| Reksew_Trebla |
So an idea I had, that I will likely never get around to, is that mortals (nearly anything that has a stat block) have a -12 penalty to each ability score, and a further -8 penalty to attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks. Furthermore, they age 1 year every day that passes.
However, despite this, not a single stat block will be changed, and maximum lifespans do not change either. This is because the canon version of creatures will retroactively become the already cursed versions.
The idea is that some entity, maybe a deity, but also maybe some specific creature (I'm imagining combining dragons with age categories in a manner similar to gestalting classes, but with dragons instead of classes, but that is a lot of work on the GM's part), has done this to enhance themselves, which the players will have to defeat.
Bonus points if at some point, the PCs can break the curse on themselves, especially if done right before the final battle, thus essentially giving them a +12 to each ability score, and a +8 bonus to attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks, and vastly increasing their maximum lifespan in the event the enemy can forcefully age their enemies with a special attack or special ability.
If you are wondering why those specific numbers for the curses, I just took Greater Bestow Curse's -12 to an ability score, applied it to each ability score, then took the same spell's -8 penalty to attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks, and finally, applied the Curse of the Ages, which coincidentally can also be applied with Greater Bestow Curse. If you want to, you can instead make it regular Bestow Curse's -6 penalty to ability scores and -4 penalty to attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks.
Anyways, as I said, I will likely never get around to doing this, but wanted to share it with all of you in case you could make use of it.