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Bestow Curse

Ozmar

First Post
Hi all,

My character recently gained access to the Bestow Curse spell. Now this spell allows some creative customization of its effects, and I am wondering what variant curses ya'll have come up with, and what have your DMs allowed? What "other effects" are in line with the three listed penalties? I'm looking for ideas to pitch to my DM in advance so I can be prepared to make use of this spell.

SRD said:
You place a curse on the subject. Choose one of the following three effects.
• –6 decrease to an ability score (minimum 1).
• –4 penalty on attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks.
• Each turn, the target has a 50% chance to act normally; otherwise, it takes no action.
You may also invent your own curse, but it should be no more powerful than those described above.

My character is a necromancer, so anything particularly dark or undead-related would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
-Ozmar, the Dread Necromancer
 

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frankthedm

First Post
The cursed character and all his allies suffer critical failures on natural 1's & 2's

Gain [caster level] pounds of fat per day. counts as carried weight.

Take a -1 penalty to STR and CON per day as the victim grows lethally thin.

The character Take a -1 penalty to CHA per day, baleful polymorphing into a toad when Cha hits 4.
 
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pallandrome

First Post
A fun one is to have something like Daylight activate on his face everytime he does x action. Expecially fun if the subject is light sensitive.

Also good is if, every time the subject commits a crime, a silent image appears over their head discribing the crime they commited.
 

Sejs

First Post
All animals are hostile to the target. Alternately, all animals see the target as a threat, either panicking uncontrolledly or attacking.

The target's wounds bleed. Any injury sustained by the target will continue to seep blood, dealing 1pt of damage per injury until magically cured or tended to with the Heal skill (dc 15 check to bind the wound).

The target is an unaffected carrier of a virulent disease, such as filth fever. The target himself shows no signs of infection, and Remove Disease has no effect on him (though Remove Curse works as normal). No matter what the normal vector and infection DC for a given disease are, they are now treated as Contact (with the character or something the character's been in prolonged contact with such as a bed), and the DC is the same DC as the original Bestow Curse that began the affliction. People subsequently infected can be cured by Remove Disease as normal.

The target's equipment decays. All items in his possession have their hardness reduced by 1 point per day. Once a given item's hardness is reduced to 0, it begins to lose hp at the same rate until it is destroyed. Magical items are not exempt, but an object must be in the target's possession for more or less the full day to be affected.

The target can only speak in Abyssal or Infernal. Symbols of good, holy ground, priests of good deities, etc harm the target as if they were an evil outsider that'd just been splashed with holy water. If the target is himself a priest of a good deity, they don't lose any of their spellcasting ability or cause themselves damage, but will have to make concentration checks when casting any spells that require a divine focus, as handling their own holy symbol will still burn them accordingly.

The target is treated as the undead with regard to spells and effects. Positive energy harms him and negative energy cures him. He can be turned, rebuked, commanded or controlled appropriately. Creatures uncomfortable around the undead are uncomfortable around the target. Undead Bane weapons deal extra damage to the target, and holy water burns them appropriately. On the up side, most un- or lower intellegence undead will not attack the target unless either he attacks them first, or they are expressly ordered to.

The target instantly spoils any food or drink they come in contact with, their touch blights plants and may sicken animals.

The target gains an inhuman craving for something - blood, vermin, human(oid) flesh, rotting garbage, bone marrow, etc. Normal food will no longer provide sustenance; only the substance in question can provide nourishment.

Anyone the target kills will rise as free-willed undead after a certain period of time has passed (a week, a day, on the next full moon, whatever). All affected should return as the same general type of undead - zombies, shadows, etc, and all remember who it was that is responsible for their return.

The target develops a second personality that takes control of their body when they sleep. The character still gains rest as normal. This new persona is evil and diametrically opposed to whatever the normal personality's goals are.
 

Slobber Monster

First Post
Stolen from various movies and books:

The target is incapable of knowingly telling a lie. When presented with a direct question they must succed on a Will save against the curse's original DC to remain silent. A failed save causes them to uncontrollably blurt out a true answer to the question.

The target's intelligence and charisma fluctuate with the phases of the moon. They receive a -10 penalty to Charisma (to a minimum of 0) and a +10 bonus to Intelligence at the full moon. As the phases progress to the new moon the penalty and bonus shift by 4 points every 3 days until the direction reverses at -10 Int and +10 Cha. So day 3 is -6 Cha/+6 Int, day 6 is -2 Cha/+2 Int, day 9 is +2 Cha/-2 Int etc.

The target is rendered incapable of discussing a particular topic with anyone through any medium of communication. Any attempt made to communicate about the topic causes the subject to instead recount a story about something completely unrelated. The stories are drawn from mundane subject material known to the caster, such as history, geography, or religion.
 


Simm

First Post
The fish curse: Every time the subject does action x (origanally smoking) a fish falls on their head.
note: if subject has cat familiar it may not be a bad thing.
 


Cheiromancer

Adventurer
So what are you guys going to suggest for greater bestow curse? Or an epic curse?

(i.e. I think many of these are over the top for a relatively low level spell)
 

frankthedm

First Post
Cheiromancer said:
(i.e. I think many of these are over the top for a relatively low level spell)
Which ones? The Bestow curse spell's normal options could easily get a victim killed in a combat situation, I don't think effects that take a few days to kill someone are out of line.

• –6 decrease to an ability score (minimum 1).
• –4 penalty on attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks.
• Each turn, the target has a 50% chance to act normally; otherwise, it takes no action.

Relatively low level? Clc 3rd, Sor/wiz 4th - It is touch & will save negates. A level below this is targetted will save or Paralysis [die on the next initiative tick as caster's ally CDGs you] and right next to Enervation. Some of the effects are a bit too good, and some intrude too far into other schools.
 

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