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FollowerofBanjo
2016-02-19, 11:42 PM
Hey I'm doing a new campaign and one of the characters has a family curse... The problem is i cant think of any cool P.C. curses other then lycanthropy and i don't want to do that. So any suggestions for a P.C. curse?

ImNotTrevor
2016-02-20, 12:13 AM
You could try the Metamorphica for options that are functionally genetic mutations, or this table: https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/random-thursday-random-curses/

JNAProductions
2016-02-20, 04:41 PM
Once you draw a weapon, it cannot be sheathed or leave your hand willingly until it draws blood.

You just have terrible, rotten luck.

You are followed by theme music. Bad theme music.

You have a craving for human flesh that grows stronger the longer you resist it.

You are stalked by demons.

Keltest
2016-02-20, 05:11 PM
You constantly emit a stench that most species find repugnant

You constantly emit a stench that most species find irresistible

You are constantly surrounded by a cloud of files or other swarming flying insects

You are unable to speak below a shout

You are unable to speak above a whisper

Everything you hold for more than X minutes bursts into flames, including people and animals

Your sweat is a mild adhesive, akin to syrup or glaze

You physically appear to be a zombie, though you are in fact perfectly alive

You are unable to remove your armor except under specific circumstances

NRSASD
2016-02-20, 05:13 PM
You're doomed to die at age 34 (or the equivalent). Nothing is known about how you'll die, but die you most assuredly will unless the curse can be broken.

Your great-grandmother banished a powerful demon/devil/angel/slaadi and it's been seeking revenge on your family line ever since.

Any number of aversions or allergies (can't stand being touched by silver, holy water, moonlight, etc.) or genetic illnesses.

Wild animals attack or flee in fear from you and druids accuse you of being an abomination against nature (yet there are no other symptoms of otherworldly abilities)

Anything magical behaves unpredictably near you (anti-magic field, wild-magic zones, illusions break their parameters, etc.).

AuraTwilight
2016-02-20, 05:24 PM
http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2015/01/d20-curses.html

This blog in general is pretty amazing.

Berenger
2016-02-20, 05:38 PM
Character turns to stone statue in sunlight / moonlight.

Character is really ugly, possesses beastlike features.

Character bears birthmark indicating witchcraft or heresy.

Minor NSC near the character are prone to bad luck: a woman miscarriages, fresh milk spoils, a child breaks a leg...

Character is haunted by random illusions. Harmless things / sounds / persons appear as dangerous and vice versa.

Character feels uncomfortably cold and is icy to the touch.

LokiRagnarok
2016-02-20, 07:16 PM
You always slightly remind people of their least favourite person, up to outright confusing you for them.

You always slightly remind people of their most favourite dead person, up to outright confusing you for them. Imagine a husband seeing his long deceased beloved wive in you, only to realize you are not her. Of course they might realize it's not your fault, but they likely won't want to associate with you nevertheless.

All children feel compelled to follow you and are very unhappy if they are removed from your presence.

Everyone insists you are invincible, despite your claims (and reality) otherwise. The more you protest, the more likely they will attempt to prove you are invincible.

When a crime near you happens, you always get blamed first, regardless of the logical circumstances.

You are visited by visions from distant past or alternate dimensions. These are almost always disturbing in some way.

If literacy matters: letters seem to slightly jump up and down in front of you.


People gradually forget about you after 1d6 days, unless they are in your presence of course.

Noone remembers your name. This affects all names regularly used for you. If you try to give yourself a new name, you also soon forget it.

You know you had close ones (lovers, children, ...), but you cannot remember anything about them. Sometimes random bits keep popping to the surface, but not if you make the conscious effort to remember something.

If you consume something, noone who saw you doing that remembers this kind of thing exists. You eat a piece of bread - everybody who watched you do it forgets bread exists until they rediscover it.
Now, let's talk about water :xykon:

If you read a book, all copies of that book become blank.


Something about you attracts things most people find unpleasant: spiders, snakes, .... can have the old fairy tale staple of "everytime you speak, a toad comes out of your mouth".


From time to time, a random object around you animates (as per Animate Objects) and is hostile towards you. You probably shouldn't get anywhere close to an armory...

Your blood turns black when it leaves your body. If it falls on the ground, it causes a very small desecration effect/causes flowers to wilt/something else.

Everything about you appears only in three colors (pick some. I'd suggest black, red, white).

You do not feel pain. At all. Be sure to not leave that hand on the hot stove. Oh, and better check yourself for random splinters regularly.

Everyone around you is hungry all the time.

Everyone around you is more hostile toward others (but never towards you).

Everything around you gets more rotten, spoiled, muddy, disgusting etc. (Those three last ones are ripped straight from Good Omens).

Clothes get tighter, either on you or on people around you. They don't break, just get tighter. And cannot be destroyed by nonmagical means.

goto124
2016-02-20, 10:39 PM
You turn into a penguin for 1d6 days. DM decides species of penguin.

Inevitability
2016-02-21, 04:20 AM
"If you stay in the same city for over one month, you'll die."

It's a curse that won't be too deliberating in-game, but has a huge impact on the character and his family. Not being able to stay in one place makes it very hard for them to gain any long-lasting social contacts and it'll make most forms of stable income impossible. Not to mention that travel in general is dangerous.

The character in question might have grown up in a merchant's caravan or a travelling troupe. Later, he might have become a sailor or pedlar. There's a lot of potential here.

Anti-Eagle
2016-02-21, 06:38 AM
You consistently bleed from a wound on your arm that refuses to heal. To keep this from being debilitating you require a relatively easy to brew potion. Horrible luck follows you when you have it on your person or are trying to brew it. The horrible luck follows you into real life.

GrayDeath
2016-02-21, 09:59 AM
Nah, being cursed with "Contenders for worst GM ever" is not allowed.
Its FAR too powerful (and evil).

I myself would go with "your Ancestor banished a very very powerful outsider of opposite alignment to (enter families alignment).
It tries everything NOT involving its direct action (banished) to corrupt you to its alignment as that would lift the banishing effect and allow it fitting revenge for the slight of being banished."

Segev
2016-02-21, 04:28 PM
You are remarkably lucky - good or bad is subjective - when it comes to discovering secrets, particularly ones over which people would kill. Unfortunately, efforts to convince people who wouldn't kill you for knowing it that the secret is true are thwarted by disbelief and coincidences making evidence hard to demonstrate.

Firest Kathon
2016-02-21, 05:09 PM
Pathfinder's Oracle class has being cursed as a class feature, you can look at the available curses (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle/oracle-curses) for inspiration. Note that Oracle curses come with benefits as well as a drawback.

JAL_1138
2016-02-21, 06:24 PM
"May you live in interesting times." Everywhere you go seems to be affected by or soon to be affected by drastic social upheavals, revolutions, succession crises, wars, massive natural disasters, plagues, world-ending (or at least region-ending) threats, conspiracies, and/or other general chaos, happening soon after your arrival if it doesn't happen just before you get there. EVERYWHERE.

Anonymouswizard
2016-02-21, 07:39 PM
You are followed by theme music. Bad theme music.

I really like this one.


You consistently bleed from a wound on your arm that refuses to heal. To keep this from being debilitating you require a relatively easy to brew potion.

Don't just go suggesting LankeyBugger"s idea without giving the proper credit


Horrible luck follows you when you have it on your person or are trying to brew it. The horrible luck follows you into real life.

Why would you ever take 'being Lankey' as an in-character curse? Next thing you know somebody's stolen your story, their girlfriend has joined your group, and your partner has stabbed you.

goto124
2016-02-22, 12:27 AM
"May you live in interesting times." Everywhere you go seems to be affected by or soon to be affected by drastic social upheavals, revolutions, succession crises, wars, massive natural disasters, plagues, world-ending (or at least region-ending) threats, conspiracies, and/or other general chaos, happening soon after your arrival if it doesn't happen just before you get there. EVERYWHERE.

Also known as "being a player character" :smalltongue:

TheYell
2016-02-22, 01:35 AM
Whenever you meet someone with a name, you must either form an insulting rhyme with their name and say it out loud, or do 1d4 bite damage to your tongue.

Bohandas
2016-02-22, 06:55 PM
In Ruby Gloom there was a character whose family was cursed to attract natural disasters (mostly lightning strikes and volcanic eruptions).

JAL_1138
2016-02-22, 10:34 PM
Also known as "being a player character" :smalltongue:

Pretty much (maybe up to 11--might entail a complete lack of "between adventures" downtime aside from short/long rests because too many horrible things are happening; DM's option, but the party might suffer too much from inability to easily resupply or spend time crafting adequately; I'd advise against that route).

It's a "curse" that doesn't screw the character over mechanically or make them behave strangely in RP, but certainly provides motive to go adventuring--they can't avoid it; adventures keep happening to them.

Sam113097
2016-02-23, 12:28 AM
You have no shadow
Your shadow faces the opposite direction from everything else's
Your eyes glow an iridescent magenta
Your hair grows 10 times faster than a normal person's
You have an irrational fear of a common animal (dog, chicken, etc.)
Any spells you cast are accompanied by the sound of smooth jazz
You can only learn one language, no matter how hard you try
You somehow lose every key you ever have
In games involving dice, you can only roll 7s. In card games, any card dealt to you will be a 7
Unless you know a person very well, you always call them by a name that is slightly wrong (Jack instead of Jacob, for example)

Bohandas
2016-02-23, 01:14 AM
You have no reflection, causing people to think you are a vampire.

Kane0
2016-02-23, 01:26 AM
You are forever cursed to hear an echo of your own speech.

Seriously. Turn on 'listen to this device' on your headset and try to read a paragraph aloud.

Edit: You are forever cursed to experience Déjà vu every waking moment.

Bohandas
2016-02-23, 01:30 AM
Gain a new allergy every seven years

goto124
2016-02-23, 02:00 AM
Every pen, pencil or similar writing instrument you use will refuse to work unless you're testing it in one corner of the paper.

ImNotTrevor
2016-02-23, 02:27 AM
Every table you ever use will be wobbly.

Whenever you are viewed by firelight, you appear to be a skeleton.

You are unable to die. You heal at a normal rate, and are by no means any more invincible that anyone else, but if you are hacked apart you have to lay there in constant agony until you regenerate. If you are wrapped in concrete and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.... guess where you're spending the next few millenia, unable to fully die, trapped inside your own mind?

Any food you try to eat turns to raw flesh in your mouth, and any water you try to drink turns to blood.

You are permanently followed by an incoporeal creature that plays pranks on you/insults you constantly.

Your consciousness actually resides in the amulet you wear. Whoever puts on the amulet, their personalities are entirely erased and replaced with yours. If you are removed, the body you were occupying drops dead.

TheYell
2016-02-23, 02:27 AM
You are a subject of a false rumor that sacrificing you to a demon lord will cause him to grant a wish to your assassin.

You are the subject of a false rumor that fighting alongside you provides immunity to ranged attacks.

You handle normal-sized weapons as if they were one size too large.

You forsee the death of everyone you touch. You cannot tell if your visions are accurate.

You cannot tell the truth unless you are holding a ball of some size.

You are prone to sneezing fits when you make a critical hit.

You press forward until you are flanked before drawing your weapon.

You feel unable to attack unless you are blowing on a whistle.

Horns make you dance.

When meeting a total stranger, you falsely claim to have already met them.

You believe that you have the gift of Tongues as if a Druid. You don't.

You falsely believe you are immune to poison.

You believe you will die in the same spot you were cursed on a full moon, and not by any other threat.

You seek to convert all your wealth into coppers at every opportunity. You bury what you cannot carry under a small tree and then chop down the tree so nobody else can find your hoard.

You take orders from urchins.

You can cure leprosy by kissing.

You gain telepathic communication with demons.

You must utter two lies and one truth and the GM decides which one he prefers to be true hereafter.

The unconscious undead ignore you. Your companions are not protected.

You can command vermin to appear, and that's about it.

When your bare feet touch soil, you can breathe underwater.

Walls turn transparent to your gaze, but transparent both ways.

You can touch meat and know how fresh it is.

Whatever you throw circles you and lands behind you. If a wall is behind you it is stuck in the wall.

The ghosts of those you have wronged haunt you.

goto124
2016-02-23, 03:18 AM
You are unable to die. You heal at a normal rate, and are by no means any more invincible that anyone else, but if you are hacked apart you have to lay there in constant agony until you regenerate. If you are wrapped in concrete and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.... guess where you're spending the next few millenia, unable to fully die, trapped inside your own mind?

Not very creepy in an RPG, where you can't actually feel the pain, not dying is very useful for not needing to roll new characters.

If you somehow got stuck in a block of concrete at the bottom of the sea, your DM should let you play a temporary (N)PC while your party members find a way to fish you out (which could actually be feasible depending on type of game)... or roll a new character.


Horns make you dance.

Which kind of horn? :smallbiggrin:


You can touch meat and know how fresh it is.

Does this apply to creatures that are 1) made of meat and 2) still alive, such as humanoids?

*touches a human* "She's 222162 hours old!"

25 years, 4 months, 3 weeks, 3 days and 2 hours old.

ImNotTrevor
2016-02-23, 04:13 AM
Not very creepy in an RPG, where you can't actually feel the pain, not dying is very useful for not needing to roll new characters.

If you somehow got stuck in a block of concrete at the bottom of the sea, your DM should let you play a temporary (N)PC while your party members find a way to fish you out (which could actually be feasible depending on type of game)... or roll a new character.


Indeed. I was just spouting ideas. It could be done well, but you'd need a system that supported it. I'm pretty sure this is more like a brainstorming session than a "Present well fleshed-out ideas" kind of thing.

kraftcheese
2016-02-23, 05:42 AM
You are unable to die. You heal at a normal rate, and are by no means any more invincible that anyone else, but if you are hacked apart you have to lay there in constant agony until you regenerate. If you are wrapped in concrete and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.... guess where you're spending the next few millenia, unable to fully die, trapped inside your own mind?


Sooooo.....The Nameless One?

JAL_1138
2016-02-23, 09:57 AM
Sooooo.....The Nameless One?

That was my thought. The Nameless One's inability to die (coupled with amnesia) is the core conceit for one of the most epic, heartrending, tragic stories ever.

Bohandas
2016-02-23, 10:49 AM
Given that amnesia was not mentioned in the curse description it reminded me more or Whargoul (which IIRC actually does end with the protagonist encased in a block of concrete at the bottom of the ocean)

tomandtish
2016-02-23, 12:47 PM
We'd actually benefit from some info.

1) How severe do you want the curse to be: Mild, moderate, severe, or critical? Mild might be he will always lose when gambling (active games of chance), while severe might be he'll die if he ever stays in the same place for more than one night?

2) How frequent do you want the curse to be: Constant, frequent, occasional, rare, or special? Constant is obviously always active. Occasional would probably be once a month (lycanthropy). Rare could be once a year. Special would require a trigger (gambling for instance).

3) Does he/she know they are cursed? Have they been told? Do they believe it?

4) Does the curse tie into their character concept in any other way?

For example, the town where the character was born was subject to outbreaks of undead every 3 months going back several generations. They have always been small and easily put down (very small cemeteries as their town cremated most of their dead). The character (who has tiefling blood) has joined an adventuring group. As they travel they notice that there are still outbreaks every 3 months.

The character is a descendent of Graz'zt. Several generations ago Graz'zt betrayed Orcus, and Orcus has put a curse on the bloodline. But even worse, breaking the curse runs the risk of freeing Orcus OR freeing Graz'zt.

ko_sct
2016-02-23, 07:02 PM
You cannot sleep.

Your ancestor have since learned the meditation techniques of the elves, but it's still annoying that you can never dream or get a real good night sleep.

Other than that... hum...

You can only eat one type of food; raw flesh. Anything else turn to ashes in your mouth and make you violently sick. Maybe go one step further, it must be extremely fresh raw flesh that come from an animal that was killed in the last hour (or even, must eat the animal alive).

ImNotTrevor
2016-02-23, 08:13 PM
The no dying was actually based on a character that frequents my personal writing. But I never claimed the idea was original, so there's that.

Some other curses....

Just like the Chicken Infested curse from Dragon Magazine (I think?) Except the chickens are several days dead. Good for nothing but feathers, and you always smell like dead chickens.

Any time you draw your weapon, there is a small chance that you instead pull out a swarm of angry bees.

Any sealed bottle/small container of liquid that you touch fills instead with sand. You must drink your water by hand directly from streams, rivers, buckets, etc.

Every time you eat, no matter how little, you become morbidly obese for an hour.

You are plagued by the double-edged sword of Disbelief. No magical effects affect you. NONE. No damaging spells, but also no heals, no potions, no buffs, magical weapons become mundane so long as they are in your hands, etc. (Probably best for EL6)

Any time you go to weild your weapon, there is a small chance you exert a Rust Monster's effect on it. Resolve as normal.

Anyone who touches your bare skin contracts a random disease.

You are permanently aware that your shirt is touching you.

You are permanently breathing in manual.

You are permanently aware that your tongue is not comfortable in your mouth.

You are permanently aware that some part of you is itchy right now.

You must eat (your level)^3 in gold every day or take constitution damage.

Just more ideas.

Bohandas
2016-02-23, 09:56 PM
-Diarrhea.

goto124
2016-02-24, 12:54 AM
Any time you draw your weapon, there is a small chance that you instead pull out a swarm of angry bees.

Bees! (http://0.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/21/51/f45e8399c94ce30b205465a3a78c4892.jpg) (not Oprah)

Draconium
2016-02-24, 01:05 AM
No matter how much you prepare, no matter how much you attempt to avoid it, you will step on a dog turd (or similar animal excrement) at least once per week.

Everyone you talk to believes you have a foreign accent, the exact kind varying depending on who heard it. You don't.

You think you're a great singer. You're actually extremely tone-deaf.

Everywhere you go, you always manage to cause one person in that area to start holding a grudge against you, whether deadly or petty.

Whenever you look into a mirror, their is a 50% chance it will crack.

Bohandas
2016-02-24, 01:10 AM
-Variable Colorblindness: which color(s) you can't see changes from day to day

-Uncontrollable flatulence

-Ages 3 years for every 2

-Animals are hostile to them

-Urinary incontinence

-Hairline is receding in the front but advancing in the back so now they have a full head of hair but it's on their neck instead of their head

-Can't stay clean; keeps falling in mud, having garbage cans knocked over onto them, getting stuff spilled on them, etc.

EDIT:

-Spells go haywire like in a wild magic zone. Roll twice on the surge table and take the worse result.

-Keeps twisting their ankle

-Hand is possessed

-Vulnerable to smite spells against any alignment

-Unable to hear the sound of their own name

-Followed by bad weather

goto124
2016-02-24, 02:15 AM
-Hairline is receding in the front but advancing in the back so now they have a full head of hair but it's on their neck instead of their head

- ... then the hair goes down their back, to their thighs, then calves, and then the sole of the feet, giving them the appearance of halfling feet

- ... and then the hair goes back up again along the front, up the legs to the stomach and chest, at one point covering the face, and back to the head!

- ... only to continue receding, back down the neck, back, legs... and thus the cycle repeats itself.

I need to make a gif of this.

LokiRagnarok
2016-02-24, 02:50 AM
We'd actually benefit from some info.

1) How severe do you want the curse to be: Mild, moderate, severe, or critical? Mild might be he will always lose when gambling (active games of chance), while severe might be he'll die if he ever stays in the same place for more than one night?

2) How frequent do you want the curse to be: Constant, frequent, occasional, rare, or special? Constant is obviously always active. Occasional would probably be once a month (lycanthropy). Rare could be once a year. Special would require a trigger (gambling for instance).

3) Does he/she know they are cursed? Have they been told? Do they believe it?

4) Does the curse tie into their character concept in any other way?

For example, the town where the character was born was subject to outbreaks of undead every 3 months going back several generations. They have always been small and easily put down (very small cemeteries as their town cremated most of their dead). The character (who has tiefling blood) has joined an adventuring group. As they travel they notice that there are still outbreaks every 3 months.

The character is a descendent of Graz'zt. Several generations ago Graz'zt betrayed Orcus, and Orcus has put a curse on the bloodline. But even worse, breaking the curse runs the risk of freeing Orcus OR freeing Graz'zt.

Some other things to consider:
5) Broadly speaking, does the curse affect the character (colorblindness, lycanthropy), others (women miscarry), the world (weather-affecting) or any combination thereof?
6) Does it affect body (hair loss), mind (amnesia), or any combination thereof?

ImNotTrevor
2016-02-24, 02:53 AM
You only speak in incomprehensible gibberish.

You are a techpriest from the 40k universe banished to a low-technology fantasy realm just crawling with magical HERESY.

You have been cursed with the Mark of Affection. Once per week, one random person in your viscinity will become violently, obsessively infatuated with you for 24 hours. It is never someone you are attracted to. If no one is around, the most intelligent animal available is substituted. This does not necessarily mean they attempt to have intercourse with you against your will (modify according to audience) but they will definitely try to shower you with unwelcome affection. (Hugs, kisses, tricking you into marrying them, typical Pepe lePew hijinks. Google him.)

Every time you wake up, two of your ability scores have switched. They do not return to default before the next switch. They just continuously shuffle.

Anonymouswizard
2016-02-24, 09:00 AM
People think you're an American, no matter how much your accent matches your country of origin (my family seems cursed with this).

You can never get cake. Whenever it seems like you can eat some, an accident is sure to happen.

DigoDragon
2016-02-24, 09:46 AM
Curse of Mediocrity: You will always roll an 8 on a d20.


You turn into a penguin for 1d6 days. DM decides species of penguin.

You reminded me of this MtG card (http://magiccards.info/scans/en/uh/73.jpg).

goto124
2016-02-24, 10:28 AM
Here's the upside-down version (http://img.comc.com/i/Magic/2004/Magic-The-Gathering---Unhinged-Booster-Pack-Base/73/Curse-of-the-Fire-Penguin.jpg?id=5d5e5a6d-cd4e-40e9-bd62-feb2e38801ed&size=zoom). I nearly twisted my neck trying to look...

- All text looks upside-down to your vision, no matter how much you try to turn the paper/book/poster/etc around.

Joe the Rat
2016-02-24, 12:17 PM
"If you stay in the same city for over one month, you'll die."

It's a curse that won't be too deliberating in-game, but has a huge impact on the character and his family. Not being able to stay in one place makes it very hard for them to gain any long-lasting social contacts and it'll make most forms of stable income impossible. Not to mention that travel in general is dangerous.

The character in question might have grown up in a merchant's caravan or a travelling troupe. Later, he might have become a sailor or pedlar. There's a lot of potential here.
Ages Past, I was in a game where one character had a similar curse, except that he had to move every three days, or else he was teleported to a random location.

It also came with a crow that mocked him telepathically. One time he managed to catch the bird and smash its head in. It was back the next morning.

Hmmm... being cursed with a familiar?

Inevitability
2016-02-24, 03:03 PM
Hmmm... being cursed with a familiar?

Now I wonder how other class features could be refluffed as curses...

"I just want to live a peaceful life! Why do I shoot fire from my hands at the worst possible moments?"

"I'm a normal warrior. Well, except for the severe anger issues."

"I can see them... I can see the sins of these people... so many... it drives me mad... mad... MAD!"

"Random people start following me around when I start to sing! Just leave me alone!"

"Ever since Pelor blessed me, I randomly Turn my vampire lover when she gets close! This is absolute torture!"


EDIT: I think I can actually make the second-last one work. Bard with the Forlorn of Men and Solitary Paragon feats, but high charisma and a bunch of spells that strengthen allies. He'd be an amusing combination of a lone warrior with a rapier and a charismatic buffbot, with him slowly accepting the second role as he continues gaining levels.

Joe the Rat
2016-02-24, 03:41 PM
If you want to get old school... "why do these bears keep following me around?"

Segev
2016-02-24, 03:42 PM
If you want to get old school... "why do these bears keep following me around?"

Sounds like it's time for a game of 'disappearing bears.'

I'll be more than a little pleased if somebody actually gets the reference. And shocked if they get it by itself.

goto124
2016-02-24, 08:12 PM
How about Chicken-infested?

kraftcheese
2016-02-24, 09:24 PM
Ages Past, I was in a game where one character had a similar curse, except that he had to move every three days, or else he was teleported to a random location.

It also came with a crow that mocked him telepathically. One time he managed to catch the bird and smash its head in. It was back the next morning.

Hmmm... being cursed with a familiar?

I'd imagine some of the warlock familiars in D&D (the imp, sprite and quasit) would be pretty prone to mocking/teasing/spiteful pranks; having a nasty little man sitting on your shoulder constantly nagging you would probably get pretty annoying.

Bohandas
2016-02-24, 10:43 PM
-Can't stop hiccuping

-Can't taste anything

-Incurable fibromyalgia

-Horrible visions of future trauma

-Their property keeps breaking

-People have high expectations of them

EDIT:

-Their pants keep falling down

-Any food they eat comes to them either burned or undercooked

-They keep misplacing items, and/or keep losing items due to strange coincidences

-They can never win at a game of chance

EDIT:

I once read a webcomic where everyone in one character's family was cursed to be accidentally shaved bald once every year.

JAL_1138
2016-02-25, 03:45 PM
Kender are drawn to the character and follow them around.

...

No, no, that's too horrible.

Peelee
2016-02-25, 05:49 PM
Bees! (http://0.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/21/51/f45e8399c94ce30b205465a3a78c4892.jpg)
Yay!

(not Oprah)
Boo!

Bohandas
2016-02-25, 11:03 PM
-Insomnia

-They keep stepping in crap

-Disorientation. Paths seem to shift. They keep going in circles. Big penalty to survival checks to avoid getting lost.

-People are compelled to lie to them

-Supernatural clumsiness. Objects seem to jerk themselves out of their hands.

goto124
2016-02-25, 11:34 PM
-People are compelled to lie to them

"Is the leader in the Red Tower?"
"Yes, the Red Tower!"
"Not the Blue Tower?"
"No, not the Blue Tower!"
*turns to rest of party* "Let's go to the Blue Tower. Avoid the Red Tower."

Bohandas
2016-02-26, 01:35 AM
-Any food they own goes bad twice as fast as it should

-Disease seeks them out. They get exposed to diseases in weird circumstances

-They're getting shorter

-The air they exhale "clings" to them. The air thereby occasionally starts to get stale around them even in well ventilated places (but only for them).

-There's always a trip hazard around them, and so they constantly trip.

-They keep getting sold shoddy or defective merchandise.

-Greatly increased frequency of minor injuries (ie papercuts, stubbed toes, cuts, scrapes, bruises, sand in the eyes, ingrown hairs, ingrown toenails, cuts while shaving, sunburn, etc.). Possibly enough to interfere with concentration checks

EDIT:

-Dormant hauntings (and similar phenomena) become active in their presence. For example, If they're ever in or near a house with a poltergeist that hasn't bothered anyone in a while, it'll start bothering them.

-Some kond of deformity that keeps moving unnaturally around their body like Igor's hump in Young Frankenstein.

-Fiends and dark powers eavesdrop on their prayers.

-Intermittent uncontrollable telepathic broadcasting of their thoughts, especially private, negative, or embarassing thoughts (or alternately an intermittent compulsion to speak said thoughts aloud)

-Sensitivity of sense of taste becomes erratic. A lightly salted food, for example, may seem inedibly salty one day and then the leftovers of the same dish will seem disappointingly bland the next.

EDIT:

-Adult bedwetting.

-Can never get a hotel room. Everything's always totally booked, or undergoing repairs, or haunted, or something.

-Inability to distinguish between languages when speaking. They'll jumble together words from every language they know when speaking, making them incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't speak all the same languages.

EDIT:

-Every year, on their birthday, they will break a bone.

-Any food they enjoy the taste of causes them to get sick and vomit. If their tastes change so do the foods that trigger the effect.

-A finger gets cut off accidentally every thirteen years

EDIT:

-Someone else always gets credit for their accomplishments. They still receive blame for their failures as normal.

kraftcheese
2016-02-26, 02:17 AM
-The character gets a rock in their shoe 1d4 days a week, no matter how well sealed their shoes are.
-Constant bad breath, reducing the characters charisma
-Tone down some of Last Gasp Grimoire's diseases (some of the descriptions are REALLY gross and graphic, just to warn the squeamish)
http://www.lastgaspgrimoire.com/does-this-look-infected/
(A personal favourite as a curse is the opalescent kidney stones)

Anonymouswizard
2016-02-26, 07:28 AM
Every 1d4th sentence they speak is replaced by a random (geographically appropriate) farm animal noise.

Segev
2016-02-26, 12:58 PM
Pathetic Fallacy.

This both means that the weather around them is highly variable and potentially at its most dangerous when they're in the worst place to deal with it...and that anybody who knows of it and can look out the window knows how they're feeling, making bluffing a lot harder.

Durzan
2016-02-26, 03:10 PM
You do something stupid that pisses off the fairy ambassador, and as a result they curse you:

To you, Frog Legs will ALWAYS taste... just... like... Chicken.

(They used to be so sweet and buttery...)

Bonus points if you get the obscure reference...

Inevitability
2016-02-26, 04:04 PM
Another one:

You literally can't speak until spoken to. Only when a person initiates conversation specifically with you (speaking to a large number of people or talking to someone else doesn't count) can you talk to that person.

If there are multiple people in a room, some of which who have spoken to you and some of which who haven't, you can talk, but only to the people who spoke to you and only about things concerning those people.

Keltest
2016-02-26, 04:40 PM
You do something stupid that pisses off the fairy ambassador, and as a result they curse you:

To you, Frog Legs will ALWAYS taste... just... like... Chicken.

(They used to be so sweet and buttery...)

Bonus points if you get the obscure reference...

I get it! I get it!

Ah, Dave.

Bohandas
2016-02-27, 12:34 AM
-Always feels uncomfortably cold

-Always feels uncomfortably hot

-Feels uncomfortably hot when it's cold and uncomfortably cold when it's hot

EDIT:

The comic strip Bob The Angry Flower has a couple of interesting ones, including:

-Only able to speak in sound effects (http://www.angryflower.com/608.html)

and of course

-Fast snails (http://www.angryflower.com/120.html)

EDIT:

-People view them with contempt

-They keep encountering things that remind them of l0sses and sadness they've experienced

Cealocanth
2016-02-27, 11:28 AM
They cannot hold onto money. For every member of the family, their individual accumulated wealth will halve over the course of each week. Round down to the nearest coin. So, if the character's total wealth is 113 gp, in gold coins, then by the end of the week they will have lost (not spent) 57 gp.

ImNotTrevor
2016-02-27, 12:11 PM
+You're blue now.
+Everyone is convinced that you are naked.
+Everyone is convinced that everything you do that is even vaguely unusual is witchcraft.
+You function based on a different System. It is not converted. Good luck.
+You are aware that you are an RPG character.
+You were cursed to meet your doom in a moment of peace or happiness, when your guard is down. (Even better if the curse is fake. They become paranoid for no real reason.)
+If presented with a substance in a glass, you drink it. Always.
+You are compelled to collect (Pointless object) whenever possible, spending money on acquiring more of them before any other spending, and actively hoarding them when found. The thing you collect isn't even something you're interested in. (Procelain Clowns or something.)
+Anyone who makes eye contact with you must roll a save or sneeze. This doesn't affect combat rolls.
+Curse of Bad Luck. Once per IRL hour, the GM can make you reroll a successful roll.

Kane0
2016-02-27, 10:48 PM
+You function based on a different System. It is not converted. Good luck.


Oho, i'm definitely using this.

Bohandas
2016-02-28, 02:34 AM
You never think of a good comeback until after the argument is over

Singled out by crooked cops. They're the one that unevenly enforced laws are enforced on.


One leg grows continually and is now significantly longer than the other

JAL_1138
2016-02-28, 07:47 AM
Every building and/or cave and/or dungeon you enter is so full of absurd old-school monsters and/or horrible deathtraps that it may as well have been designed by Gygax himself. E.g., you go to the inn and get a room. The floor of your room is a trapper, the ceiling is a lurker, the bedsheet is a sheet-phantom, the locker/safe for your stuff is a mimic, there's brown mold on the bathroom tiles, the robe hanging in the closet is a cloaker, etc., etc., so on and so forth.

Berenger
2016-02-28, 08:00 AM
You hear what people around you think. You can't switch it off.

DigoDragon
2016-02-28, 08:09 AM
You hear what people around you think. You can't switch it off.

Like being stuck in the comments section of a YouTube video. :smallbiggrin:

Bohandas
2016-02-28, 01:13 PM
You keep getting poked in the eye like Lenny Leonard from The Simpsons

Ronnocius
2016-02-29, 07:01 PM
Once you draw a weapon, it cannot be sheathed or leave your hand willingly until it draws blood.

Curse of the Bloodthirsty

Many people with barbaric ancestry often find themselves craving violence. Unfortunately for some, it doesn't always end there....


Once you draw a weapon, it cannot be sheathed, dropped, or put away until it has drawn blood or been soaked in a pool of blood. The weapon can be put away if you succeed on a Wisdom ability check (DC 10).

Once you have gone five days without drawing blood, you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC 10). If you fail, you must attack the nearest creature until you have drawn blood or been reduced to 0 hit points. If you succeed, for each subsequent day without drawing blood you must succeed on another Wisdom saving throw, but the DC increases by 5 each day.

If another creature reduces your hit points with a weapon, you are embroiled in a fiery rage. You have advantage on all attack rolls made against that creature with a melee weapon, and deal an extra 1d4 damage of the weapon's type on a hit. You have disadvantage on attack rolls against other creatures and any Charisma checks other than Intimidation.

This curse can be removed with a greater restoration spell or greater magic. For the purpose of this curse, "drawing blood" means reducing a creature's hit points in such a way as to make it bleed. Undead and constructs cannot bleed, and damaging them doesn't count as "drawing blood."

Bohandas
2016-03-01, 09:34 PM
-Unpleasant odor that can't be washed off

-someone right ahead of you always buys the last one of whatever item you went into the store for.

-Teeth keep getting knocked out in accidents. About one per year.

-Seizures induced by some seemingly innocuous stimulus, such as being immersed in water.

-Any house they own will eventually burn down

Bohandas
2016-03-02, 12:10 AM
If you are wrapped in concrete and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.... guess where you're spending the next few millenia, unable to fully die, trapped inside your own mind?


Unless they're a psion, then they might be able to extricate themselves. I've often pondered the possibility of a psion embedded in a block of concrete.

Inevitability
2016-03-02, 01:23 AM
You accidentally (http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally)

Segev
2016-03-02, 09:44 AM
The first time you wear any piece of clothing, something will happen to stain it permanently in a prominently visible location at some time before you take it off.

Animals all hate or fear you, whichever is worse for you in any given circumstance.

The more jealous their significant other, the more likely you are to inspire intense lust in people to whom you are not sexually attracted.

Except for weeds, plants wither and die in your presence over the course of a few days.

Plants aggressively grow in your footsteps over the course of a few days.

Any time you pull something out of your pockets in front of somebody, there is a 50% chance that you will also accidentally pull out an item they were carrying that is easily identified as theirs. It will inevitably be as personally important to them as possible. You cannot do this on purpose.

JAL_1138
2016-03-04, 08:35 AM
You have a housecat. Whenever you try to sleep, about 3 or 4 hours into it, your cat will begin meowing loudly and incessantly, and/or gallop through every corner of the house at full speed (including across you as you try to sleep) making about as much noise as a stampede of wildebeest. It is impossible to sleep through it--the cat will wake you up. You are nonetheless extremely emotionally-attached to the cat and will refuse to part with it, no matter how severe the adverse mental effects of chronic sleep-deprivation might get.

goto124
2016-03-04, 10:43 AM
But what does the cat look like?

Replace the cat with any creature. Butterfly, dog, dire wolf, gelatinous cube, mimic, Tarrasque.

KillianHawkeye
2016-03-04, 02:03 PM
You suffer from a total lack of romantic and sexual desire, and are even incapable of deriving any enjoyment from such activities. However, once every seven years, you must find a mate or you will die.

Bonus points if you're playing an elf or half-elf. :smallwink:

JAL_1138
2016-03-04, 02:48 PM
But what does the cat look like?

A smallish, solid-grey domestic shorthair with yellow-green eyes. Relatively unremarkable, aside from a good amount of generalized D'AWW KITTY adorableness.

Segev
2016-03-04, 03:12 PM
May your wives grow warts upon their noses.

May your children abandon you.

May your taxes...INCREASE.

JAL_1138
2016-03-04, 03:16 PM
To quote country-music artist Little Jimmy Dickens, from one of his biggest hits:

"May the Bird of Paradise fly up your nose
May an elephant caress you with his toes
May your wife be plagued with runners in her hose
May the Bird of Paradise fly up your nose!"

Bohandas
2016-03-05, 11:19 AM
You do something stupid that pisses off the fairy ambassador, and as a result they curse you:

To you, Frog Legs will ALWAYS taste... just... like... Chicken.

(They used to be so sweet and buttery...)

Bonus points if you get the obscure reference...

on that note:

The sun will grow hotter by and by
and burn your land to ash
until a star of night in the daytime sky
is seen to brightly flash

Kareeah_Indaga
2016-03-05, 09:44 PM
Whenever you see a creature or group of creatures, make a Will save or be compelled to count them, ceasing all other activity. Most of the time, this will be a minor annoyance ("You see a man approach you." "One. I'm done.")...but have fun fighting swarms! :smalltongue:

You are easily distracted by shiny objects of all kinds, regardless of their usefulness or value or whether or not those shiny objects have sharp ends being swung at your vital regions, and will automatically lose initiative in the presence of shiny things.

And here's one from Forgotten Realms: You HAVE to get paid for everything you do. The payment must be equivalent to the effort you put into the task being completed, and must be different each time. If you ever do something purely for altruistic reasons or for some other reason you can't be paid (employer died, was robbed, etc.) you turn into a monster until you kill something.

ImNotTrevor
2016-03-05, 10:28 PM
Every single magic item you ever get comes from the 1001 useless magic items thread.

Bohandas
2016-03-05, 11:39 PM
-keeps forgetting words; intermittent aphasia

-Eye stigmata; Bleeding eyes (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/169765)

goto124
2016-03-06, 03:33 AM
http://i.imgur.com/BqXY0In.png

Frozen_Feet
2016-03-06, 04:22 AM
Can only lust for and have children with people you hate.

Turn into opposite sex (or a random animal) when splashed with cold water. Turn back when splashed with hot water.

Can see and talk to dead people. Dead people, mostly not having other people to talk to, swarm around you. You can't tell them apart from living people.

You see into the future but no-one believes you.

Aging backwards - you were born ancient (pity your mother) and will become younger as years go by, disappearing after becoming a toddler.

Lurking drunk
2016-03-06, 03:12 PM
Search Domains of Dread (it's online so you're fine) and read about the domains and its darklords & curses chapter (somewhere after powers check one I think?). Each darklord is blessed with powers, but cursed in the worst way for HIM. For example a warrior cursed to not hold a weapon is a bad curse because it neutralizes any opportunity of FACING the curse as he can just go be a peasent, but a warrior who was so cruel he was cursed that his sword swings will be weaker is a good one as it lets the character deal with his curse when it hurts him most. Make a story of it that will make the character and curse inseperatable.

Wish I helped Ya :smallsmile:

Bohandas
2016-03-06, 05:58 PM
-Always have the taste of extra hot hot sauce in your mouth

-Everything tastes like pork to you*

-Your own personal raincloud that follows you around like in a cartoon

-Inverted bad-luck cause-and-effect: You keep breaking mirrors and getting attacked by swarms of black cats**

-Hair or nails grow much too fast; have to be trimmed every day

-Miscarriages

-Hallucinations brought on by casting divinatory spells***

-If the character overeats even a little bit they become morbidly obese very quickly (like over the course of less than a month). If they try to lose the weight or find themselves undereating they rapidly become as emaciated and weak as someone who has been a victim of famine or war atrocities or vanity (in under a week)

-Clumsiness and constant tripping

-Cannot grow plants

-Pets keep dying/being injured

-Evocation spells backfire

-The midas touch but everything turns into wood

-Somehow when they injure themselves it's always badly. In game terms reroll the first result of 1 any time damage dice are rolled to determine how injured they are by something.


*Like that one Invader Zim episode
**Like that one Rocko episode
*** Like the Ice King's wizard eyes, sort of

JAL_1138
2016-03-06, 06:17 PM
You have a housecat. Every piece of cloth-covered furniture in your home will be shredded to the point of needing reupholstered and re-stuffed within 1d10 weeks (provided that the cat stays in your home during this time). The Mending and Make Whole spells have no effect on the damaged furniture. You are nonetheless deeply emotionally-attached to the cat and would be extremely reluctant to part with it.

You have a housecat. The cat is under the impression that your arm and hand are cat toys to scratch at and gnaw on, and thus your arm is constantly covered in red scratch-marks. You are nonetheless deeply emotionally-attached to the cat and would be extremely reluctant to part with it.

zubb
2016-03-06, 06:47 PM
A rock that sits on top of your head, it always comes back to the top of your head when you move it. The rock makes a constant ringing sound.

goto124
2016-03-06, 10:35 PM
You are nonetheless deeply emotionally-attached to the cat and would be extremely reluctant to part with it.

You suddenly get deeply emotionally-attached to a random creature within 5 feet of you.

ReaderAt2046
2016-03-06, 10:55 PM
The Curse of France: Any place you stay in is gradually transformed into France.

The Curse of Ben Carson: I think you can guess how this one works.

Bohandas
2016-03-06, 11:43 PM
The Curse of Ben Carson: I think you can guess how this one works.

Does it use pyramid power to keep vegetables fresh?

Segev
2016-03-07, 11:20 AM
Does it use pyramid power to keep vegetables fresh?

Nah, it involves every time you're about to get attention, somebody trumps your spotlight.

Bohandas
2016-03-07, 02:52 PM
-reverse bullettime: chance of being slowed at the beginning of every encounter.

JAL_1138
2016-03-07, 07:53 PM
You suddenly get deeply emotionally-attached to a random creature within 5 feet of you.

That's exactly how I got the cat. Spotted him up for adoption when dropping by to visit a relative who's a veterinarian, had a D'AWW KITTEH reaction, went home with him as soon as I had the paperwork filled out. I complain about the little critter, but I complain about everything; it's practically my hobby. I actually like the little fuzzball.

Bohandas
2016-03-08, 03:24 AM
Trouble with transportation: portals don't open, mounts don't obey commands, teleportation spells fizzle, magic carpets stay grounded, automobiles won't start, etc.

goto124
2016-03-08, 06:21 AM
You keep tripping over nothing at all, stubbing your little toe against anything that's on the ground, and stepping on other people's feet...

EDIT: A certain DnD generator gave me "Paranoid half-orc fighter from a laid back beach town who is cursed to speak in sentences of exactly ten words". So.

Bohandas
2016-03-14, 01:59 AM
-no one can understand what you're saying

-Your bones break at the slightest touch

ShikomeKidoMi
2016-03-17, 03:02 AM
Curse of the Strange Old Man-- You develop a wandering eye and a withered hand. (Can't do anything that requires both hands).

Curse of the Creepy Doll-- There is a creepy doll. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgfklKnOg4w) And it always follows you. Everywhere. You. Go.

Knaight
2016-03-18, 03:25 AM
You come from a merchant family. Anything that anyone in it has ever sold, you cannot touch - someone sold wheat, you can't eat wheat, someone sold a sword, you can't touch swords, etc.

JAL_1138
2016-03-18, 05:14 AM
To the OP: I've made a few silly suggestions, but speaking seriously now: a PC shouldn't start the game with a curse that makes them nigh-unplayable. And if they get hit with one in-game later that'd be really miserable for a player to play out, that should be effectively career-ending--roll new character--unless Remove Curse or the like is going to be available (and soon). Whatever the curse is shouldn't be something that would make the character un-fun to play. As much as any (Evil) DM likes to see a PC suffer, the character and the game have to still be fun for the player to play, or there's a problem. Just keep that in mind and work with the player to figure out one that they can live with and that makes the character more interesting to them.

Bohandas
2016-03-19, 10:46 PM
To the OP: I've made a few silly suggestions, but speaking seriously now: a PC shouldn't start the game with a curse that makes them nigh-unplayable. And if they get hit with one in-game later that'd be really miserable for a player to play out, that should be effectively career-ending--roll new character--unless Remove Curse or the like is going to be available (and soon). Whatever the curse is shouldn't be something that would make the character un-fun to play. As much as any (Evil) DM likes to see a PC suffer, the character and the game have to still be fun for the player to play, or there's a problem. Just keep that in mind and work with the player to figure out one that they can live with and that makes the character more interesting to them.
One thing that can be done is to build in some mitigating factor that temporarially mitigates the curse. ie curse x come into effect if they ever go for more than 12 hours without performing action y (or conversely, if they ever perform axtion y they will be plagued by curse x for the next 24 hours)