How to Use Curses
Curses, while usually detrimental, are tools for a DM, and a
Curses
An optional set of rules for 5th edition
D&D
These are an optional set of rules you as the DM can use to
make implement curses in your game. These rules are based
on my own personal opinion of curses, and should be viewed
as such.
What is a Curse?
A curse is a powerful form of dark magic created for the sole
purpose of manifesting a negative or undesirable effect to a
creature or place. While good and neutral aligned creatures
can enact these dark magics as well, they are mainly employed
by malevolent or spiteful creatures. An example of this would
be Acererak’s death curse from the Tomb of Annihilation
adventure published by Wizards of the Coast.
It is important to note that players have access to curses too
in the form of spells like bane, eyebite, bestow curse,
contagion, hex, and geas. Depending on how it's used though,
any spell can be turned into a curse.
possible plot hook (or seed) for an adventure for their players
to explore.
When contemplating adding a curse, consider how does
this curse affect the world around it. The curse doesn't need
to affect creatures or land on a global scale, but even a single
afflicted creature can change the dynamics of a small
community they live in.
It is beneficial, while not mandatory, to also consider who
made the curse. This does not mean the creature who cast the
curse, but rather the person who first thought up and created
it. It may not add anything mechanically to the curse, but it
does give it more flavor and helps build backstory for future
plot hooks.
Consider if there is a condition to break the curse. It doesn't
need to be complex, but it should be clear on what this
condition is and how it could be fulfilled.
Here are some examples.
A jealous, shyly wizard, unable to confess his love for the
woman he had obsessed over for years, enchanted his
crush with a curse. She appeared repulsive around all
other men she loved until he confessed his feelings for her.
She died alone, unloved.
A warlock, obeying the whims of her master, defiles the
tomb of an ancient, deceased king and his four knights. On
the next full moon, the deceased would rise from their
graves as revenant, terrorizing the kingdom they once
protected. The only way to undo this curse is to bathe the
undead creatures in the light of a blue moon.
Upon sealing away the dark champion of the sea goddess
Umberlee, she cursed the land in which he was sealed,
raising the tides, and sinking portions of the continent. The
tides continuously rising each year until her champion was
freed from his imprisonment.
Curse Tiers Remove Curse
Similarly to other forms of magic, all curses are not created One cannot speak of curses without speaking of its antithesis,
equally. A curse is categorized into the following tiers: minor, the spell remove curse. When casting this spell, it removes all
major, and ancient. These curses are placed in one of these curses and can break attunement to any cursed item attuned
categories based on the curses effect, duration, and the curses to a creature. This potentially cheapens a powerful element of
casting level as detailed below in the Tiers of Curses table. If a gameplay and makes a curses usefulness at higher levels
curse falls into more than one tier group, place it in the higher nearly impossible with a player character or ally with this
tier. spell. Instead, use this spell similarly to how one would use
dispel magic. When casting the remove curse spell, the caster
will need to cast the spell at the same level or higher than as
the curse was casted at to successfully dispel it. This is
described in detail in the Casted Level column in the Tiers of
Tiers of Curses Curses table.
Curse Casted As an alternative, the DM may choose to make the remove
Level Duration Effect Level curse spell ineffective against certain curses, granting them
does not deal damage, certain conditions to be broken completely. An example of this
Minor Any
may grant condition.
3rd would be killing the original caster or shattering a totem
Up to 10 years
buried near the origin of the cursed area.
deals damage and/or 4th-
Major or until
grants a condition. 6th
dispelled
deals damage and/or
Indefinite until 7th-
Ancient grants multiple
dispelled 9th
conditions.
Cursed Land
Cursed lands are probably one of the more commonly known
curses throughout the realms, whispered by common folk in
tales and gossip.
A land curse is, as the name implies, a curse that affects a
given section of land and taints it with foul magic. These
curses can range from a minor curse and extend upwards to
an ancient curse. As stated in How to Use Curses, it is
beneficial to think of how such a land curse might have been
brought about and why it does was it does.
These curses can be broken; however, it may require
something a bit more than the average remove curse spell to
do so. The most common way to break a land curse is by
killing the caster or having the caster remove their curse
willingly. An alternative method would be breaking the totem
used as the focus of such a curse or using a hallow spell to
sanctify the land and cleanse it of impurities.
Here are a few examples of such curses.
This curse is placed on a gargantuan statue of three
monkeys, each covering either their mouth, eyes, or ears
with their hands. When this curse is activated using a
predetermined command word, each creature within 10
miles of the statue, excluding the creature who enacted the
curse, becomes either blind, deaf, or losses the ability to
speak (DMs choice). This curse lasts until the magic is
dispelled from the statue with either the wish spell or the
remove curse spell cast at 9th level. If the statue is
destroyed, the curse rebounds on the most recent creature
to enacted the curse, and becomes blind, deaf, and losses
their ability to speak until reversed by a wish spell.
All dead creatures within a 1 mile radius rise and become
either a zombie or a skeleton when the sun sets on each
day. These creatures will wander within the plagued area,
chasing and attacking any creature they find. A spell the
brings a creature back from the dead will not work in this
area. When the sun rises, these creatures are no longer
animated and are considered dead once more. This curse
can only be undone by the hallow spell cast at 5th level or
higher as the sun raises.
A trickster has visited this place and bestowed the gift of
trickery and deceit to those who reside in it. All creatures
within this area are compelled to lie, steal, and swindle
from other creatures, causing chaos and distrust to plague
this area. A creature who enters this area will become
enticed to these effects after an hour. If a creature leaves
this place after being enticed by the trickster's curse, they
retain these traits for the next month. This curse can be
undone only by the trickster. You can remove the curse
from a single creature by casting the remove curse spell at
4th level or higher, or suppress the effects with the
protection from evil and good spell.
Using Curses on Players
Not all players will enjoy being cursed, especially if
it is spontaneous. Trust between DM and players is
key in these instances. As the DM, be aware to give
clues or hints to your players in the form of rumors
or knowledge gained via NPCs about these curses
ahead of time. If the players choose to go there
afterwards, they have made their own choice to risk
exposure to said curse and are more accepting of
the effects it brings.
Family Curses
More powerful curses exist within the realms, some afflicting
entire families like a hereditary disease passed through the
generations. The way the curse chooses it's victims can vary
widely; a curse could afflict all direct members of the family, a
specific generation, when they reach a certain age in life,
when a unique trait manifest within a descendant of the
family, and so on.
When designing a family curse, it is imperative to also know
it's origins and how it will affect it's chosen victims. This curse
could come from a magical creature, an ancient artifact, a
wish gone awry, or the intervention of an angered deity. The
effects of the curse and how it meddles in the affairs of it's
target can be something more minor, but generally are found
within the vein of a major or ancient curse.
These cruses are not easily broken, and as such a simple
remove curse spell will have no effect on it. This curse can
only be broken by a predetermined condition set by the caster,
the caster themself, a wish spell, or being cleansed by a deity.
Here are a some examples of such curses.
The first daughter born after the curses enactment will be
compelled to beseech the caster, becoming their bride and
barring them a successor.
Each descendant shall bear only one child, and this child
shall kill their parents on the eve of their 16th birthday.
The 6th son of a 6th son, shall be brought to Asmodeus on
the night of his 13th birthday, becoming a death knight in
Asmodeus service.
Each member of this generation shall be stricken with the
dragon's sickness, causing them to crave gold and wealth,
killing each other to gain it. When only one remains, he too
shall become a dragon, and lay waste to his kingdom.
Curse Effects Bland Taste. All food and liquid become tasteless to the
target, even spices and sauces have no effect on the taste. This
Here are a list of possible curses you as the DM can employ curse can be undone by the remove curse spell cast at 3rd
within your game. level or higher or by the caster.
Bronze Touch. Any non-magical object touched by the victim
of this curse, including food and water, turns to bronze. If the
target touches any silver, electrum, gold, or platinum pieces,
Curse Effects
they are now consider bronze pieces. This curse can be
undone by the remove curse spell cast at 3rd level or higher or
d6 Minor Major Ancient by the caster.
1 Sterile Curse Rapid Aging The Tower Curse of Babel. At the start of each day, a creature affected by
Bronze A Mile in One's this curse must roll a d8: (1) Abyssal; (2) Celestial; (3)
2
Touch Shoes
Nature's Wrath Draconic; (4) Deep Speech; (5) Infernal; (6) Primordial; (7)
Sylvan; (8) Undercommon. the target can only speak in this
3 Bland Taste Limp Wand Eldritch Horrors language until the next sun rise, and understands anyone who
Stench of Curse of the Blood speaks in this language. This curse can be undone by the
4
Death
Healing Blight
Moon remove curse spell cast at 4th level or higher or by the caster.
5 Stalker Curse of Babel The Mummies Curse Curse of the Blood Moon. When the eerie red light of the
Lover's Curse of the blood moon illuminates the ground below, evil creatures who
6
Quarrel Drunkard
Marked Soul are dead shall rise as revenant, retaining all memories and
experiences from their life before. These creatures will seek
vengeance on the person who killed them, dying once more
after they complete their vengeance. If a dead creature died of
natural causes or the person responsible for their death is
also dead, the curse has no effect. This curse can only be
broken by the caster or by use of the wish spell.
Curse of the Drunkard. This creature transforms any liquid
they drink into alcohol. When a creature consumes a gallon of
liquid or more in a day, they must succeed on a DC 15
Constitution saving throw or become inebriated until the end
of their next long rest. A creature who is inebriated has
disadvantage on attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws,
and can only move at half speed. This curse can be undone by
the remove curse spell cast at 4th level or higher or by the
caster.
Eldritch Horrors. This creature is cursed to view the horrors
that lay beyond the vail. When this creature sleeps, they travel
to an unknown land filled with aberrations and perceive
everything through one of these beings eyes. When the
creature awakes, they remember everything vividly and must
roll an Wisdom saving throw. On a 8 or lower they gain a
corruption point as detailed in the Credits. This curse last
until someone cast the wish spell to purge the creatures mind
of these memories or the remove curse spell is cast at 7th
level.
Healing Blight. For the next 24 hours, any spell, feature, or
item that normally heals this creature, deals damages to the
target instead, reducing its hit point maximum by an equal
amount. If the creatures hit point maximum is reduced to 0,
they automatically die. This damage is reversed after the
afflicted creature takes a long rest at the end of the 24 hours
or after having the curse dispelled early by the remove curse
spell cast at 3rd level or higher.
Limp Wand. A spellcaster suffering from this curse has a 25%
chance of the spell failing, expending the spell slot in the
process. This curse can be undone by the remove curse spell
cast at 4th level or higher or by the caster.
Lover's Quarrel. This curse effects two or more creatures
who are attracted to one another, causing them to argue and
possibly become violent with each other whenever they can
see a creature afflicted by the same curse. This curse can be
undone by the remove curse spell cast at 3rd level or higher
on each target or by the caster.
A Mile in One's Shoes. The creature is magically
transformed into a race of the caster's desire, though normally
it is of the same race as the casters, and the caster chooses a
life lesson they desire for the target to learn. This change
replaces all racial stats and traits. If you gained a feat as part
of a racial feature, it is considered dormant until you are
changed back. This spell last up to a decade, until the affected
creature learns the lesson the caster choose for them, has it
dispelled by the remove curse spell cast at 6th level or higher,
or by the caster.
The Mummies Curse. This creatures has trespassed on a
mummy lord's sacred tomb and have invoked his curse. A
creature who falls victim of this curse is plagued by ominous
signs over the course of the next 10 days, dying at sunset on
the 10th day as the mummy lord's minions come to collect the
deceased creatures corpse as an offering to their master. This
curse can be undone by the remove curse spell cast at 7th
level or higher
Nature's Wrath . An angered druid has cursed these lands,
invoking the wrath of the wild ones to seek vengeance on
those who wronged him. While a creatures resides in this
cursed land, all beast and plant creatures are immediately
hostile towards them, they have disadvantage on animal
handling checks to calm these creatures, and spells or effects
that could normally calm the beast or plants are ineffective.
This curse can only be undone by the original druid who
enacted the curse, or by casting the hallow spell every day for
a month on this land.
Rapid Aging. A creature targeted by this curse ages at an
accelerated rate over the course of the next year, aging 10
days for each day that passes. The accelerated aging can be
halted by the greater restoration or remove curse spell cast at
5th level or higher.
Marked Soul. The creatures soul has been defiled by a
fiendish scar which marks them as the enemy of a powerful
fiend. This fiend always knows the creatures location, but
cannot see or hear them. The fiend can cast sending at will to
this creature, and the target receives the message even if on a
different plane.
This fiend has advantage on attack rolls against the target,
and deals an additional 1d8 psychic damage whenever it deals
damage to this creature.
If the target of this curse tries to move away from the fiend
while it can see the can see the creature, they must first
succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8
psychic damage and have their movement reduced to 0 until
the end of their turn.
This curse can be undone by the remove curse spell cast at
7th level or higher, the wish spell, or slaying the fiend who has
marked the creatures soul.
Stalker The target of this curse is followed by an invisible
stalker that whispers into their ear, but does nothing else. This
creature cannot be seen or heard by anyone else but the
afflicted. If the invisible stalker is killed, it returns in 1d4
hours. This curse can be undone by the remove curse spell
cast at 3rd level or higher or by the caster.
Stench of Death. This creature appears and smells undead
to everyone who sees it, except creatures with truesight. This
creature is not undead. This curse can be undone by the
remove curse spell cast at 3rd level or higher or by the caster.
Sterile Curse. The target of this curse becomes sterilized.
This curse can be undone by the remove curse spell cast at
3rd level or higher or by the caster.
The Tower. The target is bound to a spectral tower made of
darkness that no light can penetrate. Any creature can enter
the tower freely, but only creatures who aren't targeted by this
curse can leave it. While inside the tower, creatures can see as
if in dim light.
At the end of each day, each creature inside the tower must
roll a d10. The creature subtracts the rolled value from their
hit point maximum, which cannot be regained except by the
use of a wish spell or taking a long rest outside of the tower. If
a creatures hit point maximum is reduced to 0, they
automatically die and their bodies are swallowed by the
shadows that make up the tower. This creature is revived
1d10 days later as a loyal thrall to the caster, retaining all
knowledge and skills they had in life. This curse cannot be
undone by the remove curse spell, and can be dispelled only
by the caster, the death of the original target of this curse, or
by the wish spell casted outside of the spectral tower.
Credits:
Created and designed by \u\o-kra
Art. "Fluch des Chaos" Illustrated by Jason A. Engle
©Wizards of the Coast
Rotten Apples
Shadowfell Illustrated by Mark Molnar ©Wizards
of the Coast
Thank you GMBinder for creating such a wonderful
tool for the homebrewing community.
"Curses" is unofficial Fan Content permitted under
the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by
Wizards. Portions of the material used are property
of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast
L.L.C.