhaustion? Every day they'd make a fortitude save (which they cannot deliberately fail) to determine whether they can actually sleep. Only by failing and collapsing may they rest. This insures that the target can function, but only at full capacity once in a while.


Local came up with a race changing Curse, turning the target into it's opposing race.


What about curses that can be broken under special circumstances? I can't think of anything good at the moment, but would giving it an alternate condition to break possibly make a more "powerful" curse seem okay to you guys? What about a curse that resists anything less than a limited wish, but can also be removed by some special circumstance?

I am thinking something like, rather than cursing the thief to never lie or steal, rather curse him such that, when he lies to someone, he starts to get sick... Or curse the thief that always steals such that whenever he is in town, he is the target of every pickpocket, and manages to lose all that he stole. Also, having the kleptomaniac thief horde all his wealth and carry it in the form of gold would be appropriate.

Also- grabbing a severed piece of a free-roaming demon with the words "From whence you came... You shall remain... Until you are... Complete again!" Before banishing it would be fun. Very few things in the abyss have the power to *remove* curses. :p


Also, curse the barbarian to make a will save each round after he tries to end rage or keep raging, attacking anything nearby...

Curse the fighter never, ever to drop his favored weapon- not even when the king requests his presence at the palace.

Curse the bard never to speak but only to sing (force the player to ryme)

Curse the cleric to... Nevermind, it gives a will save.

See above for Druid.

Curse the ranger to wander forever. Will save every day he stays in the same place or he sets out for some unknown frontier.

Curse the Paladin with charity (donating down to something like 1/10 his WBL) or unwillingness to kill, regardless of the circumstances.

Curse the Sorcerer with the desire to explore his bloodline more fully... That is to say, the draconic sorcerer becomes a dracophile and finds the nearest dragon of the appropriate type to serve, giving up his money, time, and life for his new master.

Curse the Wizard to become neurotic about books. He buys any book if he can afford it (buying multiple copies of research materials because "this one is a first edition"), carries as many as possible (leaving behind other loot). He spends extra time preparing his spells as well.


A proper Englishman or woman cursed to turn into a fox whenever they belittle someone. Make it last 10 minutes. They can talk, so they might reset the clock. :)


I feel some curses are not suitable for bestow curse, changing shape should likely use another spell and does not always qualify as a curse, others are 'copies' from other spells in different schools made more powerful, which makes them a no-no in my book.

Also curses should not have much, if any, potential to be beneficial, if you turn a male into a female as a curse why not do so when you want to infiltrate the amazon army ?

Also think bestowing curses is much like spell design, don't assume the most powerful standard use is the bar you have to work around, creative uses could be more powerful in limited situations but in general should have less impact.

A few of my own to contribute :

* condem a person to hell after death, give him an evil aura like undead and possibly inflicting an infernal mark on his person.

* making a person infertile or unable to birth live children, possibly tiefling offspring.

* 'unnatural aura' that turns animals aggresive and inflicts a penalty on social skills

* inflict a person with haunting nightmares with a recurrent theme, making the person fatigued (like sleeping in armor)

* scar someone beyond recognition

* a -10 penalty on a specific skill (like craft)

* a -10 penalty on concentration checks

* a 50% chance of spellfailure whenever the target casts a spell or actively uses a magical item. This still uses charges/spellslots appropriately.

* inflict someone with light blindness, while less powerful it has the potential to alter a persons behaviour in subtle ways.

* impotence

* baldness

* inability to willingly accept spells, like superstition but without benefits.

* bleeding curse, whenever the target is wounded by a physical attack he starts to bleed 1/hp round until a succesful healing check or healing effect is applied.

* any (or some) of the oracle curses without the benefits possibly.

* vulnerability to a certain attack or energy form, possibly stripping immunity or ressitance

* strip racial identity, losing racial benefits of any kind and losing any subtype, racial penaltiees stay in effect.


I thought of the names while reading this and added some fluff/crunch to flavor it. Enjoy.

for bird watchers or individuals with a favored outdoor hobby-

Curse of Avian Attraction:
Birds mistake your hair for an avian of the same breed and opposite gender. The bird is attracted to your hair and believes that you are keeping the bird (your hair) against its will on your head. (all avian creatures within sight are granted the effects of a Rage spell (as if cast by the curse caster)and instilled with the idea of attacking the source of this curse.) If the avian is helpful or friendly to the cursed it may attempt a will save (DC = curse DC) to ignore the compulsion to attack.

For those lucky folks or irritatingly self assured clerics-
Curse of Savvy Paranoia:
Your character is inflicted with the idea that somewhere, somehow there is a person controlling their actions through arcane symbols and trinkets against their will. The desire to second guess yourself is constant (reroll 1st dice roll in any given round, Will save (DC=curse) to resist)

for adventures headed to a cave (torches emit what now?) or smokers-

Curse of Canary constitution
You character suffers a -8 penalty to all inhaled poisons, fumes or smokes with negative effects. In addition non-hazardous smoke requires the curse holder to make a DC 20 (not modified by the curses negative modifier) fortitude save or be fatigued as long as they are within 10 ft of a smoke source and 1d4 rounds afterward. (the fatigue does not stack with other sources, natural or magical)

For that damned irritating paladin and his desire to detect evil on everything.

Curse of the Narcissistic Narcissus
The cursed has one action that is declared forbidden, this can be any ritual they partake of or preferred practice. It cannot be absolutely necessary to continued life.
An example would be cursing a vain person to turn slowly into a narcissius each time they attempt to preen themselves. (DC = curse DC to resist effect each time it triggers)
The action must be something the cursed does of their own will, forcing a cursed to perform the action does not speed the process.

Sovereign Court

There's an adventure path that uses a unique curse; the target feels intense fear and only feels safe in a particular area (in this case, a balcony exposed to the elements with no additional food/water accessible). They will not willingly leave that area for any reason.


FreelanceEvilGenius wrote:

Curse of Withered Branches

Target is infertile and unable to have children.

Cayden worshipers generally see that as a boon...

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 8

Anatidaephobia — the fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 8

- Curse a conjuration focused spellcaster so that any creature he summons actively tries to kill him.

- Curse a melee combatant to be terribly frightened of being hit.

- Make a creature an uncontrollable masochist. He must be injured at least once every hour he is awake. If he hasn’t been injured in the past hour, he immediately grabs the nearest weapon and attacks himself with it. He tries to shoo the healer away even when he’s in desperate need of aid.

- False confidence. “Psh, that balor is nothing compared to me! I eat tarrasques for breakfast!”

- Cursed character must attack any creature that casts a spell or spell-like ability on him, even allies.

- The cursed creature is nauseated any time they are under the effects of a spell or spell-like ability. The target cannot stomach potions and immediately retches up any potion they drink, receiving no benefit and wasting the potion.

- Curse a wizard so that any paper he touches tears, and ink always runs, spills, and blots. (Or he gets a nasty paper cut and bleeds all over the paper, completely ruining it.)


Greater bestow curse is +4 spell levels. Alternate forms happen according to the terms of the curse, not when the cursed person needs it. See the anime Fruits Basket. Also read the frog prince and or any version of swan lake.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

*bump*


The earlier posts about amnesia through Bestow Curse got me thinking, so here's a little something that doesn't just strip you of all your class features forever. This one'll be infinitely more tricky in a real-life setting, however.

Curse of Imperfect Recollection
The victim of this curse believes they are actually a class with similar class features (if they have an archetype that lifts features from another class, such as Iroran Paladin, this class is preferred), or a class they have retraining synergy with if no suitable choices exist. In the event that a character has levels in multiple classes, the GM picks only one class to be "replaced" by this curse.
Their character sheet is adjusted as if they had retrained into this class. The GM keeps a copy of the character's previous sheet, with their true class represented as well as hit points and any other properties that change with their class.
Successes and failures, either made by or against this character, are reported to the victim as if they were their new class, but effects are actually resolved using their true class.
In the event that the character tries to benefit from a class feature that they don't actually have, treat it as a failure unless doing so would produce different effects than not having the feature at all.

Here are some others.

  • Affected character (somebody with an animal companion or familiar of their own) perceives all house-pets, animal companions, mounts, and familiars as hostile.
  • Affected character (somebody with a focus on social skills) refuses to speak to others without first assuming a disguise that would (hopefully) obfuscate their race.
  • Affected character (Antipaladin or anybody else with a code of conduct) always acts to prevent harm to sapient life (or, if not possible, lessen it), even if doing so would run counter to their alignment or their deity's tenets.
  • Affected character (Casters, or possibly somebody who could steal from their allies) compulsively eats from any spell component pouches they have access to. The character takes two minutes per spell level to clear out a pouch. This time does not have to be consecutive. For every two minutes, the pouch fails to provide material components for one spell level the owner is capable of casting. The character is affected as if they had eaten all the material components for spells of affected levels prepared by the owner of the spell component pouch, including suffering from poisons or anything that is otherwise not suitable for consumption. If the owner of this spell component pouch is not capable of casting spells, assume it contains components for a random selection of 0th-level and 1st-level spells.


Ravingdork wrote:

* Curse someone so that they are constantly overloaded, as per the encumbrance rules (lose Dex mod to AC and can only move 5 feet as full round action).

* Curse someone with unstoppable crying, imposing a penalty on Perception checks and granting all others concealment against him.
* Curse someone so their age category increases by one step (young to middle-aged, middle-aged to old, old to venerable).

Can you curse someone with reverse ageing?


ghostunderasheet wrote:
Can you curse someone with reverse ageing?

I am sure you could, but would that really be any different than cursing someone to grow old? Unless they're at the cusp of an age category or already really young (and so might revert to fetus in 16 to 20 years) it's not really much a curse (gamewise, aging already rarely comes into play), so it would really have to be tailored to a person where it would be noticeable and problematic. Otherwise it needs some other parameter or quality to give it teeth.

It's like cursing someone to only bear female children. This might be important in some cultures or to a royal lineage where only males can rule or something, but a typical person or adventurer (who probably has or knows of zero to one offspring ever), probably not worth hoping they fail a Will save for.


Make it so everything they say is backwards (making spell casting impossible for one). I would rule that a person who speaks the same language can make a liguistics check to decypher what their saying. (Yes, I know you could just make them mute but that's not as fun)

Dark Archive

Since bestow curse is necromancy, I like to come up with ideas that fit the (kind of fuzzy anyway) themes of necromancy. Undead, life and death, fear, enfeeblement, age, decay, bugs, darkness, body horror, etc.

Some ideas in that vein;

* You are cursed to take damage from positive energy, as if undead, but *not* to be healed by negative energy. Your appearance is withered, your flesh grows taut and gray, and you detect as undead to any form of magical or mundane means of checking said status.

* Animals that are not specifically bound to you (such as mounts or animal companions) shy away from you are if you were a spectre. Small plants wither, brown and die at your touch or in your extended presence. Larger plants undergo seasonal changes (leaves changing colors or dropping off) when you lean against them, and food spoils faster when you are handling it. Everything you eat tastes 'off' if not spoiled sufficiently to give you food poisoning.

* You grow pale, with red eyes and unusually pointy canines. You lose 1 pt. of Strength every day at noon, and this Strength does not return normally. You can recover Strength lost this way by magical restoration or by drinking the fresh blood of your own species (but not your own!) equal to 1 Con pt. of 'donated' blood each day. If you do not have the sunlight/daylight vulnerability trait, you gain it. If you already have it, it's effects are doubled (assuming I'm remembering correctly and that's the one that only gives you a -1 to attack and Perception rolls in bright light...). If you ever reach 0 Str from the effects of this curse, you arise three days later as a vampire spawn with no master, and become an NPC under the GMs control.

* You physically resemble (and smell like!) a zombie, and gain the Slow quality (but no other undead traits).


Any of these can be in a curse scroll.


6th level spell cap. They cannot prepare or cast any spell with higher than 6th spell level. This probably requires greater curse or a ritual to bestow, especially since some home games are thus cursed. Said games tend to languish like this topic has been.


Make it so the character always speaks in rhyme.

Make it so the character ends every statement with a really sarcastic "Einstein!' (or whatever the Pathfinder equivalent is, "Nethys!" perhaps?)


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Yqatuba wrote:
Make it so the character always speaks in rhyme.

This is even better as a GM cursing a player character. Lol. Let nothing they say in character count unless it is spoken in rhyme. Aught to make for some hilarious experiences.


We had that once. A cleric in our group had a cursed sword that only permitted rhyming while wielding it. It made combat rather interesting, not to mention spellcasting.


Whenever you talk, everyone that can hear you is subject to Rage and Geas (to kill you). You think that you sound normal, but to everyone else, you sound like Slippy, Baby Mario, or any other voice that you would REALLY want to stab someone for speaking in.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Lazaryus wrote:
Whenever you talk, everyone that can hear you is subject to Rage and Geas (to kill you). You think that you sound normal, but to everyone else, you sound like Slippy, Baby Mario, or any other voice that you would REALLY want to stab someone for speaking in.

Affecting not the target, but the whole world, is most likely beyond the scope of what most curses are capable of.


Everyone within earshot, while within earshot, that is wish level magic.


Lazaryus wrote:
Whenever you talk, everyone that can hear you is subject to Rage and Geas (to kill you). You think that you sound normal, but to everyone else, you sound like Slippy, Baby Mario, or any other voice that you would REALLY want to stab someone for speaking in.

Also, set a will save, perhaps 18.


Goth Guru wrote:
Lazaryus wrote:
Whenever you talk, everyone that can hear you is subject to Rage and Geas (to kill you). You think that you sound normal, but to everyone else, you sound like Slippy, Baby Mario, or any other voice that you would REALLY want to stab someone for speaking in.
Also, set a will save, perhaps 18.

But of course. *AhohohoHO*


Goth Guru wrote:
Lazaryus wrote:
Whenever you talk, everyone that can hear you is subject to Rage and Geas (to kill you). You think that you sound normal, but to everyone else, you sound like Slippy, Baby Mario, or any other voice that you would REALLY want to stab someone for speaking in.
Also, set a will save, perhaps 18.

For an arbitrary number, that's a fair one. Most likely it should be set at the curse or bestow curse or whatever's DC when the curse is placed, though I suppose just setting it as a curse spell of appropriate power's DC would work in the case of something that wasn't placed by a spell (DC 10 + spell level + req. stat modifier).


i know this more of a curse in general but;
Curse of overwritten soul ( still working on the name so some suggestion would be appreciated)- the soul of a deceased and/or living person tries to take over someone else's body, most of the time through and item disguised as a magic item. the PC has 1d4+1 days to realize that they have this curse and have someone cast remove curse on them or at the end of the 1d4+1 days the must make 3 saving throws after that the only way to remove this curse is by a wish or miracle spell,

1st save: DC 17 will saving throw, the PC has the knowledge of the soul overwrite their knowledge; the PC is now the soul's class equal the PC's level, ex a lvl 4 barbarian fails the save and becomes lvl 4 wizard.

2nd save: DC 17 fortitude saving throw, the PC forcefully has their body and everything are currently wearing shape-shifted into what the soul's body originally looked like, this includes gender, race, clothing AND equipment. the PC is to be given the inventory of the soul and their's sadly (or not so sadly) taken away.

3rd save: DC 17 will saving throw, if the PC fails this save they must now making a percentile roll over 50% and they get to keep all of their memories and their personality on top of the the soul's memories personality as the soul tries to completely take control. if they fail the PC soul is destroyer and classified as dead. the PC now takes control of this new character but will have no memories of their past PC since the soul completely overpowers their soul.

let me know what you think about this since it is something i have been trying to work out for quite some time now.


OmegaLeonidas wrote:

i know this more of a curse in general but;

Curse of overwritten soul ( still working on the name so some suggestion would be appreciated)- the soul of a deceased and/or living person tries to take over someone else's body, most of the time through and item disguised as a magic item. the PC has 1d4+1 days to realize that they have this curse and have someone cast remove curse on them or at the end of the 1d4+1 days the must make 3 saving throws after that the only way to remove this curse is by a wish or miracle spell,

1st save: DC 17 will saving throw, the PC has the knowledge of the soul overwrite their knowledge; the PC is now the soul's class equal the PC's level, ex a lvl 4 barbarian fails the save and becomes lvl 4 wizard.

2nd save: DC 17 fortitude saving throw, the PC forcefully has their body and everything are currently wearing shape-shifted into what the soul's body originally looked like, this includes gender, race, clothing AND equipment. the PC is to be given the inventory of the soul and their's sadly (or not so sadly) taken away.

3rd save: DC 17 will saving throw, if the PC fails this save they must now making a percentile roll over 50% and they get to keep all of their memories and their personality on top of the the soul's memories personality as the soul tries to completely take control. if they fail the PC soul is destroyer and classified as dead. the PC now takes control of this new character but will have no memories of their past PC since the soul completely overpowers their soul.

let me know what you think about this since it is something i have been trying to work out for quite some time now.

Maybe they can transfigure mundane items, but transfiguring magic items seems out of line. More like they seek out the items they had in life, but toss all the items they cannot use.


Most of these curses feel either like low-brow comedy or an attempt at munchinkry.
Lighthearted, humorous games are fine and all, but I hardly think it should be the standard.
I want a curse to feel strange, eerie, terrible. I want the cursed to feel frustrated and helpless, but in an inteinteresting way.

I look to the brothers Grimm and other such stories for inspiration.
Whenever the princess tries to talk, she instead coughs up a handful of sharp gemstones. One of a young knight's eyes becomes a bird and the other a fish, the twin sight of sky and sea slowly driving him mad. A mercenary finds that all of the foes he's slain are coming back for revenge (to haunt his dreams, or maybe as flesh-hungry zombies). An author's work comes to life to plague him.

Now those are curses


Combined curse. You and another creature are combined, wrong. The pain in body and mind causes you to attack everything while raging. Think of the first owlbears or any of Grogars creations. Anti magic will separate you temporarily, while only a wish or miracle will offer permanent relief.

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