World Builder Blog

So this month I’ve created some Halloween themed backgrounds for PCs. I’ve already revealed the possessed, lycanthrope, and dead  backgrounds. Now it’s time for me to show off the cursed background.

Cursed

You lived with some sort of curse for years. How you got the curse and what the curse was are up to you. You can create the details with your DM or you may roll or choose them from the table below.

As a cursed person you once suffered from a magic problem so rare it’s almost unique. This curse could have been placed on you by a spellcaster or magic monster like a genie or hag. Or maybe caught the curse while trespassing in an ancient tomb or vault or because you accidentally killed a sacred animal or offended the servant of a god in some way. How you caught your curse and how you or someone else cured it, are up to you and the DM.

d20	While cursed…
1	…you spoke only in questions.
2	…you spoke only lies.
3	…you saw all humanoids as terrible monsters.
4	…you had horrible nightmares whenever you closed your eyes.
5	…everything you touched turned to mud.
6	…all living things were harmed by your touch.
7	…you heard the surface thoughts of every humanoid within 50 feet.
8	…anything you are tasted like sand in your mouth.
9	…others saw and heard you as if you were an undead zombie.
10	…you grew donkey ears and a donkey tail and couldn’t speak, only bray.
11	…you hungered for the flesh of other humanoids and thirsted for their blood.
12	…any offspring you had were goats instead of humanoids.
13	…any person for whom you had affection scorned you with unbridled hate.
14	…any person who tried to address you by your name or a nickname would instead vomit spiders.
15	…you lived the same day over and over again.
16	…you could not read or understand any language.
17	…all animals would attack you on sight.
18	…each day you would wake up in a new body with a random age, gender, and humanoid race.
19	…people who knew you before the curse forgot everything they knew about you and who you were during the curse.
20	…whenever you tried to speak, your mouth filled with corrosive acid.

Skills: Intimidation and Arcana or Religion

Languages: Two of your choice

Equipment: A set of common clothes, a small knife, two random trinkets from the trinket table in the Player’s Handbook, and a belt pouch with 5 gp.

Feature: The Pulse of Evil

You have learned to tap into the residual magic left in your body from the curse placed on you. You may spend a day of downtime in quiet meditation. By doing so you can sense the direction of the closest creature with the undead or fiend type – whichever is closest. Meditating this way does not tell you the distance to the creature or give you any details about it. You simply know which direction the creature is from you at the time you end your meditation.

Variant Feature: Pass the Curse

Check with your DM before taking this feature. The curse you had is still dormant within you. You may pass this curse to any living creature you touch. The creature suffers the curse’s full power. You may only do this once. Doing so cause the magic of the curse to completely leave your body. The curse cannot be passed to legendary creatures.

Suggested Characteristics

As a person who is cursed, you’ve probably lived a very solitary life in order to avoid hurting loved ones. Now that the curse is lifted, you’re able to spend time with those you love again, but you’ve been changed. If you can keep them engaged and talking by asking lots of questions, you may never have to discuss the time you were cursed. Bringing it up is painful, so you might talk about anything and everything to avoid having anything trigger a memory related to that horrific time. Of course, you might choose to sit in silence and talk about nothing as opposed to talking about the curse. Though try as you might, the memory is never far away.

d8	Personality Traits
1	I ask questions faster than people can answer.
2	If someone brings up the time I was cursed, I act like I have no idea what they’re talking about.
3	I have trouble concentrating on one topic of conversation for very long.
4	I will fill conversation gaps of silence with anything I can think to talk about.
5	I flinch whenever someone I don’t know well touches me.
6	I wake up screaming, but don’t remember my dreams.
7	I have trouble finding objects in my disorganized piles of stuff.
8	I just wear what’s comfortable.

d6	Ideals
1	Kindness. I can’t help but get furious when people take others for granted. (Good)
2	Greed. The world owes me and I will take from it. (Evil)
3	Beauty. Appreciate what’s here now because nothing lasts. (Chaotic)
4	Order. If I live life the right way, I won’t be cursed again. (Lawful)
5	Community. Good people can help you through hard times. (Neutral)
6	Power. The only way to overcome adversity is to pound it into oblivion. (Neutral)

d6	Bonds
1	I have yet to be forgiven by someone important to me I hurt while I was cursed.
2	The thing that cursed me is still out there.
3	I can’t return to the place where I was cursed because there are people ready to kill me there.
4	There’s a family heirloom I kept close when I was cursed that gave me hope.
5	I want to learn to perform the curse which affected me.
6	I’m trying to find and help others who are suffering from the curse which affected me.

d6	Flaws
1	The anguish I still feel is greater than anyone else’s pain.
2	I don’t face my personal problems directly because I’m scared of their outcomes.
3	People like me when I’m happy, so I’ll just always be happy.
4	If someone pays any positive attention to me, I will give them whatever they want.
5	I’d rather complain and criticize than be positive and compliment others.
6	Rumors are usually true so I tell them to everyone I can.

PDF

Would you like to have this background in a PDF? Grab it below by itself or alongside the other backgrounds I’ve created on this blog.

Cursed

All Backgrounds

If you don’t want to grab them now, but decide you want the PDFs at a future date, head on over to the Free Game Resources section of this site where the documents will live along with magic items, monsters, D&D fifth edition rules modules, spells, adventures, and more created by yours truly.

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