In the description of Bestow Curse it says "You may also invent your own curse, but it should be no more powerful than those described above." I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on a self made curse that would be ideal for a Invoker Witch focusing on debuffing and save or suck spells. Thank you in advance.
Dragon Magazine issue 348 has an article specifically covering alternate curses
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One nice option that's already rules-legal comes from the Sanity and Madness rules in the GameMastery Guide.
Going Insane wrote: Bestow curse can also inflict a single insanity on a foe, although in this case the insanity is also a curse. Instead of a standard curse, you can inflict one of the listed insanities upon the target - most notably amnesia, which deprives them of all their memories, class abilities, feats, and skill ranks. How's that for a save or suck?
I can't think of anything worse than the suggested -4 to saves and checks if you're looking to make them more vulnerable to your debuffs.
Otherwise the -6 ability penalty might be a good choice if you have another effect that also hinders that ability (and counts as a pretty hefty debuff on its own.)
As for a custom curse that counts as a debuffer or makes them more susceptible:
- a GM may allow you to go with a -6 penalty to one type of save or against spells of a particular school.
- a 50% chance to fall during any action where they move more than half their speed. That's a little less worse than a 50% chance to do nothing but it does cause them to be prone, either taking a second action to stand or being easier to hit in melee, so that might balance out.
- Choose one type of save. If the target succeeds on a save of that type by 4 or less (except on a natural 20) they must roll a second save and take the worse roll. That's about like having a -4 penalty to one type of save but it only triggers if they succeed narrowly.
Avoron wrote: One nice option that's already rules-legal comes from the Sanity and Madness rules in the GameMastery Guide.
Going Insane wrote: Bestow curse can also inflict a single insanity on a foe, although in this case the insanity is also a curse. Instead of a standard curse, you can inflict one of the listed insanities upon the target - most notably amnesia, which deprives them of all their memories, class abilities, feats, and skill ranks. How's that for a save or suck?
I really like it!
I've been wondering (since I wanted to use it for a character concept)- could you use the standard curse debuffs.... but give it an on/off switch?
As in- "when I say 'kneel', you will suffer a -6 to a stat for 1 hour".
It isn't any more powerful than the standard curse, but I am unsure whether the customization is kosher.
The use is fairly simple- an evil character that leads other by putting curses on them. This insures obedience, or at least prevents rebellion from being a viable option.
This doesn't really give you good battle options, but it certainly gives you plenty of roleplaying potential with the curse.
roll 2-3 times and take the lower result, contract a random disease each day, permanently sickend, 50% chance to puke each round the list of neat ideas goes on and on
There's no inherent on/off switch in bestow curse. Mark of justice is close to what you want, it costs a couple extra spell levels for the 'on' switch. Conditional curse has an 'off' switch, extra range and a penalty to remove curse for 1-2 spell levels. Conditional spell (metamagic) has a different kind of on switch for +1 spell level.
lemeres wrote: ... could you use the standard curse debuffs.... but give it an on/off switch? Like avr, I don't quite agree with the on/off switch as you have it. It's a bit too much like giving you actual control, which isn't necessarily a curse.
It just seems like a curse that says 'If one guy in the world says one thing, then you're cursed' doesn't really match the parameters for what I call a curse. It's like lycanthropy that only occurs during the summer solstice if it happens to be a full moon and snowing or getting a penalty in a certain place, against a specific attack, by a specific creature.
I would probably allow a broader trigger, like when they see an elf they get violently ill or sick for an hour or the sound of the elven language deafens them for an hour or some similar trigger. I'll admit it's a gray area and the borders are a bit fuzzy for where I would draw the line, but it's a personal opinion.
Horror adventures gave many alternate and various versions of bestow curse, including even some guidelines. You might consider reading that.
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