Dark Invocation
Curses and Summoning Practices
This path is often practiced by infernal priests but any arcane practitioner can learn to become an Infernal Invoker.
Stamina 1 (1-3)
Klutz Hex - A curse which makes someone very clumsy.
Hindrance Hex - Makes one unable to perform a single, physical act, such as making a right turn, picking something up in their left hand, blinking, standing still, any single act.
Jinx - Person jinxed will fail in one single, key act (called at any time during play.)
Revolting Visage - No matter how handsome or beautiful, target will appear hideous to anyone who sees them, while they look normal to themselves. Lasts 1 day per success.
Need for sleep - One inflicted with this curse has an overwhelming need to sleep all the time, having the most wonderful dreams while sleeping, and resents being awakened.
Infernal Lore - The practice of summoning very particular demons, devils and other infernal beings by using their seals, correct offerings, and arrangement of correct elements (such as fire or candle light, blood, water, sand, dirt, flowers, ashes, herbs etc.) This ability set demands discipline, research, and effort and is not for the faint of heart or the idle.
Seals of the Infernal - Learn the seal of one particular demon, demonic spirit, infernal angel, or devil (as listed on the Acheron page) and unlock its secrets through research (with two successful rolls vs. LoD=Level of infernal as set by page or GM) or through a mission to uncover a rare seal and unlock its secrets (as arranged by GM).
List of the Infernal: (list infernals here by name and race which you can summon and their elements, offering and basic powers, for example: Androalphus the Peacock Demon, elements = air, starlight; tributes = wine and a bowl of fresh whole grains; powers = astronomy, math, control fate, morph others into birds.)
Seal Roll - determines if seal is correctly drawn during the Arcanum (use with Arcanum Rites below) If seal is incorrectly drawn (roll fails) then it attacks the summoner. If a demon attacks, it might be placated if the invoker offers it their soul or some tribute the demon is willing to accept (as set by GM) but this will ONLY stop the demon from attacking, nothing more, so the more powerful demons are the most dangerous to learn the seals of and to summon.
Arcanum Rites - The knowledge of how to summon an infernal has been gained (as each seal is unlocked). Invoker draws a seal of one particular infernal of Acheron (the size of the seal must be large enough to accomodate the infernal summoned and its offerings) and places the correct elements and tributes around and inside the seal in the correct arrangment. Invoker then takes the correct stance (standing, kneeling, siting, crouching, prostrating correctly) outside the seal and invokes the demon or devil by name, speaking its name clearly and correctly. If all has gone well (Seal and Arcanum rite rolls succeed) the demon summoned rises from the center of its seal which acts a sort of temporary prison it cannot escape. The Demon must obey one request or grant one favor in the form of power or a single act within its power to give. In doing this favor it is freed from the seal, and often from Acheron itself for that duration. This is a dangerous power to use, for if demon is summoned incorrectly (roll fails) then it attacks the summoner, so the more powerful demons are the most dangerous to summon. If a demon attacks, it might be placated if the invoker offers it their soul or some tribute the demon is willing to accept (as set by GM) but this will ONLY stop the demon from attacking, nothing more.
Duration of a Demand -- knowledge gained dictates that no demand made of an infernal can exceed 200 years. Less well known is that if a demand exceeds 7 years, an infernal is VERY likely to seek some kind of vengeance once it is freed IF the demand was unsavory to it, for although bound not to kill or attack those who they are summoned by, infernals are clever and have all sorts of ways to retaliate which do not include physical harm. This knowledge of duration is often unclear in the unearthing and the seven year clause is rarely discovered but through trial and error or knowing someone who is privy to that information. If an infernal serves a full term of 200 years, there is a chance that they shall do all in their power to ruin or bring terrible misery to whoever summoned them, unless it actually enjoyed its duty to the invoker.
Stamina 2 (4-6)
Faces with Names Hex - A curse which makes a person unable to remember names longer than five minutes, any name, but their own.
Curse of Forgetfulness one inflicted with this curse cannot remember anything new for longer than ten seconds no matter how hard they try.
Timeless Curse - Victim loses ALL sense of time.
Vindictive Compulsion - Victim is spiteful towards anyone who vexes, bothers, upsets, or crosses them the least little bit, and is compelled to be spiteful.
Karmic Balance - This curse can be good or bad, depending on one's conduct. With this curse, for every action, there is a reaction. If they do something good, something equally as good happens to them, if they do something bad, something equally as bad happens to them.
Senseless Anger victim is always angry about everything and has a terrible, even dangerous temper.
Stamina 3 (7-9)
Senseless Hate - Make someone despise a single person and be very hateful towards them at ALL times. Can lead to murder.
Loss of Vanity - Hair, teeth, finger and toe nails fall out over a period of days.
Witless - Someone suffering this curse has no sense at all, and always makes mistakes in judgment.
Stiff Limbs - Arms and legs become stiff as boards.
Net of Negativity - One inflicted receives and hears every negative thought and feeling around them.
Rancidness - Everything the victim of this curse eats or drinks tastes horrible beyond belief.
Infernal Tradeoff - Seek a single favor from an infernal by invoking the infernal by name and stating your request. If the request is within the infernal's power, it shall answer and ask a favor in return, and when that favor is fulfilled, the infernal shall grant the favor requested of it, be it a deed they agree to or the lending of a single power. (use Acheron page as guide to names of infernals and the powers they have. If roll fails, the target invoked does not answer and backlash occurs damaging the invoker.
Stamina 4 (10-12)
Hopeless Infatuation - Make someone so deeply infatuated with another that they fall hopelessly in love with them, to the point of obsession.
Blindness - Makes someone go blind.
Rage - A person cursed with rage is always angry and on the verge of their temper exploding.
Sloth - Person with this curse is so lazy they will not work, and will do nothing that requires any real effort on their part.
Bad Luck - Person suffers a bout of serious bad luck, -1 saves, -1 save per ace, -1 to all check rolls per success.
Stamina 5 (13-15)
Curse of Vanity - One with this curse is always bragging to others aloud about how perfect, and beautiful they are, and constantly primping and worrying about every detail of their appearance, meanwhile they are growing uglier by the day, not that THEY will notice.
Curse of Obsession - Make someone absolutely obsessed with another person.
Infestation Curse - Victim is infested by insects, which crawl all over their body, and no matter what efforts they make to rid themselves of the creepy crawlies, they keep manifesting in their hair, clothes, shoes, pockets or purses, and on their flesh. Insects include - Cock roaches, fleas, ticks, centipedes, millipedes, various beetles, flies, silverfish, spiders, ants, and various other nasties.
Appearance of Old Age - Person under this curse looks very old (90-100 mortal age) but retains all other aspects of youth.
Daredevil - Victim of this curse always wants to try dangerous stunts, and is always thinking up dangerous things to try.
Stamina 6 (16-18)
Phobic Insanity Jinx - Jinx someone that every time they see a called object or person, they go utterly insane until out of sight of the called trigger.
Curse of Poverty - A person is compelled to give everything they have away but the clothing on their backs, and will quit any job they may have. They want to live in abject poverty, believing it is the only path to wisdom.
Altered Gender - Turns a male into a female, and a female into a male.
Pandoras Box A curse similar to the last curse in Pandora's Box is invoked to inflict a single person with the ability to foresee all bad things which are to come before they happen. This leads to severe feelings of hopelessness and despair, and can result in suicide, power vs. willpower with each vision, +1 omens per success, loss of -1 mental check, -1 per ace on each fail checks, all but intelligence. If willpower drops below 10, character will be obsessively driven towards suicide.
Stamina 7 (19-21)
Damned by Progress - Curse someone so that they cannot walk on anything, or touch anything man made without fainting, bursting into tears and sobbing, or some other called reaction.
TRUE Greed - Victim will do anything to get what they want, and they are obsessed with everything they desire whatsoever, and they will rob, steal, lie, cheat, even kill to get it.
Covet sin - This curse makes the victim fall in love with sin, and act out every sin they can imagine no matter how small or great.
Overkill - Curses someone so that any one emotion is greatly exaggerated.. Joy, Love, Hate, Anger, Sorrow, Spite, Bitterness, Jealousy, Envy, Greed, Compassion, Surprise, Curiosity, Apathy, etc.
Bestial Abomination - Victim is mutated into a half animal form. Parts of body that remain human, and parts which become beast, formulated by the invoker of the curse.
Stamina 8 (22-24)
Curse of the Hell of Upside-down Sinners - When victim does a particular thing as called, the world around them is overlapped by a hellish environment where dying people and corpses hang from chains from a cavernous ceiling, the stench and cries of despair and misery as overwhelming as the gruesomeness of the atmosphere. The victim cannot see the world they now walk in, only this 'overlapping' purgatory of hell, while no one can see the Hell of Upside-down Sinners but the one cursed.
Curse of Wrath - A person cursed with this will react violently if anyone aggravates, provokes, or upsets them, and attempt killing anyone who crosses them in the slightest way.
Cursed Fortune - Victim comes into a fantastic fortune, but every time they spend any of it, something terrible happens to anyone receiving anything of, or from that wealth, the one cursed aside, other than being the cause to other people's cursed misfortunes.
Heavy Luck - Person inflicted has the best of luck, but every time something good happens to them, something equally as bad happens to someone (the closest people to them) they know.
Fortune in Bad Luck - This curse is a twist on heavy luck. The inflicted person has terrible luck, but for every disaster they suffer, someone they know (the closest people to them) have an incredibly good fortune.
Curse of Vampires One inflicted craves blood tremendously and cannot survive without drinking blood from a living creature, and the sun burns them if exposed to it. Sadly the victim has none of a vampires strengths, only their banes, stamina -24 per day without blood progressively. Sun does +50 damage per turn exposed, +25 in the shade, +1 stamina gained per 10% HP damage blood loss to blood provider.
Stamina 9 (25-27)
Murphys Law Curse - One calls on the demon Oze to bestow this curse, with an offering of a prime, raw steak, red wine, and an offering of their own blood in a ring of pillar candles. He must be invoked by name in a calm, pleasant voice. When one is inflicted with this curse, what they believe cannot happen, will happen, from the most trivial things to the most absurd.
Pathetic Ambulation Curse - Victim can no longer stand, and does not have the will to, and crawls everywhere they go. if someone tries to stand them up, or talk them into getting up, the one cursed is compelled to attack them and bite their legs, attacking from hands and knees.
Hopelessly Lost - Person with this curse laid on them never knows where they are, how to get back where they came from, or how to get somewhere, no matter how many time someone tells them the way.
Obsessive Enslavement - Cursed person is utterly enslaved to another (as called), and nothing will deter the subject of this curse from serving the chosen master eagerly in every possible way, nor will they ever argue or raise a hand to their master, unless told to leave. if the chosen master attempts to reject the slave, the slave will become hostile and do all in his/her power to force them self on their master until the master gives in to the slave's servitude.
Karmic Purgatory - Any bad deed is paid back excessively. if subject of this curse steals anything, all their things are lost by some means. if they offend someone, they are insulted by everyone they come across. if they kill someone? Everyone they know will be out to murder them. if they hurt someone, someone will hurt them right back but far worse. The only cure for each bad deed is to correct it. The cursed person must say something nice to a person made fun of, and beg their forgiveness. Someone killed must be resurrected and compensated for their pain. They must give a great deal of money to someone whose money or things they stole. They must make amends for whatever was done.
Stamina 10 (28-30)
Diabolic Retrogression Curse - The demon Ahriman must be invoked, and incurring his wrath is very dangerous. One must request his presence and inquire what offering he would like, and meet that request. The curse causes the victim's mind and strength to gradually regress until they are in a child like state both in mind and strength of body, and if the curse is not broken, their mind will regress to nothing, with their strength.
Black Luck - The power of fate is invoked, and anyone inflicted with this curse will have the worst of luck. Yes, anything that can go wrong will go wrong until the black luck curse is broken. 0 saves, 0 check rolls, 0 HB, 60% chance of failure on any roll.
Monstrous Fate - Subject of this curse is turned into a monster (as called).
Pathetic IQ - Person cursed with this cannot talk, only make sounds, can learn no skills other than the MOST basic motor skills. They cannot read or write, and have no judgment. They have no wisdom and no logic, only an intelligence of 5, enough to learn rudimentary motor and necessary skills, such as walking, running, sitting, lying down, knowing when they are hungry, thirsty and tired. They do not know when to be afraid unless something hurts them, etc.
Curse Check Adjustments:
Physical: Strength-normal, Stamina-normal, Movement- 50%, Stealth-2, Reflexes-0, Dexterity-2
Willpower-5, Charisma-2, Intelligence-5, Wisdom-0, Logic-0, Courage-5 (based on willpower), Focus-0, Alertness-2 (based on instincts)
Insane Genius Ronwe is invoked with all proper decorum and offer of fine wine and a good meal to inflict this curse. He must be convinced that the one who is to be blighted is deserving of this curse. One with this curse is so super-intelligent, that it drives them insane (+1 intelligence per success). They are accomplished at everything they try. for every problem, they have a viable answer, but no one will listen, or they are unable to get through the proper channels to do anything about it. Though they may solve some problems, it is never enough. They have so many ideas, are so concerned about everything, that they have no outlet for everything rattling around in their heads. They are always thinking, and suffer from acute insomnia. Senselessness and stupidity is maddening to them, and compared to them, most everyone is stupid. One inflicted with this curse cannot help but be insane. Music, physical exertion, or the arts are often their only reprieve, and if they grow hopeless, they may ignore the fact that drugs and booze is not the answer to anything, and indulge anyway to try and numb the pain and deaden their thoughts, if not burn up some brain cells. -1 WP drain, -1 per ace, every day cursed until curse is broken. WP loss cannot be regained until curse is broken.
Stamina 11 (31-35)
Curse Weaver - Invoker has the ability to either; harness any curse, invoke, harness and channel the aspects required to weave their own curses, or to invoke powerful demons to lay curses on someone. They can also create cursed items.
Stamina 12 (36-40)
Improved Power
Note:
When calling on demons, devils or spirits to inflict curses, a power failure (if the roll
is not equal to or exceed the level used) counts as an improper offering or summons. The
being summoned damages the invoker in this case. (critical damage of roll)
If a curse botches, the demon will curse the invoker with the very curse he was laying on
another, and there is also a 10% chance that the demon will attempt to kill the invoker,
either physically (level botched = Level of Demon) or with a deadly curse. Chose a demon type
from Bestiary. When improvising curses, plan them out and record them in a spell book for
later use.
