You touch a creature, and that creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become cursed for the duration of the spell. When you cast this spell, choose the nature of the curse from the following options:
- Choose one ability score. While cursed, the target has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws made with that ability score.
- While cursed, the target has disadvantage on attack rolls against you.
- While cursed, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw at the start of each of its turns. If it fails, it wastes its action that turn doing nothing.
- While the target is cursed, your attacks and spells deal an extra 1d8 necrotic damage to the target.
A remove curse spell ends this effect. At the DM's option, you may choose an alternative curse effect, but it should be no more powerful than those described above. The DM has final say on such a curse's effect.
At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the duration is concentration, up to 10 minutes. If you use a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the duration is 8 hours. If you use a spell slot of 7th level or higher, the duration is 24 hours. If you use a 9th level spell slot, the spell lasts until it is dispelled. Using a spell slot of 5th level or higher grants a duration that doesn't require concentration.
Best upcast ability hands down in this current edition.
Okay, can someone explain why Warlocks get the ability to remove curse but no bestow it? I mean, it seems warlock class is the closest one can get to being a straight witch and cursing people is kinda like... a shtick of said myths. Just curious is all...
Because it's granted by a 5th level eldritch invocation, 1/day, called Sign of Ill Omen
Dude, really?!! You are amazing, can't believe I didn't notice before. Thanks!
It says while cursed, the target has disadvantage on attack rolls against you. How much is that disadvantage? I have heard that it is -6 to attack rolls and -6 to ability rolls is that true? Also dealing necrotic damage is one option alone or does it automatically come with an option of your choice. For example, could I do necrotic damage and make it where a target is disadvantaged when attacking me at the same time?
Advantage/disadvantage is a term for 5e, that keans you roll twice and take the Higher/Lower respectively. So if you havr advantage to go you roll teice and take higher. Disadvantage you roll twice and take the lower. As to the Necrotic damage, the boons listed in this spell are stacking, not choose one. So in theory, you give them disadvantage on wisdom saving throws, they have to succeed on a Wis saving throw to even use their Action, then if they do attack they again have disadvantage. And you deal Necrotic. Great for taking the big bad out of the fight or reducing their viability.
It does say choose one:
choose the nature of the curse from the following options:
Dang I missed that! Suddenky this spell became a lot less cool lol
It's still pretty cool it also mentions that you can choose an alternative effect at the dms discretion so it dosen't have to be from that list. Maybe the curse is anytime it trys to make an attack on you it takes a d4 necrotic.
An old Dragon Magazine article suggested a list of variant curses for the Bestow Curse spell. I have created the spell Witch's Curse (for warlocks) based on these suggestions. You can check it out in the Homebrew spells section.
It says "choose the nature of the curse from the following options" which makes it sound like you choose only one. I kind of wish that the curse also gave benefits to your allies, like it imposes a more general disadvantage (like with attacks against allies within 30ft or your allies gain the necrotic damage too if you choose that one). A sort of weird thing about this is that it requires that you touch your enemy, which if you were a spellcaster, you wouldn't really want to get close to them in the first place, although it can mitigate it a little by imposing disadvantage on attack rolls against you, but that seems a little weird when you'd prefer to be at a distance most of the time. It makes sense if you were cornered, however. So, can the enemy dodge your touch, then? The spell is a Wisdom save, not a Dexterity save, so how does that work if you have to touch them?
But "If you use a 9th level spell slot, the spell lasts until it is dispelled. Using a spell slot of 5th level or higher grants a duration that doesn't require concentration" is really cool.
having a way to add curse to a cursed players character sheet would be cool.
You are referring to Ed Greenwood's article in Dragon #77, unless you know of another?
I think it would be cooler that if you managed to hold it on a target it would stay until dispelled.
Also could this be used to create cursed magic items?
The wording "choose the nature of the curse from the following options" sounds like it can inflict multiple of them, otherwise the wording would be "choose the nature of the curse from one of the following options", or otherwise indicate only one.
The wording could be slightly clearer, but there is a 100% chance that the caster chooses 1 option as "the nature" of the curse. Read literally any other spell: multiple effects are specifically called out.
Sorry. It's a 3rd-level spell, not an 8th-level spell...
it already becomes incredibly powerful when cast with a 5th-level slot, especially when used to grant disadvantage to saves, allowing the spell caster to land a large set of powerful concentration spells much more often.
"While cursed, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw at the start of each of its turns. If it fails, it wastes its action that turn doing nothing."
"If you use a 9th level spell slot, the spell lasts until it is dispelled. Using a spell slot of 5th level or higher grants a duration that doesn't require concentration."
So you can curse someone to, forever, have to make a wisdom save every 6 seconds or be unable to do anything. Unless they can get the curse removed which, for most non-adventurers or royalty, would be impossible.
So, put someone in a living catatonic state basically (with a save of somewhere around 19 if you are a high-level caster). Sounds like fun!
how so?
Unlike hex, you can not move it to a different target.
So why would you ever want it for more than a mintute?
A commoner with 10 wisdom has only a 5% chance of being able to do anything for 6 seconds, every 6 seconds, until dispelled. That's rough.
Or something like disadvantage on all Strength checks and saving throws, until dispelled, on a very brawny person. Suddenly they need to succeed twice for any strong thing, rather than once. Or Intelligence on a Wizard you want to stick it to.
Although without concentration does that mean you can't just drop it anymore?
dammit this was supposed to be a reply to CanadianMeese