Articles · Humor/ Editorial · Game Mastering
30 Bad Things
Be it a cursed artifact, an angry god, a spell gone wrong, or bad luck, these are just a taste of the strange things that might befall a character.
This list is a compilation of mostly random, detrimental effects, problems, and conditions that can affect a character. DMs should pick results that correlate with the actions or events that lead to a Bad Thing having to come into play. The severity of these varies, and some are suitable as player flaws, although that is not the main focus of the list.
1: Your hair and nails grow uncontrollably fast.
2: You grow bald.
3: You attract flies and other vermin.
4: Snakes follow you around.
5: You no longer appear in mirrors. (Great in worlds where this is a sure sign of vampirism ;) )
6: Your touch rusts metal
7: Your skin turns to a non-natural color, permanently.
8: You fall under a magical laughing spell whenever it's socially unacceptable to laugh. (Funerals, audiences with the king, moments of silence, religious ceremonies...)
9: Animals flee your presence in terror.
10: It is always horrible weather around you.
11: Any ship you step on doesn't arrive at its destination due to storm, mutiny, or other bad happenings.
12: Your presence causes waves to double in height.
13: Others around you cannot fall asleep.
14: Your touch causes water to become stagnant and bitter.
15: All food loses taste.
16: Your body waste ignites spontaneously with air.
17: Fires cannot be put out in your presence.
18: Your skin turns transparent.
19: Potions have the the opposite of intended effect on you.
20: Kobolds believe you are their God trapped in flesh form, and believe the only way to release that God is to kill you.
21: You are cursed to fall down flights of stairs, without fail.
22: You cannot enter a town without being robbed or pickpocketed at least once.
23: Cats horde around you, meowing as if you had catnip in your pocket.
24: You become allergic to beer.
25: Anything you cut with a bladed edge starts screaming as if it were alive.
26: Your hands shake uncontrollably during fine tasks.
27: Your presence makes fires randomly explode.
28: Horses refuse to listen to your requests.
29: Squirrels, skunks, weasels and other woods animals invade any home you sleep in.
30: A bear believes you are its mate and refuses you to have contact with any other living creature.
31: You fall twice as fast as a normal person.
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32. When you breathe, air comes out again, as water. 33. You say out lou…
32. When you breathe, air comes out again, as water.
33. You say out loud what others think, all the time.
34. Within 10 yards of you, milk curls, wine goes sour and food spoils.
35. Ghastly voices speak from your ears in tiny voices, demanding things.
36. You glow with an eerie light.
37. Your hair stands automatically every time you spot an officer of the law.
38. You sneak into strangers houses on busy evenings against your will.
39. When you speak to people they automatically say what you intended to say and the other way around.
40. A cool and unnatural wind blows from your mouth every time you open it.
41. A majestic crown of shimmering fire floats above your head.
42. You appear to be exactly where you are, but in a different and random activity.
61. You can only tell the truth. 62. Any water you touch becomes bitterl…
61. You can only tell the truth.
62. Any water you touch becomes bitterly cold. Good for ice-cold drinks, but say goodbye to hot showers. Rain sucks, too.
63. You have an annoying song stuck in your head for all eternity, causing distraction and possibly insanity.
64. You hear all of your actions narrated by a disembodied voice with a dry sense of humor.
65. You can't enter a forest without being tripped by tree roots, hit on the head by falling branches, or possibly crushed by a wayward tree.
66. You cannot cook without a catastrophic failure. 67. Squirrels attack…
66. You cannot cook without a catastrophic failure.
67. Squirrels attack you on sight.
68. Your right hand swells to two times normal size, permanently.
69. Passing vehicles always splash you in wet weather.
70. Those you find repulsive find you absolutely beautiful.
71. Magic proclaims that you do not exist.
72. You can no longer hear music. (Quite possibly the most horrible curse that could exist on this list.)
73. Your body does not form calluses.
74.Mathom The God of Delays gives you his 'blessing'
75. Lightning strikes dwellings you sleep in.
76. Sources of illumination giggle madly in your presence.
77. Hiccups that last eternally and are impossible to cure.78. You can o…
77. Hiccups that last eternally and are impossible to cure.
78. You can only eat and derive nourishment from raw pine cones. Every thing else cause 'bodily regection.'
79. You have constant allergy/sinus problems for the rest of your life.
80. An town crier that no one else can see or hear constantly announces your business both public and private.
81. Same as 80, but everyone can see and hear him.
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Useful.
After reading this I think I have angered the gods
Nice. I have some thoughts however. The first is that this could be punishments for anything. They seem a bit random. They could be things that happen if you fiddle with dark magic. Blunder your spellcasting. Touch a cursed item and so forth. Thus I am not sure if the submission works as a whole. Since each idea is so short it could easily be expanded as a list.
Idea: Personally I would make this a list of Punishments as a whole. You could write a article like blurb in the introduction explaining that these are random punishments that the GM can use in different scenarios. Explain plausible alternatives and start the list. Urge others to add as well. I think that with a nice introduction and execution of the ideas this could be a nice community effort. If you want to you can also go 'all the way' and categorize ideas for a neat looking list.
This is just my two cents and you do not have to take my advice. I just see a lot of unfulfilled potential in this.
Summary: Many nice ideas and good visuals. But somewhat poorly executed.
Criticism like this is what Strolen needs more off. Why not add some ideas yourself, however?
I would love to. Here we go. Lets hope others contribute as well.
#16 sounds very uncomfortable.
And I LOVE #20!
But, I mostly agree with MJS, there is no rhyme or reason to the list, they vary wildly in power level (some could be a simple curse, while others are most definitely the work of a God) and chance for application. Also, each entry is just too short. 30 lines, loosely connected, does not make a worthy submission.
#16 is @#$%^& awesome! LOL. #24 is horrifying
But yeah, what they said. Good start of a fun list though!
The name of this sub has to change. LOL. I don't mean that in a critical way, its just too vague and funny. 'Bad Things' LOL
I like, but agree with Murometz; at first I was going to pass this by because of the name. '30 cool curses?', perhaps? Overall, some really unique and off-the-wall blights to throw at PCs above and beyond penalties to their rolls.
43. You incite covetousness in others; when anyone is around you for more than a couple minutes, they start eyeing your possessions greedily.
44. You exhude a strange odor which members of your own sex find highly arousing.
45. You are incapable of lying
46. Healing magic restores your health normally, but has the side effect of leaving you incapacitated for several minutes.
47. Excessive and noisy flatulence makes it impossible to hide, mask your whereabouts, or catch anyone by surprise.
48. You develop extremely powerful vision; such that you can see in all but the most overpowering darkness. However, anything more brilliant than a candle effectively blinds you.
49. Everyone around you sees you a member of the opposite sex. The illusion is a powerful one.
50. You lose the ability to comunicate in any known language including your own. You are only able to speak in some ancient, long-dead tongue, no one understands.
51. You are incapable of telling the truth whenever questioned
52. Every time magic is used in your vicinity (10' radius), a dwarven hammer materializes in the air above your head, and begins to pummel you mercilessly
53. Each time you are wounded, and identical wound appears on the flesh of any and every companion you happen to be travelling with.
54. You msyteriously become immune to the effects of alcohol. Pretty nifty, right? No. Despite your immunity your body now craves alcohol. If you do not imbibe the equivalent of 3 pints of ale each day, you get debilitating, migraine headaches
I like this, Will probably use this on my own parties.
Good solid sub. I especially like that there are a lot of extra added ideas. That way there are still lots of choices no matter what the campaign direction.
Mark
55-You can only sleep in daylight from now on
56-You get an evil aura around you that makes people treat you badly.
57-You get a stupid sounding voice
58-You get an urge to swear at law enforcement.
59-The more you eat, the more hungry you get, risking your life if it lasts long enough.
60-You can't speak, you can only sing when you want to say something.
I also find this useful, and have added a few more ideas. Good job!
As others have said, very functional and straightforward.
I think adding these to some of the existing curse list subs would perhaps have been better. This one feels a big random.
eg. http://strolen.com/viewing/Curses
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