(v1.2)
By Karl Boivin
(Last Update: July 25th 1999)


I will add a new curse soon but I'm mostly working on my writer's page in Elfwood.com so... (Wyvern's Library as Karl Boivin) the updates are slow here. Email-me if you wanna see other stuff about the Cursed Mage, and tell me if you're playing one! (gondoria@HOTMAIL.COM)center>

"I've been cursed trying out what was forbidden by the laws of magic. I do not know what went wrong but my guess is that I'm the only one to blame for the curse I've acquired. My appearance might be altered yet my magic is still strong, and don't dare ever underestimate me 'cause you could be surprised... My curse is the weapon I wield just as much as it uses itself against me!"

- Galdazar, a human Cursed Mage standing proud in front of a group of highwaymen known as Rogues.




Story of the Cursed Mage

"Magic is far from simple. Mastering its art is said to be the most difficult thing to do. Even the wisest will always hold a possibility of learning more since it is an unlimited source of knowledge, and therefore, magic anchors itself deepest to the most complex disciplines.

Only humans have succeeded in the task of casting more than one range of spells. However, pushing their abilities too far may involve to be punished by magic itself. The fact is that the Art grants the human race the powers to gain anything they can dream of when it comes to Magic but at a cost. Avoiding to pay that fee is always severely punished. The same punishment applies to other races such as elves and dwarves who might try to gain more magical schools than the one they are allowed. Since these other spheres are forbidden to them, they would be cursed if they ever tried.

Wizards are a group of magicians which aren't as specialized in their range of magic, in constrast to Nethermancers, Illusionists and Elementalists, and so they often gain a wider range of knowledge in the art of magic, a trade-off for not being as focused on specific arcanes. But some of them might think that their discipline holds more power that the others on Barsaive and thus, might try to demonstrate it by breaking the laws of magic and try to gain a wider range of spells... spells that belong to the other magician disciplines.

None other than humans have ever succeeded, they have all failed, each and every one of them. But those who tried to push their experiments more and more came to the edge of breaking the laws and then magic severly punished them with a life curse. The magic decided to play with the life of those beings, constantly changing their abilities, diverging them from those of the normal Wizards, following them through their ascendance into wizardry and cursing them with an horrific appearance change.

These are called Cursed Mages, that is, Wizards damned with an everlasting curse..."


Cursed Mage story example:

"Galdazar was a debutant in the art of magic. A wizard as knowledgeable as a venerable one, he was destined to accomplish great deeds in his discipline. Known to be very ambitious, even on the edge of being too much, he tried to read and understand other writings of magic; Nethermancy.

Failure after failure, incidents over near-catastrophes, he succeeded in understanding some words, and even worse, later on, tried to cast them to see their effect. 2 months later, the bright and ambitious wizard opened the gates to his own doom. Magic had punished him for having tried the forbidden. He was cursed so much that his facial appearance changed to one similar to a squid's, and barely could he hide it inside a cloak or shadows. So damned was he that the discipline he had chosen would never be the same again.

His life not yet over, he strived to survive more and more until the day he would discover a new meaning to his hidden power... the art of cursed magic..."

GM note: Galdazar`s face been morphed into a squid`s, but not every Cursed Mage are as such. It could have been something ugly from a boar's face to an elephant's. The squid was Galdazar`s curse, a GM should imagine something ugly and original.




In terms of gameplay, A Cursed Mage is either one of these two:

1- Humans: Human Cursed Mages are those who tried to gain another school of magic without paying the Legend Point cost to buy it with their Versatility Talent for whatever reason. Their Versatility Talent might have been at Rank 2 for example and they had already taken the 2 available Talent Slots. When they tried to bypass the laws of magic by trying to gain spells from other Disciplines for free, they were punished. Magic cursed them as Cursed Wizards. These humans are now limited to 2 schools of magic: Wizardry and the one they tried to obtain. Why? Magic gave them what they seeked but offered them in exchange a life curse...

The Cursed Human Mages therefore keep their Versatility Talent but may not access other schools of magic with it.


2- Other races: They simply tried to gain spells from other Disciplines and have been cursed. They, too, obtain Wizardry plus one other school, the one they tried to gain.

In short, a Cursed Mage is a Wizard pained with a curse. Magic plays with their physical and mental state and so they evolve into different wizards, growing in magical powers as they do in cursed essence.




Important Attributes: Perception and Willpower

Racial Restrictions: None (If human, no other schools of magic allowed by the Versatility Talent, except one.

Karma Ritual: The Cursed Mage must meditate in a cabalistic circle of his creation made out of rocks, sand, or any other materials with which he can create the circle. The circle must have one candle at the end of each of it's tips. The meditation ends after 30 minutes in which the Cursed Mage mumbled words about his cursing experience.

Artisan Skills: Robe Embroidery

The Cursed Mage Discipline allows one more school of magic to any character at the player's discretion.

The DM may replace one Talent from Circle 2-4 by a Talent from the player's second school of magic discipline. He must not replace any required Talents from the player's first magical discipline. The DM may not replace a Cursed Talent.

All Cursed Mages make their Interaction Test with a penalty of -3.


* Denotes a Discipline Talent

Talent in Italic are Cursed Talents

1st Circle

Talents:

Karma Ritual
Read and Write Languages
Read and Write Magic*
Spellcasting*
Spell Matrix
Spell Matrix
Thread Weaving (Cursed)*


2nd Circle

Talents:

Durability (4/3)
Spell Matrix
Guiding Voices *


3rd Circle

Talents:

Astral Sight*
Evidence Analysis*


4th Circle

Spell Defense: Increase the Mage's Spell Defense by 1.

Talents:

Arcane Mutterings
Hide Curse *


5th Circle

Karma: The Mage may spend a Karma point for actions using Willpower only.

Talents:

Frighten*
Willforce


6th Circle

Physical Defense: Increase the Mage's Physical Defense by 1.

Talents:

Spell Matrix
Speak Languages


7th Circle

Spell Defense: Increase the Mage's Spell Defense by 1.

Talents:

Hold Thread
Melee Weapons


8th Circle

Karma: The Mage may spend a Karma point for actions using Perception only.

Talents:

Deceiving Spirit
Resist Taunt*


9th Circle

Physical Defense: Increase the Mage's Physical Defense by 1.
Initiative: Increase the Mage's Initiative dice by 1 step.

Talents:

Enhanced Matrix
Matrix Strike
Spirit Strike


10th Circle

Cursed Environment At the cost of 4 strain points, the Cursed Mage may corrupt his surrounding up to a circular range of 25 yards and is centered around the Mage. The area lasts for a period of 4 hours, plus one per 2 additional strains taken, for a maximum equal to his wound threshold.
This cursed area gives the mage a 2 step bonus on his Spellcasting Tests and 1 Step to the Effect as long a the spell does not leave the range of the Cursed Area. The Cursed Environment may only be created once a day.

Talents:

Enhanced Matrix
Range Pattern


11th Circle

Spell Defense: Increase the Mage's Spell Defense by 2.

Talents:

Armored Matrix
Casting Pattern


12th Circle

Recovery Test: The Mage gains an additional Recovery Test per day.

Talents:

Bestow Curse *
Wound Transfer


13th Circle

Karma: Increase the Mage's Maximum Number of Karma Points by 25.
Recovery Test: The Mage gains an additional Recovery Test per day.

Talents:

Share Matrix
True Sight


14th Circle

Spell Defense: Increase the Mage's Spell Defense by 2.
Mystic Armor: Increase the Mage's natural Mystic Armor rating by 2.

Talents:

Armored Matrix
Orbiting Spy


15th Circle

Social Defense: Increase the Mage's Social Defense by 2.
Physical Defense: Increase the Mage's Physical Defense by 1.

Talents:

Effect Pattern
Summon




New Talents


Circle 2: Cursed Talent: Guiding Voices

See Knacks for this Talent

Strain: No
Action: No
Karma: No
Discipline: Yes
Attribute: Willpower

The wizard gains the cursed luck to hear guiding voices that only he can hear. The more he increases this talent, the more the voices are frequent. The player will have to increase this talent to resist the voices due to the fact that they will be heard more and more as he advances into wizardry.

The voices guide the mage in the sense that they will, for example say such things as "Don't open it that way!", "Better to go to your right in here" or "Look out for the ground you're stepping on!". The fact remains that sometimes the advice the voices give show premonition to what could happen but at some other time they could be misleading the character. However, the voices will never directly cause the death of the mage, preferring to live about tormenting him. When are they true or false? That is the nature of the curse...

This talent helps to resist the voices. The test difficulty is determined by the talent's rank due to the fact that the higher the talent, the more frequent the voices are. They must be overcomed for the character to act on his own free will. If the test is failed, the mage must obey and do as the voices require:

Talent Rank
Difficulty
1-4
5-8
9-12
13-15
14
16
18
20

Even if the mage succeeds in his test, he can still listen and do as they say if he feels like it, it could be very good advice, who knows?



Circle 4: Good Talent: Hide Curse

See Knacks for this Talent

Strain: 2
Action: No, 3 times per day limit
Karma: Yes
Discipline: Yes
Attribute: Charisma

The wizard gains the ability to alter his face to recover normal appearance for a number of minutes equal to the talent's rank, after which it disappears, giving no forward signs before reverting back to normal. The difficulty number is the highest Spell Defense of those that are in vicinity of the Mage and of which he is trying to hide from.



Circle 8: Cursed Talent: Deceiving Spirit:

See Knacks for this Talent

Strain: 2
Action: Yes
Karma: Yes
Discipline: No
Attribute: Willpower

The wizard obtains the cursed gift of having a spirit around him almost anytime. The little invisible spirit spreads disturbing acts to others in the presence of the wizard hoping that he will be accused for these acts.

At some times the spirit appears to the cursed wizard to show him what he will do next... but always too late indeed.

This talent is used to forbid the spirit from acting out his anarchic doings for a period of time equal to three minutes per rank. It can be used twice daily and the difficulty number is based on the chart below. The higher the talent is, the greater the deceiving acts are.

Talent Rank
Acts Increase?*
Difficulty**
1-6
7-10
11-13
14-15
Yes
Yes
No
No
15-20
18-25
20-25
21-27


*This means the acts are more and more deceiving.
** The first number is for the first time of the daily usage and the second for the final time he may use the Talent.



Circle 12: Good Talent: Bestow Curse:

See Knacks for this Talent

Strain: 2
Karma: Yes
Discipline: Yes
Action: Yes
Attribute: Perception

At this level, the wizard is able to spread a part of his own curse to others, but in terms of bad luck only. The wizard must overcome the target's spell defense with this talent to alter any of his attributes, defenses, or talents. The difficulty numbers go as the following:
Minuses To
Difficulty
Effect
One Attribute
Defenses*
One Talent
Target Spell Defense+3
Target Spell Defense
Target Spell Defense-1
-1 Step
-2
-1 Step#

* Defenses encompass social defense, spell defense, physical defense and natural mystic armor.
# -1 step to the Talent and the maximums on dices aren't rolled again.

The length of the curse is one hour per rank of the Talent.




Knacks


Command Voices:

Guiding Voices at Rank 7

Cost: 200

This Talent gives the Wizard a chance to command the voices around him, to tell if what they said was a truth or a lie. Be careful, it does NOT command the voices to tell the truth, just if the former suggestion was. The difficulty number is based on this chart, depending on how important the advice is.

Saying
Difficulty
Minor advice*
Normal advice**
Major advice#
Ultimate advice*#
10
12
15
20

Wrong Advice/Good Advice:

*
Wrong: Such as "I wouldn't run in there if I were you..." and there is nothing at the end of the corridor, the passage is safe and not tortuous.
Good: Used if nothing can injure the sorceror.

**
Wrong: Such as "Don't open it or you'll get burned!" and there is only a small needle doing minor damage to the Wizard.
Good: Used if, for example, nothing happens when he opens the chest although a trap will be triggered if he tries to empty it.

#
Good: Advice like "If you go in there, watch your back!" and indeed, a thief is following him.
Wrong: Same advice, but a warrior is in front of him awaiting to bash his brains out.

*#
These are extreme circonstances that could render the mage unconscious or events that lead the wizard to lose something of great importance. Remember: the voices will never guide the mage to his death.


Curse Stealth:

Hide Curse at Rank 6:

Cost: 100

The wizard is able to totally hide his curse by getting a normal appearance at the cost of 2 extra strains. The length of it is one minute per talent's rank plus as follows:

Rank
Pluses
4-6
7-10
11-15
+5 minutes
+8 minutes
+15 minutes

This means, for exemple, that at Rank 13 it would last 13 minutes + 15 minutes for a total of 28 minutes.

The Talent still disappears with no precursory signs.


Helping Spirit

Deceiving Spirit at Rank 8:

Cost: 200

The wizard is able to ask one minor favor to his deceiving spirit. Things such as "If a thief tries to steal my purse, give me a little whistle in my ear", or "If someone goes behind me, tap on my head!". The spirit cannot prevent objects from being taken away by someone else or do any type of physical feats, nor can it hurt someone either. The spirit still stays invisible to anyone but the Wizard.

A subtle manner in which to counter the deceiving spirit would be asking it to remain visible to the Mage for the Talent's duration as to avoid being present when the deceiving acts are commited. The spirit obeys for a duration of 1 hour / Rank plus one hour per additional Strain to a maximum of 3 extra Strains.

Note that the deceiving spirit still acts to deceive.

Strain: 3


Dooming Word

Bestow Curse at Rank 10:

Cost: 300

This knack may be used only by those who survived their curse, rare indeed. The Wizard gains perfect control over his cursed energy so that he can bestow it upon others. The Spell Defense of the unlucky target must be overcomed and it's effects are either based on attributes, skills, or physical/mental traits, as follows:
Difficulty
Attributes
Skills
Physical/Mental Traits
Target Spell Defense +6
Target Spell Defense +3
Target Spell Defense +4

These are the effects of the curse:

Attributes
Skills/Talents
Phys/Mental Traits
One attribute reduced by 3 Steps and the skills/talents associated to it.
The step is halved over 6th Circle Talents, and reduced to Step 1 under this.
Either Spell, Social, or Physical Defense reduced by 5; or
A limb transformed to something useless or unusual at the wizard's desire; or
A host or mental problems. (Such as severe amnesia).

Or a general state of horrible luck to the target left to the imagination of the DM. The Knack causes 7 points of Strain to the mage.


The curse lasts one hour/rank, with bonuses as follows:
Rank
Bonuses
1-4
5-8
9-15
+2 hours
+4 hours
+6 hours


The Way I See The Cursed Mage,
- By Karl Boivin.

«Formerly a wizard, he became doomed by his own actions. Since then, he grows differently into wizardry. Let me explain these changes to understand the Cursed Mage in the way I understand it.

The curse he received is like a waterfall of corrupted magic that flows all around him. Gates to new power are opened and the way through it is deeply dangerous. The mage will gain many special powers but at a cost. (Strains). Other talents are given and used to counter his curse in many ways but still again, at a heavy cost.

Therefore, magic gives him poisoned powers. This nefarious energy is harder to bypass and thus, his Spell Defense is heightened. With every wrong there is a right they say, so even if magic doesn't grant it to him willingly, the mage gains more protection against harm.

In addition, he gains Wizard Talents, but at different Circles, to further confuse his discipline, and when the mage has survived far in this art, he is rewarded in a way by being able to spread some of his cursed essence. With it, his face is altered to an ugly form, for him to remember his damnation everytime he sees the reaction of those staring at him. Again, he gains some unquestionably positive effects, but the cost is still high, and some quirks are left in them. That explains his low Social Defense score, as he can hardly communicate correctly with everyday people. Finally, the physical defense is also an effect of his hard to penetrate cursed essence.

Well, I think this covers the way I see the Cursed Mage, if you have any questions about it (though I'd like to have your impressions), e-mail me at
Gondoria@hotmail.com.



Material Curses

Depending on the rank in Cursed Weaving, the mage can make his own thought curses. Though material is required for this kind of task, feel free to invent all sorts of imaginative ones!
But here's how material curses works....

A Cursed Mage can work on material curses once his Thread Weaving Rank has reached 4: Minor curses at rank 4, Major ones at rank 8 and Great curses at rank 12. In order to succeed a curse, all the manipulations must be done and the difficulty is the second number aside the slash in the Spell Defense category.

In order to dispel such curses, one must either cast it on the object before the curse is completed or on the victim. In both cases the number to overpass is the first one in the Spell Defense category. Even if the curse is cast on the victim, it isn't the Target's Spell Defense that must be overcome, for the curse creates an evil aura, and this is what must be dispelled.

For those who wants to create other curses, here are some guidelines...

Minor curses are the weakest ones and their common thing is that the mage has to give something to it's victim. The Spell Defense to dispel these ranges from 4 to 6.

Major ones often needs something out from the victims and they are indeed more powerful curses. Preparations are a little more complicated normally, and they last longer. For the Spell Defense, it ranges from 7 to 9.

Finally great curses are those extremely strong and long to end. They often inflicts strains and their manipulations are rarely simple but they always need special components to deal with. The target has to fall into some trap or do something in order to complete it's own doom. They always need some component from the target itself and often rituals are also needed. The spell Defense ranges from 9 to 12.

Cursed Weaving Rank 4: Rabies (animals only)

Duration: One day plus one every rank above 8th.
Spell Defense:5/3

Take an old crusty bread and write these inscriptions on it: Aretseb Eitseb Yan Se Nargagas Domina Taif Taif. Then carry it with you for one full day for the curse to be ready to use. Feed it to the targeted animal. The rabies take effect Step 6 hours later.

Cursed Weaving Rank 4: Badluck

Duration: A day + one day for each rank above 8.
Spell Defense:4/4

This one is used to expose minor, unharming badluck to the target. The effect lasts the whole day, or 24 hours after the curse been cast. First the Cursed Mage must use a drop of his own blood into the victim's drink and say (in a low voice) "Aretsaib". Thereafter the first one drinking the liquid is affected with minor badluck. If it isn't the target who drinks, the curse lasts only 12 hours long. Note that the drink's color isn't altered by the blood droplet.

Cursed Weaving Rank 8: Deafness

Duration: 3 days + one day for each rank above 12.
Spell Defense:8/10

First, to inflict such a state, the mage must write these inscriptions inside a cone made of paper: "Corat Sinui Yan Se Wineghos Dominar Taif Taif". Thereafter the Cursed Mage must use it to whisper these magic words at his sleeping target: "Dominar Taroucas Crosteb" and should the victim be awakened by those words, the curse fails. The effects starts the following morning.

Cursed Weaving Rank 8: Blindness

Duration: 3 days + one day for each rank above 12.
Spell Defense:8/10

First the mage must get an eyelash of it's victim and drown it into a complete bowl of water. The bowl must be left under natural light 2 full hours and a tablespoon of pepper must be added no more than an hour later. The mage has to drink the whole bowl for the curse to be initiated. After this, the Cursed Mage has no more than 2 hours to meet his target and stare at him in the eyes for just a second. The curse is then completed and blindness take effect the following morning.

Cursed Weaving Rank 8: Nightmare

Duration: 2 consecutive nights + 1 for each rank above 13.
Spell Defense:7/8

This curse dooms the target with horrifying thoughts during his sleep. If ever the victim is obsessed with something (or someone) enough to usually dream about it, then his thoughts are altered to the most vile ways they can turn, even to long painful death (for someone) or subtile and hideous destruction (for something).
The target may come to awake from those evil dreams, but going back to sleep won't solve the problem. This prevents from restful nights and the victim suffers Step 4 pure damage at the end of every two days. Fatigued and paranoid during daytime, the target may even try to protect, by much-pushed ways, the one or the thing he's obsessed with.
A victim with no actual devotion will get evil-twisted dreams of different people and scenes but mostly, he may more see his own self as the center of all his nightmares.
In order to create such an effect, the Cursed Mage must get some of his victim's sweat, at least a drop of it. Mix it with some Cursed Blood (If you know what I mean...) and absorb it with a facial tissu wich the target has to use (no sign of waht the tissu been used for) for the curse to be completed. The effect begins the night after or the next time the target will sleep. Note that to dispel the curse, one must do it while the victim sleeps, then it takes one hour for the nightmares to stop. (Soon will be added the most powerful material curse: Rank 12 one... called....FEAR)


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