curses
- Lesser Curses (D&D) rpg tips #338 From: James Thomas of Roseville, California ============================================================ 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:
- Convinced he’s another, random character class.
- Laughs uncontrollably at anything another person says.
- “Chosen One” of the gods! The gods don’t fart, you know. PC farts constantly by becoming the vehicle of divine flatulence (-2 charisma).
- Three words: painful, rectal, itch (-1 Dexterity).
- Bad breath (-1 charisma to anyone within 10 ft).
- Bad body odor (-1 charisma to anyone within 10 ft).
- Attracts insects.
- Attracts animals (specific type: mice, birds, cats, skunks, etc.).
- Makes bad jokes.
- Has no inner dialogue.
- Says everything twice. Says everything twice.
- Whenever anyone makes a successful skill check he always declares, “I can do better than that…” or the equivalent
- Always eating/drinking.
- Shouts whenever he speaks.
- Loses all sense of hygiene.
- Loses all sense of modesty.
- Large warts (-1 charisma).
- Acquires a rare, but harmless, skin disease (-1 charisma).
- Drools constantly.
- Stutters constantly.
- Enlarged body part:
- Ears
- Nose
- Chin
- Feet
- Hands
- Becomes a pathological liar (will always tell an untruth, even if it is pointless or harmful to do so)
- Is convinced a common inanimate object is a beloved pet or advisor; talks to it.
- Loses at all games of chance.
- Obsession:
- Cleanliness (always washing and avoiding others’ “germs”)
- Food item
- Shiny things
- Tidiness (hates messes; will “tidy up” after battles)
- Wealth acquisition
- Grammar (corrects others)
- Sings whenever he speaks.
- Contrariness (will disagree or contradict any request or proposal, but is easily fooled by “Reverse Psychology”).
- Has to “go” every 15 minutes.
- Has to write down everything that happens in a journal.
- Thinks he’s invisible.
- Cannot say any word with the letter “D”.
- Blinks constantly.
- Only speaks in questions?
- Phobia (PC is shaken whenever confronted by his phobia):
- Heights
- Darkness
- Vermin
- Reptiles
- Water (going in or crossing)
- Aberrations
- Undead
- Clerics, Paladins, Druids, or Adepts
- Outsiders
- 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.
- All hair falls out.
- Insists on going barefoot all the time.
- Can never finish a sentence (others have to help them).
- Has to use “Huzzah!” in every sentence.
- Equipment wears out twice as fast.
- Nearsighted: -2 ranged attack, x2 range penalties.
- Farsighted: cannot read books.
- Grumpy: acquires Abrasive feat.
- Narcoleptic: -5 spot/listen, -2 saves vs. sleep.
- Hiccoughs constantly: -1 move silently, -1 to charisma based checks.
- Sneezes frequently: -1 move silently, -1 to charisma based checks.
- Sweats constantly.
- Has frequent itching spells: -1 dexterity.
- Becomes hard of hearing: -2 initiative.
- Stutters: +20% spell failure.
- Bad Luck: -1 to all d20 rolls.
- Sickly: -4 to disease saves.
- Clumsy: -2 to all dexterity checks.
- Insecure: -4 to fear saves.
- 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!)
- Sleepless (fatigued all the time).
- Drained: loses 1 hit point per character level until minor curse is removed.
Lesser Curse (Necromancy)¶
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.