| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
It occurs to me that between Ultimate Intrigue and Horror Adventures we can now build spellcasters whose curses are very, very hard to remove short of a Wish or Miracle. Please help me add any other options I've missed.
1. Start with Conditional Curse or Major Curse for a level 4-6 effect (giving us some metamagic room) and a +5 to removal DCs. For Break Enchantment that's 16+Caster Level, for Remove Curse it's spell DC +5.
2. Add Tenacious Spell for an additional +2 to the removal DC at the cost of +1 spell level.
3. Add Contagious Spell metamagic (Horror Adventures) at the cost of +2 to the spell level. Removal attempts that fail by 5 or more force the would-be remover to save vs. the curse.
4. Take Stubborn Curse feat (Horror Adventures). This forces anyone trying to remove your curses to roll twice and take the lower number.
From there you just need to use the usual methods to boost your CL against Break Enchantment (unless you're casting a 6th level Major Curse) or DC against Remove Curse to make your contagious curses either impossible or very difficult and dangerous to remove via standard methods.
Are there any other ways to enhance curses in their effects or tenacity? I thought the Psychic phrenic amplification Complex Countermeasure would help tack on another +2 removal DC, but that only lasts 24 hours, so not good enough.
Dhampir Wizards get an FCB for +1/4 to the CL of necromancy spells, which is a little more specific than generally boosting CL.
Complex Countermeasure also leaves removal off the list of things covered (just dispelled). First thing I checked- nice to see it mentioned.
Removal and dispelling aren't arguably equivalent? That could affect Tenacious Spell. Break Enchantment is more similar to dispelling than Remove Curse, FWIW.
Removal and dispelling aren't arguably equivalent? That could affect Tenacious Spell. Break Enchantment is more similar to dispelling than Remove Curse, FWIW.
I mean, you can certainly argue it, but when you're making something overpowered like a permanent non-removable effect, I wouldn't want anything that needed argument. Neither Break Enchantment nor Remove Curse say they dispel anything, only that they remove it or free the victim from it.
Now, you've got a pretty decent argument if you want to argue it- Break Enchantment mentions things that can't be dispelled by Dispel Magic or Stone to Flesh, the latter of which also doesn't mention dispelling (although it doesn't share any notable language with Remove Curse or Break Enchantment either).
On the other hand, one removes diseases in a similar fashion to removing curses or breaking enchantments, and that certainly isn't dispelling.
I think you're right. Tenacious Spell's applicability then depends on what "counter" means in that feat description. If they'd meant "counterspell" they could have said so...
I think you're right. Tenacious Spell's applicability then depends on what "counter" means in that feat description. If they'd meant "counterspell" they could have said so...
Since "counter" gets used almost entirely under the specific circumstances of preventing a spell from being successfully cast in the first place (as in "this spell counters and dispels that other spell"), I would consider it a far greater stretch to argue for Break Enchantment to be countering a curse than for it to be dispelling a curse.