[RPG]: Book of Curses, reviewed by Kester Pelagius (4/3)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10892.phtml

C. Demetrius Morgan's Summary:

Looking for a interesting virtual stocking stuffer for that D20 fiend in your family? This supplement contains the sort of insidious material that Game Masters crave and players love to hate!

Go to the full review for more information.

Post originally by MetalMan at 2004-12-17 10:43:13
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First of all, thanks for the review!

Before I make comments, let me go ahead and say that I was the layout guy for the book and strongly suspect that one of the bad pieces of art that you mentioned was mine.

I'm guilty on all charges for the layout problems. The Book of Curses was our first product and I was just getting the hang of InDesign so there were mistakes made.

Art-wise, we did what we could with a limited budget (most of which went into the cover (lovingly done by Socar Myles)). I'm not much of an artist but I put one of my own drawings in the book to help loose some "white space" but this was obviously not a good idea.

I would, however, disagree with you on needing a high fantasy game to use these curses in. Our own campaign (in which the author plays) uses the book for it and it is definately a low magic game which makes encountering such a curse a truly horrifying thing... there is no readily available source of information that knows the cure. Magic is dangerous and mysterious.

I will admitt that I was a bit baffled by your statement concerning the need for a setting. That information was included for the reader that just wanted to move it over as is. Any modifications that should be needed to them would be minimal and require only changing the names of NPCs or locations. We at Heyoka are big believers in "flavor" to help illustrate both the theme and atmosphere behing each of our creations. Some people like it while other people want more "crunch." In the end, it was a decision that we based off of our own play style.

The main idea behind all of the curses in the book wasn't just something to hit the players with and let them get out of it quickly. These things are ugly, disgusting, brutal things that will inspire quests that will last the PCs several sessions or even an entire campaign at the hands of a clever DM.

Just my opinion but I'm also biased so take my words as you will

Either way, thanks again Demetrius for your well thought out review. I appreciate it and will strive to make our books better with each release.

Post originally by MetalMan at 2004-12-17 11:13:34
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I'm posting one of the curses from the book in its entirety. This should give you an idea if this sort of thing is for you or not.

Its also OGL... so feel free to steal it if you want!

Pox
Necromancy
Level: Sor, Brd 3
Components: V, M, 350 experience
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: special
Area: 2 HD / level of caster
Duration: permanent
Saving Throw: Will special
Spell Resistance: No

The Pox is learned in cultures known for
their treachery. The secret to learning Pox
is different from most sorcerous curses as it
requires little more than a life of suffering
to unveil. No one knows for sure why this
curse develops in some and not others. The
material component of the curse is a recently
dead (no more than a fortnight dead) or
dying person. Three instances of the Pox
have been documented. In all cases, the
sorcerer comes from a dark background,
illuminated by some hope that is crushed. It
has been theorized by bards that the curse
is learned early as their hate festers butlacks the power of meaning until there is an injustice to act against.

In the Kingdom of Alera, the magistrate,
Mercer, investigated the disappearance of
young children in the crowded farming
community of East Leeland. After a week,
she discovered a concerted effort by several
families to kill infants in order to cheat the tax system. Mercer herself had become a
magistrate only after her own husband had
left her because of her inability to have
children. At the gravesite of the most recent
victim, she cast Pox.

More than eight thousand miles and several
centuries later, the woodsman Bun returned
home from a trip gathering bear fat for the
village’s winter to find his wife murdered
by bandits. Lying in their empty bed, he
sent out his own spirit to the body of his
wife, laying in the ground outside the house
and called forth the Pox. The bandits were
found a month later some insane, some dead.

The best information about Pox comes
from Badaric of Alera, the son of a minor
merchant house who secretly married the
young Dorias, a niece of the duke. When
the duke discovered the marriage, he
personally saw Badaric tied to a horse and
had him drug around the city three times
before released and declared the marriage
dissolved. Badaric’s death occurred in the
sanctuary of the church where his friend the
bard Asturius recorded his final words.

"I lie here dying but it will not be without a price
I give up spirit to send the token
As my body is eaten, so shall theirs
An eye for an eye, worm for worm "

The dead who act as the conduit for the
Pox must hold a strong emotional tie to
both the victim(s) and the sorcerer. A loved
child, a dear wife, a precious friend, or, in
the case of Mercer, a painful symmetry can
act as bridges for the power. In Badaric’s
case he was the victim himself. In the case of Badaric, not only did he curse the duke
but the chambermaid who he trusted who
sold him out to the duke. Mercer’s curse
struck not only the murderers but those that
capitulated, cooperated and made possible
what they did by breeding a culture of greed.

Those that learn the curse are something
of nihilists, with feelings of emptiness so
strong that they can naturally develop an
aptitude for this kind of magic without any
prompting or use for it for years or decades.

Any number of targets may be selected to
be afflicted by the Pox but the total number
of hit dice may not exceed twice that of
the caster. All of the targets must be valid
as defined by the nature of the curse. The
victims develop acne over the first week
that fill with puss. During the second week
they gain lesions on the arms and face.
During the third week, welts develop on the
neck and chest along with acne becoming
infected and bleeding. Finally, in the fourth
week headaches develop with a great deal
of sinus leakage. In the fifth week, this
culminates in maggots crawling out of the
victim’s sinus passages. In the sixth week,
they become constipated until festering
wounds develop in their anuses that spiders
hatch from. Many of these traits can be
treated and cleaned out but they return. Oils
and treatments are expensive, costing over
1,000 gold a week and do nothing more than
relieve the pain a little.

Aside from the social impact of such an
appearance, the impact on the body and
mind is significant. The pain dulls the
senses while the body is wracked. Each
month of this affliction permanently reduces
the victim’s Constitution and Intelligence
by 1 point to a maximum of losing six
from each attribute. A successful saving
throw versus the spell effect reduces the
maximum loss to four points. Most social
interaction rolls have a penalty of -8 due
to the repulsiveness of the victim. With
constant treatments the penalty is reduced
to -4. Victims of the Pox may learn to live with their condition but it is never easy.

Curing the Pox is no less easy than living
with it. Victims must seek out the Aki
Scrolls, created by the Aki mystics during
the Mungo Dynasty though new ones
come into existence as their secrets are
rediscovered. The Aki mystics bred silk
worms in their monasteries and sold the
silk to merchants, eventually becoming a
powerful economic and political power in
their region of the world. But it was one of
their arcanists, a wizard named Yu Li Su’et
who was hired by a noble man and created
a cure for the Pox. Thanks to his expertise
with silk worms, he created a new breed,
whose creation is described in the scrolls. If no living worms of this kind can be found,
aki silk worms require six years to be bred
by one familiar with the raising and care
of silk worms in the proper climates. Silk
worm larvae must then have a very specific
spell cast on them and inserted into the open
anal wounds of the Pox victim. The larvae
will begin killing other creatures as they
mature. The process takes two months of
extended agony during which any mental
activities take an additional -4 beyond
current penalties but at the end most of the
body is covered in thin silk.

Every day a gallon of herbal ginseng tea
and maldor root is fed through a tube to the
victim. Maldor is a common root extract
used to increase stamina and enough may be
bought for five silver to brew a single gallon. The victim must drink this tea, at least three cups a day for two months. The body must also remain immobile and silk allowed to set. Once it has, the person will fall into a coma for 2d4 days, during which they must make a Fortitude save versus 17 for every day they are in it. Failing for three days in a row requires a new Fortitude save versus 20 or instant death results. Should they survive, they are cured and will long consider what brought them to these measures.

Post originally by GSH at 2004-12-17 13:30:54
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It's an interesting curse, but perhaps it would have been better to separate out the flavour of the curse from the crunch. Just looking at it, it's a bit hard to pick out exactly what the curse does in terms of game mechanics.

The story aspects are interesting, but don't forget that the book has to serve as a quick reference in addition to being an interesting read. I think you are (perhaps unnecessarily) sacrificing the ability to use it as a quick reference by mixing the flavour into the mechanics description.

Also, I don't see an explanation for the Will special save anywhere.

Post originally by Kester Pelagius at 2004-12-17 18:11:43
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Greetings,

**I would, however, disagree with you on needing a high fantasy game to use these curses in. Our own campaign (in which the author plays) uses the book for it and it is definately a low magic game which makes encountering such a curse a truly horrifying thing...**

I never said it couldn't be used, just that, IMO, the curses as presented feel like they are most appropriate to a high fantasy setting. Granted it sounds like you have a good GM who knows how to use spells to effect. Then again a GOOD GM can do just about anything with any material they find.


**I will admitt that I was a bit baffled by your statement concerning the need for a setting.**

To be perfectly frank, paragraph after paragraph describing a fictional history of a item or spell generally does me- the DM/GM- not one bit of good unless it is tied to a setting I am using or plan to use. Or at the least is written in such a way that it provides suggestions on how to integrate the material INTO existing settings.

As a DM/GM I really do not care to read about how Fritz the Mad might have had to scale the crags of Mount Mojodrain to acquire the fabled Tome of the Mysterious Spells.

As a DM/GM every time I've ever encountered such fluffy flavor text all my eyes do is roll as I think: "Great, so someone wanted to put in that story from that time in their game that was so memorable to them. Good for you, now where's the information I need."

See those last six words?

That's all most GMs want out of such entries.

IMHO, YMMV.


**That information was included for the reader that just wanted to move it over as is. Any modifications that should be needed to them would be minimal and require only changing the names of NPCs or locations.**

Sadly it is NEVER that easy. Especially where fully developed backstories that talk about places, events, and NPCs are concerned.

Why?

Unless those NPCs and places are forthcoming in a future supplement they are worthless to me as a DM/GM as that means I have been burdened with the added hassle of having to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

I, as a already overburdened DM/GM, do NOT like having to do that. All I want is the name of the spell, a list of it's requirements, and a synopsis of what it does, how it does it, and any special rules that apply. Suggestions for integrating it into a campaign are fine, but I really could care less to read the backstory for how this item came to exist as I can tell you right now unless this is material for a stock setting it's going to exist how I say it does in my campaign.

Keyword: Campaign.

If you are running oneshot scenarios then this material is fine. But there are often a lot of things to consider about such material before a GM can integrate it into a their campaign world, especially if that campaign world has an established backstory.

Again that's my opinion, YMMV.


**We at Heyoka are big believers in "flavor" to help illustrate both the theme and atmosphere behing each of our creations.**

That is fine and dandy. Except the flavor text here wasn't doing any of that. It was an excuse for someone to display their short stories. Which, as I said, is fine and dandy... I do like that sort of thing, but I like even more when it comes with a setting attached.

Now I don't want anyone to misunderstand me, I am not knocking the product, just pointing out that for some of us DM/GM types all we want is the ready to grill steak, not the whole cow.

To that end I'd suggest considering organizing the text differently in the future. Provide the spell entry with all the information ready to use at a glance, then have a seperate section (or sidebar) with the flavor text. Offer suggestions on how to use this sort of backstory or adapt it for use.

Lot's of good stuff here. But it could be a bit better, IMHO.

Happy Holidays!


Kind Regards,

Kester Pelagius

Post originally by Greener21 at 2004-12-21 13:28:35
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That's got to be the stupidest thing I've read in a year. Thanks for the warning.