How to find a curse (n-not the swear words)

[Mystikelh]

Hello!


I'm not very sure if I'm in the right section for that, but I can't find where to go except here...
 


Anyway, I'm in the process of creating a character in a fantasy medieval setting for RP purpose and stuff, and I want them to be cursed. The problem is that I'm having more trouble than I thought to find that curse. Something along the line of werewolf or vampire, but I want to try to find something more creative. The curse would be the reason they stay away from people. They still can go in a city, buy food and stuff, but they're scared that they would cause trouble or hurt someone. They also deserved that curse when it happened. Maybe they were too greedy or killed someone they shouldn't have. But they got cursed for it, kicked out of their clan and family, and now they are fighting evil to try to atone their sin.

I don't ask of you to create the curse for me. That would be lazy. But throwing some ideas I wouldn't have think of could maybe help?
Please, I don't want to spend more time than I already have with that character. Thank you very much.

 

[LegoLad659]

I have little experience with curses, but if it'll help, maybe I could share one of my own characters who's been cursed? It isn't anything dangerous, but perhaps it'll spark something, who knows.


Anyway, her name's Amelia, and when she was a little kid she accidentally ran into a poltergeist and broke some of its belongings, which held valuable memories to it. In retaliation, the spirit cursed her with the ability to hear the memories of other people, usually bad ones. As a result she avoids talking to people if she can, and when she can't she avoids eye contact with them so she doesn't trigger the curse.

 

[Lost Swordlance]

Vampire, Werewolf, A curse ? Don't make me laugh. Those are really easy to work around and their pros vs cons ratio is way too high.


I suggest you look at something similar to the Wendigo curse.


A individual become a Wendigo when he was significantly greedy or ate human flesh (even in a survival situation).


A Wendigo must consume human flesh and can't control his transformations. If he is hungry, he will transform and hunt someone.


Why does your character must hunt bad guys ? Because if he don't hunt bad guys, he will eat innocents.


In a sense, he needs to have a constant supply of bad guys to kill and eat.

 

[Mystikelh]

@LegoLad659 Any ideas can help finding more ideas. Your character sounds very interesting, also. Must be hard for her, I would love to see how she acts around her curse. Thank you.

@Lil Carnage Yeah, I used Werewolf and Vampire as example, but it's exactly because I find it a bit too easy to work around (and a bit cliché, imo) that I wanted something else. The Wendigo idea is pretty good. I haven't thought about that. And it would fit well with their motivations. I'll see what else can I find, but I'll keep the Wendigo one on top. Thank you.

 

[LegoLad659]

@LegoLad659 Any ideas can help finding more ideas. Your character sounds very interesting, also. Must be hard for her, I would love to see how she acts around her curse. Thank you.

She's technically a fandom OC, since I haven't bothered to figure out a way to port her into my world yet, but I did with all the others so I'm sure I'll get to it eventually XD Good luck!

 

[Idea]

When designing a curse, you want to keep in mind the narrative purpose it is supposed to fill. Is it meant to victimize your character? Then it must include loss of control, some form of acquiring the curse that isn´t voluntary and forced behaviors that the character repulses. If it is meant to be deadly, then it should progressively decay the host´s stamina and health or have specific conditions that it keeps lingering at the doorstep to foreshadow the incoming death. Comical curses also bear a certain, albeit more limited control loss, and are usually not voluntary either, having more lighthearted and less deadly effects. A curse just to seem cool will often bear some upside that comes at too heavy the price and are usually voluntary to an extent at least.


For your specific situation, I suggest that plays with his crime. Have certain actions or behaviors act as triggers for mental breakdowns or loss of control, but these leave marks and changes on his body that are permanent and accumulate over time.


Here is a small sheet you may fill to help you craft a curse:


Name (if any): what the curse is called


origin: where the curse came from


effect: what the curse actually does


triggered, periodic or continuous: whether something makes the effect occur, it occurs at specific times or if the effect is just neverending.


removal conditions (if any): can the curse be removed and if so how


benefits (if any): Is there any upside to the curse?


how people look at it: how your character, society or whoever else sees the curse


affected: who is currently or usually the host of the curse?


hope this helped

 

[Tedronai]

As @Idea said, for the curse to be meaningful it has to resonate with the theme of the story. To know what curse is appropriate you need to understand the story you want to tell.


Most vampire horrors were about the fear of the unknown, and indeed a fear of death which is the greatest unknown. Werewolves represent a fear that people aren't what they appear and that anymore could be a monster.


In case you haven't heard of it, there's a series called the Wheel of Time where men who use magic are cursed to go mad, but there is a prophecy that a man who use magic will be needed to defeat the big bad of the series. This creates an uneasy setting where women mages (aes sedai) hunt down males to keep the world safe, knowing that a mistake might condemn the world.

 

[Idea]

As @Idea said, for the curse to be meaningful it has to resonate with the theme of the story. To know what curse is appropriate you need to understand the story you want to tell.


Most vampire horrors were about the fear of the unknown, and indeed a fear of death which is the greatest unknown. Werewolves represent a fear that people aren't what they appear and that anymore could be a monster.


In case you haven't heard of it, there's a series called the Wheel of Time where men who use magic are cursed to go mad, but there is a prophecy that a man who use magic will be needed to defeat the big bad of the series. This creates an uneasy setting where women mages (aes sedai) hunt down males to keep the world safe, knowing that a mistake might condemn the world.

Well, I focused more on character than story, but you got a point too

 

[Birdsie]

Remember the essential:
A curse is meant to be a spell that brings great misfortune and torment to the affected person. It should not turn you into an edgy vampire, werewolf, half-demon or whatever. It should actually have bad effect on you. How about a curse that makes rays of sunlight ten times hotter? Imagine going out in summer with a curse like that.

 

[Saccharine Cyanide]

I like curses that drive a character to become a better person by making them face their faults. Curses that teach people a lesson.


King Midas, for example, was cursed because he only loved gold and not people. His curse taught him the value of real love and foreshadowed the lonely life he was doomed to live if he hadn't been cursed.


So, I would focus on the character's one major fault and exploit it. Maybe even give them what they want in a way that helps them figure out what they need.

 

[TPBx]

I like curses that drive a character to become a better person by making them face their faults. Curses that teach people a lesson.


King Midas, for example, was cursed because he only loved gold and not people. His curse taught him the value of real love and foreshadowed the lonely life he was doomed to live if he hadn't been cursed.


So, I would focus on the character's one major fault and exploit it. Maybe even give them what they want in a way that helps them figure out what they need.

You know that on an economic and a deeper symbolic level. Midas's curse would have made gold absolutely worthless in his kingdom as he would make the market oversaturated with it and drive costs down. Which is funny as it drives in the point of the futility of wealth and earthly fortune even further. As in his excess, Midas caused the one thing he valued most to become worth less and less as he gained more and more of it.