Telgar/Curses

Curses

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Throughout literary history, curses have been a vital part of fantasy and mythology. Dying foes gasp out malicious, occult edicts against their killers and the jilted lover curses the seductress who steals away her husband. Sometimes the layers of these curses are great and potent beings, but even the lowest farmer can wheeze out a death-curse if the dramatic need is great.

Built into the very fabric of Creation is the system that allows these Curses to take place. The Primordials, vicious creatures that some of them were, ensured that their human worshippers would be able to spread strife and pain amongst themselves with maximum efficiency. Tempered by the knowledge that too many Curses would cause a dramatic drop in their praise and worship, the mechanics of Curses were made complex and difficult to access. But still, when the proper requisties are met, even a mortal can swear out a terrible hex against his foes. Even the Exalted.

Laying a Curse

Anyone can attempt to lay a Curse on any other being, they need not have ever met the intended victim nor have any contact or fetish connected to the victim (though such things are of great help in laying the curse). There is some marginal possibility of a mortal bar wench in Nexus laying a curse on a Solar Exalted in Coral, but such things are as rare as an honest Nexican merchant.

Laying a curse is a simple Charisma + Occult roll with a base difficulty of 5. There are numerous circumstances and preperations that can reduce the difficulty or add dice, most of which will be discussed below. Should a player come up with something really cool that is not listed below, the ST is encouraged to accept it and assign bonuses as deemed appropriate. Curses are fun for everyone involved, after all! Spread the cursey-love!

Generic Bonuses

• Beings of great magical power have an easier time cursing then average mortals. Every dot of Essence beyond the first gives +1 dice to the curse roll.
• Stunts add normally to Curse rolls, providing between 1 to 3 dice.
• Certain rituals, such as sacrifices of small animals or even humans or use of potent Artifacts, talismans or thaumaturgical rites can assist in the cursing. The ST should assign between 1 to 5 dice for suitable rituals and preperations.
• Possessing an item of deep personal significance to the intended victim lowers the difficulty by 1. Items with magical significance, such as a Familiar, Manse, Artifact or Hearthstone, lower the difficulty by 2. Part of the intended victim's body (hair, blood, finger, etc) counts as an item of magical significance.
• Laying a curse against a target with an Essence score higher then your own is difficult. Add 1 to the difficulty of the Curse roll for every dot of Essence the target has in excess of your own.

Situational Bonuses

• The death-curse is the most powerful and common type of curse. Any curse sworn out by a dying person (who must die in the end to get the bonus) gains 5 dice.
• Curses against the killer of the person laying the curse gain an additional +2 dice.
• Curses against someone having killed the curse-layer's immediate family members, long-time best friend or lover gain +2 dice.
• Curses against someone having killed the curse-layer's non-immediate family members or good friend gain +1 dice.
• Should the victim of the curse have broken a solemn oath given to the curse-layer, the curse roll gains +1 dice.
• Cursing a betrayer whose actions caused serious harm to the curse-layer or their close family and friends gain +1 dice.

Curse Mechanics

After applying all bonuses and making the curse roll, the successes must be spent to determine the Duration, Power and Removal Difficulty of the curse. The gained successes may be split among these three categories any way the curse-layer's player desires.

Duration

The duration of the curse being laid is defined by a number of successes spent on it. At least 1 success must be spent on Duration or the curse will fail instantly.

 1 Success: One day
 2 Successes: One week
 3 Successes: One month
 4 Successes: One season
 5 Successes: One year
 6 Successes: One decade
 7 Successes: One century
 8 Successes: One millenia
 9 Successes: One lifetime
 10 Successes: Eternity (even after death)

Power

Successes spent on Power increase the nastiness and effectiveness of the curse. Because the effects of most curses are up to the Storyteller, Power is largely regulated by the ST. Power ranges from 1 (acne) to 10 (death or worse) and costs 2 successes per level of Power.

Removal Difficulty

Every success spent on Removal Difficulty adds +1 to the difficulty to remove a curse. A curse can normally be removed by any thaumaturge or Essence 2+ being with an extended Int + Occult roll, difficulty equal to the Power of the curse. Generally, curses can also be removed by meeting certain conditions set by the curse-layer or completing some dramatically approprate task set by the ST.