Horrible Curses

1. Curse of Great Vomit: Your stomach acids grow suddenly more powerful, just before you throw them up. The vomit is strong enough to burn through wood and dissolve any flesh it comes into contact with, but only after it has left your mouth. Make a CON save or vomit on yourself or on a nearby ally. If you pass the CON save you can make a to-hit roll to vomit on an enemy. The vomit deals 3d6 damage.
2. Curse of the Fleshmotes: 2d6 pounds of flesh detach from your body individually, grow legs and run away. Lose 1 point of CON for each fleshmote that escapes, or 1 point per two fleshmotes if you are notably fat. If the fleshmotes are captured, fried and eaten, the CON damage will be restored, but the little buggers are fast.
3. Curse of the Spaghetti Limb: One random limb suddenly becomes limp, saggy and unusable. If the skin of the limb is cut, it will be discovered that all substance beneath the skin has been transformed into tinned spaghetti and tomato sauce. If all the spaghetti is scraped away (a completely painless process) what remains of the limb will be a very thin fleshy rod, 5mm in width, covered in black bristles.
4. Hair Curse: Hair begins to grow thickly in your mouth, throat and nose, cutting off your breathing within 1d3 rounds. The hair can possibly be trimmed but will continue to grow at a steady rate for the next hour.
5. Curse of Thin Blood: Your blood literally becomes thinner - it is diluted with water. It is now quite transparent and does not congeal. You take a -2 penalty to CON. Furthermore, whenever you suffer damage you must roll over  the damage total on a d20 or get cut and begin to bleed. While bleeding you take 1d4 damage per round and even if someone staunches your wounds, you must make a save vs. paralysis for the bloodflow to stop, since your blood doesn't congeal or form scabs.
6. Curse of Glutinous Attachment: Your skin becomes glutinous and sticky. If it comes into contact with any other part of your body, they will be stuck together instantly. Whenever taking an action besides standing still or walking very slowly, make a DEX save or have two body parts awkwardly glued together. Multiple victims of the curse can become stuck to each other. The glutinosity lasts 6 hours, but the attachment is permanent.
7. Curse of the Masterless Heads: 1d4 stunted, malformed heads grow in various places on your body and begin gnawing at you, each dealing 1d6 damage per round. They can be killed by bludgeoning, cutting, etc, however they will beg for mercy and refer to you as "brother".
8. Curse of the Escaping Veins: 1d6 major veins (or arteries, maybe, I'm not a doctor) pop out of your body at one end. For example it could be that vein that runs along the back of your hand, and it pops out just a little bit near the knuckles. The veins are blue and do not 'bleed'. However, within 3 turns you will begin to feel an overwhelming urge to pull on the veins. It is something like the urge to scratch yourself, and something like the urge to pull out a loose thread from your clothes. Make a save vs. paralysis each turn to resist the urge. If you fail to resist, you will begin pulling out the vein until it dangles up to 4 feet from your body. The skin of the vein is fragile and if broken you will begin to bleed out rapidly, taking 1d8 damage per round.

The Pomegranate Gambit

There was a fierce fight, and the scorpion turned into an eagle while the snake became a vulture. For a time the vulture pursued the eagle until it turned into a black cat. The princess then became a brindled wolf and for a time the two creatures fought together in the palace. Then the cat, finding itself beaten, became a large red pomegranate in the middle of the palace fountain. When the wolf came upon it, it rose into the air and fell on the palace floor where it burst, its seeds scattered, each in a different place, until they covered the whole floor.
A shiver ran through the wolf and it became a cock, which started to pick the seeds so as not to leave a single one, but as was fated, one of them was hidden by the side of the fountain.

- One Thousand and One Nights, Night 14

The Spell of the Pomegranate is a last resort for magic-users in fear of their lives. The magic-user becomes a pomegranate that bursts and scatters 100 seeds. The soul of the magic-user can move freely between seeds and see out of them, unless the seeds are burned, eaten or otherwise destroyed. If all the seeds are destroyed, the magic-user is slain instantly. When the spell ends, the magic-user can choose which seed he/she emerges from, while the others wither away to dust.

Level: 4

Duration: 1 turn/level (can be cancelled prematurely)

(By the way, this shapeshifting princess is a total badass. She's just sitting around in her palace when her father's all "How will we save this prince from a curse put on him by an ifrit?" and she's like "Oh yeah, I never mentioned it before but I actually have like a bunch of magic powers." And then she summons the ifrit and kills him. 

How tough is an ifrit? Well, nobody else in these stories even thinks about fighting them.)

Harry Potter spells (S-Z)

Slugulus Eructo (Magic-User 1)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 60'
Duration: 1 round/level
This spell causes the victim to begin vomiting up slugs at an alarming rate of 10 slugs per round. Each round they must make a save vs. poison to be able to act at all, and if they do they will be at a -5 penalty to most rolls. The size of the slugs is proportional to the size of the target, and also they might be affected in other ways, like you could make a wraith throw up intangible slugs that drain levels from cauliflowers.

Switching Spell (Magic-User 3)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 30'
Duration: 1 round/level
Causes two creatures or objects to have their appendages switched. For example a person could have their ears switched with the spines of a cactus, or a dragon could have its teeth switched with those of a horse.

Unbreakable Vow (Cleric 3)
Casting time: 1 turn
Range: Touch
One person gives terms of a Vow to another person, who accepts the vow of their own free will. The spellcaster then casts the spell upon them and the vow becomes unbreakable; if the vow is broken, the one who made the vow will die instantly. (No, your henchmen will not let you cast this on them.)

Other well-known spells:
Sectumsempra 'Magic Missile' (not exactly the same, but close enough)
Silencio 'Silence'
Specialis Revelio 'Identify'
Stupefy 'Power Word, Stun'
Tarrantallegra 'Otto's Irresistible Dance'
Vulnera Sanentur 'Cure Critical Wounds'
Wingardium Leviosa 'Levitate'

Harry Potter spells (M-R)

Melofors (Magic-User 1)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 60'
Encases the target's head in a pumpkin. Other objects can also be encased in pumpkins if you feel the need.

Mobiliarbus (Magic-User 1)
Casting time: 4 segments
Range: 40'
Allows the spellcaster to levitate trees, as per the Levitate spell, but only with trees.

Obliviate (Magic-User 5)
Casting time: 1 round/clause
Range: 30'
Erases or modifies the target's memories. Far more powerful than the lower-level Forget spell, Obliviate will allow the spellcaster to make complex adjustments to the target's memories. However, the spell takes longer to cast the more complex the modification, where each clause of the spellcaster's design adds another round. For example "I'll make him forget that we attacked him, and instead remember he was attacked by the goblins," would be two clauses - one erasure and one inception.

Oppugno (Magic-User 3)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 60'
Duration: 1 round/level
This spells causes small inanimate objects or small mundane animals to attack the target. Only one class of objects can be affected (i.e. "birds" or "newspapers") and the number of objects is equal to 1d8xlevel. Generally speaking the attacks will be irritating and delaying rather than damaging, though the DM may rule otherwise in certain situations (say, with a swarm of knives or venomous spiders).

Ossio Dispersimus (Magic-User 1)
Casting time: 3 segments
Range: 40'
Saving throw: Negates
Causes all the bones to vanish from one limb.

Piertotum Locomotor (Magic-User 3)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 60'
Duration: 2 rounds/level
Animates up to 2d6 suits of armour, causing them to fight as 1st-level Fighters in service to the caster. The suits have 1d4 hitpoints for leather/light armour, 1d6 hp for chain/medium armour, and 1d8 for plate/heavy armour. If reduced to 0hp they will fall apart rather than be destroyed.

Portus (Cleric 7)
Casting time: 1 turn
Range: 20'
Cost: crushed gems and golden doorknobs worth a total of 1,000gp
This spell turns one inanimate object into a portkey, a device that will instantaneously teleport anyone who touches it. The destination of the teleport is the place where the portkey was created. The portkey is always teleported along with the creature who touched it. Each time the portkey is used, there is a 5% chance that it will malfunction, ruining the portkey.

Prior Incantato (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Reveals the last spell that was cast by a particular wand.

Protean Charm (Magic-User 1)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Causes up to 10 inanimate objects to be linked through space so that whatever happens to one of them will happen to all of them.

Other well-known spells:
Nox 'Darkness'
Petrificus Totalus 'Hold Person'
Protego 'Shield'
Reducio 'Shrink'
Reducto 'Disintegrate'

Harry Potter spells (G-L)

Geminio (Magic-User 1)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Creates a duplicate of one inanimate object. The duplicate is superficially identical in appearance, but is composed of a worthless brittle grey substance. Creatures who suspect the object is a fake are entitled to an INT check to discover its true nature. Professional appraisers and merchants will never be fooled by this spell.

Gemino Curse (Magic-User 6)
Casting time: 1 turn
Range: Touch
This spell may be cast on a number of inanimate objects equal to the caster's level. When the accursed objects are touched, struck or otherwise disturbed, they will multiply into 2d6 copies as per geminio above. The copies are also affected by this curse - thus if the objects are disturbed further they will continue to multiply, filling up a 10' cube area (1,000 cubic feet) within 1 round. The multiplication may continue until it has filled a total volume equal to 5,000 cubic feet multiplied by the caster's level.

Glisseo (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 120'
Duration: 24 hours
Causes the steps of one staircase to flatten into a slippery ramp.

Homonem Revelio (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 120' (10' wide path)
Reveals to the caster the location of any humans within the area of effect. Those detected by this spell will feel a sensation of something swooping over their head.

Inflatus (Magic-User 2)
Casting time: 3 segments
Range: 60'
Duration: 1 round/level
Inflates one object or creature to twice the normal size with helium gas, causing it to float upwards at a rate of 5' per round.

Imperio (Magic-User 9)
Casting time: 6 segments
Range: 60'
Saving throw: Negates
This spell enslaves one creature to the will of the caster. The victim must obey to the letter any instruction given to them by the caster (nor may they attempt to circumvent the logic or wording in the manner of a genie, but must always act in the interests of their controller). The spell has no maximum duration but is cancelled when the controller dies. This spell is arguably the most hated of the three Unforgivable Curses, because of its alarming effectiveness as much as its inherent cruelty. Characters with high willpower may resist the curse; each time they are ordered to act contrary to their ideals or desires, the character may roll a d20 and add their Wisdom; on a result of 30 or higher, the curse is broken.

Jelly-Legs Curse (Magic-User 3)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 50'
Duration: 2d4 rounds
This spell causes one creature to suffer their legs become a jelly-like substance, so that they wobble around at random, unable to move and taking a -2 penalty to attack rolls and armour class. This spell has no effect on creatures without legs.

Langlock (Cleric 2)
Casting time: 3 segments
Range: 60'
Duration: 1 round per caster level
Glues the target's tongue to the roof of their mouth, preventing them from speaking (and thus from casting spells). Has no effect on creatures without tongues.

Levicorpus (Magic-User 2)
Casting time: 2 segments
Range: 40'
Duration: 1 round per caster level
Hoists up the target by their feet or other lower appendage and hangs them upside down a few feet above the ground.






Other well-known spells:
Glacius 'Cone of Cold'
Incendio 'Burning Hands'
Incarcerous 'Web'
Lacarnum Inflamarae 'Affect Normal Fires'
Legilimens 'ESP'
Locomotor 'Tenser's Floating Disc'
Lumos 'Light'

Harry Potter spells (A-F)

Accio (Magic-User 2)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 50'/level
The spellcaster states the name of an object and the object is dragged toward them through the air at a rate of 120'/round. The object must be small enough that the caster could hold it in one hand. The object can fly around corners, through gaps and generally act with a rudimentary intelligence to reach the caster. This spell can be used to disarm opponents but will require an opposed check of INT vs. STR.

Arresto Momentum (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 40'
Cancels the momentum of one object per level of the caster, to a maximum of 5. (Something something exception something rotation of the earth.)

Avada Kedavra (Magic-User 7)
Casting time: 3 segments
Range: 150'
The spellcaster fires a green beam of light that instantly slays any living creature that it strikes. The creature is entitled to a saving throw vs. wands to dodge the beam. (This spell is one of the three Unforgivable Curses and thus is likely to produce a negative reaction from NPCs.)

Avifors (Magic-User 1) (Reversible)
Casting time: 2 segments
Range:40'
Turns one inanimate object into a bird of similar size (up to the size of an eagle - no ostriches or diatrymas please). The reverse spell, Srofiva, will restore the bird to its original form or turn a real bird into a random object.

The Bat-Bogey Hex (Magic-User 3)
Casting time: 3 segments
Range: 60'
This spell causes the target's bogies to grow enormous, sprout wings and attack their owner. From 2d6 bogies will be summoned, modified at the DM's discretion for victims with particularly poor or exceptionally good nasal hygiene. Each bogie has 1d6 hit points, attacks as a monster with one hit die, and deals 1d6 damage on a successful attack. The bogies will only attack the creature from which they originated, and will disappear after 2d4 rounds or when the origin creature is slain. The spell has no effect on creatures which lack noses.

Crucio (Magic-User 5)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 40'
Duration: 2 rounds/level
This spell inflicts incredible pain upon the target, making them incapable of any action for the duration of the spell, though the spellcaster must also concentrate on maintaining the spell. After the spell is over, the victim must make a CON check each round until they pass, after which they can act normally. (This spell is one of the three Unforgivable Curses and thus is likely to produce a negative reaction from NPCs.)

Duro (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 20'
Turns a single inanimate object to stone.

Entrail-Expelling Curse (Magic-User 3)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 60'
Expels the target's entrails from their body, dealing 3d6 damage with a saving throw for half. Larger creatures with more entrails may take 4 or 5 dice of damage, while creatures without entrails will be unaffected.

Erecto (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 20'
Erects a structure such as a tent or lean-to. Any collection of inanimate objects can be affected so long as the caster visualises the shape they wish to form - for example a set of tables and chairs might be erected into a barricade, or a pile of books into a pyramid.

Expelliarmus (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 1 segment
Range: 60'
Releases a blast that disarms the target or otherwise causes them to drop what they are carrying. If two or more spellcasters use Expelliarmus simultaneously, it will also knock the target prone and push them back 5' for each additional caster beyond the first.

Fera Verto (Magic-User 3) (Reversible)
Casting time: 4 segments
Range: 30'

Transforms mundane animals into water goblets. The goblet retains some features of the creature transformed. The number of hit dice that may be transformed is equal to 2xlevel. Drinking from such a goblet will bestow some of the memories of the creature, but also some of its personality traits (which will wear off after 2d6 days).
The reverse, Otrev Aref, will turn goblets into animals which still retain some goblet-like features.

Fiendfyre (Magic-User 7)
Casting time: 1 round
Range: 120'
This spell summons a gout of flame 20' long, setting fire to everything in its path and dealing 1d8 damage for each level of the caster (saving throw vs. breath weapon for half). Fiendfyre burns much more voraciously than normal fire, spreading at a rate of 30' per round or more across highly flammable substances. Anything that catches alight takes 1d8 damage per round. Fiendfyre will burn just about anything except solid rock, and even if submerged in water it will persist for 1d4 rounds. Each round, the spellcaster may make a WIS check at double difficulty; if they succeed, they may control the progress of the fire for this round.

Flame-Freezing Charm (Cleric 1)
Casting time: 2 segments
Range: 40'
Duration: 2 rounds/level
This spell affects one creature per level of the caster, up to a maximum of 10. The targets become wholly immune to the effects of fire, feeling the flames as no more than a mild tickling sensation.

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Other well-known spells:
Alohomora 'Knock'
Apparate 'Teleport'
Bubble-Head Charm 'Water Breathing'
Colloportus 'Wizard Lock'
Confringo 'Fireball'
Confundus 'Confusion'
Conjunctivitus Curse 'Power Word, Blind'
Defodio 'Dig'
Deletrius 'Erase'
Diminuendo 'Shrink'
Disillusionment Charm 'Invisibility'
Engorgio 'Enlarge'
Episkey 'Cure Light Wounds'
Expecto Patronum 'Turn Undead'
Featherweight Charm 'Feather Fall'
Finite Incantatem 'Dispel Magic'
Fianto Duri 'Prismatic Wall'
Flagrante Curse 'Heat Metal'

From the Classics: Whale Spell

The other Lappish king, Finn, turned himself into a whale. He hurled himself on top of the men who were fighting him and crushed fifteen of them to death beneath him. The dog Sel's-gift rushed at him, ripping him apart with its teeth, but as the whale opened its jaws, Hrifling's dog ran in right down to the belly, tearing at his innards, and bit away the heart. Then it ran out again and dropped down dead.

- Halfdan Eysteinsson, (Anon., 14th century AD)

The whale spell allows a magic-user to transform themselves instantaneously into a large right whale which is 50 feet long, 10 feet wide and weighs 60 tons. In water, the whale can swim at a speed of 120' per round, but on land it cannot move at all. Any creatures crushed beneath the whale take 4d10 damage, with a Reflex save for half. However, once transformed the caster is vulnerable if they are on land, and are considered wholly unarmoured for the purposes of attack rolls. Furthermore, enemies can crawl inside the whale's mouth and attack the insides for double damage. The magic-user must concentrate for three rounds in order to end the transformation; thus, the spell is often used only as a last resort.