Curst

A curst was once a living human, trapped by a rare and evil magic that will not let it die. The transformation drains the skin to an eerie white and turns the eyes black, the irises darkening into small, glittering pools. Most dress in dark leather armor, hooded cloaks and boots, though some still wear the clothes they died in. They are quiet, prefer darkness, have normal vision plus 90-foot infravision, and no longer age.

A curst keeps every nonmagical skill and ability bonus it had in life: fighters retain their levels and exceptional Strength such as 18/00, thieves their rogue abilities, and all their nonweapon proficiencies. Spellcasting is lost. It uses any weapon its old class allowed, grabs better weapons when it can, and without a weapon it savages foes with kicks, bites and claws for 1d4 damage each round.

Any weapon can strike it, but little else works. It has 85% magic resistance, is immune to charm, ESP, hold, sleep and other mind-affecting spells, and ignores fire, cold and energy drain. Priests and paladins cannot turn it, and holy water does nothing special. Cure spells heal it.

At 0 hit points a curst simply collapses, paralyzed, until it has fully recovered. It regains 1 hit point daily and regrows lost limbs and organs. If beheaded, the body crumbles to dust and a new one grows from the paralyzed head over a number of days equal to double its hit point total. Remove curse destroys it outright.

Some 15% carry rot grubs; an infested curst has 1-6 fewer hit points and no other drawback, and the grubs are hunting for a better host.

Becoming curst strips away the sense of smell and all magical ability, turns the victim chaotic neutral and often wrecks the mind, though not its cunning: only 11% keep their old Intelligence, while most drop to 8. Each turn there is a noncumulative 5% chance that a curst behaves bizarrely for 1-6 rounds, abandoning a fight to sing, dance and skip, trace pictures on a wall with a finger or stare at something. Nothing, not even an attack, distracts it then, except a remove curse, which earns a smile and a whispered thank-you as it swiftly crumbles to dust.

Curst are not controlled by their makers and serve them only in hope of release through remove curse. Many, understanding their fate, turn on their creators, hoping to be destroyed in the struggle. Once destroyed they turn to dust and cannot be resurrected or raised as other undead.

They eat nothing and nothing eats them. Wizards and alchemists are studying the dust they leave behind. A curst is made by casting bestow curse, the reverse of remove curse, and then within four rounds a carefully phrased wish; the process is inherently evil. A small fraction, about 2%, were humanoids rather than humans.