Idea for handling curses

[b-dog]

I am thinking about how to handle curses in DF. The idea I have is that when a PC aquires a curse then the curse is triggered by a dice roll. Say the DM rolls three dice and that will be the trigger for the curse. Say the DM rolls a 12 then when the PC needs to make a dice roll the DM secretly rolls for the curse trigger, so In this case the curse is triggered on a dice roll of 12 or less. If the curse is triggered then if the PC rolls and succeeded then he fails. If the PC failed on his roll then the result is a critical failure. If the PC rolled a critical success then it is reduced to an ordinary success.

The curses can vary from just one trigger to many triggers to some that keep the PC cursed until a Remove Curse is cast. Detect Curse would be a useful new spell with this type of curse.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by b-dog

I am thinking about how to handle curses in DF. The idea I have is that when a PC aquires a curse then the curse is triggered by a dice roll. Say the DM rolls three dice and that will be the trigger for the curse. Say the DM rolls a 12 then when the PC needs to make a dice roll the DM secretly rolls for the curse trigger, so In this case the curse is triggered on a dice roll of 12 or less. If the curse is triggered then if the PC rolls and succeeded then he fails. If the PC failed on his roll then the result is a critical failure. If the PC rolled a critical success then it is reduced to an ordinary success.

The curses can vary from just one trigger to many triggers to some that keep the PC cursed until a Remove Curse is cast. Detect Curse would be a useful new spell with this type of curse.

It's an interesting mechanic. Most curses will strike often if you go that way. I would probably just decide on a number.

[Yssa]

I'm having a trouble picturing this. Can you give an example of how a character would get cursed, what effects the curse would have, and what would trigger a roll?

The ability to detect curses can covered by Occultism (Exploits 23) depending on the scenario, though a broader curse-detecting spell might be valuable.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Yssa

I'm having a trouble picturing this. Can you give an example of how a character would get cursed, what effects the curse would have, and what would trigger a roll?

I'd like to see more of an example too. I think what he's going for is this (I'll use my cleric, Zafir, as an example PC):

Zafir touches the accursed doorknob of doom and is cursed. (I think this is unbeknownst to him.) The GM secretly rolls three dice and gets a 12. Zafir now has a "Curse of 12" following him around. The next time Zafir needs to roll the dice for any reason, the GM secretly rolls again. If she rolls a 12 or less, the curse kicks in and reduces Zafir's success level. If she rolls above 12, the curse remains in effect but doesn't kick in this time. The number of times it affects Zafir before it expires is set at the start. (So a Lesser Accursed Doorknob might just affect someone once; a Greater Accursed Doorknob might do 1d times; and the Doomsday Doorknob would last until the curse is removed.)

Originally Posted by Anders

It's an interesting mechanic. Most curses will strike often if you go that way. I would probably just decide on a number.

I agree with this. Rolling for a target number could introduce bizarre things where you roll a 3 and then the PC might not even notice the curse for the next 200+ rolls while the GM is pulling their hair out trying to remember to roll every time. Better to just control the intensity of the curse by setting a target number and a number of charges.

In general, I like a game world with many flavors of curses. Some make you unlucky. Some make you misbehave under certain circumstances. Some compel you to do things. Some cause your skin to slowly turn purple. Etc. This could be one flavor.

Edit: As a GM, though, I prefer to pass off the mechanics to the player. Have them do the rolling and whatnot even if the character doesn't know that they are cursed.

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by Dalin

I'd like to see more of an example too. I think what he's going for is this (I'll use my cleric, Zafir, as an example PC):

Zafir touches the accursed doorknob of doom and is cursed. (I think this is unbeknownst to him.) The GM secretly rolls three dice and gets a 12. Zafir now has a "Curse of 12" following him around. The next time Zafir needs to roll the dice for any reason, the GM secretly rolls again. If she rolls a 12 or less, the curse kicks in and reduces Zafir's success level. If she rolls above 12, the curse remains in effect but doesn't kick in this time. The number of times it affects Zafir before it expires is set at the start. (So a Lesser Accursed Doorknob might just affect someone once; a Greater Accursed Doorknob might do 1d times; and the Doomsday Doorknob would last until the curse is removed.)



I agree with this. Rolling for a target number could introduce bizarre things where you roll a 3 and then the PC might not even notice the curse for the next 200+ rolls while the GM is pulling their hair out trying to remember to roll every time. Better to just control the intensity of the curse by setting a target number and a number of charges.

In general, I like a game world with many flavors of curses. Some make you unlucky. Some make you misbehave under certain circumstances. Some compel you to do things. Some cause your skin to slowly turn purple. Etc. This could be one flavor.

Edit: As a GM, though, I prefer to pass off the mechanics to the player. Have them do the rolling and whatnot even if the character doesn't know that they are cursed.

That way hat you explained is the way I was thinking it could work. The main idea I have is for he trigger so that when the curse happens it is sort of random. I don’t like the idea of giving a curse when I feel like it because I can sort of feel guilty if the PC dies because I decided to impliment the curse. I much prefer the curse to happen by dice rolls. And it could be anything that is bad like skin turning purple or whatever. If the curse is triggered by a dice roll then it randomly occurs.