Tuesday, May 17, 2022

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


PAGE 2

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


PAGE 3

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


PAGE 4
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).


PAGE 6

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


PAGE 7 

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 


PAGE 8

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 


PAGE 9 

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


PAGE 11

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


PAGE 12

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


PAGE 13

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 


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