School of the Evil Eye

Wizards of the School of the Evil Eye do not hurl raw arcane force. Instead, they work through misfortune, planting curses that wait for weakness, hesitation, or failure before taking hold. To them, magic is not an explosion of power but a quiet certainty that every creature will falter eventually.

Their spells manifest as lingering afflictions, unseen pressures, and subtle distortions of fate. A missed strike, a broken focus, or a moment of doubt can be enough to trigger the harm they have set in place. These wizards are patient, preferring to let their magic unfold over time rather than forcing outcomes outright.

Practitioners are often viewed with suspicion. Some are blamed for streaks of bad luck or sudden illness, while others are sought out to place curses, settle grudges, or reveal hidden influences. A few take on students, teaching them how to endure misfortune and how to return it in kind.

An Evil Eye is not a spectacle. It is a promise. Once placed, it lingers, waiting for the moment when its target slips, and then it strikes.

Level 2: Evil Eye

You can focus your complete attention on a creature, drawing the Wyrd’s gaze upon it and infusing it with your baleful spite.
As a bonus action, you fix your gaze on a creature you can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become cursed by your Evil Eye.
When you apply the Evil Eye, you choose one Evil Eye Malediction you know. That malediction is bound to the curse for its entire duration.
Unless the chosen malediction states otherwise, the Evil Eye lasts until the end of the target’s next turn. While a creature is cursed by your Evil Eye, the first time on its turn it fails an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, it immediately suffers the effect of the bound malediction. A creature can be affected by only one Evil Eye curse at a time.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
You learn two Evil Eye Maledictions at 2nd level. You learn one additional malediction at 4th, 6th, 12th, and 14th level. Whenever you learn a new malediction, you can replace one malediction you already know with another you are eligible to learn. If a creature cursed by your Evil Eye ends its turn outside the range of both you and your Borrowed Eyes familiar, or if it leaves your line of sight within the range, the curse does not immediately end. Instead, it persists until the end of the creature’s next turn. If the creature is still outside both ranges at that time, the curse ends.

Evil Eye Maledictions (Level 12)

Creeping Pox
Prerequisite: 12th level
Fever and pain bloom across the target’s body.
When this malediction triggers, the target is poisoned until the end of its next turn.
If this malediction is triggered twice in the same round, the poisoned condition instead lasts 1 minute. While poisoned in this way, the target takes poison damage equal to your Intelligence modifier at the start of each of its turns.

Baleful Itch
Prerequisite: 12th level
An unbearable urge overwhelms the target.
When this malediction triggers, the target makes a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, or is incapacitated until the start of its next turn.
A creature incapacitated in this way cannot take reactions.

Evil Eye Maledictions (Level 14)

Blighted Flesh
Prerequisite: 14th level
The Wyrd exacts a physical toll.
When this malediction triggers, the target takes 3d8 necrotic damage, and its hit point maximum is reduced by the same amount until it finishes a long rest.
If this malediction is triggered twice in the same round, the necrotic damage is rolled separately for each trigger. A creature can only suffer hit point maximum reduction from this malediction once per 24 hours.

Evil Eye Maledictions (Level 2)

Ill Omen
Prerequisite: 2nd level
A sense of impending failure settles into the target’s mind.
When this malediction triggers, the target subtracts 1d4 from the triggering roll and from the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes before the end of its next turn.

Withering Glance
Prerequisite: 2nd level
Your gaze causes the body to flinch at the wrong moment.
When this malediction triggers, the target takes psychic damage equal to your Intelligence modifier, and has disadvantage on the next Strength or Dexterity check it makes before the end of its next turn.

Clouded Eyes
Prerequisite: 2nd level
The target’s vision clouds with drifting haze and doubled edges.
When this malediction triggers, the target has disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight beyond 40 feet until the end of its next turn.
If this malediction is triggered twice in the same round, the duration instead becomes 1 minute.

Evil Eye Maledictions (Level 4)

Whispered Madness
Prerequisite: 4th level
Intrusive thoughts and murmured impulses disrupt the target’s focus.
When this malediction triggers, the target has disadvantage on Constitution saving throws made to maintain concentration until the end of its next turn.
If this malediction is triggered twice in the same round, the disadvantage instead lasts 1 minute.

Gnawing Malaise
Prerequisite: 4th level
A sudden sickness weakens the target’s resolve.
When this malediction triggers, the target has disadvantage on all ability checks until the end of its next turn.
If this malediction is triggered twice in the same round, the duration instead becomes 1 minute.

Evil Eye Maledictions (Level 6)

Curse of the Coward
Prerequisite: 6th level
The target hesitates when faced with direct opposition.
When this malediction triggers, the target has disadvantage on melee attack rolls against you until the end of its next turn.
If this malediction is triggered twice in the same round, the target becomes frightened of you for 1 minute.

Beast-Bane
Prerequisite: 6th level
Animals recoil from the target’s presence.
When this malediction triggers, beasts have advantage on attack rolls against the target, and the target has disadvantage on Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks for 1 minute.

Level 2: Borrowed Eyes

You bind a familiar as a vessel for your malice and attention.
When you cast find familiar, the familiar can take the Help action as a bonus action.
While your familiar can see a creature within 30 feet of it, you can treat that creature as though it were within range and line of sight for your Evil Eye. This also counts for maintaining the Evil Eye if a creature attempts to escape your gaze.
If your familiar is reduced to 0 hit points, you can resummon it as part of a short or long rest. In addition, you can cast find familiar once without expending a spell slot or material components, regaining the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.
At 6th level, while perceiving through your familiar’s senses, you can speak through it in your own voice. At 10th level, when you cast flock of familiars, all familiars summoned by the spell can serve as valid vectors for your Evil Eye and Looming Curse features. A creature can be affected by your Evil Eye only once per turn, regardless of how many familiars can see it.

Level 6: Looming Curse

You learn to let curses linger, unseen and unspent.
When a creature fails its saving throw against your Evil Eye, you can choose to delay the curse instead of applying it immediately. When you do so, you still choose the bound malediction. If you use this feature, the creature is unaware that it was cursed by you.
A delayed curse remains dormant for a number of days equal to your proficiency bonus. While dormant, it has no visible effect. You can have a number of delayed curses equal to your intelligence modifier active at a time.
You can trigger the delayed curse by using your reaction, provided you are on the same plane of existence as the creature. When triggered, the creature becomes cursed by your Evil Eye until the end of its next turn as normal, and the bound malediction triggers twice when first activated. A creature can have only one delayed curse at a time. If the curse is not triggered before its duration expires, it fades harmlessly. While a creature bears your delayed curse, you have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks made against it.

Level 6: Know What’s Wyrd

Your senses attune to the wicked and sly ways magic works.
You recognize the signs of the Wyrd as it clings to creatures, objects, and places. You can tell when magic has settled unnaturally, when a mind is bent, or when a place carries a lingering stain. You can sense when a creature you can see within 30 feet is charmed, frightened, or otherwise subject to magical mental influence, even if the effect is subtle or normally concealed.
In addition, by spending 1 minute examining a creature, object, or location, you can determine whether it is affected by a curse or similar persistent magical affliction. This does not reveal the source, strength, or precise nature of the effect, only that such corruption is present.

When the Other Shoe Drops

You know when misfortune is ready to compound.

When you curse a creature with your Evil Eye, you can apply one additional Evil Eye Malediction you know to that creature at the same time. Both maledictions take effect normally and last for their full durations separate from one another. Both maledictions must be different. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

This feature cannot be used when applying a curse through Looming Curse. The maledictions applied this way do not interfere with Looming Curse when determining the maximum number of maledictions a creature can have.

Level 14: In the Eye of the Beholder

Those who draw your gaze invite its judgment.
When a creature cursed by your Evil Eye ends its turn without triggering its bound malediction, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or immediately trigger that malediction. In addition, when a creature affected by your Evil Eye is reduced to 0 hit points, you immediately regain one expended use of your Evil Eye feature.