Bestow curse

Bestow curse was a necromancy or abjuration spell that handicapped a creature. The reverse of this spell was remove curse.

Effects
There were at least two versions of this spell that differed mainly in duration. The older version lasted a few hours at most,  whereas the newer version was permanent until removed.

The caster had to successfully touch the victim in order to cast this spell. The caster could choose one of three standard curses, or perhaps exercise some creativity and modify one of the standard curses to something similarly debilitating but unique. The three standard curses were:
 * Reduce one aspect of the victim's abilities or personality. The strong could be made weak, the hearty sickly, the nimble clumsy, the wise foolish, the smart ignorant, or the persuasive unimpressive.
 * Inflict horribly bad luck whenever a skill was attempted; combat skills, crafting skills, and professional skills all suffered.
 * Inflict randomly occurring blackouts where the victim suddenly stopped whatever he or she was doing and just stood there as the world went by.

The curse could be resisted, but if that failed it could not be dispelled. Removal required a break enchantment, limited wish, miracle, remove curse, or wish. The fancy stone tremair, when worn next to the skin, was known to grant immunity to all magical curses.

Post-Sundering
After the Sundering, the curse changed in several ways. The curse had a one-minute duration if not used with more skill or force but a skilled caster could make the curse last for hours, or if very skilled make it permanent.
 * The spell still could still lower an ability or personality trait, but it also made attempts related to the lowered trait or ability become disadvantageous.
 * Attacks from the victim against the caster would be at a disadvantage.
 * As with the earlier versions, the victim could have blackouts every so often.
 * The caster would cause extra necrotic damage against the victim with either spells or weapons.

The spell could be dispelled with a remove curse spell.

Components
Only verbal and somatic components were required to cast this spell.

History
The Netherese arcanist Enollar was given the credit for the creation of this spell in -1561 DR.

Traditions
In the Mulan spellcasting tradition, curse-type magic was well known and used frequently.