Using Bestow Curse to Produce Other Effects...

[Owly]

I am creating a new undead; a powerful, cursed creature that can steal someone's face, one feature at a time.

If I consider what spells would be on that level, to consider the power level of the creature's SLA, I would think that Bestow Curse would be about right. However, since combat seems to be a quick sort of running-of-the-numbers much of the time, the general effects of something like Bestow Curse gets overlooked. What IS the effect of -6 to one's charisma? What would it look like to be cursed to stand there every six seconds drooling like an idiot for the rest of one's life?

What are the ancillary effects of Bestow Curse, and does it break verisimilitude in the game to bestow these effects on others? Does anyone know of any examples from the bestiary or from any adventure paths?

For example: I considered that if I wanted my wizard to curse someone with -6 CHA, then I would bestow "eternal flatulence" to him, and let him enjoy how THAT affects his likeability until he can find a wizard who can remove it.

So I want my undead to be able to touch attack, and steal a person's eyes or mouth for their own use. Again, can anyone think of any similar weird abilities ("Hey! What spell was THAT?!!") from anything in the bestiary. I bring this up because we have gotten into the habit of equating every affect with some quantifiable spell. I would like to keep the horror fresh, if possible. Thoughts?

[Tin Foil Yamakah]

Great idea!, Can you imagine walking into a room with this "stealer" full of these mutilated humanoid creatures(it's victims that are reduced to 0 chr. and now slavishly loyal to their new master) that now seek only to recover their missing parts,perhaps attacking the town they are from to bring more victims.

I am starting a homebrew game soon and am so stealing this idae

[Owly]

Thanks Tin Foil. I was considering calling them "mummers".

I guess my question is a little confusing for the board.

[Mark Hoover]

Owly,

There's a witch's spell that lets you rearrange features of someone's face called Disfiguring Touch. What about combining that with a Bestow Curse effect into one big spell that slowly and painfully removes features from the victim's face and adds them to the undead creature's.

As for what it looks like, "Tell me, Mr Anderson; what good is a phone call if you can't speak?"

Anyway this is a really cool idea.

[Arrius]

Mark Hoover wrote:

Owly,

There's a witch's spell that lets you rearrange features of someone's face called Disfiguring Touch. What about combining that with a Bestow Curse effect into one big spell that slowly and painfully removes features from the victim's face and adds them to the undead creature's.

As for what it looks like, "Tell me, Mr Anderson; what good is a phone call if you can't speak?"

Anyway this is a really cool idea.

The possible problem here is that the DM may resort to inconsistent interpretations when it comes to mechanical penalties. Larger-than-life buckteeth could impose a charisma penalty, or it could give a 20% spell failure, or could harm the speaker when they speak.

That's the problem with flexibility, really.