Hexes and curses

The Void school sets traps in the world. A hex decides when a trap springs. A curse decides what it does to its victim. Bind both to one diamond, sink the diamond's magic into a block, and the block waits for someone to set it off.

Making a trap

1. Bind a hex. Build a hex rune and right-click its obsidian heart holding a plain diamond. The whole rune is spent. Touch Hex binds to your diamond (4 charges). Each charge is one victim, and higher Tier blocks give more.
2. Bind a curse. Build a curse rune and wake it holding the hexed diamond. Babel Curse binds to your hexed diamond. A curse needs a hex first: Bind a hex to this diamond before a curse will take.
3. Sink it into a block. Right-click the block you want to trap with the finished diamond. Touch Hex and Babel Curse sink into the block (4 charges). All the charges move into the block, and the diamond is left plain.

A diamond holds one hex and one curse. This diamond already carries a hex; it rejects another.

5 × 5, one layer. Drawn flat on the ground, facing any compass direction.

NWES

ABAATCTABCDCBATCTAABA

• T
  Tier block × 4

  Every T is the same block, and that block’s Tier sets the rune’s strength.
• Air or a Tier 0 block × 4

  Leave these as air, or fill them with Tier 0 blocks such as dirt or stone.
• Activation block

  The glowing cell is the one to click.
• Spent

  Cells with a corner mark are used up when the rune wakes.

Keys

• A
  Redstone Dust × 8

  spent when the rune wakes
• B
  Redstone Torch × 4

  must be lit · spent when the rune wakes
• C
  Stone Button × 4

  spent when the rune wakes
• D
  Obsidian × 1

  spent when the rune wakes

Hexes

Hex	Springs when	Charges, Tier 1 to Tier 7
Damage Hex	Someone strikes the block, or a creature breaks or changes it.	4 to 1,119
Touch Hex	Someone right-clicks the block, or a creature uses it.	4 to 1,119
Portal Hex	Someone arrives at the Waypoint whose heart holds it.	4 to 1,119

Each victim spends one charge, and the trap fades when the last is gone. A Portal Hex belongs on the centre block of a Waypoint: it greets every traveler who lands there.

Curses

Curse	What it does to the victim	Lasts or burns
Babel Curse	Scrambles their chat letter by letter, from 20% of letters at Tier 1 to 80% at Tier 7. Now and then a fully garbled line blurts out after what they say.	5 seconds at Tier 1 up to 12½ minutes at Tier 7
Butterfingers Curse	Makes held things slip from their grasp when they click, from a 10% chance at Tier 1 to 70% at Tier 7.	5 seconds at Tier 1 up to about 9¾ hours at Tier 7
Whisper Curse	Murmurs the words written on its signs to the victim alone, one at a time. Carve at least one sign before binding it.
Lightning Trap	Calls a bolt down on the victim, who keeps burning.	3 seconds of fire at Tier 1 up to 12 at Tier 7
Mouse Trap	Sets the victim alight.	3 seconds of fire at Tier 1 up to 12 at Tier 7

The curse rune's own Tier sets its strength. Curses that act on chat and hands only take hold of players. A creature that sets off such a trap spends no charge.

The two lasting curses tell their victim when they begin and end. Your tongue twists — Babel takes hold. / Babel loosens its grip on your tongue.

Lifting a curse

The Babel Countercurse and Butterfingers Countercurse undo their curse on whoever wakes them. A countercurse lifts a curse of its own Tier or lower, and the whole rune is spent. The countercurse unravels your Babel Curse. A weaker one fails: The Babel Curse (Tier 5) outmatches this countercurse (Tier 3).

Waiting also works. Both lasting curses end on their own.

Clearing a trap

Break a trapped block with a sword to cut its magic free. The sword cuts the hex and curse free of the block. Dispel at Tier 3 or higher clears trapped blocks around it as well.

Void Wards

A Void Ward smothers the dark inside its circle. Traps inside it do not spring, and hex, curse, and countercurse runes there stay cold. See Wards.