Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Deviston 09-11-05, 03:13 PM	I want many ideas for Bestow Curse. This is not just a listing thread, but also a discussion on whether those listed are balanced. If you have no probs, just stick in your ideas, if you do, type the number and what prob and we will discuss, THANKS ! 1. Having someones birth (( whether mammal or dragons eggs for example )) take much longer. Ex. Dragon's eggs taking 700 years to hatch.
Avihs 09-11-05, 03:48 PM	1. Having someones birth (( whether mammal or dragons eggs for example )) take much longer. Ex. Dragon's eggs taking 700 years to hatch.Umm... OUCH!!!! :yuck: I absolutely love it, but then my ex-wife could have used that one... 18 months of carrying the little one around... :plotting: 2) On the opposite end of that... An eternal case ED
Deviston 09-11-05, 03:51 PM	I don't understand what you said. What is ED?
Lokiyn 09-11-05, 04:06 PM	3.) The grandchildren of the cursed will be half fiends. 4.) During the 7th month of pregnancy the child will become a ghoul. Both curses used on a paladin :P
RavenDrake 09-11-05, 11:47 PM	I.... don't know that those are "balanced" per se... But I kind of liked this one... 5.) Metal Allergy: If the subject touches metal object, he begins to itch and swell uncontrollablly. Wearing metal armour or weilding metal weapons will cause the subject to suffer allergic reactions that impose -6 penalties to all skill checks, attack rolls, and saves. If the subject divests himself of metal the symptoms fade in 1d4 rounds. 6.) Tourette's Syndrome: The subject occasionally, and with no control, will bark, growl, shout, curse, scream or moan intelliglbly. The subject suffers a -10 penalty on all Move Silently checks. Additionally, he has a 50% chance to fail casting any spell that requries a Verbal Component or activating any item that uses a command word. 7.) Insomnia: The subject can manage only five or less hours of sleep each night, if at all (1d6-1). While they can still prepare spells with at least 8 hours of restful activity and gain healing benifits from resting, they suffer a -2 penalty to Int, Wis, and Cha any day they do not manage to sleep at least 4 hours. Additionally, they suffer a -2 penalty to all skill checks and attack rolls for the duration of this curse due to insufficient rest and inability to focus. A character who goes for more than 6 months with insomnia runs a risk (1% per week, cumulative) to suffer a mental disorder or insanity.
WaterRabbit 09-11-05, 11:51 PM	I don't understand what you said. What is ED? It's what viagra cures.
WaterRabbit 09-11-05, 11:52 PM	How about simply that the subject cannot benefit from magical healing until the curse is removed.
ScipioX 09-12-05, 01:14 AM	How about simply that the subject cannot benefit from magical healing until the curse is removed. I like that one. Maybe make it similar to clay golem wounds, so a high enough caster could still heal. How bout a curse that decreases the threat range of all your weapons by 2 and increases the crit range of all your enemy's weapons by 2?
sooperspook 09-12-05, 01:17 AM	there was an old Dragonmag that had variations on Bestow curse. Does anyone have it?
Avihs 09-12-05, 01:24 AM	there was an old Dragonmag that had variations on Bestow curse. Does anyone have it?Oi-Veh... I vaguely remember that issue... I may have it, but where to begin looking for it may take a while. I can't even remember what edition it could be from.
Nuntius128 09-12-05, 07:20 AM	10) An unusually loud speaking voice. Even your whispers sound roughly like the auditory equivalent of a moderate sneeze. 11) Let me quote a Mooninite: "You've got... Double Vision..."
Radijs 09-12-05, 09:18 AM	Of course dont forget to check the BoVD for curse options. How about.....You radiate a 5 ft dead magic zone. No magic will work on you (bad and good) and magic items will be surpressed while you hold or carry them.
Deviston 12-06-05, 05:19 PM	would that be balanced though for the warlock's bestow curse?
Sarlax 12-06-05, 08:57 PM	would that be balanced though for the warlock's bestow curse? Absolutely not. It's not balanced for the spell, either. If you're enemies are using spells, supernatural powers, or spell-like abilities, there's no reason to not "curse" your party fighter with this effect and have him storm through your enemies, negating all of their power.
kinem 12-07-05, 12:09 AM	The way I see it, a bestow curse spell should usually just remove some of the victim's own capabilities. The official examples and most of the ones in BoVD follow this, including the bestow greater curse ones. (BGC is basically a double strength BC.) Probably the ones from BoVD that don't follow it shouldn't be used. Also, don't forget the spell can be removed with no permanent effects. Other types of curses could possibly be abused into something like a permanent super-buffs, as in the antimagic field example. Not all "curses" have to come from the spell, of course. Just consider Midas, who turns everything he touches into gold. A curse, right? Not for every monster! In this thread, #1 seems OK; #2 yes obviously (it's so traditional that maybe the spell allows other curses specifically so that everyone will know that it's an option, as they didn't want to write it out); #3,4 - hell no; #5 - No. It's more powerful than the standard -4. However it would probably be OK if you make the itch have an onset time as well; maybe upon touching metal the penalty starts at -1 and gets worse over the next 5 rounds. #6 seems OK; #7 - Insomnia is OK but that version seems overpowered. Maybe the victim should just be fatigued all the time. No magical healing - Maybe. Here's mine: 12) The victim can't remember how to use a specific feat, and loses the use of feats that depend on it. Example: Power attack. 13) The victim can't sneak attack his enemies. 14) The victim suffers a -10 penalty to a specific skill, and can't take 10 for that skill. Examples: Sense motive, climb, profession. 15) When the victim successfully makes a saving throw against something with no obvious physical effects, he does not get a warning tingle as he usually would. In practice, this means the DM secretly rolls that save instead of saying (for example) "Make a will save". This one is devastating in the right circumstances.
was_fired 12-07-05, 10:39 AM	Most of these seem fine (I like the metal one myself). However: 3. Half-fiend is too much since it would be too appealing to demon worshipers, tiefling would be fine though. 4. Too strong since it is effectively instant death as the ghoul eats you from the inside. 6. The penalty should only be -2 given the added penalty from spell failure. A concentration check DC 5 + 1 per previous save should also negate it (when casting a spell you add the spells DC to it). 12. Way too strong 13. Way too strong 14. It shouldn't remove the ability to take ten Mine: 15. Extremely paranoid: All bluffs against you are treated as if they were five points less believable (-5 to the bluffer's check). However you consider nearly everything to be a lie. When someone tells you the truth either you or the speaker must make a sense motive check DC 10 + 1d20 + other modifiers in order to recognize it as the truth.
Wyrd Bearer 12-07-05, 12:06 PM	17. Give them an unusual phobia (not sure if this is the realm of regular bestow curse or greater BC). real phobias Acrophobia- heights (formerly known as vertigo) Aerophobia- wind Agoraphobia- open places Ailurophobia- cats Androphobia- men (males) Astrophobia- stars Autophobia- being alone Bacteriophobia- bacteria (“germs”) Ballistophobia- bullets Bathophobia- deep submerged places Bibliophobia- books Blennophobia- slime Brontophobia - thunder Cenophobia- empty rooms Chionophobia- snow Claustrophobia- enclosed spaces Demophobia- crowds Dendrophobia- trees Entomophobia- insects Equinophobia - horses Gephyrdrophobia- crossing bridges Gynephobia- women (females) Hamartophobia- sinning or making an error Haphephobia- being touched Heliophobia- sunlight or the sun Hematophobia- blood or bleeding Hydrophobia- water Hypnophobia- sleep Iatrophobia- doctors (healers) Ichthyophobia- fish Maniaphobia- going insane Monophobia- being alone Musophobia- mice (and rats) Necrophobia- dead things Nyctophobia- night or nightfall Odontophobia- teeth Onomatophobia- a certain name, word, or phrase Ophidiophobia- snakes Ornithophobia- birds Pediphobia- children Phagophobia- eating Phonophobia- noise, including one’s own voice Pyrophobia- fire Scotophobia- darkness Spectrophobia- mirrors Taphephobia- being buried alive Teratophobia- monsters Thalassophobia- the sea Tomophobia- surgery Uranophobia- the heavens (“the horrible gaping sky!”) Vermiphobia- worms Xenophobia- foreigners or strangers Zoophobia- animals fantastic phobias Arcuophobia- bows Aurophobia- gold Aberraphobia- aberrations and creatures with tentacles Bogyphobia- demons and goblins Demonophobia- demons Dracophobia- dragons Confodiophobia- being stabbed Faephobia- fey Gigaphobia- giants and Large or larger creatures Hadephobia- hell Hagiophobia - saints and holy relics Hierophobia- priests and sacred items Incantophobia- enchantment and mind control Iophobia- poison Manaphobia- magic Materiophobia- constructs Myxophobia- oozes Naturaphobia- nature and druids Planarphobia- outsiders and extraplanar creatures Plantaphobia- plants and plant creatures Phantasmaphobia- specters or ghosts Pneumatophobia- incorporeal creatures Uranophobia- heaven (esp. divine magic)Specific list found here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/sanity.htm#mentalDisorders) (Apparently there is a fantasy phobia of being stabbed. Here I was thinking that was just common sense.) Actually, looking at the sanity rules, if your campaign featured them, then using bestow curse to give someone a neurosis, or just flat out lose some points from their sanity score, would be a good use of the spell.
kinem 12-07-05, 01:19 PM	I already gave #15 (my best one!). So fired's should be 16 and Wryd's was 17. Fired, I don't see how you could possibly think #12 and #13 are too strong, compared to the standard ones. BC basically makes you about half as effective in combat. How do you figure these are stronger than a 50% chance you can't act? As for #14, why shouldn't it remove take 10?
was_fired 12-07-05, 08:49 PM	Look at a 12th level fighter who focused on one weapon. He takes EWP Bastard Sword, WF, WS, GWF, GWS, Improved Critical, and Power Attack. If he started with 15 Strength and boosted it by 3 through mundane means and 4 points using magic his Strength score is now 22. The effects of curses are as follows: Strength: -3 Attack, -3 Damage, minus around 50% carrying capacity Remove WP: -6 Attack, -4 Damage Then you can always remove armor proficiency light from a cleric to make them unable to use armor without taking a huge penalty to attack. Remove dodge and you render a spring attacker worthless. Not just impaired you remove their entire feat chain. For thirteen its a class feature. It just doesn't make sense for a curse. The strongest curse (lose 50% of your actions) isn't quiet as bad as turning a rogue from someone who can deal tremendous damage to someone who never can. As for not removing taking ten it's a time saving mechanic. Removing a time saving mechanic is a bad idea.
kinem 12-07-05, 09:29 PM	Fired, your feat examples are of very specialized characters. One-trick ponies deserve to be vulnerable. None of your examples comes close to a wizard with 16 intelligence taking a -6 to that stat, which is a standard curse. And to say that a spring attacker is a "worthless, not just impaired" if he loses some of his feats is nothing short of ridiculous! He can still attack just like anyone else; his effectiveness is only slightly impaired since one of his tricks is gone. And since when is a cleric dependent on melee? He can simply cast remove curse instead of attacking, if he wants. Now, a rogue with sneak attack might have a slightly more legitimate case. However, if he's useless without sneak attack, then he's useless against a lot of enemies already. Still I might agree to: Deal half the usual # of dice of SA damage, rounded down. Greater curse of course would remove the whole SA. Taking ten is not so much a time saver as a life saver. It's what you do to scale cliffs and walk narrow ledges when there's no time pressure. Besides, I see nothing wrong with making the use of the cursed skill a pain.
Czahkiswashi 12-07-05, 09:46 PM	These two are not all that powerful, but have their uses in different contexts, and are just plain mean: #18: (Eternal Cold) The subject cannot feel warmth or heat. They cannot feel the warmth of a lover's embrace, nor the sun on their face, nor the inferno of the abyss. They can still be burned, they just don't feel it. They take a -1 penalty against spells and effect with the [fire] descriptor, because they have a harder time sensing them. They do now know when they are on fire, and cannot tell the difference between real and illusionary flames, except by test or magical detection. #19: (Lockless) All of their hair on their body, legs, arms, face, and head falls out. They take a -2 penalty to all skills involving social interaction. Additionaly, they suffer a -1 penalty to saves against all spell and effects with the [cold] descriptor, (because their hair does not help to insulate them), unless they wear a cold-weather outfit, or the like. These ones are more usefull in everyday play: #20: (The Curse of Pinochio) Every time the target tells a lie, their nose grows an inch. #21: (Sleepwalker) The target cannot tell the difference between reality and dream. He takes a -4 penalty to all saves vs. phantasms, and acts out his dreams and nightmares while still asleep, substituting real people and objects around him, for the people and objects in his dreams.
was_fired 12-07-05, 10:31 PM	Monks are one trick ponies? Remove simple weapon prof and they aren't proficient with their fists or remove improved unarmed strike and they provoke an AoO every time they attack? Armored fighters one trick ponies? Remove light armor prof and wearing fullplate would give a -5 to attack (MW fullplate). Yes your normal barbarian suffers more from a -6 Str since it hurts his attack and damage SLIGHTLY more than losing power attack and leap attack would when fighting with a two handed weapon. However we are only talking about a four point or so difference here. I would shy away from using casters as an example since every caster has a good Will Save, and most fight from a range so a touch range spell isn't nearly as potent. As for their primary stat I can't see a primary caster starting lower than 15. So at level 5 when you get it you should have a 18 (+1 level, +2 item) which means that the curse would only drop you to 12, which would only cause you to lose your highest tier of spells.
kinem 12-08-05, 09:24 PM	A monk without another weapon is a somewhat of one trick pony, though a special case. Still, not being proficient with a weapon isn't that bad. Neither is provoking an AOO every time you attack - that sounds like a legitimate curse in and of itself. I'm inclined to say these examples are fine. Though if you want, you could exempt the monk's fists from this use of the spell. Removing armor proficiency to give -5 to attack, with no damage penalty, is well within the power of the spell. A standard use is -4 to most rolls, which is worse since it affects saves. BTW, I have never seen anyone use full plate in D&D 3.X. Monks have good will saves and good touch AC, and you didn't shy away from using them as an example. My current PC is a 6th level wizard with an intelligence of 17. He started with 16, and raised it at 4th level. He has not found any magic headbands. This is my actual PC at the moment in a weekly face to face game so I'd have to say he is representative enough. -6 to a stat can be very bad, certainly at least as bad as losing any feat.