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in: Magic, Curses
Curse
Edit
Cursed bow
A man afflicted by a cursed bow.
A curse was a powerful, negative magical effect placed upon a person, place, or
object.[1][2][3]
Contents
Effects
Types of Curses
Spell Curses
Item Curses
Family Curses
Divine Curses
Undeath
Warlock's Curses
Appendix
References
Effects
Curses could have a wide variety effects, but often involved weakening, injuring,
or thwarting the intentions of an afflicted individual[1][2][4] or destabilizing an
afflicted item.[3]
In general, a curse was hard to remove. Only a handful of specialized spells—such
as remove curse—could hope to remove even a weak curse. A more powerful curse
needed great power to remove, if it was possible to remove at all.[1][2][3] The
fancy stone tremair, when worn next to the skin, was believed to grant immunity
from all magical curses.[5]
Types of Curses
Spell Curses
The most fundamental curse was the one created by the spell bestow curse.[1][2]
Other common spell curses were bestow greater curse, curse water, geas/quest, hex,
Laeral's crowning touch, and lesser geas.
Item Curses
Any mundane or magical item could become a cursed item, and pass that curse onto
individuals who possessed the item. Often, this type of item was created as a trap
by an individual, an accident, or the decay of time.[3][6]
Cursed weapons would bind themselves to a wielder, forcing them to fight to the
death or otherwise preventing the wielder from getting rid of the weapon.[7]
Family Curses
This type of curse often started as one of the other types, but changed over time
to affect the whole family of a cursed individual. In some rare cases, a powerful
curse could be put on a whole family.[8]
Divine Curses
This type of curse was inflicted on a person, place or thing in accord with a god's
ethos. They were always powerful and often spectacular.[9] A primary example was
the Curse of Mystra, which afflicted any individual who willfully copied the sigil
of a mage with the intent to impersonate that mage.[10]
Undeath
The existence of undead was sometimes considered a curse on life.[11]
Warlock's Curses
Some warlocks had the ability to bestow minor curses onto their foes in battle,
which made the afflicted targets more vulnerable to the warlock's attacks and
magics.[4]
Appendix
References
Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams (July 2003). Player's Handbook v.3.5.
(Wizards of the Coast), p. 203. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7.
Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014). Player's Handbook 5th edition. (Wizards of the
Coast), p. 218. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.
Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, Skip Williams (July 2003). Dungeon Master's Guide
v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 272. ISBN 0-7869-2889-1.
Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, James Wyatt (June 2008). Player's Handbook 4th edition.
(Wizards of the Coast), p. 131. ISBN 0-7869-4867-1.
Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd (1996). Volo's Guide to All Things Magical. (TSR, Inc),
p. 52. ISBN 0-7869-0446-1.
Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, Skip Williams (July 2003). Dungeon Master's Guide
v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 214. ISBN 0-7869-2889-1.
Gary Gygax (1979). Dungeon Masters Guide 1st edition. (TSR, Inc.), p. 166. ISBN 0-
9356-9602-4.
Ed Greenwood, et al (1989). Hall of Heroes. (TSR, Inc), p. 35. ISBN 0-88038-711-4.
Reynolds, Forbeck, Jacobs, Boyd (March 2003). Races of Faerûn. (Wizards of the
Coast), p. 35. ISBN 0-7869-2875-1.
Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten
Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 28. ISBN 0-7869-
1836-5.
Ed Greenwood et al. (December 1988). Lords of Darkness. Edited by Scott Martin
Bowles. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 1–2. ISBN 0-88038-622-3.
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