The Red Thread Grimoire
A meticulous young wizard seeks the vanished duelist who taught her to make a weapon's own violence haunt its wielder.
Spellbook · Wizard · Level 1
The Red Thread Grimoire
A meticulous young wizard seeks the vanished duelist who taught her to make a weapon's own violence haunt its wielder.
Ex librisMara VennWizardly arcane study
At a glance
Level
1
Wizard
Spells
10
3 cantrips, 1 signature
Spell slots
1st level
At the table
A margin note
Plot hook
Spells
10 spellsCantrips
3- You curse one creature you can see. On a failed save, an arcane thread links it to a weapon it wields. At the start of each of its turns, the thread deals damage based on that weapon until the target uses an action to end the curse or the curse is dispelled. The curse ends if you die.
- Duration
- Until the target ends it with an action or the curse is dispelled
- Target
- One creature you can see
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- Wisdom saving throw; no effect on a success
- Damage
- At the start of each of the target's turns, damage equal to one weapon damage die size smaller than the chosen weapon's damage die; minimum , same damage type as that weapon
- Higher levels
- At character levels 5, 11, and 17, the damage die increases by one step, to a maximum of the chosen weapon's damage die.
- Conditions
- Cursed
- Source
- Original Creation
- You sense whether a creature you can see within 30 feet is affected by your Red Thread Hex. You learn its direction and whether it is within range, but not its identity if you cannot see it.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- Your senses
- Components
- V, S
- Higher levels
- The range increases to 60 feet at character level 5, 120 feet at level 11, and 300 feet at level 17.
- Conditions
- Cursed
- Source
- Original Creation
- You flick a mote of force at one creature. On a hit, it takes force damage. If it is cursed by your Red Thread Hex, the mote also makes the curse's thread visibly tighten until the start of your next turn.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- Ranged spell attack
- Damage
- force
- Higher levels
- Damage increases by at character levels 5, 11, and 17. If the target is cursed by your Red Thread Hex, the damage die becomes a d8 instead of a d6.
- Source
- Original Creation
1st level
7- A sheen of force covers you. The first time a creature hits you with a melee attack before the spell ends, the attacker takes force damage, and if it is cursed by your Red Thread Hex, you can move up to 5 feet without provoking opportunity attacks from it.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S, M (a sliver of silver wire)
- Higher levels
- When cast with a higher-level spell slot, the duration increases by 1 minute for each slot level above 1.
- Source
- Original Creation
- You reinforce your Red Thread Hex on one cursed creature you can see. Until the spell ends, the curse's recurring damage increases by necrotic damage. The curse still ends if the target uses an action to end it or it is dispelled.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- One creature cursed by your Red Thread Hex
- Components
- V, S, M (a drop of red ink)
- Save or attack
- The target must already be affected by your Red Thread Hex; no new save
- Higher levels
- When cast with a higher-level spell slot, the duration increases by 1 minute for each slot level above 1.
- Conditions
- Cursed
- Source
- Original Creation
- As the target tries to end your Red Thread Hex with an action, you can force it to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, its action is wasted and the curse remains; on a success, the curse ends as normal.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature you can see that is cursed by your Red Thread Hex
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- The target makes a Wisdom saving throw
- Higher levels
- When cast with a higher-level spell slot, you can target one additional creature cursed by your Red Thread Hex for each slot level above 1.
- Conditions
- Cursed
- Source
- Original Creation
- Choose one creature you can see. It takes force damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. If it is cursed by your Red Thread Hex, the force damage becomes instead.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature you can see
- Components
- V, S, M (a short length of silver wire)
- Save or attack
- Dexterity saving throw
- Damage
- force
- Higher levels
- The force damage increases by for each slot level above 1.
- Conditions
- Cursed
- Source
- Original Creation
- Choose a weapon you can see within range. On a failed save, its wielder hears a false echo of its blows. If that creature is cursed by your Red Thread Hex, its speed is reduced by 10 feet for the duration. The spell has no effect on an unwilling creature that is not cursed by you.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- One creature wielding a weapon you can see
- Components
- V, S, M (a steel shaving)
- Save or attack
- Wisdom saving throw; no effect on a success
- Higher levels
- When cast with a higher-level spell slot, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 1.
- Source
- Original Creation
- You draw a ward from the curse's pain. Reduce the triggering damage you take by . If the cursed creature is within 60 feet, reduce it by instead.
- Duration
- Until the start of your next turn
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S
- Higher levels
- When cast with a higher-level spell slot, the damage reduction increases by 1 for each slot level above 1.
- Conditions
- Cursed
- Source
- Original Creation
- Choose one creature cursed by your Red Thread Hex and one other creature within 5 feet of it. The second creature takes necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns on a failed save, or half damage on a success. The spell ends if the hex ends or the creatures move more than 30 feet apart.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- One creature cursed by your Red Thread Hex and one creature within 5 feet of it
- Components
- V, S, M (a red thread worth 1 gp, which the spell consumes)
- Save or attack
- The second creature makes a Constitution saving throw
- Higher levels
- When cast with a higher-level spell slot, the range increases by 30 feet for each slot level above 1.
- Conditions
- Cursed
- Source
- Original Creation
In the margins
3 notes
WarningThe curse takes its measure from the weapon, not the hand. Test this carefully, and never let the subject choose the measuring blade.
FormulaThe afflicted can end the thread with an action. Do not mistake persistence for inevitability.
DiaryMother said a wound should close. I have made one that asks permission first.
The book itself
The red ink darkens whenever its curse is active.
Each spell diagram resembles a blade wound viewed through a magnifying lens.
The codex is a personal spellbook, not a magic item that grants spells or spell slots.
The caster
Wizardly arcane studyMara Venn
Studies: Abjuration and curse-thread formulaeManner: Courteous and watchful, with the air of someone quietly taking measurements.Focus: A thin silver stylus used to trace invisible wound-shaped sigils in the air.Quirk: She taps her silver stylus against a weapon before asking its owner who forged it.Wants: Find her missing mentor and determine whether the curse was designed as a deterrent or as a weapon of revenge.Mara Venn apprenticed to a court arcanist who studied how weapons carry the memory of their blows. After her mentor vanished during a duel, Mara gathered the research into this codex and continued it in secret.
The book
A narrow, midnight-blue codex bound in cracked stingray leather, with silver wire stitched through its spine like veins. Its pages are covered in fine diagrams of blades, wounds, and looping arcane sigils; a faint red glow moves through the ink when a creature nearby bears the book's curse.
Its wards · GM only
About the book
FormatStingray-leather codex
ThemeArcane
Written by aWizard
Caster level1
SystemD&D 5E (2024)
Plot hooks
1A mercenary captain claims the curse has begun harming soldiers who were never targeted. The wizard suspects someone has altered the grimoire's original formula.
2The missing duelist has resurfaced, offering to teach the wizard a more powerful version of the curse in exchange for the book's final page.
3A magistrate confiscates the codex after a public duel, believing its curse caused a noble's death. The wizard must prove what happened before the book is destroyed.
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