TheRPGSite

Fan Forums => The Official Amber DRPG, Erick Wujcik, and Lords of Olympus Forum => Topic started by: JongWK on December 10, 2006, 06:57:13 PM

Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: JongWK on December 10, 2006, 06:57:13 PM
Here's what I used against Fiona and Bleys in a campaign. It's borrowed from Shadowrun's Harlequin, but the minute I saw I knew that it belonged to Amber.


From the focus of my heart, I call the words
Of anger spoken and desire revealed
By my Challenge of word and deed
By my blood consecrate thy bane invoked
Thy shape and form decreed never was

On thy Physical form, I call the words of rendering
On thy Hates, I invoke Justice, thy anger unappeased
On thy Past in shadows, I shine the light revealed
On thy Loves and joys, I gift separation
On thy Spirit, I speak abandonment
On thy Future, I bring fear and grief
On thy I invoke all

The winds shall erase thy name
The sands the traces of thy path
The sun the coolness of thy shadow
And into the waters I command thy essence
Thy shape and form decreed never was



Things didn't go quite well for both NPCs after this. :p


So, have you ever used a Blood Curse? What was it and how did it go?
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: finarvyn on December 29, 2006, 09:48:36 AM
I've never really used Blood Curses, but I like the idea of players writing out a poem or statement that represents the curse.

This reminds me a little of my D&D campaigns where players got wishes. At first they would wish for little things, but I made them write down the wish and sometimes found ways to twist their wish into something else. It made them be more careful with how they wished in the future.

Blood curses can be like that. Corwin cursed Eric, but inadvertently cursed Amber at the same time when the curse allowed easier access by the Black Road. Looks to me like a curse can be a neat GM tool as well as a means for player revenge.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Otha on December 29, 2006, 12:09:14 PM
I don't think the Black Road was that much of a stretch.

Corwin's curse required that Eric's reign never be easy; an invasion of limitless foes is a pretty straightforward fulfillment of that desire.  It may not have been how Corwin would have wanted it to work out, but I don't think there's any twisting in it.

I like the idea that a poetically evoked blood curse is more potent, though.

There is power in ritual, and there is ritual in art.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: RPGPundit on December 29, 2006, 02:37:21 PM
The important thing is that blood curses, so that they not be used lightly, must monumentally fuck up everything around the victim of said curse, and sometimes do collateral damage in ways the curser never expected (as was the case with Corwin's curse on Eric).

Its supposed to be the "scorched earth" tactic of amber, something you only do when you really don't give a shit anymore who ends up getting hurt, as long as you get your man.

RPGPundit
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Sydius Mendoza on February 19, 2013, 04:56:11 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit;58864The important thing is that blood curses, so that they not be used lightly, must monumentally fuck up everything around the victim of said curse, and sometimes do collateral damage in ways the curser never expected (as was the case with Corwin's curse on Eric).

Its supposed to be the "scorched earth" tactic of amber, something you only do when you really don't give a shit anymore who ends up getting hurt, as long as you get your man.

RPGPundit

Mechanics-wise does this involve the assignment of bad stuff points to the target of the curse, in your opinion? Or do you consider it to be outside the whole stuff points spectrum?
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Artifacts of Amber on February 20, 2013, 11:35:24 AM
Never seen a Blood curse go off in game. Players and NPC's for that matter are scared of how powerful it is and at its lack of control. So far know one has been that desperate, Guess I haven't been as big a jerk GMing as I could be :)

Bt I agree that they come off as old D&D wishes. Easiest way to accomplish the goal and all. It also depends I think on what actually, you decide, fuels the curse is it the Pattern or something else. That may in its own way define just how bad it is and how bad the fall out is.

I think that wold be the most interesting question, Where exactly does a Blood curses come from, something I never really thought about, Great now I have something else to keep me awake to think about. :)

Migtht have a bettr answer in a day or two.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: RTrimmer on February 20, 2013, 11:04:59 PM
Poetry while dying? That's dedication.

My best take on blood curses was that they essentially laid down a line of new code on Creation. No buying them off, ever.

So Dara, outmaneuvered by her enemies, challenged Benedict to a death duel he could not refuse and, dying, cursed him to Never Heal.

Not long after that Benedict cursed the enemies of every prominent Chaos lord with "Success". Dozens of Chaos lords fell to fluke holes in their defenses and the Courts dissolved into a vendetta storm.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Sydius Mendoza on February 21, 2013, 09:00:50 AM
Quote from: RTrimmer;630420My best take on blood curses was that they essentially laid down a line of new code on Creation. No buying them off, ever.

I rather like this. I hadn't thought about it in terms of a programming analogy. So if I understand you properly the curse is a tweak to the "source-code" of existence?
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Panjumanju on February 21, 2013, 12:04:21 PM
Quote from: Sydius Mendoza;630486I rather like this. I hadn't thought about it in terms of a programming analogy. So if I understand you properly the curse is a tweak to the "source-code" of existence?

That's a really nifty idea.

//Panjumanju
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: RTrimmer on February 21, 2013, 09:48:52 PM
Or as adding a new law of nature.
Pattern, drawn with Dworkin's blood, generates Shadow and the blood of his blood can modify it.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Artifacts of Amber on February 22, 2013, 11:38:07 AM
I tend to think of Blood Curses as a High end Shadow of desire effect. YOu get what you wish for but not quite the way you want. I tend to think even Amber is a shadow only one slot from the Primal pattern so even Pattern works there. If you can walk out into shadow from it, to my mind, it must still be a shadow and like the rest open to Desires. The Blood curse is just a very speciific use of that Pattern ability.

This leaves some possible ways to shed yourslef of one depending on the campaign and such but opens up some other possibilities on dealing with them.

Next question to ponder is who ladi the first one. I.E. how was it discovered? Or was it just something they know?
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: RPGPundit on February 25, 2013, 10:08:18 AM
Quote from: Sydius Mendoza;630021Mechanics-wise does this involve the assignment of bad stuff points to the target of the curse, in your opinion? Or do you consider it to be outside the whole stuff points spectrum?

I did not assign bad stuff to the victim of the curse, no. Because I think that the curse should instead be something that is happening to the victim, not a measure of the victim's own luck.

In other words, while curses will be deeply problematic to all involved, a victim with a high good stuff value should be able to still have a bit more fortune in how he weathers the curse than someone with bad stuff, who will end up having way more difficulty managing it.

RPGPundit
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Artifacts of Amber on February 25, 2013, 03:34:31 PM
I agree with RPGPundit for those reason's, as well as, I see the curse as a personal and direct thing. Stuff, as the books define it, IMHO is how the universe interacts with an individual be it luck perception etc. Where as a Curse is concentrated in one area. Say if it is a curse keeping Benedict off the throne he avoids that curse by not seeking the throne, His curse may be one that is focused on bad stuff happening if he gets the throne so he avoids getting the throne. I think in some ways the curse should be more direct and specific to the target. Stuff is a constant haze about you a curse is the lightning strike ready to hit when you get close to it's subject matter.



just a thought
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Tolknor on February 27, 2013, 12:27:37 PM
I agree that a death curse should be about the victim, and it needs to be harsh and cruel.  It should take all the force of the person to cast it, and they shouldn't survive it.  Corwin's death curse should be the one exception, as commented on later.  "He didn't even have to die to make it stick."  Players should never think that a death curse is an option for an attack.

In the two campaigns i ran, each over 5 years long, i only had instances to deal with Death Curses twice.  One was the very last act in the campaign by a character that was utterly shocked at the final betrayal.  The player was shocked as well.  Though he realized the complexity and appropriateness of the set up, that took years to arrive at.  The character, plummeting to almost certain death kept screaming DAMN YOU  RANDOM!  While the player kept repeating, "He lied to me.  He lied to me"  Till poor Lyta hit the ground.   So the death curse was simply "Damn You, Random"  

The other instance was an NPC, and while spectacular in its place in the game, is not worth mentioning.  

Not everyone can die like Dutch Schultz, spouting poetry.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: RPGPundit on March 04, 2013, 02:20:29 AM
Quote from: Tolknor;632454In the two campaigns i ran, each over 5 years long, i only had instances to deal with Death Curses twice.  One was the very last act in the campaign by a character that was utterly shocked at the final betrayal.  The player was shocked as well.  Though he realized the complexity and appropriateness of the set up, that took years to arrive at.  The character, plummeting to almost certain death kept screaming DAMN YOU  RANDOM!  While the player kept repeating, "He lied to me.  He lied to me"  Till poor Lyta hit the ground.   So the death curse was simply "Damn You, Random"  

Well, that sounds pretty intense...

RPGPundit
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Croaker on March 04, 2013, 05:59:14 AM
Yeah. You must have done it very well, I'm impressed.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Tolknor on March 04, 2013, 11:47:57 AM
Thank yee.  It wouldn't have happened if it hadn't made sense in the framework of the game and it was really the last act of the campaign.  He and I have snickered about it a lot over the years.  As that campaign ended i had one character plunge to her death spouting curses while another was stuck in a jail cell in the dungeons of Amber with a plate of production that only produced peanut butter sandwiches, near beer, and romance novels.

In the next campaign, years later,  both players determined to never take Bad Stuff again.
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: RPGPundit on March 09, 2013, 12:29:37 AM
Quote from: Tolknor;634112In the next campaign, years later,  both players determined to never take Bad Stuff again.

If you've had that result, you're a good Amber GM.

If in the next campaign your players end up taking bad stuff anyways, you're an excellent Amber GM!

RPGPundit
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: Tolknor on March 09, 2013, 03:45:05 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit;635568If you've had that result, you're a good Amber GM.

If in the next campaign your players end up taking bad stuff anyways, you're an excellent Amber GM!

RPGPundit

Well i won't claim to be anything but what my players always say is this "You're arbitrary, capricious, and steeped in vice, but you aren't unfair. "

When the Lyta player, in the next game, needed one more advancement point for a power advance i offered to let him take 1 pip of bad stuff.  I did the voice from the Mr Creosote scene in MP's Meaning of life-"One wafer thin mint?" "Oh, come now Stryker, one wafer thin point of bad stuff, n'est-ce pas? "

He threatened my onion dip deliveries.  I let him take the power one pip shy and told him he could expect it to work just fine.. almost every time...
Title: Blood Curses!
Post by: RPGPundit on March 12, 2013, 04:23:22 AM
Quote from: Tolknor;635689Well i won't claim to be anything but what my players always say is this "You're arbitrary, capricious, and steeped in vice, but you aren't unfair. "

That's quite the compliment!

RPGPundit