Curseware is illegal, unstable, or outright forbidden magical augmentation. Unlike regulated spellware, curseware prioritizes raw power over safety, ethics, or metaphysical stability. Most curseware is produced by black-market clinics, occult syndicates, rogue artificers, or entities that should never have learned industrial manufacturing.
Curseware users are feared even among criminals.
The strongest systems blur the line between augmentation and possession.
Very Rare Curseware
A bloodstream injector flooding the body with volatile synthetic combat mana.
Effects:
Gain one additional action each turn for 1 minute.
Resistance to all damage during effect duration.
Spell damage gains additional damage dice.
Consequences:
Gain exhaustion after use.
Veins darken permanently over repeated exposure.
Certain supernatural predators can sense Black Vein corruption.
Legendary Curseware
A living ocular organism implanted directly into the skull.
Effects:
Grants truesight.
Allows perception into dimensional fractures and invisible entities.
Detect lies instinctively through emotional resonance.
Consequences:
The eye occasionally moves independently.
User suffers visions from unknown realities.
Prolonged use destabilizes sleep and sanity.
Very Rare Curseware
A necromantic spinal graft replacing portions of the nervous system with death-infused lattice tissue.
Effects:
Continue functioning for several rounds after reaching 0 hit points.
Immune to fear effects.
Gain resistance to necrotic damage.
Consequences:
Body temperature drops permanently.
Healing magic becomes less effective.
Certain spirits mistake the user for partially dead.
Legendary Curseware
An illegal cerebral augmentation designed to massively amplify spellcasting throughput.
Effects:
Cast an additional leveled spell each turn once per short rest.
Spell save DC increases.
Greatly accelerates ritual casting.
Consequences:
Severe headaches and memory fragmentation.
Emotional instability increases over time.
Arcane overuse risks spontaneous cranial combustion.
Rare Curseware
Living sigil tattoos written directly into the user’s soul-pattern using cursed ink.
Effects:
Gain bonus damage while below half health.
Can activate temporary combat buffs by sacrificing hit points.
Tattoos glow during emotional extremes.
Consequences:
Tattoos slowly spread across the body.
Pain sensitivity increases dramatically.
Removal procedures are notoriously fatal.
Very Rare Curseware
A subdermal hunger-engine that converts biological matter into arcane fuel.
Effects:
Consume organic material to recover spell slots or health.
Ignore exhaustion from lack of food.
Gain enhanced regeneration after feeding.
Consequences:
Hunger becomes increasingly compulsive.
Ordinary food loses satisfaction.
Some users eventually consume living creatures.
Legendary Curseware
An implanted dimensional tether allowing brief desynchronization from reality.
Effects:
Become intangible for short periods.
Pass through walls and attacks.
Gain immunity to grapples and restraints.
Consequences:
Users occasionally phase involuntarily.
Physical touch begins feeling distant or unreal.
Some users disappear permanently.
Very Rare Curseware
A forbidden resonance implant linked to a distributed psychic hive-network.
Effects:
Telepathically communicate across vast distances.
Share sensory information with linked users.
Coordinate actions with unnatural precision.
Consequences:
Thoughts occasionally bleed between users.
Identity boundaries weaken over time.
Rumors suggest the network itself is becoming sentient.
Rare Curseware
A layer of shadow-reactive living tissue grafted beneath the skin.
Effects:
Gain advantage on Stealth checks.
Become difficult to perceive in darkness.
Can briefly extinguish nearby light sources.
Consequences:
Reflections become distorted or delayed.
Holy wards react aggressively to the user.
Animals often refuse to approach.
Artifact Curseware
An ancient neural halo recovered from a sealed anomaly zone.
Effects:
Grants immense psionic and magical amplification.
Allows direct interaction with city-scale infrastructure systems.
Can dominate weak minds through resonance authority.
Consequences:
Constant whispers fill the user’s mind.
Personality degradation accelerates rapidly.
The Crown appears to possess goals of its own.
No verified long-term users remain fully sane.