So, here I am, creating another non-skepticism-related series. Anyway, here's the rundown of how this'll go: I start with an undeveloped germ of a seed of a concept for a monster, and those of you oriented towards gaming (usually specifically for tabletop RPGs, may extend to other genres) help me flesh it out some. So, today's candidate:
I'm working on a campaign setting that's got a lot of spirits that kind of resemble a cross between some fey and various Japanese spirits/demons/whatever. They usually hang out in these dimensional pockets that form in the center of large areas of one biome type. Mortals can create different kinds of wards against them, usually designed to prevent them from entering an area, or from affecting people in the protected area.
Anyway, now that I've gotten that little bit of background down, I'm trying to think of some kind of critter with some kind of signature curse. The thing that keeps it from just spreading it around easily for its own benefit or amusement is that it only affects the target if it performs a specific action, which varies from cursing critter to cursing critter. If players go up against one of them wandering a city, part of the fun will be figuring out what triggers the curse.
So, here's some questions I'd like your help in brainstorming:
1. What does the curse do? (Maybe even a case of cursed with awesome)
2. What sort of interesting triggers could there be for the curse?
3. The players have figured it all out and track down the bugger. How does it defend itself?