Divine Curse

This spell creates a terrible and lasting curse, so it can be cast only upon someone who has performed a great evil – at least in the eyes of the caster. The awful deed may even have been unintentional, but it must have yielded horrible results for the caster. The victim of the curse can be of any alignment. The caster personally chooses the punishment. Wording is very important, so the player must record the exact phrasing for future reference. The curse may fail if the punishment is inappropriate, too harsh, or otherwise lacking (at the DM's discretion). In this case, the DM can choose to either guide the player to a curse that is acceptable or make the character wait to

see if the curse takes effect.

The priest becomes a vessel for the divine wrath he invokes. He must clearly announce the curse in the presence of the evildoer. Thereafter, the curse is in effect, though its effects sometimes take time to surface. Instead, the curse may develop over months or years. Divine curse can be lifted. The victim has two means of removing the

curse. An atonement spell can lift the curse, provided the spell accompanies a great, heroic deed or similar act of expiation. Such an action must be an appropriate counter to the original evil deed.

Sometimes, the curse itself may include an escape clause. Often the clue to lifting the curse is hidden somewhere within the wording. The DM should encourage such clauses, since they do not necessarily provide an easy escape, as illustrated by this sample curse:

You have walked long upon the backs of the downtrodden. Now, each step you take shall be a painful blow to your flesh, until you stride barefoot to the summit of Mount Arabek between sunrise and sunset

At first the escape clause seems deadly, if not impossible, to fulfill, but a creative DM or player should be able to circumvent the obvious. For instance, the cursed individual might pay someone to cast a haste spell upon him or otherwise increase his rate of travel.

Curses inflicted with evil intent may trigger a Ravenloft powers check.

The material components for this spell are a tiny silver gong and the priest's holy symbol.