Custom Curses

From Plundergrounds 2x by Roy Orbis

## Hoard Curses

★ Hex of Returning. the treasure has been "homed" to its current location
and will try to return through seemingly chance events: e.g. fate gives
you a compelling reason to go back to the area of the hoard or you are
attacked by creatures moving in that direction.

★ Magical Melding. Coins and other treasure added to the hoard slowly
fuse with it. Chunks can be separated from the mass by normal means,
such as a saw, extreme heat or cold, magic. Once separated from the
hoard, a chunk will slowly separate into its constituent parts over a day.

★ Diminishing Returns. The treasure loses value the further you get from
the dragon's lair. Platinum turns to gold, gold to silver, etc.

★ Curse of Calling. If a part of the hoard is mixed with a larger treasure it
will call out to its dragon owner. If the dragon is dead, other dragons can
faintly hear the lonely call of the abandoned treasure.

★ Beguiling Remembrance. Objects in the hoard retain a memory of their
past. Touching a treasure may result in vivid flashbacks of things that
have happened to the object going all the way back to its creation. It is
unclear what triggers the reaction, but the presence of powerful magic
increases the odds. The unwary have been known to lose themselves in
the hoard, touching each object in turn and reliving its past. Recumbent
skeletons yield clues to the objects with the most alluring histories.

★ Dragon Dreams. Those who steal from the hoard become covetous and
paranoid, eventually betraying or even murdering their comrades to
solidify their sole possession of the treasure. They will then take the
treasure to some remote location, hide it away in the depths of the earth,
and lay on it until they eventually fall into a troubled sleep. While
slumbering, they literally sink into the treasure until they are encased in
a golden cocoon. After days, weeks, or even months, the chrysalis of gold
splits and the dragon emerges – the dragon from whom the treasure was
stolen – but now renewed with vigor and youthful energy and moved to
a new location ripe with opportunity for plunder and amusing new
peoples to terrorize. What happens to the original thief is uncertain,
perhaps some vestige of them remains within the dragon.
2X-8

★ Curse of the Clouded Mind. The longer one possesses a portion of the
hoard, the hard it is to recognize or take pleasure in the true treasures in
life: personal relationships, natural beauty, kindness … even life itself.

★ Succulent Jinx. When you steal from the horde, smoke and vapors wrap
around your body. You discover to your horror that you smell delicious to
every person and beast. You smell like bacon and freshly baked bread to
your human companions. You smell like delicious apples and oats to
your horses. Vultures smell sweet carrion, while owlbears hone in on
your salmon odor. Everyone wants you for dinner!

★ The Treasure Lover. The spirit of the treasure comes to you as a lover in
your dreams every night. It gets harder and harder to wake up.

★ Hex of the Hoard's Horde. Taking but a single item from the treasure
hoard alerts a vast, empire-wide network of scurvy underlings and
undesirables in thrall to the dragon; their only goal is to reunite the item
to the dragon's hoard and they will relentlessly pursue you until this is
accomplished.

★ Scalespell. After claiming the hoard, you become particularly hungry
and begin to put on weight. You tire easily and get terrible heartburn.
Your skin gets itchy around your elbows and it takes a while to notice
how scaly they've become. Eventually, you dragon.

★ Curse of the Golden Golem. Whenever you make camp with treasure
stolen from the hoard, it doubles. If you went to sleep with 1 weight of
gold coins, you wake up with 2. If you make camp with 2 weight in gems,
you wake up with 4. If your party separates the load among yourselves,
you inexplicably find it all together again each morning. When the
accumulated treasure reaches 10 weight, it forms all of its material into a
Hoard Golem (see Plundergrounds 3) and attacks. Killing the Golem
doesn't break the curse, as the remains will start re-accumulating the
following night. If the Golem defeats you and your patry, it will reunite
itself with the hoard from which it was stolen.

★ Ill-Fated Fortune. When treasure from the dragon's hoard is used as
payment for goods and services, it will punish those that accept it. Their
places of business or homes may burn down. Family members,
employees, and business partners may fall ill or die. Wells will dry up.
Livestock will attack them. Any thoughts as to why this misfortune is
happening will lead them to understand that the treasure they received
from the party is cursed and the party is to blame for their troubles.