Curse Master

“So, I had this brilliant idea for a way to improve the power of adventurers in my world. Except these people are so stupid, they don’t use it!”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I want you to fix that problem! You know how absurdly powerful a disadvantage system in free-form point-buy games are, right? You know how to specialize builds and sacrifice useless abilities to gain what you really need! I want you to show those idiots how to properly use these curses! Be a curse master! Show the world how powerful they are!”

“... I still think choosing me is a stupid idea.”

“What? ‘Cause you’re a loner? So what? You just gotta get famous. That’s easy if you do well.”

…

Thus, I entered the grand city as a new adventurer, with the class of curse master.

“You’re a curse master? Wow, you really got a shit class. Maybe you should pray for a new one. If you’re lucky, you might get it. Otherwise… well, I guess you could convince some guys to take you in exchange for favors. You look pretty enough, lady.”

Ugh, I guess if I want to adventure, I’d better plan on solo play. 

“Hah! That’s all you have? Sorry, but I can’t give you a loan. You’ll just have to try your luck without any gear, or borrow something from a friend. Nothing in this shop is cheap enough for that non-existent budget.”

I don’t have enough money for equipment… I guess all I have to work with are curses? *sigh* I guess I better find somewhere to take a look at my options.

Hmmm… looks like I can take almost any kind of penalty I want, and this gives points to spend on bonuses. Though the bonuses need to be related in some way to the penalty and not having bonuses isn’t an option (which is why curse masters aren’t used for cursing enemies). This is how curses are created, then they can be applied to a person or object, and will last forever, or until removed by a curse removal skill or spell. Curse masters can remove curses, and so can most healing classes.

So, now I need a way to make myself powerful despite no gear, and no allies using these curses. At least one is pretty obvious:

[Weaponless] - Cannot use weapons. Unarmed attacks deal greatly increased damage.

Now, can I do something similar for armor?

[Armorless] - Cannot wear armor, gain resistance to all damage.

Hmmm… I’m doubtful about how well this compares to actually having gear. Maybe there are more tricks. Evasion might’ve been a better choice, but I don’t like relying upon luck. Especially when it’s my own life on the line.

[Monster Lure] - Monsters find you particularly attractive, and not in a good way. Greatly increases aggro draw from monsters, and the range they will detect you at. You take less damage from monsters.

More damage reduction! Does mean I can’t go sneak archer though.

[All Natural] - Healing spells and potions cannot affect you, greatly improved natural regeneration.

Since I’ve got no allies and no potions, might as well sacrifice their usefulness for better natural healing. From what I’ve read of the basic rules in this world, humans have decent natural healing, and this should turn it into amazing natural healing.

… oh, oh wow. This is so breakable. 

[No Luck] - Cannot crit, greatly increases accuracy.

This basically means I should never fight opponents that are significantly stronger than me, because I can’t exploit weak points. Perfect for mopping the floor with ordinary monsters though. On that note:

[One hit wonder] - First hit against a monster deals double damage. Further hits do no damage.

[Final hits only] - Attacks deal double damage. Any attack that isn’t a finishing blow, does no damage.

So this means that I do quadruple damage if that is enough to defeat the target in one-hit. Otherwise, I do no damage at all. Perfect for dealing with weak opponents. Which should be perfect for low level farming, since I need some loot to get actual gear. Now, can I find more?

[No hidden tricks] - An opponent that doesn’t know you’re there takes no damage from you. If they do know you’re there, they take increased damage.

The [Monster Lure] curse already makes it near impossible to catch them by surprise. Might as well double down.

[Slow Reflexes] - Lowers evasion, reduces damage taken.

Might as well double down on damage reduction effects instead of evasion.

Now for one last finishing touch:

[Cursed] - Immune to blessings, curses are strengthened. No limit to the number of applied curses. 

Normally this would be bad, since most parties have a member that specializes in blessings. However, as a solo dungeon delver, and curse master, this is pure benefit. My curses are stronger, and in truth, this curse is required to use all the others I’m making at the same time. Normally, the number of curses I can apply to one target is limited. This should be enough. I’ll have to spend more time pouring over the rules for more ideas some other time.

As for why I’m not working on curses to use on enemies? Well, curse resistance is a thing, and I don’t want to become reliant on something that can fail.