Cursed Magic

[sojdev]

Hello all,

 

In the game world I am currently creating there is a curse that has been placed on all arcane magic. This curse was placed by a god and slowly transforms the users into a reptile. The curse was placed by the god of magic who is VERY evil and is represented as a shapeshifting reptile.

 

Now, the cultures of the world view arcane spell-casters as inherently evil and are thus fearful/hateful of them. This does not stop players from following this path, it merely makes them have a high need for secrecy.

 

What I am looking for are suggestions on how to handle the slow transformation into a lizard/snake as the spell-casters utilizes his/her powers. My initial thoughts are to make a table that lists out all of the "steps" in the transformation process and let the players build up corruption points that will move them down the table.

 

This is a pretty good system except that I don't know how I should handle the point value of the changes on the character sheet...should I make them pay the price with their exp or should I just list it as a disad?

 

The problem arises in that the first few changes will be beneficial (to further hook the player into using the magic) while later changes will become increasingly more detrimental.

 

I also wanted the transformation rate to be based on the power of the spells the player utilizes (more powerful spells, faster transformation).

 

Any help/suggestions/idea's?

[feywulf]

Side effect, gradual transformation into reptilian being. They shouldn't have to spend points for the early benefits, but they won't get any back for the later disadvantages.

 

You could write up a chart of package deals that list the abbilities throughout the progression from normal to lizard, and the corresponding ammount of transform body that determines which package deal is in effect.