Hashmalum
Explorer
These creatures were inspired by the dying curse rules in the Book of Vile Darkness, although they are not completely compatible with them. The bestow greater curse spell referenced in the monser description comes from the BoVD. The Curse Focus feat and the curse descriptor are found in this posting in House Rules. Following the description of the curseshade and greater curseshade is an incantation to deal with them; incantation rules can be found in Unearthed Arcana.
[size=+2]Curseshade[/size]
Curseshade
Medium undead (incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 5d12 (32 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: Fly 60 ft. (good) (12 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (+3 Dex, +4 deflection), touch 17, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (1d4 plus 1d6 Wisdom drain)
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (1d4 plus 1d6 Wisdom drain)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Cursed wounds, haunt the living, Wisdom drain
Special Qualities: Cursed healing, incorporeal traits, remove curse vulnerability, turn resistance +4, undead traits
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +6
Abilities: Str -, Dex 16, Con -, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 19
Skills: Hide +10, Intimidate +12, Search +8, Spot +8
Feats: Ability Focus (haunt the living), Iron Will
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 6-10 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -
Greater Curseshade
Medium undead (incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 11d12 ( hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: Fly 60 ft. (good) (12 squares)
Armor Class: 23 (+7 Dex, +6 deflection), touch 23, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +12 melee (1d8 plus 1d8 Wisdom drain)
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +12 melee (1d8 plus 1d8 Wisdom drain)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Cursed wounds, haunt the living, Wisdom drain
Special Qualities: Cursed healing, incorporeal traits, remove curse vulnerability, turn resistance +4, undead traits
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +10, Will +11
Abilities: Str -, Dex 24, Con -, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 23
Skills: Hide +21, Intimidate +20, Listen +18, Search +15, Sense Motive +16, Spot +17, Survival +16 (+18 when following tracks)
Feats: Ability Focus (haunt the living), Alertness, Iron Will, Track
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 12-22 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -
This spectral creature resembles a human, but its strangely darkened form is transclucent and its face is hideously contorted with rage and hatred.
When a dying person speaks a horrible curse on those responsible for its death with its final breath, sometimes that person's soul lingers on in the world instead of departing to the afterlife. Filled with hatred, the soul draws upon dark energies to return in a form capable of making its final malediction a reality. That form is the curseshade.
Once a curseshade has located the target of its vengeance, it will use its haunt the living ability to torment that individual until they are dead. Once the curseshade's chosen victim is dead, it will lose the focus for its terrible will and no longer be able to maintain its existence.
A curseshade is roughly human-size; having no physical body, it is weightless.
A curseshade speaks whatever languages it knew in life.
[size=+1]Combat[/size]
A curseshade will only fight if it is dislodged from its chosen victim by means of a remove curse spell or effect. It will savagely attack the spellcaster until they are dead, along with any others who pose a serious threat to its ability to haunt its chosen victim until death. Once the obstacles to its continued haunting have been removed, it will return to haunt its chosen victim once more. Should the victim die while not haunted or be otherwise placed beyond the curseshade's reach, it will turn its fury against the person or persons who prevented it from extracting its vengeance.
Both the curseshade and the greater curseshade share the following abilities:
Cursed Healing (Ex): A curse spell cast upon a curseshade has no effect other than to heal the creature of 1d6 points of damage per caster level; any excess hit points are gained as temporary hit points.
Cursed Wounds (Su): Hit point and ability score damage and drain inflicted by a curseshade's touch attack cannot be healed either by normal or magical means until a remove curse is cast on the victim.
Remove Curse Vulnerability (Ex): A curseshade takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level if a remove curse spell is cast upon it, although this requires the caster to strike the creature with a touch attack and even then it receives a Will save for half damage.
[size=+1]Curseshade[/size]
Haunt the Living (Su): A curseshade may attempt to enter an opponent's body and inflict its curse. This is treated in a manner similar to a grapple, but using a DC 18 Will save on the victim's part instead of an opposed grapple check, and instead of dealing unarmed attack damage, a failed Will save by the victim allows the curseshade to begin haunting the victim. (Also unlike a standard grapple, size categories are irrelevant.) While haunting its victim, the curseshade cannot be seen or detected by any divination less powerful than true seeing (which shows the curseshade's form superimposed over the victim's). The haunting victim is afflicted by the curseshade's curse (which is equivalent in strength to a bestow curse spell, although a curseshade can only inflict a single curse--the curse it uttered at the time of its death) for as long as the haunting continues. A remove curse spell cast on the victim will force the curseshade out of the victim's body (without damaging the curseshade), placing it in a random square adjacent to the victim, but the curseshade will be terribly enraged and attack the spellcaster. The save for this ability is Charisma-based.
Wisdom Drain (Su): The touch of a curseshade scores its victim's psyche with the curseshade's terrible rage and hatred. Living creatures hit by a curseshade's incorporeal touch attack must succeed at a DC 16 Will save or take 1d6 points of Wisdom drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each successful attack, the curseshade gains 5 temporary hit points.
[size=+1]Greater Curseshade[/size]
A person who had at least 11 Hit Dice in life and who meets the other conditions to become a curseshade may become a greater curseshade upon their death. The more potent curse of a greater curseshade often causes the victims to die a premature death, and if more than one person was involved in causing the death of the person who rose again as a greater curseshade, the greater curseshade will seek out the remaining participants in its death and systematically haunt them to grave one by one.
Haunt the Living (Su): A greater curseshade may attempt to enter an opponent's body and inflict its curse. This is treated in a manner similar to a grapple, but using a DC 23 Will save on the victim's part instead of an opposed grapple check, and instead of dealing unarmed attack damage, a failed Will save by the victim allows the greater curseshade to begin haunting the victim. (Also unlike a standard grapple, size categories are irrelevant.) While haunting its victim, the greater curseshade cannot be seen or detected by any divination less powerful than true seeing (which shows the greater curseshade's form superimposed over the victim's). The haunting victim is afflicted by the greater curseshade's curse (which is equivalent in strength to a bestow greater curse spell, although a greater curseshade can only inflict a single curse--the curse it uttered at the time of its death) for as long as the haunting continues. A remove curse spell cast on the victim will force the greater curseshade out of the victim's body (without damaging the greater curseshade), placing it in a random square adjacent to the victim, but the greater curseshade will be terribly enraged and attack the spellcaster. The save for this ability is Charisma-based.
Wisdom Drain (Su): The touch of a greater curseshade scores its victim's psyche with the greater curseshade's terrible rage and hatred. Living creatures hit by a greater curseshade's incorporeal touch attack must succeed at a DC 21 Will save or take 1d8 points of Wisdom drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each successful attack, the greater curseshade gains 5 temporary hit points.
[size=+1]Becoming a Curseshade[/size]
"If I would've made my poltergeist-roll I would have haunted your stupid mage til the end of time." --Dave, in Knights of the Dinner Table issue #4
If the appropriate circumstances occur, the DM may wish to determine if a deceased character of 5 Hit Dice or more becomes a curseshade by random roll. Treat this as a DC 20 Charisma check with the following modifiers:
+5 if character is evil
-5 if character is good
+2 if character has Curse Focus or Spell Focus (necromancy)
+2 if character was betrayed prior to death by those receiving the character's dying curse
+2 if the character suffered a particularly prolonged or painful death
+2 if the character has the Iron Will feat
[size=+2]Placate the Accursing Soul[/size]
Abjuration
Effective Level: 6th
Skill Check: Knowledge (religion) DC 23, 6 successes
Failure: Augment, Attack
Components: V, S, M, DF, B
Casting Time: 60 minutes
Range: Touch
Target: One creature haunted by a curseshade
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) (DC 16 + caster's Cha modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
This incantation allows a creature haunted by a curseshade or greater curseshade to be rid of the creature permanently without having to face it in combat. If the incantation is successful, the curseshade comes forth from the target's body and drinks the blood mixture that is the material component for the spell. It then fades away and is permanently destroyed as its soul peaceably departs to the outer planes for its final judgement.
On the other hand, if the incantation fails, the curseshade comes forth, drinks the blood mixture, and then attacks the caster in a vicious rage with the intent to kill; once the caster has been killed, the curseshade then returns to haunting its victim. The attacking curseshade gains 1d8 temporary hit points per point of Constitution worth of blood in the mixture and a +2 profane bonus to Armor Class and attack rolls; this augmentation lasts until it returns to haunting its victim.
Material Component: A still-warm mixture of the target's blood, ambrosia (cost 200 gp, from the Book of Exalted Deeds), and water from the river Lethe (cost 300 gp), all mixed together and placed in an iron bucket. Providing the amount of blood required deals one point of Constitution damage to the target per two Hit Dice of the haunting curseshade.
Backlash: The caster is exhausted.
[size=+2]Curseshade[/size]
Curseshade
Medium undead (incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 5d12 (32 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: Fly 60 ft. (good) (12 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (+3 Dex, +4 deflection), touch 17, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (1d4 plus 1d6 Wisdom drain)
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (1d4 plus 1d6 Wisdom drain)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Cursed wounds, haunt the living, Wisdom drain
Special Qualities: Cursed healing, incorporeal traits, remove curse vulnerability, turn resistance +4, undead traits
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +6
Abilities: Str -, Dex 16, Con -, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 19
Skills: Hide +10, Intimidate +12, Search +8, Spot +8
Feats: Ability Focus (haunt the living), Iron Will
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 6-10 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -
Greater Curseshade
Medium undead (incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 11d12 ( hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: Fly 60 ft. (good) (12 squares)
Armor Class: 23 (+7 Dex, +6 deflection), touch 23, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +12 melee (1d8 plus 1d8 Wisdom drain)
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +12 melee (1d8 plus 1d8 Wisdom drain)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Cursed wounds, haunt the living, Wisdom drain
Special Qualities: Cursed healing, incorporeal traits, remove curse vulnerability, turn resistance +4, undead traits
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +10, Will +11
Abilities: Str -, Dex 24, Con -, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 23
Skills: Hide +21, Intimidate +20, Listen +18, Search +15, Sense Motive +16, Spot +17, Survival +16 (+18 when following tracks)
Feats: Ability Focus (haunt the living), Alertness, Iron Will, Track
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: 12-22 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -
This spectral creature resembles a human, but its strangely darkened form is transclucent and its face is hideously contorted with rage and hatred.
When a dying person speaks a horrible curse on those responsible for its death with its final breath, sometimes that person's soul lingers on in the world instead of departing to the afterlife. Filled with hatred, the soul draws upon dark energies to return in a form capable of making its final malediction a reality. That form is the curseshade.
Once a curseshade has located the target of its vengeance, it will use its haunt the living ability to torment that individual until they are dead. Once the curseshade's chosen victim is dead, it will lose the focus for its terrible will and no longer be able to maintain its existence.
A curseshade is roughly human-size; having no physical body, it is weightless.
A curseshade speaks whatever languages it knew in life.
[size=+1]Combat[/size]
A curseshade will only fight if it is dislodged from its chosen victim by means of a remove curse spell or effect. It will savagely attack the spellcaster until they are dead, along with any others who pose a serious threat to its ability to haunt its chosen victim until death. Once the obstacles to its continued haunting have been removed, it will return to haunt its chosen victim once more. Should the victim die while not haunted or be otherwise placed beyond the curseshade's reach, it will turn its fury against the person or persons who prevented it from extracting its vengeance.
Both the curseshade and the greater curseshade share the following abilities:
Cursed Healing (Ex): A curse spell cast upon a curseshade has no effect other than to heal the creature of 1d6 points of damage per caster level; any excess hit points are gained as temporary hit points.
Cursed Wounds (Su): Hit point and ability score damage and drain inflicted by a curseshade's touch attack cannot be healed either by normal or magical means until a remove curse is cast on the victim.
Remove Curse Vulnerability (Ex): A curseshade takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level if a remove curse spell is cast upon it, although this requires the caster to strike the creature with a touch attack and even then it receives a Will save for half damage.
[size=+1]Curseshade[/size]
Haunt the Living (Su): A curseshade may attempt to enter an opponent's body and inflict its curse. This is treated in a manner similar to a grapple, but using a DC 18 Will save on the victim's part instead of an opposed grapple check, and instead of dealing unarmed attack damage, a failed Will save by the victim allows the curseshade to begin haunting the victim. (Also unlike a standard grapple, size categories are irrelevant.) While haunting its victim, the curseshade cannot be seen or detected by any divination less powerful than true seeing (which shows the curseshade's form superimposed over the victim's). The haunting victim is afflicted by the curseshade's curse (which is equivalent in strength to a bestow curse spell, although a curseshade can only inflict a single curse--the curse it uttered at the time of its death) for as long as the haunting continues. A remove curse spell cast on the victim will force the curseshade out of the victim's body (without damaging the curseshade), placing it in a random square adjacent to the victim, but the curseshade will be terribly enraged and attack the spellcaster. The save for this ability is Charisma-based.
Wisdom Drain (Su): The touch of a curseshade scores its victim's psyche with the curseshade's terrible rage and hatred. Living creatures hit by a curseshade's incorporeal touch attack must succeed at a DC 16 Will save or take 1d6 points of Wisdom drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each successful attack, the curseshade gains 5 temporary hit points.
[size=+1]Greater Curseshade[/size]
A person who had at least 11 Hit Dice in life and who meets the other conditions to become a curseshade may become a greater curseshade upon their death. The more potent curse of a greater curseshade often causes the victims to die a premature death, and if more than one person was involved in causing the death of the person who rose again as a greater curseshade, the greater curseshade will seek out the remaining participants in its death and systematically haunt them to grave one by one.
Haunt the Living (Su): A greater curseshade may attempt to enter an opponent's body and inflict its curse. This is treated in a manner similar to a grapple, but using a DC 23 Will save on the victim's part instead of an opposed grapple check, and instead of dealing unarmed attack damage, a failed Will save by the victim allows the greater curseshade to begin haunting the victim. (Also unlike a standard grapple, size categories are irrelevant.) While haunting its victim, the greater curseshade cannot be seen or detected by any divination less powerful than true seeing (which shows the greater curseshade's form superimposed over the victim's). The haunting victim is afflicted by the greater curseshade's curse (which is equivalent in strength to a bestow greater curse spell, although a greater curseshade can only inflict a single curse--the curse it uttered at the time of its death) for as long as the haunting continues. A remove curse spell cast on the victim will force the greater curseshade out of the victim's body (without damaging the greater curseshade), placing it in a random square adjacent to the victim, but the greater curseshade will be terribly enraged and attack the spellcaster. The save for this ability is Charisma-based.
Wisdom Drain (Su): The touch of a greater curseshade scores its victim's psyche with the greater curseshade's terrible rage and hatred. Living creatures hit by a greater curseshade's incorporeal touch attack must succeed at a DC 21 Will save or take 1d8 points of Wisdom drain. The save DC is Charisma-based. On each successful attack, the greater curseshade gains 5 temporary hit points.
[size=+1]Becoming a Curseshade[/size]
"If I would've made my poltergeist-roll I would have haunted your stupid mage til the end of time." --Dave, in Knights of the Dinner Table issue #4
If the appropriate circumstances occur, the DM may wish to determine if a deceased character of 5 Hit Dice or more becomes a curseshade by random roll. Treat this as a DC 20 Charisma check with the following modifiers:
+5 if character is evil
-5 if character is good
+2 if character has Curse Focus or Spell Focus (necromancy)
+2 if character was betrayed prior to death by those receiving the character's dying curse
+2 if the character suffered a particularly prolonged or painful death
+2 if the character has the Iron Will feat
[size=+2]Placate the Accursing Soul[/size]
Abjuration
Effective Level: 6th
Skill Check: Knowledge (religion) DC 23, 6 successes
Failure: Augment, Attack
Components: V, S, M, DF, B
Casting Time: 60 minutes
Range: Touch
Target: One creature haunted by a curseshade
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) (DC 16 + caster's Cha modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
This incantation allows a creature haunted by a curseshade or greater curseshade to be rid of the creature permanently without having to face it in combat. If the incantation is successful, the curseshade comes forth from the target's body and drinks the blood mixture that is the material component for the spell. It then fades away and is permanently destroyed as its soul peaceably departs to the outer planes for its final judgement.
On the other hand, if the incantation fails, the curseshade comes forth, drinks the blood mixture, and then attacks the caster in a vicious rage with the intent to kill; once the caster has been killed, the curseshade then returns to haunting its victim. The attacking curseshade gains 1d8 temporary hit points per point of Constitution worth of blood in the mixture and a +2 profane bonus to Armor Class and attack rolls; this augmentation lasts until it returns to haunting its victim.
Material Component: A still-warm mixture of the target's blood, ambrosia (cost 200 gp, from the Book of Exalted Deeds), and water from the river Lethe (cost 300 gp), all mixed together and placed in an iron bucket. Providing the amount of blood required deals one point of Constitution damage to the target per two Hit Dice of the haunting curseshade.
Backlash: The caster is exhausted.
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