I need a curse for my player

So one of my players has committed a sin against a lesser diety, he killed the deity's child in cold blood when he was in a barbarians rage. the diety is now going to take revenge by cursing him.

Out of game, the player yes did go into a berserker rage and kill the child, and the boss, and all the adds, he was a killing machine, the whole party, the player, and I think he is a bit too strong, and a bit dangerous when he berserks (might kill a party member in a single swing).

However we all really like the character, and none of us have any problem with the player, in fact he brought up that he may be too dangerous and volunteered to switch characters. we talked it out and he would prefer to keep the character.

So I'm looking for an in universe way to punish and weaken the character without just reducing his stats, got any suggestions?

If it matters the Diety is a nature type, rules over an enchanted forest. and the character is a Berserker

thanks in advance

He cursed him to become a tree. Every time he would go into a berserker rage his muscles would grow stiff and oaken and he would gain a sense of great patience - essentially removing his ability to rage. The more intense his anger would be, the more severe the stiffening effect until one day he is fated to become a tree himself.

The presence of youth sends him into an almost catatonic state. How far reaching this would be is obviously up to you, but could definitely be brought up in situations where the character going apeshit would actually be of value to the party.

Wielding his blade takes its toll on him, and any time he hits with his weapon 1HP per attack will be siphoned from any future HP rolls he makes.
You could play it up like a punishment from the Deity to suffer as his victims did. It would also keep his health from growing a lot which admittedly is pretty damn painful for someone like a Barbarian, if definitely wont be able to be ignored and it will also make him more cautious about reaching for his sword in every situation.

not op here but that is way to harsh in my opinion. What? go through one or two combat rounds, make twelve hits or so and hey, you'll never gain hp again?

I like the concept of this.

A curse that grows faster and faster every time the barbarian entered into a rage. You could give him a set number of rages in his life time, and once he uses them all up, he becomes permanently unplayable. That way, he has to ration his rages for the "Oh shit we REALLY need help moments", thus giving him not only a weakness, but a great potential "tragic sacrifice" moment down the road where he KNOWS he'll die, but he loves his friends too much to not risk his life.

>>cold blood
>>while in a rage

I don't think you know what those words mean. Barbarian rage would be the literal definition of a crime of passion and 2nd degree murder, a "hot-blooded" killing.

Killing someone in cold blood is 1st degree, planned, premeditated and thought out in advance, and carries a heftier sentence because there's no mitigating emotional factors.

Walking in on your wife cheating on you and shooting them both, 2nd degree

Stalking your neighbor and then killing them, 1st degree.

This man has a legitimate point. I don't think the god will care though.

...

The deity consumes his rage, leaving him passionless. He can still feel it, buts numb, like the nagging worry of a friend in danger.

He will never be the first to leap into battle, as he can't instantly enter a rage. He must make a concentration check, and pray to ask the deity for their permission to rage.

Or the deity "blesses" him with greater rage. The longer he rages, the more hot he gets, until the air around him is saturated in heat. I'd say within 3-4 round he catches on fire, dealing 1D6 + X (X=Number of rounds he's been engulfed in flame) Fire damage to himself and 1D4 fire damage to anyone within an adjacent square per round. To extinguish himself he must make a concentration check (taking the Fire damage as a penalty to the check) to become calm, and the flames bleed away.


"You think you're angry? Let the candle of rage you feel brush against the pyre that is my own and see if you can feel anything at all!"

Or
"Let you rage burn. Burn, burn you and everything around you! Let it consume you and your enemies until there's nothing left!"

Make him feel 'inner' thorns each time he swing's his sword.

Then he has to have a concentration chec ON TOP of his checs for weapons usage. If he wins the check he can go, if he fails he gets a massive HP cut. (5 points.)

Make him reluctant to swing his sword.

Good ideas.

Just send a bunch of angels at him you shitty DM.
>Oh no, my Barbarian is too good at stabbing!
Neck yourself

First one doesn't really work, it sounds like the deity would never give permission, although forcing him to concentrate and spend an action to activate rage might be an interesting tweak, nothing too major but still impacts action economy.

The second sounds pretty OTT, there is little chance a barbarian is going to make a concentration check, so it basicaly comes down to "the next time you rage for more than the 3-4 rounds, you die".

My suggestion would be make the Berserker loose controll when in a rage.
If the deity wants to show them the folly of embracing their rage then there is a %chance that each turn they loose their attack, instead standing there just howling in fury. They can't attack that round but can roll to intimidate the foes.
Or if the deity wants to dull the rage rather than increase it, some kind of saving throw the first time they rage each day; on success they can rage as normal; on a failure they fall to the ground weeping and sobbing at the pain they have caused and will cause. The weeping and sobbing uses up all their rages for the day, and could last for one fight, untill attacked or disturbed by someone, or some variable amount based on how many rages they would have got that day.

Is the player going to know how the curse works when it is placed on them? And have you though about a redemption arc for them, allowing them to lift the curse? I have found that long lasting curses begin to iritate the players (as opposed to the characters) if they can't see an end to it.

make him smitten for a poisonous dryad.

And for the magical realm, which you definitely should not do, the poison saps his strength, weakens his muscles, eventually reducing his body to that of a womans, at which point he becomes another dryad and the cycle continues

>So I'm looking for an in universe way to punish and weaken the character without just reducing his stats, got any suggestions?

Increase his stats. Every time he kills someone in rage, he becomes a bit more powerful. Bit by bit, he grows stronger. Tougher. Bigger. His movements become preternaturally swift. At the same time, he becomes more thuggish. His emotions other than rage grow duller. He starts caring less about anything other than his rage. His wits grow duller. If it goes for long enough, he'll be nothing but an inhuman killing machine, and the next time the he rages, the rest of the party will have to put him down lest he kills them as well.

He doesn't burst into flames every time he rages, just if he's been raging for 3 or more turns. If You don't make or ignore your chance to calm down, it adds a cumulative -1 to your next concentration check to calm down. It forces the man to exert a measure of control over himself, lest he be consumed literally by his rage.

If he pays no heed to the curse it will eventually kill him one day. If he controls himself then someday he may be offered forgiveness. Or hell, it might even set him down the path of a prestige class.

And the concentration-prayer is pretty much handing the deity a moral choice in his rage. The deity will force him to go without the unless they persue actions that go along with their alignment.


The rage is what killed the child, so that's what the God will target. I'd figure they'd let him see the folly of unbridled rage or make actively think about his actions.

I'd say the burning alive they'd have to seek the answer themselves. Maybe go to an oracle or a greater God to get it removed.

The concentration, the god sets them aside through dream or pulls them into an alternate reality to chastise them, and explain the consequences of their actions.

it's called roleplaying you dipshit

you know, making a story with characters

>killing a god's child
>not expecting retaliation

Shitty rollplayer detected. I bet you also throw a fit whenever your character is thrown to jail for murdering someone because rules shouldn't apply to your mary sue, when in truth the GM is being merciful for not having your PC executed on spot.

Most players, especially the kind who chooses to play as a Barbarian, don't exactly take curses in stride and start roleplaying about how awesome it is.

Are you an evil genie?
Because I fucking love it.

1 Dex damage per turn spent raging, as his skin turns to bark and flower and shit start growing out of his ears. Character gains +1 NA equal to every two points of Dex damage he's currently suffering. If he dies from the dex damage, he turns into a tree and can only be brought back with True Resurrection.

Flavourful, limiting, notcieable, but not something that will make his character unplayable.

What kind of a shitty party do you have where the barbarian is the strongest character, though?

Got the idea from ravenloft powers checks, actually.

>barbarian rage
>killing in cold blood

In your rage you murdered my child,
Unable to control your heart so wild.
So if you ever again fight with rage,
You'll find yourself as weak as a sage.

A single blow will hinder you greatly,
Your bones breaking more so lately.
This is my curse for my child's murderer;
And it'll only be lifted when you are worthier.

Shrinkage

Whenever he gets on a boat he has to spend at least 7 years on it.

Raging causes nature to reject metal around him. Metallic items within' 5 feet receive a small amount of damage from rust, including weapons and armors.

Likewise, nature takes hold upon anything man-made around him when he rages. Structures crack and roots grow through, for example.

Of course it can be (and should be) weaponized. It makes the curse interesting.

...

Never write poetry.

>barbarian rage
>cold blood
pick one

Make it so whenever he takes a weapon, his arms start to sweat a lot of very slippery, strong-scented oil, causing him to drop the weapon. If he tries to tie weapons to his arms, same happens - the lubricant causes ropes/chains to slide. Add a good chance of hurting himself or his party members, if you want.

good!

>in cold blood when he was in a barbarians rage
I don't think you know what a barbarian rage is, user.

Cold Inuit rage
Skin turns to bark, about as unflexible as the real one

>Cold Inuit rage
Would be stated.

You killed the gods child, so he and all his children are now barren

All his children are doomed do die from ragin barbarian,

Give this user a cookie. He earnt it.

>he killed the deity's child in cold blood when he was in a barbarians rage.
After that, did he slowly move as fast as he van?

First one should Be prayer to his own deiety if he/she deems them worthy enough to rage then rage.

Second, make the burn gradually stronger starting at 1d1 +1d2 or 1d3 per round? Burning continues 1 turn after ending rage.

Why not make all of nature hate him? Dogs want to bite him, horses wont let him ride, birds shit on him, trees move their roots to trip him and flowers Will make him sneeze and eyes water.

And never ve able to hunt for food in the Woods because it Will taste so bad and the trees or whatever Will warn any prey he would catch.

>posting before reading the thread

...

...

except it won't kill him "one day", it will kill him as soon as the curse triggers.
I thought we were looking for interesting ways to modify the mechanics, not a straight up "don't rage or you die"

Except OP has said the player was cool and had suggested retiring the character anyway. The curse presents an opportunity to act on a mutually acknowledged problem in character.

Any party under about level 7?
Sometimes under level 10 depending on builds. Also I would argue that in party that is based around characters rather than optimal builds it is easy to end up with a brute force character being the big-gun

that's an interesting one, only problem I can see is that it could be easily overcome with hdie armour and wooden weapons, and would be a pain for the rest of the party too
>healer refuses to come near you when raging because he has only just baught the shiny new full plate thank you very much.

Everytime he poops he has to say "alla alla mcmalla" or he loses the ability to walk until the next half-moon.

Yes, because a Barbarian can't take any damage or he'll die.

The max roll is 6 and rises by 1 each turn. If he keeps hittin max rolls, that character was fated to die.

First turn
"You start your rage, a fire spreads from your mind, and grows inside you."

Second turn
"As your rage continues, your body starts feel uncomfortably hot, your skin almost steaming."

Third turn
"Flame engulfs your thoughts, pain engulfing your body as you feel your skin start to crack"

Fourth turn
"The fire within you bursts out through the cracks in your skin, you catch aflame. Your body begins to burn. Roll 1d6."

Fifth turn
"The fire rages along your body, heating the air around you like a bonfire. Roll 1d6+1 fire damage."

Thats devastating if he poops while unconscious

underrated kek

doesn't that totally defeat the purpose? The party wants to keep the character around

OP here, thanks for all the thoughtful responses, its a big help.

stated earlier that I'm not looking to kill the barbarian, we all really do like the character because role-play is really fun with him.

Im definitely looking to weaken him and not kill him, or make his rage so devastating its unusable, many of these are wonderful ideas.

Please keep them coming

Not for a D&D barbarian, though. They're pretty in control of their rage.

How about every time he finishes raging, he is overcome by a realisation of all the harm it's caused to living beings? Unless he succeeds on a Wisdom save, he collapses to the ground, barely able to defend himself. Every round afterwards he can retry the save.

Or he grows resentful of being the instigator, receiving disadvantage on intimidation rolls and unable to attack anyone who hasn't dealt any damage to him without passing a wisdom save?

Or go full Greek if the campaign allows. Have his next child become the deity's new scion, killing its mother at birth. Then it becomes a great big target for other deities' machinations, while the father is compelled to protect it.

>he killed the deity's child in cold blood when he was in a barbarians rage
Yes, others have pointed this out already, but seriously dude. Pick one, either in a rage or in cold blood, both at the same time is impossible.

As for punishment, give him fleas, and no amount of bathing, combing, shaving, or magic can remove them.

Who poops while unconscious?

Copy berserk; branded- ghosts try to kill him, in this instance only while in forests.

While he sleeps. Nature denies thee its balm

shameless self bump

Yes, ill just go back and edit the Original Post... alright, there? oh wait, i can't. ha-dur.

No need to keep pointing it out everyone, yes, in Hot Blooded rage, cool, I'm glad we spent 5 posts on something irrelevant.

When OP and someone pretending to be OP posts at the same time

>posts at the same time
Those are about 5 minutes apart lad
As for OP
That seems interesting, similar to ironic Greek myths.