Five-Generation Curse
NecromancyNecromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and the life force. Spells involving undead creatures make up a large part of this school.
[ CurseCurses are often permanent effects, and usually cannot be dispelled, but can be removed with a break enchantment, limited wish, miracle, remove curse, or wish., EvilSpells that draw upon evil powers or conjure creatures from evil-aligned planes or with the evil subtype should have the evil descriptor.]
Ritual Level 7
- Casting Time
- 7 hoursRituals take far longer than spells to perform — typically 10 minutes per ritual level, and sometimes hours or days. The ritual fails if its casting is interrupted.Spell rule: Casting Time ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Components
- V, S, M (a sample of the victim’s hair or blood), F (a ruby worth at least 5,000 gp), SC (up to 4)V (Verbal): Spoken incantations, often chanted by all participants throughout the casting.S (Somatic): Precise ritual gestures performed during the casting.M (Material): Physical substances consumed by the ritual. Costly components are listed with their price.F (Focus): A prop used but not consumed by the ritual — it can be reused.SC (Secondary Casters): Additional casters who aid the primary caster; the required count appears in the components line as "SC (…)".Spell rule: Components ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Range
- touch; see textHow far the ritual's effect reaches from the primary caster, measured like a spell's range.Spell rule: Range ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Target
- see textHow the ritual is aimed: a Target (specific creatures or objects), an Effect it creates, or an Area it covers. "Target or Area" means the ritual uses either, at the casters' choice.Spell rule: Aiming a Spell ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Duration
- permanentHow long the ritual's effect lasts once completed — from instantaneous to permanent. A trailing "(D)" means the primary caster can dismiss it.Spell rule: Duration ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Saving Throw
- Will negates (see text)If the ritual allows a save, this lists which save and its effect. A ritual's save DC is usually fixed by the ritual rather than derived from a caster's ability.Spell rule: Saving Throw ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Spell Resistance
- yesWhether a creature's spell resistance can block the ritual's effect (Yes/No).Spell rule: Spell Resistance ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
Skill ChecksThe heart of a ritual: during the casting the primary caster (and sometimes assistants) must succeed at the listed skill checks. Each entry gives the skill, its DC, and how many successes are required. Failing a check can trigger the ritual's Failure entry.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
| Skill | DC | Successes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Choose one:
|
33 | 2 | ||
Choose one:
|
33 | 2 | ||
| Spellcraft Spellcraft You are skilled at the art of casting spells, identifying magic items, crafting magic items, and identifying spells as they are being cast. View on Archives of Nethys ↗ | 33 | 2 |
BacklashHarm or strain the casters suffer simply from performing the ritual, regardless of whether it ultimately succeeds.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
All casters become exhausted and gain 1 temporary negative level.
FailureWhat goes wrong if the ritual's skill checks fail — often dangerous, ranging from wasted effort to summoning a hostile creature or worse.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
All creatures that would have been targeted by the ritual gain the benefits of spell resistance (CL = primary caster’s Hit Dice) against the primary and secondary casters of the ritual until the next full moon.
Description
This ritual inflicts a terrible curse upon an entire family line. The casters use a sample of the victim’s hair or blood to infuse a ruby with dark magic and a shred of their target’s soul. If successful, the ritual functions as bestow curse, affecting the primary target, as well as the primary target’s siblings, children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents, no matter their location. Each target can resist the curse with a successful Will saving throw; success means the negative effects of the curse do not affect that individual, though they may still pass the curse on to their descendants. Children born into the curse manifest its effects and attempt their saving throws upon reaching maturity.By increasing the skill check DCs by 2, the ritual can be modified to instead affect the primary target and the primary target’s children, grandchildren, and two additional generations of descendants beyond. When cast, the ritual must specify a single condition any member of the family can fulfill to destroy the curse— this condition must be possible, however unlikely, though victims of the curse do not automatically know what condition or actions might destroy the magic. The curse remains empowered by the gem originally used as the ritual focus. Should the focusing gem be destroyed, the curse ends immediately. As such, most covens take great care in hiding and defending the focusing gems of their victims. An individual can be freed from the five-generations curse with a break enchantment or remove curse spell cast by a spellcaster whose caster level is higher than the primary ritual caster’s Hit Dice, and the curse can be removed from an entire line with a miracle or wish spell.