The Complete Guide to Bestow Curse in Dungeons & Dragons 5e

Are you wondering if it’s worth having your D&D 5e character learn the Bestow Curse spell, or are you simply curious about what it can do? We can help. Bestow Curse is a handy utility spell that allows you to curse and weaken targets, and best of all, you can decide what curse effect to impose. Read on for a thorough introduction to the Bestow Curse spell, including how to use it and suggestions for creating your own custom curses!

Bestow Curse: Spell Overview

Bestow Curse is a 3rd-level spell that curses targets if they fail a Wisdom save. You choose the nature of the curse; you can impose disadvantage on the target’s attacks (or on checks and saving throws for a specific ability), force them to waste actions on their turn, or deal extra damage to them with your attacks.^{[1]
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Jess Hamlet
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Section 1 of 7:

What is Bestow Curse in D&D 5e?

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Bestow Curse is a 3rd-level necromancy spell. Unlike most 5e spells, Bestow Curse doesn’t have just a single function; rather, it’s a flexible spell that allows you to curse targets in several different ways—and even come up with your own unique curses, if you prefer. Essentially, the spell debuffs enemies, weakening them through the power of the curse you lay on them.^{[2]
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- Casting time: 1 action
- Range: Touch
- Target: 1 creature
- Components: Verbal and somatic
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Section 2 of 7:

How does Bestow Curse work?

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Bestow Curse curses targets that fail a Wisdom saving throw. When you cast the spell, your target must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature succeeds, the spell doesn’t take effect.^{[3]
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Jess Hamlet
Board, Card, and Dice Game Expert

Expert Interview} If they fail, the creature is cursed for the spell’s duration (1 minute, or until you lose concentration). Remember that you must touch a creature directly to cast the spell—you can’t cast it from a distance.^{[4]
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- Bestow Curse doesn't stack; in other words, you can't cast the spell multiple times on the same target. Each new casting cancels out the effects of the older spell.
- Saving throws are rolls that determine a creature’s ability to resist a negative or harmful effect. If the target’s result after rolling is less than the spell's save DC (difficulty class), they fail the saving throw.
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Bestow Curse has 4 potential effects. After successfully casting the Bestow Curse spell on a creature, you can choose the nature of the curse. Let the DM know which specific effect applies to your target; you can only choose 1 effect and can’t change that effect once the spell takes hold. Choose from the following options:^{[5]
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- Option 1: Choose an ability score. While cursed, the creature has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws made with that ability score.
- Option 2: The target has disadvantage on all attack rolls made against you (the caster) while cursed.
- Option 3: The target must make a Wisdom saving throw a the beginning of each turn while cursed. If it fails, it spends its action on that turn doing nothing.
- Option 4: Your (the caster’s) attacks and spells deal an additional 1d8 necrotic damage to the target while they’re cursed.
- However, the spell’s rules also state that you can create your own custom curses, so long as the DM (Dungeon Master) approves. For ideas, see the Custom Curses section below!
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Upcasting the spell at higher levels makes curses last longer. When using a 4th-level spell slot, Bestow Curse’s duration is concentration for up to 10 minutes. When using a 5th-level spell slot or higher, Bestow Curse is no longer considered a concentration spell; its effects last for the spell’s duration, and your character doesn’t need to concentrate on it during that time. The duration for each spell slot level is:^{[6]
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- 5th level and higher: 8 hours
- 7th level and higher: 24 hours
- 9th level: Ongoing; it lasts until dispelled

Section 3 of 7:

How to Use Bestow Curse

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Debuff dangerous enemies to make them less of a threat. At its core, Bestow Curse is all about weakening other creatures and putting them at a disadvantage—sometimes literally.^{[7]
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- For example, if you’re fighting a group of hobgoblins and one focuses on attacking you, you might curse that hobgoblin to make its attacks rolls against you less effective.
- If you’re fighting a powerful wizard, you might impose disadvantage on a specific kind of saving throw—like making them more susceptible to Constitution or Dexterity-based effects.
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Cast Bestow Curse in conjunction with another spell. Bestow Curse can impose disadvantage on saving throws (meaning the target has to roll 2d20 and take the lower result), which improves the effectiveness of other spells requiring a saving throw.^{[8]
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Research source} After all, if a cursed enemy has disadvantage on saving throws, they’re more likely to fail their saves and be fully affected by your spells.
- For example, say an ally wants to use Contagion but isn’t sure the target will fail the spell's Constitution saving throw.
- To solve this problem, you might cast Bestow Curse on the enemy first and impose disadvantage on their Constitution saving throws.
- That way, when your ally is ready to cast Contagion, the enemy will have disadvantage on their saving throw to resist the spell, making Contagion more likely to work!
- You could also cast Bestow Curse in conjunction with spells like Hold Person, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Crown of Madness, Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp, Blindness/Deafness, Bane, Fireball, Fear, and many more.
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Set up a quest by cursing a player (if you’re a DM). From a DM’s perspective, Bestow Curse can be a really fascinating plot hook—especially if your PCs are low-level (below level 5) and can’t remove the curse themselves yet. So, if you place a curse on one PC (or even the whole party), their challenge might be to work together and find a way to remove the curse.^{[9]
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- Thankfully, there are plenty of ways players might lift a curse—from hunting down the original caster that cursed them to enlisting the aid of a creature powerful enough to lift the curse.
- For example, an evil hag might curse the party—but creatures like angels, empyreans, sphinxes, and unicorns are all capable of lifting curses.
- Get creative! Think of a few ways players might resolve the curse, and let them figure out how they want to proceed.

Section 4 of 7:

How to Use Custom Curses

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Create curse effects no more powerful than those in the spell. Although Bestow Curse allows you to choose your own alternative curse effects, the rules also specify that custom effects can’t be more powerful than the ones already written. So, while choosing your curse, consider things that other 3rd-level (or lower) spells can do and make an effect based on those spells’ features. Custom curses could include:^{[10]
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- The target’s normal movement speed is reduced by half while cursed.
- The target gains a level of exhaustion while cursed.
- The target’s physical appearance changes (giving them a goat head or a fish tail, for example).
- The target is compelled to tell the truth and automatically fails Deception checks while cursed.
- The target’s balance gets thrown off, forcing them to make a Dexterity saving throw at the start of each turn or fall prone.
- The target forgets how to cast a single spell of the same level as Bestow Curse, chosen randomly by the DM.
- The target immediately ages by 1d4 + 10 years.
- The curse grips the target’s mind, giving them a short-term madness effect (chosen randomly by the DM).

Section 5 of 7:

How to Get Rid of Curses

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The Remove Curse spell can get rid of curses. Remove Curse is a 3rd-level abjuration spell available to clerics, wizards, warlocks, and paladins. Simply touch the cursed individual and spend an action casting the spell; once cast, all curses affecting your target will be completely dispelled.^{[11]
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- If a character is attuned to a cursed object, Remove Curse can also break that connection; the object will remain cursed, but the character will no longer be attuned to it.
- Greater Restoration, a 5th-level abjuration spell available to clerics, bards, druids, and artificers, can also end curse effects.

Section 6 of 7:

Is Bestow Curse a useful spell?

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Bestow Curse can effectively weaken and disable enemies. While some players gravitate toward spells capable of dealing massive damage to enemies, having the ability to debuff them can be super helpful, too. Bestow Curse allows you to stop enemies from acting on their turns, make it harder for them to attack you, and make them more susceptible to your allies’ spells, making it a very flexible utility spell.^{[12]
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- Bestow Curse’s level scaling is also worth keeping in mind!
- The fact that it’s no longer a concentration spell at level 5 or higher makes upcasting it extremely appealing, especially if there are other concentration spells you want to use.

Section 7 of 7:

Which classes can cast Bestow Curse?

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Bestow Curse is available to bards, clerics, and wizards. If you’re playing a bard, cleric, or wizard, you’ll find Bestow Curse on your character’s class spell list—and you can choose to add it to your character’s known spells. Although paladins don’t generally have access to Bestow Curse, certain paladin subclasses do; you can also cast the spell as an Oath of Conquest or Oathbreaker paladin.^{[13]
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- Certain monsters may cast Bestow Curse in battle. Hags (specifically when part of hag covens), nagas (bone nagas and guardian nagas), and vampire spellcasters all have access to the Bestow Curse spell.