The Gaming Den

I've seen innumerable variant options for the bestow curse spell that do something more than the listed penalties. The problem is that I don't know which ones are both in line with the guidelines (can the victim be vulnerable to an energy type?) nor do I know which ones actually improve the game as an option for both NPCs and PCs to use (making your loved ones have a disease is likely bad).

Suggestions?

This is completely silly, but...

• One of the listed ideas is aging someone an age category
• True dragons gain 3 HD every time they go up an age category
• Thus, gaining 3 levels is an appropriate effect for Bestow Curse

Bestow Curse is often called "the poor man's Wish" because the effects are entirely without limit other than being kind of baleful.

The listed examples in the various supplements are not encouraging. For example, added to a Create Undead spell, you can make someone into a Curst (Lost Empires of Faerun), a nearly immortal undead creature template with a really decent Level Adjustment of +3.

The idea is that you make an argument for something bad that is perversely good too. For example, you might make someone immune to Troglodyte Stench by making them lose their sense of smell (or give them the Scent quality but make them constantly Sickened by everything).

Basically, the sky is the limit. Welcome to one of DnD's completely open-ended spells.

You could just look at the list Bestow Curse gives and stick to that, but generally, pilfering other listed curses should be okay:
[*]Hexblade Feats
[*]Various monsters that have their own Curse/Evil Eye effect.

If I (or anyone else) cared, I'd go back and revise my Witch class that gets some over-the-top Curse options ("You're Stunned. For a month."), but some of its effects are perfectly acceptable, particularly the lower-level ones.

I'd be willing to bet a Dragon Magazine had an article on alternate Curses to Bestow.

Go with the classic from Elisha. The victim must roll 1d6 at regular intervals. On a 1 or a 6 he's attacked by a bear.

Of course, there are other iconic curses that are more annoying than lethal.

You can curse an actor to by typecast as his most famous role, never to get another decent job again. You might also cause him to critically fumble on a natural 1 or 2 while riding a horse, but that's probably in bad taste.

Or you can curse a playwrite so that if his most famous play (or his favourite) cannot be spoken of by name, otherwise someone attached to it will die.

Send this guy after someone.

Curse ideas from a comic, of sorts

Bestow Purse Target gains an sparkling hot pink purse on their body (treat as an empty mundane sack). Purse is cursed not to leave the target, but it is functional, just embarrassing.

hyzmarca wrote:Bestow Purse

If you're willing to stretch, additional variations include Bestow Terse, Bestow Verse and Bestow Worse. But the only other exact match is Bestow Nurse.

Bestow Hearse.

Good: You get a snazzy black stretch limo!
Bad: You're riding in the coffin.

Silent Wayfarer wrote:Bestow Hearse.

Good: You get a snazzy black stretch limo!
Bad: You're riding in the coffin.

"You get a snazzy black stretch limo."
"That's good!"

"You're riding in the coffin."
"That's bad."

"It's padded and lined with felt."
"That's good!"

"You've been injected with formaldehyde."
"..."

"That's bad."

Singing genital warts.

I cannot wait for my caster to get Bestow Curse, now...

I'm going to be playing a character with Bestow Curse at will in my group's next game, and I'm trying to figure out some useful tricks.

Including an escape clause is a curse classic, and if you are going to try and put arguably beneficial curses on your allies, then it saves you from having to burn through prepared Break Enchantment and Remove Curse spells after the adventure.

Let's say you are going to be fighting fey who can put people to sleep with their music. "Hey, buddy. I CURSE YOU with insomnia! You will never again know the peace of sleep until you recite 3 prayers to Pelor while kneeling in a circle of lit candles. Not even magical sleep effects will give you respite while this bane is upon you."

I look forward to really hamming it up at some point, like the cursed chests in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door did.

double check with your DM about that fey sleep, it may bypass your curse even.

"You will never again know the peace of sleep"

this could easily be turned into them falling asleep and having nightmares from the fey effects mixed with the curse.

With as frequently as Oglaf is relevant to TGD discussions, I kind of have to wonder if the writer posts here... I mean, I doubt it, but I suppose it's possible.

shadzar wrote:double check with your DM about that fey sleep, it may bypass your curse even.

"You will never again know the peace of sleep"

this could easily be turned into them falling asleep and having nightmares from the fey effects mixed with the curse.

You make a fair point, Shadzar. The MTP giveth and the MTP taketh away. Of course, if "beneficial curses" keep dicking the party over, they still might be able to use the precedents established to gain some kind of future advantage.

Of course, depending on MCs, precedent isn't necessarily going to help you, either.

ishy wrote:

Yeah, I'm totally going to have to open a curse shop.

- - - -

Oh hey, I've been playing Fire Emblem Awakening. There was a hex specialist there who seems to save someone from heat exhaustion with some kind of chilling curse. Maybe I should comb through the script and see if there's any other cool ideas.

Prak_Anima wrote:With as frequently as Oglaf is relevant to TGD discussions, I kind of have to wonder if the writer posts here... I mean, I doubt it, but I suppose it's possible.

I really considered that it might be Koumei for a bit. I'm still not convinced it isn't her mysterious sister; though that seems too pat to be true.

I think I considered that once too, but Oglaf is a lot more polished than Koumei's art (or mine for that matter, so no offense, Koumei). Also, if it were Koumei, there'd be far fewer cocks in it.

Edit: on the other hand, it's conceivable that Koumei's girlfriend draws Oglaf.

I have no illusions as to the quality of my art, never mind the fact that I could never keep to a schedule like that and I'm not one for drawing cocks.

My girlfriend asks me to draw stuff for her, I doubt she's moonlighting as a webcomic artist.

Now I'm just kind of wondering if Oglaf's artist/writer lurks here...

Actually, hell, if she keeps track of analytics at all, she may be aware of the site. Assuming I'm remembering analytics' quirks correctly.

Whenever they interact with someone for the first time, there's a 20% chance that they must make a will save or punch that person in the face.

Prak_Anima wrote:Now I'm just kind of wondering if Oglaf's artist/writer lurks here...

Actually, hell, if she keeps track of analytics at all, she may be aware of the site. Assuming I'm remembering analytics' quirks correctly.

It's either analytics or WMT... I always mush the teo together in my brain noggin.

There's always google alerts, too. Pretty sure that's why beetlejuice keeps popping up.

....maybe if we convinced FBMF to install a filter for his name... and/or domain.