Creative curses
Posted by: A. M.
5/31/99 10:33 PM
I thought you all might be able to help me. I need to come up with several creative curses for several different characters to be laboring under in a scenario I'm currently writing, and I seem to be out of ideas right now. I'd welcome any suggestions you might have.
The scenario's a single session LARP, so the curses need to be
things
that might conceivably come into play during a single game session and
that don't require a lot of pyrotechnics. The setting is modern, but
I'm
mixing multiple genres.
Untitled Posted by: I. M. in response to Creative curses
5/31/99 10:35 PMThe old "must speak in rhymes" is always fun
Untitled Posted by: T. W. in response to Creative curses
5/31/99 10:49 PMCurses:
1) Everytime the PC tries to give a command, whether to a single person or a crowd, they go hoarse.
2) For the social butterfly or diplomat: smiling causes abject pain.
3) The PC can see perfectly in pitch darkness, but cannot enter a lit room.
Untitled Posted by: I. E. in response to Creative curses
5/31/99 11:17 PMCurses
well, one you'd have to have someone who was a good sport role play would be some sort of curse on speaking, like having to speak in pig latin all the time or not being able to use nouns (instead, has to rely on that, he, she, thingambob, whatchamacallit, that um on the um you know, etc) or something like that.
one could be that people are constantly misidentifying a person in the worst possible way (ie a militant antiabortion person thinks they recognize the person as an abortionist, a person in a gang thinks they are a rival gang member, etc etc, with each person misperceiving them in an appropriate manner.) this could be a very confusing experience for the cursed person, because they never know what to expect (aside from hostility)
everyone, and I mean everyone, is attracted to this person and wants to get in their pants.
persistant b.o.
people sensitive to that sort of thing, perceive this person as having an aura of evil. they aren't necessarily evil, but a certain people would expect them to be. this could be interesting depending on whether the perceivers are good or evil themselves. and mixed in are just normal people who treat them in a way consistent with their actions, just to further conplicate the issue. might be especially effective if the person did not know about the curse.
lack of perception on the left side (can't hear people on that side, can't see things on that side, and generally tends to ignore that side.) this one requires good roleplaying.
always lies, or at best tells half truths
severe allergy type reaction to some substance that will be around (traditional substances include garlic, silver, and holy symbols, but can also be generalized to other things)
narcolepsy. ocassionally a GM goes up to them and has them "fall asleep" for some short period of time. (might be too labor intensive) alternatley, have them "fall asleep" for a predetermined short period of time any time they are in danger
constantly eating things. and I do mean things, not food. like paper, or paper clips or small items that other characters need/want. could also make this specific to things made out of a particular substance, especially if you want it to provoke problems with other characters.
being followed around by a ghost (another character) that only they can see or hear whose main mission in death is making them miserable. would probably work best with a pair of freinds. might be even better if there is someone else around who can see the ghost so that person has someone else to interact with.
well that's enough for now. this question should generate some interesting responses :)
Bad Timing Posted by: R. D. in response to Creative curses
6/1/99 01:20 AMSuddenly I'm thinking that reading this thread with a GM (DM,GOD, Storyteller, whatever) who I game with often, might not have been such a brilliant idea.
Great, now she's cackling... I'm in for it now aren't I? (I've been informed that it's a manical laugh, maybe one of these day's I'll learn the difference.)
Oh boy...
R.
Re: Curses Posted by: J. R. in response to Creative curses
6/1/99 07:03 AMAn idea I had been playing around with is any figure of speach the accursed says becomes true. 'Ah, what a crock of s__t!' *pop* 'Boy, it's raining cats and dogs...*yelp* *hiss*...Damn!!' Just got to keep the player from completely avoiding figures of speach; I'll leave that up to you.
I don't know which game you're playing, but have a certain fairly common occurance trigger a power in the character uncontrollably. The kind of thing s/he doesn't want going off at odd times.
They can't get anybody's attention without first saying their name. Or reverse that onto them.
Untitled Posted by: C. L. in response to Creative curses
6/1/99 08:36 AMHow about itching? That doesn't require any effects, but can be pretty disruptive (especially if it's someone that has to concentrate). Pervasive sweating is annoying, too (unless it's vampire LARP, in which case it would just be pretty gross). Hallucinations are always fun, too, and only the player can see them so they can be anything.
C.
Untitled Posted by: M. Q. in response to Creative curses
6/1/99 08:55 AMre: Creative curses
I've got a couple of decent ones that I've been holding in reserve for various Amber games. Some might be too vicious, others are more annoying than crippling. Here's a brief selection, ranging from the traditional to the more esoteric:
"May you suffer any damage you inflict." <- a nice traditional curse, suitable for framing. Can be really effective on combat monsters who need a little bit of a slowdown to balance them out.
"If you ever kill anyone else, may blood pour from your eyes forever."
"May you never finish anything you start." <- meals, books, conversations, etc. Very nasty when used on people who start fights....
"Nothing you do will outlive you."
"May you have only the best of everything." <- sounds nice on the outside, but the intention of this is that the victim can only TOLERATE the best of anything. Exquisite clothing, gourmet food, fine wines and other expenses are now required. Anything less either provides no nutrition or falls apart after a few seconds in contact with the victim.
"You must tell your darkest secret to one new person each day, or you will die."
"You will never sleep twice under the same roof."
"You can never turn to the left." <- annoying? You bet!
Untitled Posted by: G. R. in response to Creative curses
6/1/99 03:09 PMWell, is not exactly a "curse" but a national saying that you can use. When somebody say's that something nasty will happen, old "gauchos" used to say "May your mouth twist to one side" ("La boca se te haga a un lado") The exact meaning of the expression is that youn mouth moves toward one ear, unable to speak. Try to do it yourself... It can be a very useful curse to apply to anybody who must use the mouth to thow a spell... And is easy to "act", also. You must create the "contra-curse" spell, because if you not, the poor player won't be able to speak until the game is ended.
And another "gaucho habit" is that, when you accidentally hit your elbow it means that you'll receive a surprise, so you must say "come if it's good, stop if it's bad" ("Si es buena, que venga. Si es mala, que se detenga"). Hope you can adapt it.
Greetings and Good Luck!G. R.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Untitled Posted by: L. P. in response to Creative curses
6/2/99 07:34 PMHi Anne, I'd be interested in creative curses you get. I need to polish my vocabulary.
L.
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