Curse of Foul Blight (TP)

This spell curses a creature on the same plane of existence as you with a putrefying and stinking pox. The target must make a Charisma saving throw against the spell's DC, which is modified by the Curse Strength Table. On a successful save, the target becomes aware that somebody attempted to curse them. On a failed save, the target becomes cursed and is unaware of this. Upon the completion of this curse's triggering event, the target automatically advances to stage 1 of this curse.

Triggering event: The target searches their backpack, clothes drawer, or wherever else they store their garments, they find an infestation of insects.

Stage 1: The cursed creature is afflicted with a minor cough. Whenever they speak more than a few words at a time, they break into a fit of coughing.

Stage 2: The smell of putrescence lingers in the air around the cursed creature. Food and drink quickly spoil, jewelry tarnishes, and wood rots within 10 feet of the cursed creature. Additionally, the cursed creature has disadvantage on Charisma saving throws.

Stage 3: The cursed creature's skin becomes riddled with pock marks, pustules, and lesions. Insects flock to the cursed creature, infesting their clothes. The cursed creature's Charisma score becomes 6, unless it was already lower.

Culmination: Upon failing the final escalation check, the cursed creature twists into a deformed figure and becomes a Plague Carrion. If the creature is a player character, they become an NPC under the GM's control.

Escalation: Escalation represents the curse gaining power as time goes on. At dawn once a day, a cursed creature must make an escalation check to see if their curse escalates. To pass, a creature needs to roll an unmodified d20, and obtain a score greater than the number of checks they have made on this stage. On a failed save, the cursed creature applies the effects of the next stage of the curse, in addition to any previous stages. For example, a creature who has just been cursed makes an escalation check the following dawn. They must roll greater than a 1. The next day the DC will increase to 2, and so on. If, on the 5th dawn, they roll a 5 or less, the curse escalates to the second stage. They apply any new effects and reset the DC to 1.

Curing: Once they have begun, curses are notoriously difficult to cure. Many adventurers have fallen to a curse before they were able to gather the components to cure it. As a result, it is not unheard of for traveling mystics to carry multiple curing ingredients with them, to sell for exorbitant prices. To cure a curse, a cursed creature must be targeted with the remove curse spell. In addition, a number of cure components are required equal to the number of stages their curse has escalated to. For example, a curse that has escalated to stage 3 requires 3 cure components as well as a remove curse spell. The following items outline a number of cure components that can be found within the world of Etharis. A GM can include additional components based on their setting, campaign story or game mechanic they wish to include.

• Hag's promise. A potion brewed by hags, purposely named confusingly.

• A strand of hair from the lost but not found. From a pillow or other possession of a lost person.

• A twice-murdered raven. A raven that has been killed, resurrected, then killed again.

• The highest pinecone of a forest. Found with a lot of climbing.

• A clock which runs backwards. Casting slow and haste on a timepiece will cause it to tick backwards.

• A black pearl, harvested but a week ago.

• Found with a lot of swimming.

• A book that has never been read. From a publisher or printing press.

• A rose that grows in darkness but not sunlight. A rare flower known as a Black Rose.

• A life willingly given. Someone willing to sacrifice themself to cure the cursed.

• Wish. A wish granted by a spell or entity.