Jinxed

In generations past, your ancestors perpetrated some dreadful crime or affront to powers best not meddled with, and in vengeance those gods or spirits wracked their line of descent with a curse. Though that touch of the immortal left a legacy of power, with it came stillbirths, deformities, bad luck, financial ruin, and madness on each successive generation to come in recompense for that ancient offense. Through it all, you persevere and survive, and if you sometimes give over to paranoia you nevertheless trust that if you cannot escape the shadow on your destiny, through your magic you at least can endure it and perhaps one day break its hold on your family line.

Accursed Bloodline

1st level Jinxed feature

The ancient curse that taints your bloodline similarly attaints the eldritch energies you wield. You use the warlock spell list instead of the sorcerer spell list when selecting spells. All your charm, enchantment and curse spells (any spell that has the curse descriptor) are more difficult to resist and you add +1 to the DC of saving throws. You also add the bane, hex and bestow curse spells to your list of known spells.

Cursed Bloodline I

6th level Jinxed feature

You may choose one of the following

  • Curse. You may select a curse from the Witch’s Curse table. You may select an additional curse each time you select it as an archetype feature.
  • Aura of Despair. Creatures within 10 feet of you take a -1d4 penalty on saving throws. In addition, a subtle aura of wrongness about you causes all Charisma based skill checks made within 10 feet of you to take a -1d4 penalty. The penalty of the aura increases by 1 die type each time you select it as an archetype feature (for example, selecting this feature twice would increase both penalty dies to -1d6).
  • Misfortune. You can cause a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see to suffer grave misfortune until the end of their next round if it fails a Wisdom saving throw. Anytime the creature rolls a d20 it does so with disadvantage for the duration. At 8th level the duration of this hex is extended to 1 minute. Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day. You may use this ability once per short rest each time you select it as an archetype feature.

Cursed Bloodline II

14th level Jinxed feature

You may choose an option from Cursed Bloodline I or one of the following

  • Hex. As a reaction you can force a creature to reroll any die roll it has just made. The target must use the worse result of the two die rolls. You may use this ability once per short rest each time you select it as an archetype feature.
  • Accursed Retribution. You may create a defensive curse on your person. This curse functions similarly to a glyph of warding but must have one of the following triggering conditions: when you are attacked, when you are successfully struck by an attack, when you are knocked unconscious, or when you are killed. As with glyph of warding, you may choose a blast effect or a stored spell effect, which targets the creature that triggered the curse or affects an area starting at or centered on the edge of your space nearest the creature that triggered it. You are never harmed by this ability, though an effect that affects an area may harm creatures other than the one that triggered the 7 accursed retribution. Once this effect is triggered, it requires 1 hour to renew it. You may use this ability as often as desired, but you may have only one accursed retribution in effect at a time.

Cursed Bloodline III

18th level Jinxed feature

You may choose an option from Cursed Bloodline I and II or one of the following

  • Curse of the Evil Eye. You magically force a creature you can see within 60 feet of you to make a Charisma saving throw. The creature takes 6d8 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. In addition, on a failed save, the creature is also cursed with magical deformities. While deformed, the creature has its speed halved and has disadvantage on ability checks, saving throws, and attacks based on Strength or Dexterity. If the target rolls a 1 on the saving throw the deformities are permanent, otherwise, the transformed creature can repeat the saving throw whenever it finishes a long rest, ending the effect on a success. You may use this ability once per long rest.
  • Cursed with Immortality. You cease aging, gaining no further bonuses and taking no further penalties from aging effects (if any), though any bonuses or penalties already in effect remain. You also become immune to death effects – this is any effect that would cause you to immediately die – effects that would trap or destroy your soul, and energy drain, and you cannot rise as an undead creature. You automatically stabilize at 0 hit points, and if you are killed you return to life 24 hours later as if raise dead had been cast on you.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

Horrific Curses (5E) © 2020, Legendary Games; Authors Jason Nelson, Jen Page, and Alex Riggs.