Glam Dicinn — 5.5e / 2024

Alternative Spell Name: Satire of the Three Disgraces
6th-Level Transmutation Spell
Available To: Bard

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a musical instrument played throughout the casting)
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Wisdom

Effect

You perform a ritual satire condemning one creature that can hear and understand you. During the casting, you must hold the attention of a socially meaningful audience capable of understanding the accusation, such as a court, warband, feast gathering, council, clan assembly, noble household, temple gathering, or similar public audience determined by the GM.

At the end of the casting, choose one living creature within range.

The target makes a Wisdom saving throw:

• with disadvantage if the accusation is substantially true and publicly recognisable,
• normally if the truth is uncertain or disputed,
• or with advantage if the accusation is false or malicious.

On a failed save, the target suffers the Three Disgraces:

• The target becomes visibly and humiliatingly disfigured in a manner connected to the satire.
• The target has disadvantage on Charisma checks made against creatures familiar with the accusation or aware of the performance.
• Creatures who witnessed the performance become socially hostile toward the target. This hostility usually manifests as contempt, avoidance, mockery, distrust, withdrawal of support, refusal of hospitality, or fear of association rather than immediate violence.
• The target cannot benefit from Inspiration or similar morale-based benefits while publicly exercising authority or status.
• If the target possesses recognised authority such as kingship, military command, priestly office, judicial power, clan leadership, or noble rank, it has disadvantage on checks made to command loyalty, issue orders, negotiate alliances, conduct ceremonies, or maintain political control.

Whenever the target publicly attempts to exercise recognised authority before creatures aware of the satire, the GM may introduce hesitation, mockery, refusal of support, failed ceremony, broken negotiations, spreading rumours, or a similar collapse of confidence appropriate to the situation.

This spell cannot be removed by Dispel Magic.

If the curse was unjustly cast, it can be ended by Wish, Limited Wish, Miracle, or powerful truth-revealing magic chosen by the GM.

If the curse was deserved, only Wish or Miracle can remove it.

Magical disguises may conceal the visible disfigurement, but they do not fully suppress the supernatural shame attached to the curse.

Glam Dicinn, Pathfinder 1e / 3.5e

Alternative Spell Name: Satire of the Three Disgraces
School: Transmutation
Level: Bard 6, Satire 6
Components: V, S, F/DF
Casting Time: 1 full round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One living creature
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes

Effect

This spell may only be cast while the bard holds the attention of an assembled audience, functioning similarly to Enthrall during the casting.

The caster publicly condemns the target through ritual satire, recounting crimes, failures, betrayals, or violations of sacred custom before witnesses.

If the accusation is substantially true according to the laws, traditions, or sacred obligations of the surrounding culture, the target suffers a –4 penalty on its saving throw. If the accusation is knowingly false or malicious, the target gains a +4 bonus on its saving throw.

On a failed save, the target suffers the Three Furuncles of Disgrace: shame, blame, and disfigurement.

The spell produces the following effects:

• The target’s appearance becomes visibly and humiliatingly marred, reducing its Charisma score by 6 points, to a minimum of 1.
• Witnesses immediately shift two reaction categories closer to Hostile toward the target. This usually manifests as contempt, distrust, avoidance, fear, mockery, or withdrawal of support rather than direct violence.
• The target suffers a –6 penalty on Diplomacy, Bluff, Gather Information, and Perform checks involving creatures familiar with the satire.
• If the target is a recognised ruler, commander, judge, druid, priest, or other public authority figure, it is affected as though by a Suggestion spell compelling it to withdraw from, abandon, or cease publicly exercising its authority.

This spell cannot be removed by Dispel Magic or similar effects.

If unjustly cast, it may be ended by Limited Wish, Wish, Miracle, or comparable truth-revealing magic.

If deserved, only Wish or Miracle can remove it.

Magical disguises may conceal the physical disfigurement, but they cannot fully suppress the social consequences of the curse.

Focus: The bard must play a musical instrument throughout the casting.

Glam Dicinn 3.0

The Glam Dicinn (or Glamdice) is the supreme curse that a bard can pronounce upon someone.

Celtic Druids and the Tuatha de Dannan

By Dominique Crouzet

Transmutation

Level: Bard 6, Satire 6
Components: V, S, F/DF
Casting Time: 1 full round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5ft./2 levels)
Target: One living creature
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates or None
Spell Resistance: Yes

The subject of this spell suffers from ·the three furuncles of disgrace-: shame, blame, and disfigurement. The resulting effects are mainly societal and political, with the subject being despised by others, dismissed from his position, and even banished from society.

This spell has a traditional cultural importance, and is almost never cast lightly. It is normally used to condemn a character whose behaviour somehow wrong the other members of the society he lives in. Evil bards may cast it on those who offended them; but in any case it cannot be used as an offensive spell (for instance to curse an enemy during a battle).

In fact its typical use occurs as follows: A great bard was received poorly by the king, despite his excellent performance and praise. Such event is not simply a matter of the bard feeling insulted and getting the moral right to avenge himself. It before all means that the king doesn’t abide anymore by a very important custom of the Celts: generosity and hospitality.

From the Celts· point of view, the king is symbolically an embodiment of the land. Henceforth, if he ceases to be generous, so will cease the land, and famine may well ensue. However, the king’s subjects having pledge loyalty to him are probably not going to cast him down. This will typically be done by a bard who, through his satire, will somehow expose to everyone the king’s inability to continue his reign.

Then, there is a Celtic law which states that for a king having the right to rule, he must be whole of body and fair of aspect. (For instance, Nuada could not be king anymore when he lost his hand, even after it had been replaced by a silver one. He could resume his kinship only when he got back a true hand of flesh.) Hence the disfigurement, in addition to the blame, inflicted by the spell.

Anyway, this satire is by no way restricted to rulers. It may be inflicted on anyone with the relevant result, although there is usually little point on casting it on simple commoners.

This spell is a little complex, and produces several different magical effects at once. First of all, it cannot be cast discreetly. On the contrary, the caster must have the attention of a group of creatures. So the spell basically works exactly like an Enthrall spell (see core rulebook I), enabling the caster to maintain the attention of the audience during all her revelations.

Then the bards pronounce his anathema upon the target in verse and rhymes. The subject of the spell is entitled a Will saving throw to escape the effects of this spell only if it is unjustly cast at him. If he deserves to get this satire (GM determination), he is not entitled to a saving throw. The spell incurs the following effects:

• The subject’s visage is disfigured in a particularly humiliating way, putting an effective decrease of 6 points to his Charisma score (minimum 1).
• The enthralled audience get an immediate dislike of the target. From that time on, as long as the spell continues, they will automatically have their reaction rolls concerning the target shifted two factors closer to a ·Hostile Attitude· reaction. Note this is independent from the loss of Charisma points due to the spell, and adds to it.
• If the target was a ruler or military leader among the Celts, he is ·suggested· (as per the suggestion spell) to abandon his position.
• This spell being a sort of curse cannot be removed by a Dispel-magic or similar spell. It requires either a miracle, Limited-wish, Unveil-the-truth, or Wish spell to dispel it if it was unjustly cast; or a miracle / Wish spell to dispel it if the subject deserved it. Otherwise note that a character may use some magical disguise to conceal the effects of the spell if he cannot remove it.

Material Components: none per se, but the bard must have his Musical instrument and play it, to be able to cast the spell.