Death curse

Version 0.11: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Death curses fall on any creature who kills a mummy, guardian mummy, mummy priest, greater mummy, Menkaure, or Khufu. This does not apply to killing mummies that have been summoned in any way; only "naturally" occurring mummies have death curses.

The effect (and severity) of the curse mainly depends on the mummy itself, and can include item cursing and all Necromancy miscast effects. Followers of Kikubaaqudgha with enough piety are resistant to these miscasts and curses.

As many curses only affect the creature that killed the mummy, have an ally strike the final blow if possible. (Note that killing mummys with a Spellforged Servitor will get you a death curse, as well as enslaving a mummy and getting it killed by another monster.)

Also, no curse is cast if a mummy is banished to the Abyss, kills itself while confused, falls down a shaft, or is killed by giant spores, ball lightning, or traps.

Curse Selection

Curse	Mummy, Menkaure	Guardian Mummy	Mummy Priest	Greater Mummy, Khufu
Item curse	(*)	-	-	-
Flavour	74%	27%	8%	5%
Slowing	9%	9%	3%	2%
Pain (light)	9%	9%	3%	2%
Pain (strong)	-	12%	5%	3%
Rotting (light)	9%	9%	3%	2%
Rotting (strong)	-	4%	13%	14%
Torment	-	4%	13%	14%
Draining	-	6%	13%	14%
Stat drain	-	4%	13%	14%
Shadows	-	7%	3%	2%
Demon	-	8%	25%	28%

(*) If you're the killer, item curse will always be selected.

Item Curse

One of your items is cursed. Any uncursed weapon, armour, or jewellery in your inventory is a valid target with an equal random chance of selection.

"You feel nervous for a moment..."

Flavour

Flavour curses have no direct effect.

"Nothing happens." "You smell decay." "You hear strange and distant voices." "You feel homesick." "Pain shoots through your body." "Your bones ache." "The world around you seems to dim momentarily." "Strange energies run through your body." "You shiver with cold." "You sense a malignant aura." "You feel very uncomfortable." "Your bandages flutter." "[The killer] seems to dim momentarily." "[The killer] glows [colour] for a moment." "[The killer] shivers with cold." "[The killer] scowls horribly."

Slowing

The killer is slowed for 10-25 turns.

"You feel horribly lethargic." "[The killer] looks incredibly listless."

Pain (light)

If the killer is immune to torment, no effect. Otherwise, 5-19 damage.

"Pain shoots through your body!" "[The killer] convulses with pain!" "You feel weird for a moment." "[The killer] has an odd expression for a moment."

Pain (strong)

If the killer is immune to torment, no effect. Otherwise, 15-37 damage.

"You convulse helplessly as pain tears through your body!" "[The killer] convulses helplessly with pain!" "You feel weird for a moment." "[The killer] has an odd expression for a moment."

Rotting (light)

Unless the killer resists rotting (undead mostly), it will gain 1 point of rotting: its max HP will be reduced by 1, until it drinks a potion of curing.

"You smell decay." "You feel your flesh rotting away!" "Your bandages flutter."

Rotting (strong)

Unless the killer resists rotting (undead mostly), it will gain 1-7 points of rotting: its max HP will be progressively reduced by this amount within a short time, unless it drinks a potion of curing.

"You feel your flesh rotting away!"

Torment

The killer's current HP is halved. Any form of torment resistance can apply to this. Unlike most sources of torment, this is not a full-LOS effect.

"Your body is wracked with pain!" "You feel a surge of unholy energy." "[The killer] convulses!" "Something just walked over your grave. No, really!" "[The killer] seems frightened for a moment."

Draining

You lose between 10 and 20% of the total experience needed to go from your current level to the next one. Negative energy resistance will reduce this loss by one-third per level.

"You are engulfed in negative energy!" "[The killer] is engulfed in negative energy!"

Stat Drain

One of your stats (chosen at random) is temporary decreased by 1-7 points. If the stat is reduced to 0 or less, you will eventually die of stat death (another reason to keep your stats at 8 or higher).

Shadows

1d3 hostile shadows are summoned.

"Flickering shadows surround you." "Flickering shadows surround [the killer]." "Shadows flicker in the thin air."

Demon

A hostile soul eater or reaper (tier-2 demons, equal chance for each) is summoned.

"Something reaches out for you..." "Something reaches out for [the killer]..." "Something reaches out from thin air..." "Death has come for you..." "Death has come for [the killer]..." "Death appears from thin air..."

History

Prior to 0.8, item curses could affect potions, turning them into potions of degeneration.

External links

E. Grasland's excellent spoiler on mummy death curses