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Roughly speaking, a character with a witch's blood curse [Hexblood] was created, cursed from birth. Is it possible to remove this curse with the help of game mechanics or spells so that it can be explained logically? And is it possible to remove such "traits" from the backstories at all? Hexblood from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.

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    \$\begingroup\$ You indicate this is 5e but a "witch's blood curse" is not core, and my quick google search did not find it. Can you edit in the product source of this? \$\endgroup\$
    – Kirt
    Commented May 27 at 21:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ Thank you - now that you have identified the feature in question, I feel like we can answer it. But in the Hexblood lineage for VRGtR, there is no mention of a witch (it is a hag), and the traits it provides are not described as a curse. These differences make me wonder whether you are reading the feature in the original, or perhaps through a translation? \$\endgroup\$
    – Kirt
    Commented May 28 at 0:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ Why have you removed D&D 5e tag? Isn't it the game you are playing? \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Commented May 28 at 1:09

1 Answer 1

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The lineage traits are not a curse

The Hexblood, as presented in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, is a "lineage". At the level of story, it is an origin that can be applied to any of what the game calls "races". So, for example, you could declare that your character was an elf, but had the Hexblood lineage. Mechanically, this means that you would use the lineage traits of the Hexblood, and not the racial traits of the elf1.

Racial / Lineage traits typically provide an appearance, Ability Score Increases, Languages, a Creature Type, a Size, a Speed, sometimes Darkvision, and one or two other unique features. The Hexblood lineage does all this, with the unique features being eerie token and hex magic.

However, and despite the linguistic link between "hex" and "curse", nowhere does the description of the Hexblood say that any of its lineage features are curses2. Rather, they are described as the result of a transformation process through "eldritch magic, fey energy, or mysterious witchcraft".

Thus, a game element such as the remove curse spell which explicitly removes curses will not affect the lineage traits of a Hexblood, because these traits are not identified as a curse or as the result of a curse.

There is, as far as I know, no way to specifically affect the features that are a result of your choosing the Hexblood lineage. Rather, to remove them, you would need something that would change your character to another race or lineage, such as the reincarnate spell.


1 In the case of the Hexblood, their Ancestral Legacy feature says:

If you replace a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that race: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it.

2 One of the random origins for a Hexblood does say "You were cursed as a child." However, it immediately continues "A deal with the spirits of the forest transformed you into a hexblood, now free of the curse." Thus any conditions associated with a curse have already been removed before your character begins play.

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