Here follows a list of 30 curses, some merely embarrassing or awkward, other dangerous and possibly deadly. A generator can be found here
Curses should not be easy to lift, for these ones a minor quest or repentance of some sort should be used instead of a quick fix spell.
Curses should also fit the offense against the being delivering the curse. These ones are more appropriate for generally non-offencive creatures such as the Folk, Gypsy fortune-tellers and the like. They do not fit in an ancient tomb of a Witch King (I think this is the seed for a later submission...)
That said, here they are:
1. Hemophobia
Subject cannot stand the sight of blood. They will need to check their willpower or faint. Warrior types may find this a little disabling.
2. Blackmouth
Subject's teeth begin to rot and will start dropping out one by one. Due to the appearance and smell, the subject will likely have impacts to social-related attributes and skills. Obviously Seduction would be a problem.
3. Rubberfingers
The joints and tendons in the victims hands become more flexible and soft. As a result, the hands cannot apply much strength to any task. Similarly, complicated actions such as spellcasting may also suffer penalties.
4. Drifteye
One of the subject's eyes will drift to random locations on the subject's skull. It will seriously affect depth perception and coordination unless one of the eyes are closed. On the plus side, it may allow for rear-vision, etc, but it will seriously affect how other people view the subject.
For those who need a table, you can use the following:
D6 roll Location
1 Top of skull
2 Right-side (in front of ear)
3 Back of skull
4 Left-side (in front of ear)
5 Under chin
6 Center of forehead
5. Longtooth
One or more of the target's teeth begins to grow continually. If it is extracted, another tooth will suffer the same fare. It will keep getting longer and longer until the curse is lifted. Growth rate and number of teeth depend on strength of curse.
6. Displacement
Items carried will randomly disappear and reappear in unexpected places,usually on the victims person. Generally, it will add time to retrieve small items, especially spell components.
7. Tasty
Victim smells like fresh food - usually meat to animals. Increases the likelihood of hostile animal encounters. Domesticated animals will mob the character looking for food.
8. Stilt Legs
Victim's lower legs lengthen significantly, increasing height by several inches. Victim may find they can walk/run faster, but they will look odd and be more vulnerable to tripping, and broken legs.
9. Fisheye
Subjects eyelids become completely transparent. Subject may have difficulty sleeping without use of masks, or completely dark rooms. Others will find the subject weird and unnerving.
10. Dog Nose
Subject sense of smell is greatly increased. (Optionally the subject's nose can appear as a real dog nose) However, they never become ‘used' to any odor, including their own. Given the state of hygiene in most fantasy worlds, they may find this rather unpleasant.
11. Truthtongue
Whenever the subject attempts to lie, regardless of the intent, reason or situation, they will develop a lisp.
12. Deadweight
Victim steadily gets heavier. This change is not visible, they simply become denser and denser. Eventually the Victim will be unable to move. If the curse is not lifted eventually they will be so heavy that they will not be able to breath. Weight increase stops with their death.
13. Vipertongue
Subject cannot speak without studding his conversation with rude, mean spirited insults. The speaker cannot hear these, but all others can.
14. Accidental Arsonist
Wherever subject goes, if a fire can escape, it will. Drapes will drift into candles, campfires will shoot embers into dry grass, etc. Subject will need to go someplace non-flammable to escape the effects.
15. Rotfingers
Any foodstuff touched by the subject, even with gloves or utensils will spoil immediately. They can be fed by others though, or if they can manage to feed themselves without using their hands.
16. The Longing of Long Falls
The victim is drawn to places of great heights - cliffs, bottomless pits and the like. In their mind these places call for them to join them, to cast themselves within. Not a sure thing, but these places will always be dangerous to the curse bearer. One day his willpower may fail.
17. Insincerely
No matter what the subject says, the subject will always add a little tick or gesture which will lead the listener to doubt what is said. 'No! I did not kill the watchman!' (wink wink!)
18. Limbshifter
Every morning, a different limb or the head of the subject will transform into that of a randomly determined animal. Size of the limb will be appropriate for the affected being and generally will not seriously affect walking speed or strength.
19. Chaosbringer
Wherever the victim goes, small bursts of telekinetic energy will cause small items to occasionally fall off shelves or other surfaces. The more powerful the curse, the stronger and more frequent the pushing.
20. Hydropathy
Subject cannot abide water touching their skin - it will cause significant pain, but no damage. Subject would need to make a very difficult willpower check to do immerse themselves in water, and an even greater one to avoid screaming.
21. Sharpears
Victims hearing is changed such that loud sounds get louder, and quiet sounds become quieter. Anything that they can hear is painfully loud. Anything below a whisper is completely unheard. This is purely in the mind - they will only be deafened by sounds loud enough to do that without the curse in place.
22. Keyed Narcolepsy
Subject will suddenly drop into a deep sleep whenever a specific key phrase or event occurs (generally decided upon by whoever applied the curse.)
23.Dis-Count
Victim loses the ability to count above 2 and cannot re-learn this skill until the curse is lifted. This will even extend to their ability to judge odds in a battle.
'Run? Why? There's only two of them!'
24. Snuffer
The opposite of Accidental Arsonist, small flames will go out when the subject comes near, and larger flames will decrease in intensity.
25. Inverteyes
The affected individual loses the brain's ability to invert the image projected by the eyes, so as a result, everything appears upsidedown. This will have pretty serious affects on the subject' coordination.
26. Corrosive Touch *
Most objects touched by the victim will be slowly be corroded, rusted or otherwise weathered. This affect is not strong enough to inflict damage in combat, but weapons, armor, clothing or other items in close contact to the victim will degrade over time. The effect does not continue when contact is broken.
27. Hair!
Subject's hair will begin growing at a greatly accelerated rate, about 1/2' per day. What makes things more annoying is that it becomes terribly difficult to cut, enough that magic is required.
28. Roving Food Allergies
Each day, a different common foodstuff will trigger food allergy symptoms. Specific reaction can be hives, gastrointestinal distress or swelling. Dangerous effects do not occur, but every meal is playing Russian Roulette.
29. Magius Haywire
Wherever the subject goes, Magic items (like wands, etc) have a tendency to go off spontaneously. Very powerful items with limited usage are less likely to activate then common, minor ones. Subject had best avoid magic shops.
Those carried by the subject are the most likely to be activated.
30. Deadears
Victim appears to be able to hear normally, except with respect to sounds that they make. This leads to over-loud conversation, and overconfidence when attempting to move with stealth.
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? Responses (13)
We know a few of these already. I have linked Curses here. Some of them are very nice, however. I mean... nasty. ;)
I like them.
Curses! Didn't see that older submission :)
D'oh! Took 3 bonk from that pun... falling down now. curses......
Okay, Looks like I'll have to prune this list down to remove the duplicates. Just need to come up with about 10 more or so....
These 30's are hard :)
These are some very good and well written curses. I wish there was a list of curses that would be good if placed on towns instead of just people for ye olde plote device.
A commendable collection of common curses.
Update: Link to generator added.