Building Bhakashal - It’s Just an Illusion

Ahhh illusions, enough to set the DM’s teeth on edge, and drive even the most committed player to distraction. Why are they such a bear in game?

The main reason, I believe, is that Gygax sort of left the details unspecified, he seems to imply that an illusion can duplicate the damage done by real world creatures/objects point per point, but he doesn’t spell out the implications of a 1st level illusionist making say an illusion of a huge dragon and slaying all their foes. There are some implications of course, automatic disbelief saves for something implausible. That sounded reasonable to me until the day when one of my players cast an illusion of a dragon in front of a group of 50 0-level soldiers, 0-levels need to roll a 19 or higher to save, so approximately 45 of them (on average) would fail, take ‘real world damage’ and be incinerated by your illusion, even if they got “automatic disbelief saves”.

That wasn’t going to work.

Gygax also suggests that an illusion made by someone who hadn’t seen the thing would be worse, but he doesn’t really specify what this means. 

There are other problems. What is the AC of an illusion? If you strike it, and since it’s intangible your weapon would pass through, do you get a disbelief roll? Does it cost anything to disbelieve, e.g. if you choose to disbelieve the charging bull do you have to stand still, can you do so while fleeing? Do you take any penalties if you are hit by something you THOUGHT was an illusion and it isn’t? When an illusory troll hits someone, do you use the “to hit” of the caster or the subject of the illusion? 

You get the idea. Gygax deliberately left a lot of this stuff unspecified, which is a bit odd, given how much potential illusions have to disrupt the game. This is both frustrating and exhilarating, frustrating as it leaves things open, but exhilarating as it leaves things open! You can make illusions whatever you want them to be. 

Here is how Bhakashal handles illusion magic.

Variations on a Theme

Bhakashal has a basic set of rules for ALL generic illusions (Phantasmal Force, Improved Phantasmal Force and Spectral Force), then presents 5 potential variants that add to this basic skeleton. Each one has advantages and disadvantages in terms of simplicity and flexibility at the table.  

Basic Illusion Adjudication 

1. Illusions can duplicate animals/monsters, NPC’s, spells and objects 

2. The phantasmist must have seen the subject of the illusion before for an extended period of time to make an illusion of that subject 

3. WIS and INT bonuses apply to any disbelief save

4. To disbelieve one must remain stationary and take no other actions that round. Roll a save versus spell; if successful add +4 to compatriots' saves if they can be informed

5. "Disbelieving the real" e.g. trying to disbelieve something real forfeits any saving throw and dexterity bonus to AC for the target

6. A successful disbelief save means the illusion cannot harm the victim, but it does not disappear and it can still hurt others

7. Illusion lasts until the phantasmist ceases concentration or is hit, unless otherwise specified

8. The phantasmist must remain stationary while casting, unless noted by the spell, giving them a 2 point AC penalty 

9. Phantasmists can see through their own illusions

10. The number of creatures that can be created and directed to act in an illusion is limited to phantasmist’s level, however, if illusory creatures are stationary and move minimally (e.g. archers standing together and shooting), the limit is the number which could fit in the spell AOE

11. Illusions cast during surprise get no disbelief save opportunity until after the surprise round 

12. Anything independent with an intelligence above “non” can be impacted by an illusion:

Animals - yes

Dinosaurs – yes 

Undead - no

Demons/Devils - yes

Golems - no

Elementals - yes

Cubes and Jellies – sound only

All systems below share the Basic Illusion Adjudication rules.

Notes

Condition 2 means that the PC cannot simply make an illusion of something extremely powerful based on hearsay and have it do outsized damage. More importantly though, it means that each monster/creature that the phantasmist encounters is grist for the illusory mill. In a very real sense, the phantasmist recreates the world that they encounter in their illusions, and the more they encounter, the more versatile they become.

Condition 3 is important as spell saves are the hardest saves to make, so some bonuses should apply, and very smart, very wise people should be much more likely to disbelieve.

Condition 4 is very important as there should be some cost to disbelieving illusions, otherwise the players will just spam the process all the time and illusions become pointless. Condition 5 is important for similar reasons, if someone chooses to disbelieve then they are taking a risk, if the subject of their disbelief is real, they are less likely to resist its attack. 

Condition 6  is important as illusions can still hide things and provide cover even if they are disbelieved. This makes them useful even when disbelieved, and keeps the phantasmist in the action even if their spells are not harmful.

Condition 8 is important as illusions have the potential to be game changing, so there should be some cost and effort to directing them, the phantasmist has to make the illusion react appropriately if it is to be plausible, so that requires focus. As the phantasmist progresses in power this condition mitigates (e.g. Improved Phantasmal Force and Spectral Force allow some movement and have the illusion independent for a short time), but it is the default. 

Condition 9 is necessary as otherwise many of the phantasmist’s illusions would impact them as much as their victims.

Beyond the Basics

Here are five systems for illusion adjudication that all share the basic system in common. Two are simple, two are more complex, one is crunchy.

Advanced Illusion Adjudication A (Simple)

1. As Basic Illusion Adjudication above, plus:

2. Illusions get disbelief saves when they are out of context or missing a needed sense component

3. AC, attack bonus and damage from illusions are all as the subject of the illusion, damage that reduces the target to below 0 HP will leave them unconscious for a number of rounds equal to the -HP score, when they wake all illusory damage will be gone

Notes: This is as simple as it gets, all illusory damage is temporary and leads to unconsciousness. Still a significant impact, but it allows the phantasmist to take out opponents without slaying them, and there is no need to adjudicate the details of disbelief.

Example: Phantasmist in the Raosk needs to distract a city guard, he makes a Phantasmal Force illusion of a large Jugyi mercenary carrying a trident, that illusion strikes at the guard. The illusion is in context, it is crowded and there are a lot of Jugyi around, but it is silent and gives off no heat. Neither is a problem in a crowded, loud public space however, so there is no immediate reason for a disbelief save. 

The illusion attacks as a 0-level jugyi mercenary, +1 attack bonus, rolls an 19, and hits doing 2-8 damage for a trident, rolls for 7 hp damage, reducing the guard to -3 hp, he drops unconscious and will be out for 3 minutes, but will wake up with his regular HP. 

Advanced Illusion Adjudication B (Simple)

1. As Basic Illusion Adjudication above, plus:

2. All illusions get automatic disbelief saves, rolled every round of combat

3. If the saves are failed then damage, AC and Attack Bonus are as the subject of the illusion

Notes: This system assumes that the illusion will have various ‘tells’ that can be spotted during the encounter, a leaf blowing through an opponent, a sword meeting no resistance on a strike, the illusion being silent when it should make noise, etc. In exchange for automatic disbelief saves for all targets, if the saves are unsuccessful, the illusion does damage as the real world equivalent, which makes phantasmists fairly formidable, as at least some of the targets of an illusion will fail their saving throw.

The primary advantage to this system is that it frees the referee from having to adjudicate the environmental conditions, track potential causes of disbelief, etc., but it doesn’t nerf their power too much, if believed, they behave like the real thing. So this is a fast and dirty option for refs and players who don’t want to muck about with things.

Example: The party is in a bad spot, a group of 5 carnivorous apes has sprung from the far side of the room towards them as the warlord releases them from their chains. The phantasmist makes an illusion of a displacer beast, he and the party had narrowly survived an encounter with one several weeks ago. 

The apes get an automatic disbelief saving throw, and have to roll a 13 or higher to save, so they fail 60% of the time. Say there are 5 apes, this means at least a few of them will likely believe that the displacer beast is real and react appropriately, engaging with it rather than the PCs, avoiding it and thus the PCs, etc. And as they believe it to be real, it will do real damage to them. Even if they make their save, they still have to spend a round disbelieving.

Advanced Illusion Adjudication C

1. As Basic Illusion Adjudication above, plus:

2. Illusions have a damage cap of 1-3 HP per attack routine per phantasmist level, maximum damage equal to damage subject of illusion can do

3. Damage that reduces the target to below 0 HP will leave them unconscious for a number of rounds equal to the -HP score, when they wake they will be at 1/2 of their total HP, and will regain a HP per turn thereafter

4. The illusion has the AC and Attack Bonus of the phantasmist

5. Conditions for potential disbelief save:

1. If the illusion is missing a relevant sense component

2. If the illusion is struck in combat

3. When these conditions do not apply but context indicates a disbelief save 

6. Each point of the caster's DEX bonus allows them to mitigate one type 5 b) disbelief opportunity per illusion, experience also allows the phantasmist to improve on this front: every 3 levels of experience the phantasmist may mitigate 1 further 5 b) disbelief opportunity

Notes:

This version mutes the potential damage from the illusion in a few ways, a cap of 1-3 hp damage per attack routine per phantasmist level, the illusion uses the attack bonus and has the AC of the phantasmist, and the damage is only partly permanent, some is temporary, so the result of dropping to 0 hp is unconsciousness. In exchange for these limitations, disbelief saves are not automatic, but instead rely on missing sense components, context (why is there a frost giant in the desert?) or the illusion being struck and the weapon passing through. 

However, as the phantasmist might be able to have the illusion “react” appropriately, there is a mechanism based on DEX bonus and level to compensate for some of these instances. Note that with this system having your illusions “mix it up” automatically increases the odds they will be disbelieved. 

Example: Holon the Gray is a 5th level Togmu phantasmist, he spies 4 guards outside of the door to the complex he needs to enter. Holon casts a Phantasmal Force spell and creates the illusion of an owlbear, the one that scarred Holon’s face last year. 

The illusion makes no sound, and it is night time and dark with no one around, so that would be suspicious unless the phantasmist gains surprise with his attack. The dice are rolled and the guards are surprised, this means the first attack is made without opportunity for disbelief. 

The phantasmal owlbear attacks as a real owlbear, normally 1-6/1-6/2-12 damage. A 5th level phantasmist can do 1-3 per attack routine per level, so that’s a max of [1-3]x5 so in this case say 1-3/1-3/3-9 damage. The owlbear strikes one of the guards and does 5hp of damage, dropping the guard to -1 hp, so he drops to the ground and will be unconscious for 1 round. It strikes another for 7 hp damage, dropping him to -3, so he’s out for 3 rounds. 

One of the remaining guards attacks the owlbear. It is AC 8 like Holon, and the guard strikes it and his sword passes through. Holon uses one of his two points of DEX bonus to mitigate that strike, making the illusion react rather than having the sword pass through it, avoiding a disbelief attempt. The second guard also scores a hit, and Holon uses his second DEX bonus point to have the illusion react appropriately.

Holon now has two “reactions” left (based on level) to use. 

Initiative is rolled and the guards win. They thrust with their spears, one misses and the other hits. Holon burns his second last “reaction” point, so the guard will not disbelieve. He then has the owlbear attack, the two claws miss but the bite does not, and it does 10 hp damage, dropping the guard to -5 hp, so he is out for 5 rounds. The last guard bolts fearing for his life.

The guards on the ground will be up at the end of this round, two rounds later and 5 rounds later. Now the first guard wakes up, he is at ½ his regular HP after being knocked unconscious. He sees the owlbear and his defeated comrades and takes out his sword, swinging wildly. This time he connects, so Holon uses his last point of adjustment, the next time the illusion is hit it will be a disbelief opportunity.

Fresh initiative time. Holon wins this time, and the owlbear attacks three times, hits two and knocks the guard out again, this time for 3 rounds. Holon disperses the illusion and walks into the complex…

Advanced Illusion Adjudication D

1. As Basic Illusion Adjudication above, plus:

2. The phantasmist has to have been damaged by the subject of illusion for the illusion to be capable of permanent damage, if so illusions do the same damage as their real world equivalent

3. If the phantasmist has not been damaged by the creature in question before, damage from an illusion of that creature that reduces the target to below 0 HP will leave them unconscious for a number of rounds equal to the -HP score, when they wake they will have their HP back.

4. The illusion will have the AC and Attack Bonus of its subject

5. Victims get an automatic disbelief save versus illusion, modifiers are based on several characteristics:

1. Complexity of illusion 

2. Plausibility of illusion

3. Caster’s intelligence/wisdom (use INT/WIS bonus)

4. Target’s intelligence/wisdom (use INT/WIS bonus)

5. Familiarity of caster with environment

6. Complexity of environment

A -2/0/+2 save modifier model should be used, e.g. simple illusions -2 on saves, complex illusions 0, very complex +2 on saves, etc 

6. Save is made when the illusion appears, then again only if context demands it

Notes: This version introduces a wrinkle: for an illusion to damage a target, the phantasmist has to have experienced damage from the subject of an illusion before. So, for example, if you make an illusory knife then it can cut your opponents like a real knife if you have ever been cut before. Odds are that most PCs will have fallen down, been cut, been struck by something heavy, etc., so many illusions will be able to do real damage. However, if you make the illusion of a lion and you have never been damaged by a lion before, the illusion can only do partial damage.

In exchange for this concession, the illusion has the attack bonus and AC of the target, not the phantasmist (both are usually worse for the phantasmist), and there are modifiers for the disbelief save, so the phantasmist can fine tune the likelihood of disbelief. By keeping the illusion simple and plausible the phantasmist can significantly improve the odds of it being believed. 

Example: Bharshana the Bold is a 6th level phantasmist. She has been casing the Red Remorhaz Tavern for a week now, it’s proprietor, Bagwar Yimmis, a Kutya spider, leaves every night around midnight, leaving his lieutenants to close up shop. Bharshana spent three evenings in the Red Remorhaz this week, memorizing it’s layout and form. She enters the tavern, finds a table near the back in the half darkness, orders a drink and sits back. There are people gambling, people fighting, chaos and revelry abound. Barshana casts Spectral Force, and creates the illusion of a Noble House Lord, with the crest of a House from a distant ward, that storms into the tavern and demands to speak to Bagwar Yimmis. Several of his lieutenants show up and argue with him quite loudly, not willing to pull steel on a House Lord, but also not willing to be pushed around on their turf. 

The referee totals modifiers for their automatic disbelief saves:

Complexity of illusion - low -2

Plausibility of illusion - moderate: 0

Caster’s intelligence/wisdom (use INT/WIS bonus) -2

Target’s intelligence/wisdom (use INT/WIS bonus) none

Familiarity of caster with environment - very familiar -2

Complexity of environment - very: +2

So a total of -4 on each lieutenant’s saving throw. Both fail their saves.

Barshana’s goal is to spook Bagwar, so he has the illusion of the House Lord get more and more agitated, and eventually he pulls a broadsword and strikes one of the two lieutenants.

Initiative is rolled, Barshana wins, and the illusion strikes the first of the two men. Damage is as the subject of the illusion, in this case a high level fighter-lord would do say 2-8 +7 damage, it rolls a 14, more than enough to slay the lieutenant, and he drops to the ground dead from real damage, as Barshana has tasted steel before.

Barshana now has the illusion to tell the other lieutenant to pass a message on to Bagwar that he “isn’t safe anymore”, and leaves. 

Advanced Illusion Adjudication E

1. As Basic Illusion Adjudication above, plus:

2. The phantasmist has to have been damaged by the subject of illusion for the illusion to be capable of permanent damage, if so illusions do the same damage as their real world equivalent

3. Otherwise, damage that reduces the target to below 0 HP will leave them unconscious for a number of rounds equal to the -HP score, when they wake they will be at 1/2 of their total HP, and will regain a HP per turn thereafter.

4. HD of creature that can be portrayed is limited to phantasmist’s level

5. Level of spell imitated is limited to spells castable by the relevant caster of the phantasmist’s level 

6. The illusion has the AC and Attack Bonus of the phantasmist

7. Disbelief saves are automatic for targets of higher level/HD than the phantasmist, for all others, disbelief saves only happen if the illusion is significantly strange in some way

Notes: 

This final version requires that you have been damaged by the subject of the illusion for it to do permanent damage to a target and it places restrictions on what can be depicted, e.g. the HD and number of subjects that can be duplicated using an illusion. In exchange for these limitations, only creatures above the caster in level/HD get disbelief saves versus the spell. 

Conclusions

Each variation on illusions has its strengths and weaknesses. Systems A and B are very simple, and require minimal adjudication by the referee, so for groups that want their illusions to be simple and fast these systems work well. The main difference is that System A has fewer opportunities for disbelief, and does all temporary damage, System B does real damage, but has multiple save opportunities.

System C is more complex, it caps damage and makes part of the damage real and part illusory, but in exchange it gives the caster the ability to mitigate disbelief save opportunities and keep doing damage. System D gives the possibility for real damage from the illusion, but requires that the caster has been damaged before by the subject of the illusion in order to do damage. Though this version does get an automatic save opportunity, there are modifiers that can make it much harder depending on the kind of illusion made. Finally option E restricts damage, but also restricts disbelief saves to creatures of higher level/HD than the caster.

No matter what your preference, one of these systems should allow you to run illusions in your game with confidence. 

Building Bhakashal - Filling in the Gaps

One of the goals with Bhakashal is to take things that are left undeveloped in AD&D, sometimes intentionally, and to expand upon them. Gygax deliberately left things for the DM to develop for their campaign, and for many referees this means they just leave it undeveloped.

Not in Bhakashal!

One area that always interested me was curses. In its own peculiar way, rather than just have a spell called “curse”, AD&D has a reversible remove curse spell. There are some suggestions on the impacts from this spell, e.g. lowering stats or giving a -4 penalty on various rolls. In addition, Gygax suggests you can come up with your own curses along the lines of those described in the text. 

This just struck me as a great opportunity to create some flavor for the game.

So I created a tome, that can be rolled on the treasure tables, that contains the spell Remove Curse in it, as well as pages of suggestions on possible curses. I present its contents here today. This tome, penned by Phymak the Just, Seer of Aeskaros, god of anger, fear and vengeance, is highly sought after for its diabolical suggestions…

The Tome of Baleful Condemnations 

- Phymak the Just, Seer of Aeskaros

Frontispiece - Remove Curse

PAGE 1

1. Victim of curse will sneeze several times a minute for duration of spell, no surprise due to noise and no spell casting

2. Whenever victim is attacked they fall prone and curl up for 1-4 rounds

3. Victim is assailed with visions of their death, flee as in fear spell

4. Victim’s first action after the curse is cast will be repeated for the duration of spell

5. Victim will treat all foes as allies, all allies as foes

6. Victims will immediately loathe all (caster’s choice, e.g. Saan, soldiers, etc.) and attack on sight

7. Victim will become convinced that they are being swarmed by insects and attempt to immolate or drown themselves

8. Victim will immediately become ravenous and seek out food to exclusion of all else

9. Victim will feel compelling need to serve deity of the caster who cursed them 

10. Victim will be compelled to fight with a dagger or spike or torch rather than regular weapon

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11. Victim will begin singing bawdy songs at full volume for duration of spell

12. Victim will bleed from the eyes, ears and mouth for duration of spell, 1 HP of damage per turn and a 10% cumulative chance of unconsciousness per turn

13. Victim will become convinced they can fly

14. Victim will think they are a dog and behave appropriately

15. Victim will behave in a manner opposite to their deity’s aspects 

16. Victim will laugh uncontrollably whenever confronted by a foe

 17. Victim will immediately cast all spells in their capacity for the day

 18. Victim will immediately throw away books / scrolls as far as possible, convinced they are cursed

19. Victim will immediately find all noises surprising and terrifying and will need complete silence or become agitated and attack all nearby

20. Victim will confess all sins reveal all secrets including passwords, etc

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21. Victim will be unable to find way, always get lost and insist they are going the wrong way

22. When attempting to surprise opponents victim will be compelled to shout obscenities revealing position

23. Victim will be convinced they are poisoned or sick and will cast all their healing spells, use healing items and threaten others to cure themselves 

24. Victim will be convinced every object around them is red hot and cannot be touched/worn 

25. Victim will confuse items on their person, trying to use their dagger like a wand or their scroll like a sword

 26. Victim will use subterfuge on their allies, thieves will pick pockets and discard items, clerics will cast reverse blessings on their own party, all done while trying to avoid detection

28. Victim will have total memory loss for duration of spell

29. Victim will become overwhelmed with guilt and try to cause themselves pain 

30. Victim will climb any available surface to gain as much height as possible, when they get there they will become despondent and unable to defend themselves

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31. Victim will become obsessed with mapping and do so to the exclusion of all else

32. Victim will be convinced there are deadly traps everywhere and will use all detection abilities and magic, and will move at 1" for duration

33. Victim will be convinced they are a different class and behave appropriately

34. Victim will not be able to see certain colors, others will make him angry, sad, etc

35. Victim will mix up material components

36. Victim will develop crushing fear of being buried alive while underground, fear of open spaces when outdoors, claustrophobia when indoors

37. Victim will seek out any written matter they can and immediately look for "hidden messages"

38. Victim will become fascinated with and slavishly follow first creature they encounter

39. Victim will lose weapon proficiencies

40. Victim will become convinced main weapon is cursed and attempt to destroy it

PAGE 5 

41. Victim will be convinced they have ESP and start to receive (false) random thoughts and act on them

42. Victim will hear whispers constantly, spell casting impossible, and will only be able to act (e.g. attack with a weapon) for 1 segment per round

43. Victim becomes concerned about time and starts rushing everything, -1 to hit and will commit actions despite risk

44. Victim will shed armor, shield and clothing and fight naked

45. Victim will gather plants and attempt to grind them into a paste they will then smear on themselves for “protection”, believing themselves invincible 

46. Victim will always turn their back to a foe

47. Victim is compelled to make art, to extent of using potions to make paint, or even their own blood

48. Victim will be able to speak with animals as per spell and will call small animals over and transfer all protective magics or magic items to them, insect, bird, snake or rodent, e.g. cast bless on beetle or putting ring of protection on a mouse's neck

49. Victim will cast all offensive spells in sequence against the first person to swear (at the table or in the game).

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50. Victim will be transformed like a polymorph spell for duration of curse.

51. Victim will chase, hunt, kill and cook first small game they can find

 52. Victim will defend plant life with lethal force, believing that all plants in the vicinity are “divine”

 53. Victim will have a tea party with any potions / holy water and food in their possession, they will read from their scrolls to entertain the guests (which casts the spells on the scrolls)

 54. Victim will suddenly sprout hair all over their entire body, growing a many foot long beard and making their armor uncomfortable so they will remove it, hair will grow over face obscuring vision

55. Victim will cause all in 1” range to go to sleep as the spell if they look at victim 

56. All flowering plants in a 2” radius of the victim will “weep” tears that turn into butterflies that will form into a cloud around the victim that will disrupt all spells they cast

57. Whenever victim speaks red smoke will emit from their mouth and billow forth in a 2” x 2” cloud, all in the cloud will be unable to see any further than 1 foot for 1-4 rounds

58. Victim will immediately suspect any henchmen/hirelings of theirs (or of fellow party members if they don’t have any henchmen or hirelings themselves) of stealing from them and will confront violently

59. All of the victim’s gear will become magnetized for the duration of spell, all weapons will stick to each other or the victim’s armor

60. Victim will immediately find an appropriate weapon or tool and start to dig a hole, when it is completed they will hide in it

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61. All spiders in the vicinity of the victim will immediately go to the victim and crawl on to their bodies, focusing on their heads, for the duration of the spell, making spell casting impossible and blinding them for the duration of the spell

 

62. Victim will attempt to smash/destroy all magic wands/staves/rods in their possession, item must save versus crushing blow once per turn until spell is completed. If they succeed in destroying one item they will move to the next, take items from fellow party members, etc.

63. Victim will insist on grappling with all foes

64. Victim will pick a random party member and “defend” them against a constant stream of foes that only the victim will see for the duration of the spell

65. Victim will tremble uncontrollably whenever under stress, making spell casting impossible and giving them a -2 to hit for the duration of the spell 

66. Victim will take all coins on person and use them as missile weapons against foes

67. Victim will glow with a bright, blue light whenever they attack, and will find themselves lethargic (4 point AC penalty) whenever attacked

68. Victim will find the heaviest object in vicinity (which may be a fellow party member) and attempt to lift it and hold it above head for the duration of the spell.

69. Victim will run in a circle for a turn, singing a children’s song, whenever they are faced with a choice 

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70. Victim will find the environment unbearably cold and will attempt to start fires, layer clothing

71. Victim’s skin will become scaly, they will hiss instead of talk, crawl on their bellies, attempt to bite victims to deliver “venom”

72. Victim will appear hideously ugly, all in visual range must make a saving throw versus spell, those who fail by more than 5 will attack, those who fail by less will flee

73. Victim will immediately take all potion bottles, holy water, regular water, etc. and lob the containers like hurled grenade like missiles at enemies for duration of spell, then attempt to take these items from other party members and do the same

74. Victim will grow batlike wings an fly in circles over party, dropping objects (weapons, magic items, etc. from heaviest to lightest) on anyone beneath

75. Victim will take random charged magic item from possession and immediately start using up charges, convinced that they must drain the item or it will explode, random targeting should be used

76. Victim will cast all of their highest level spells on a rock, believing this will “charge” the rock like a wand

77. Victim will retch and vomit for duration of curse, -2 to hit, 1 point AC penalty and cumulative 10% chance of unconsciousness per turn 

78. Victim will become corpulent for duration of spell, +50% to weight, no dex bonus to AC and armor must be removed as it won't fit

79. Whenever victim speaks a shrieking noise will be emitted that will alert all to their presence and summon all wandering monsters in audible range 

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80. Tall grass will immediately sprout in the footsteps of the victim for the duration of spell, anyone who steps on this grass will be entangled as the spell

81. All defensive spells the victim casts for the duration of the curse will transform into a stinking cloud as the spell and envelop the victim 

82. All spells cast for the duration of the curse will have a range of 0, a duration of 1 segment or an area of effect of 1’ radius, roll randomly, all three are possible (1- range, 2-duration, 3-AOE, 4-all)

83. All in a 3” range of the victim will immediately start to sing in unison, believing this will ‘protect’ them from foes

84. Victim will blink randomly, as the spell, 1-4 times per turn for the duration of the curse 

85. Magic missiles will fly from the victim’s fingertips if they do anything other than hold their hands at their sides, 1 will fire every time they move their hands, and they will hit random targets 

86. Every step the victim takes will cause a “sonic boom” that will act as a shatter spell for all victims in a 2” radius 

87. All scrolls in the possession of anyone within 1” of the victim must make item saves versus lightning or combust in flames 

88. Victim will be compelled to obtain all magical and non-magical rings from all creatures they can see and put them on (remembering the rule about wearing multiple rings), to the point of committing violence to get them

89. Curse varies by class:

- Seer: will sit cross legged, ignoring all violence done to them, and  pray for the duration of spell

- Beastial: will seek out and attempt to commune with all animals in the area

- Mercenary: will begin to do “drills” with their weapons against unseen foes, ignoring real ones

- Justiciar: will spend the duration of the curse repeating a “blessing” on their main weapon

- Slayer: will attempt to track unseen enemies

- Warlock: will open spell book and start memorizing spells

- Phantasmist: will create illusions of bawdy stories to entertain party

- Spider: will sneak around party as if invisible and pick pockets

- Theurgist: will attempt to slay random victims out in the open without concealment

- Spartan: will feign death the first time their party attacks anyone or they attack anyone if they are on their own

PAGE 10  

90. Victim will become invisible and silent but will be unable to attack in any way, staying in one spot and being hit by any attacks that pass through that spot

91. Victim will challenge all foes to game of dice/cards if they have any, otherwise to games that require no props, like charades or rock/paper/scissors (or the fantasy variant, golem/lurker above/dual wielding sword fighter) 

92. Victim will become itchier and itchier as the spell progresses, leading to a -1 penalty to hit per turn (max -4), making spell casting impossible by turn 2, and causing them to shed armor by turn 3. 

93. An area of 4”x4” around the victim will be filled with a wall of fog as the spell for the duration of the curse

94. Everywhere the victim steps a huge spider will sprout from the ground 1 round later and attack the victim’s allies or the victim

95. The victim will immediately become drunk for the duration of the spell, becoming either belligerent and confrontational, or passive and sad

96. All items on the victim must save versus spell at +4 or burst into flames

97. Victim will uncontrollably curse / swear insult all but their own party / allies for the duration of the spell to the exclusion of all other acts

98. Victim will find all their material components turn into flowers

99. Up to one recently killed victim per level of caster will animate as a zombie and attack the victim of the curse

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100. Victim will enlarge or reduce (as per spell) by 10% in size per level of caster

101. All normal fires in vicinity of victim will increase in volume by 100%, causing fires to break out

102. Victim will suddenly hate all mounts in the AOE and attempt to kill them

103. All sounds will be magnified for the victim to the point of physical pain, all attacks at -2 and inability to concentrate

104. All command words and verbal components will be spoken in garbled words, leading to d6: 1-4 failure to cast, 5-6: reverse harmful effects

105. Victim will charge all opponents to the point of exhaustion

106. Victim will focus on making critical hits to disarm all opponents

107. All liquids on person must save versus spell or become wine

 108. All of victim's weapons must save versus crushing blow when used for duration of spell

109. All words from victim will become unintelligible, no casting or communication for duration of spell

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110. Victim's thoughts will be projected to their foes as if they were using an ESP spell

111. Victim will be surrounded by an illusion making them look like monster of caster's choice

112. Victim will believe they are a monster of casters choice for duration of spell and behave accordingly

113. All opponents of victim will have a + 20% to morale

114. Victim will bludgeon all who do not declare fealty to them with the nearest blunt instrument

115. Will spend duration of spell planting all coins in their possession in the ground like seeds then will defend them

116. All dogs within a 5" radius will bark at victim, all who can smell the victim will attack

117. Victim will begin singing battle songs, all rats in hearing range will swarm the victim and attack

118. Whenever the victim uses a spell with a verbal component a web will form starting at 1" radius around victim and radiating 2" out from there as web spell

119. All doors around victim will be held shut for duration of spell as hold portal cast at casters level

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120. 1 insect for every level of caster is enlarged to the size of a horse, with the stats of a giant ant, and will attacks victim and allies

121. Victim will levitate upwards as the spell, 2' for every pip on their d20 to hit roll, every time they attack

122. Victim will become hypnotized by passing birds or flying insects and will follow whatever commands are given by those friends or foes around them as per friends spell

123.  Victim will be surrounded by a protective circle spell that will prevent bodily contact (and therefore aid) by any allied creatures

124. All missiles shot by victim will burst into flames and be destroyed

125. Anyone the victim touches (to hit needed if unwilling) will experience a shocking grasp spell at the casters level of power, as will victim

126. Victim will become feral, + 2 to hit and damage against nearest target when they see red

127. Whenever the victim performs a spell with a somatic component they must save versus spell or be paralyzed for the duration of spell to be cast.

128. Victim will become emaciated and gaunt, strength and constitution reduced to 6

129. Victim will do the opposite of what they intended for all actions

130. Victim's feet will transform into dragon's feet, they will always lose initiative while transformed and will trip whenever they move faster than 3"

Herein ends The Tome of Baleful Condemnations