curses
2. Lesser Curses (D&D) rpg tips #338
From: James Thomas of Roseville, California
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Everyone’s heard of “the gypsy curse” or the “evil eye of
the old woman.” Country folk have blamed each other for
giving “the curse” for all kinds of misfortunes: poor
harvest, cows not milking, acne, bad luck, unrequited love,
diseases, etc. While not seriously debilitating, a Minor
Curse is annoying and frustrating for the subject and his
companions. So, what happens when a PC falls victim to the
“evil eye” of a resentful Adept or village Wise Woman? Offer
a role-play bonus of 50 points times the PC’s character
level for those who perform well during the game session. A
Lesser Restoration spell will remove the Minor Curse.
One of the following befalls the PC:
1. Convinced he’s another, random character class.
2. Laughs uncontrollably at anything another person says.
3. “Chosen One” of the gods! The gods don’t fart, you know.
PC farts constantly by becoming the vehicle of divine
flatulence (-2 charisma).
4. Three words: painful, rectal, itch (-1 Dexterity).
5. Bad breath (-1 charisma to anyone within 10 ft).
6. Bad body odor (-1 charisma to anyone within 10 ft).
7. Attracts insects.
8. Attracts animals (specific type: mice, birds, cats,
skunks, etc.).
9. Makes bad jokes.
10. Has no inner dialogue.
11. Says everything twice. Says everything twice.
12. Whenever anyone makes a successful skill check he always
declares, “I can do better than that…” or the equivalent
13. Always eating/drinking.
14. Shouts whenever he speaks.
15. Loses all sense of hygiene.
16. Loses all sense of modesty.
17. Large warts (-1 charisma).
18. Acquires a rare, but harmless, skin disease (-1 charisma).
19. Drools constantly.
20. Stutters constantly.
21. Enlarged body part:
a. Ears
b. Nose
c. Chin
d. Feet
e. Hands
22. Becomes a pathological liar (will always tell an
untruth, even if it is pointless or harmful to do so)
23. Is convinced a common inanimate object is a beloved pet
or advisor; talks to it.
24. Loses at all games of chance.
25. Obsession:
a. Cleanliness (always washing and avoiding others’ “germs”)
b. Food item
c. Shiny things
d. Tidiness (hates messes; will “tidy up” after battles)
e. Wealth acquisition
f. Grammar (corrects others)
26. Sings whenever he speaks.
27. Contrariness (will disagree or contradict any request or
proposal, but is easily fooled by “Reverse Psychology”).
28. Has to “go” every 15 minutes.
29. Has to write down everything that happens in a journal.
30. Thinks he’s invisible.
31. Cannot say any word with the letter “D”.
32. Blinks constantly.
33. Only speaks in questions?
34. Phobia (PC is shaken whenever confronted by his phobia):
a. Heights
b. Darkness
c. Vermin
d. Reptiles
e. Water (going in or crossing)
f. Aberrations
g. Undead
h. Clerics, Paladins, Druids, or Adepts
i. Outsiders
35. Indecisive: PC declares his action for his combat turn
and rolls a die; if he rolls low, he must change his action
to something else.
36. All hair falls out.
37. Insists on going barefoot all the time.
38. Can never finish a sentence (others have to help them).
39. Has to use “Huzzah!” in every sentence.
40. Equipment wears out twice as fast.
41. Nearsighted: -2 ranged attack, x2 range penalties.
42. Farsighted: cannot read books.
43. Grumpy: acquires Abrasive feat.
44. Narcoleptic: -5 spot/listen, -2 saves vs. sleep.
45. Hiccoughs constantly: -1 move silently, -1 to charisma
based checks.
46. Sneezes frequently: -1 move silently, -1 to charisma
based checks.
47. Sweats constantly.
48. Has frequent itching spells: -1 dexterity.
49. Becomes hard of hearing: -2 initiative.
50. Stutters: +20% spell failure.
51. Bad Luck: -1 to all d20 rolls.
52. Sickly: -4 to disease saves.
53. Clumsy: -2 to all dexterity checks.
54. Insecure: -4 to fear saves.
55. Jinxed! 50% chance of -1 to any skill check rolled by
any companion within 50 ft. (Have the player throw a “jinx
die” in front of the player making the skill check, if it
comes up low, he’s jinxed!)
56. Sleepless (fatigued all the time).
57. Drained: loses 1 hit point per character level until
minor curse is removed.
Lesser Curse (Necromancy)
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Level: Clr 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One living creature
Duration: Permanent (D)
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
With a fling of spittle or a forbidden gesture of the hand,
the subject receives a subtle but annoying minor curse.
Effects vary and are not terribly debilitating, but the
effect on commoners and those in the public eye can be
devastating.