Source Horror Adventures pg. 16
A foul curse has a deep hold on your body and soul. Your resentment toward the one who cursed you has taken on a life of its own. You notice slights against you by everyone around you, and can gain solace only by punishing them.
CatalystThe corruption begins with a hateful curse, visitations from a night hag, or another relentless magical torment. These curses most often originate with hags, witches, gods, fey, depraved genies, or insidious divs. Even if the curse is lifted, its corruption lingers upon your soul.
ProgressionThe progression is tied to spiteful actions you take that have lasting consequences. When you inflict a permanent or long-lasting curse, such as bestow curse, or engage in brutal retaliation (what constitutes brutal retaliation is up to the GM, but usually includes disproportionate acts of violence against living creatures), you must attempt a Will saving throw (DC = 15 + your manifestation level). You must also attempt a saving throw after any month in which you have failed to perform a number of spiteful retaliations equal to or greater than your manifestation level. If you fail any of these saving throws, you must use the most severe punishment at your disposal against the next creature that wrongs you, even in a minor way.
If you fail the save but your allies or others prevent you from exacting your retribution for three consecutive slights, you shake off this urge. You avoid having to exact retribution for the time being, and your corruption doesn’t progress. However, the DC of the Will save against your corruption progressing increases by 2. These increases stack each time you shake off this urge, and they last until your corruption reaches the next corruption stage.
Corruption Stage 1: The first time you engage in disproportionate punishment (voluntarily or because of a failed save), your alignment shifts one step toward evil and your face changes, making you memorably ugly or beautiful.
Corruption Stage 2: The second time you engage in this behavior, your alignment shifts another step toward evil and you take on an inhuman appearance, increasingly resembling the type of creature that cursed you.
Corruption Stage 3: The third time you engage in this behavior, you are utterly consumed by your hatred and become an NPC under the GM’s control.
Removing the CorruptionLifting the corruption requires breaking the original curse and either killing or earning forgiveness from the one who laid the curse. If you killed or permanently impaired any creatures unfairly, you must undo the harm and atone.
ManifestationsThe following are manifestations of the accursed corruption.
Baleful GlareSource Horror Adventures pg. 16
You can weaken foes with a glare.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 6th.
Gift: Once per day, when you successfully use Intimidate to demoralize a creature within 30 feet, you can curse that target as a swift action. The victim must succeed at a Will save or be staggered permanently. If you use this ability on a creature that is still under the effects of your baleful glare from a previous day, the target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or be paralyzed with fear for 3 days. At the end of each day the target spends paralyzed with fear, it must succeed at another Fortitude saving throw or die. Your effective caster level for these curses is equal to your character level.
Stain: One eye becomes bulging and bloodshot or each eye turns a different color. You take a –4 penalty on Perception checks. This transformation can’t be hidden by magic.
Cold Iron AllergySource Horror Adventures pg. 16
Your skin is as hardened as your heart.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 4th.
Gift: You gain an amount of damage reduction equal to 1/2 your manifestation level. This DR is overcome by cold iron.
Stain: Whenever you touch cold iron, including being struck by a cold iron weapon, you are sickened for 1 round. Immunities don’t prevent this sickened condition, and you can’t remove it early by any means. You can attempt to hide this aversion from foes with a Bluff check opposed by their Sense Motive checks.
Cruel DeceiverSource Horror Adventures pg. 16
You can weave magical lies to set victims up for a downfall.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 2nd.
Gift: You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks. You can use dancing lights, disguise self, and ghost sound once per day each as a spell-like ability. You can perfectly mimic the sound of any animal or voice you have ever heard. At manifestation level 3rd, the bonus doubles. At manifestation level 5th, you can use mirage arcana once per day as a spell-like ability.
Stain: You can never speak or otherwise communicate the truth. You can still communicate by various methods, such as uttering insignificant lies, obvious lies, or nonstatements.
Grim FateSource Horror Adventures pg. 16
You can twist the strands of fate to your desires.
Gift: Once per day as an immediate action, you can reroll an ability check, attack roll, caster level check, saving throw, or skill check after learning the result. At manifestation level 8th, you can also lay a curse of unluck upon a creature once per day. This takes a standard action, and must target a creature you can see within 30 feet.
Stain: You can’t benefit from morale bonuses. You take a –2 penalty on Perform and Sense Motive checks. At manifestation level 3rd, the penalty doubles.
Horrific ShockSource Horror Adventures pg. 17
You can surprise a foe with overwhelming horror.
Gift: When you damage a creature on the surprise round, it becomes shaken for 1 round unless it succeeds at a Will save.
Stain: You take on a horrible appearance. You take a –2 penalty on Diplomacy, Handle Animal, and wild empathy checks against creatures who can see you. At manifestation level 3rd, the penalty doubles.
Spiteful TransformationSource Horror Adventures pg. 17
You can transform foes into mere beasts.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 5th.
Gift: Add 1 to the DCs of your spells and abilities that have the curse descriptor. Once per day as a standard action, you can use baleful polymorph as a spell-like ability, with a caster level equal to your character level. This counts as a curse, and the DC of any caster level check to remove it increases by 5.
Stain: You take a –2 penalty on Will saves. If you have this manifestation’s gift, using your baleful polymorph curse negates the penalty until the next day.
Undying HatredSource Horror Adventures pg. 17
You can’t rest while those you hate go unpunished.
Gift: Once per day, if you would die from hit point damage, instead your hit point total becomes –1 and you stabilize. This ability doesn’t work against death effects. Observers believe you to be dead unless they study you closely and succeed at a DC 25 Heal check. After 1 minute, you regain 1 hit point and regain consciousness.
Stain: When you begin your turn with a helpless foe within 5 feet of your reach, you must attempt a Will save. If you fail, you must attempt a coup de grace against that foe this round if possible. The DC of this Will save is equal to 15 + your manifestation level.
Weakening ClawsSource Horror Adventures pg. 17
Your fingernails grow into talons.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 3rd.
Gift: Your nails grow into claw natural weapons that deal 1d3 points of damage if you’re Medium (1d2 if Small). Once per day, you can make a weakening claw attack as a standard action. If you hit, you inflict a permanent –4 penalty on the target’s Strength score. The victim can halve the penalty and reduce the duration to 24 hours with a successful Fort save.
Stain: You take a –2 penalty on Disable Device checks, Sleight of Hand checks, and attacks with manufactured weapons. Your spells with somatic or emotion components have a failure chance of 5%. If you have a spell failure chance from other sources, add the chances together.
Wish PeddlerSource Horror Adventures pg. 17
Like a fey or genie, you can twist another creature’s wishes.
Gift: Once per day as a full-round action, you can duplicate the effect of a witch spell of a spell level lower than your manifestation level. This spell cannot have a material or focus component costing more than 1 gp or a casting time longer than 1 standard action. The spell’s effect must fulfill, in part or in whole, a wish verbally stated by a humanoid creature you can hear (other than yourself).
Stain: If you cast or use a harmless spell or spell-like ability when you are in combat, you must succeed at a concentration check (DC = 20 + double the spell level) or lose the spell. This also applies to nonharmless spells you cast that target only allies. Additionally, you must attempt saves against your allies’ spells and spell-like abilities, even if they are harmless.
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