Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 KlaudisRex Apr 21, 2015 15:53:58	My players offended the goddess of bad luck and misfortune, Beshaba by destroying some relics and trinkets. Ive already decided that they will be cursed and have to go on a small side quest to get rid of it.   My question: can the 3rd level spell 'remove curse' simply undo a curse from a deity? Whether at a temple if they decide to learn the spell for themselves, im thinking, NO because i want this side quest to go down.   Do you think this is fair? or is it really possible for a mortal spell to undo a hex from a the goddess of bad luck herself?   This particular curse is really just fluff and description. im not really having the players be cursed that bad until they finish the side quest.  But in certain battles and key moments, like when they roll a critical fail, im thinking it gets triggered.
#2 iserith Apr 21, 2015 16:12:25	KlaudisRex wrote:
#3 Imaculata Apr 21, 2015 16:25:09	You could also make the curse more interesting, by coming up with an unintended side effect if they do try to remove the curse, This allows the players to try to remove it first, and then discover that they need a better solution.
#4 Riley37 Apr 21, 2015 18:00:35	"Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso, quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores impulerit. Tantaene animus caelestibus irae?"   Roughly translated: "Dude, did you get a GOD angry at you? That's gonna get you in all kinds of trouble. That's gonna lay some burdens on you. Yeah, you're pious, but do you even know how hard the gods can hold a grudge?" (From the Aenead, by Virgil.) "Curse" is one of those terms which has a general meaning in English and then a more specific usage as a D&D term. Let's say that this goddess has imposed Divine Wrath.   If a mortal casts Remove Curse, then roll an opposed contest, between the magical power of the mortal casting Remove Curse, versus the magical power of the god who imposed their wrath. The PCs should go on a quest which either appeases the god they angered, in which case, that god can end their wrath as a free action. Alternatively, the quest motivates some other god to end the punishment.   In Homeric mythos, each god tends to give full faith and credit to the decisions of other gods. Zeus is sufficiently strong to override another god's wrath, and even then he lets Posiedon kick Odysseus all around the Mediterranean, before making Posiedon knock it off and let the guy find his way home.
#5 Razintarr Apr 22, 2015 6:53:10	KlaudisRex wrote:
(Reply to #5) KlaudisRex	Razintarr wrote:
#7 bawylie Apr 22, 2015 10:55:18	As a curse is bestowed by a deity, Remove Curse is a gift granted by a deity.    I see no inherent reason why it wouldn't work. I see many in-universe reasons why it might not. The deity who cursed may have some treaty or arrangement with the deity who granted Remove Curse. Or the curse from the deity of trickery isn't a curse at all - just a lie; and all misfortune is unfortunately misattributed. Or Remove Curse CAN remove this curse, but requires a special side quest ingredient.    And so on.
#8 Tempest_Stormwind Apr 22, 2015 12:03:50	It's also Beshaba, who, while malicious, isn't outside the trickster archetype. That might guide your choice.   For example, my default solution to plot-induced SNAFUs like a deity's curse is to let the normal rules for dealing with it work, but with a plot-linked extra ingredient like a quest. (Note that normal curses - even those from a deity's worshippers - are cancelled out by Remove Curse, even if it's cast by a non-cleric. It's on the warlock list*, for instance. The extra quest comes in if that deity's involved directly.)   Beshaba's primary motivation is to foil Tymora, so you could consider exploring that rivalry for ideas. Maybe the curse "wants" to shift itself to a follower of Lady Luck, or the curse's divine protection (which is what's stopping a regular Remove Curse from working) goes away after the curse or its bearer foils a fortuitous event or spreads enough misfortune.       * Does anyone else find it odd that warlocks have Remove Curse but don't have Bestow Curse? Especially since Hexing is so central to their playstyle.
#9 KlaudisRex Apr 22, 2015 14:16:33	Tempest_Stormwind wrote:
#10 BRJN Apr 22, 2015 18:24:48	To placate Beshaba, you must cause bad luck on somebody else. - Somebody else offended Beshaba, very badly.  She wants you to be the "Random Encounter" that tries to kill him for no (apparent) reason. - Go to a casino - NOT one run by the Church of Tymora - and manage to lose your entire starting stake.  (Maybe the other guy at the table is James Bond?) - Hand out counterfeit coins to the city beggars.  Or coins from a long-lost land, of questionable quality, that merchants will not accept as currency. - Dump an old dead thing in a town well.  Maybe not too many people will get sick... - Give the PCs a "genie-in-a-bottle" looking thingy and tell them to take it to a certain village and open it.  It holds a magical swarm of locusts. - Pray for Umberlee or Talos to turn their attention towards a particular ship.  Maybe they are too busy to listen and it won't sink, or maybe not. - Spread defamatory rumors about a certain merchant's business. - Show up in town and get another man's bride-to-be into a whirlwind romance.   Note that in all cases, the likely retribution on the PCs' head can be excused as "that's his bad luck, getting caught like that."
#11 Razintarr Apr 23, 2015 7:18:25	KlaudisRex wrote: