Heroes and heroines in fantasy fiction have a long struggled under the chilling influence of curses, powerful forces beyond their control whose effects they could never escape. From classic fairytales like Beauty and the Beast to modern fantasy stories like Ladyhawke, the tasks arrayed before the heroes, and their bravery at confronting them, are brought into sharp focus by the heroes' own known weaknesses, temptations, and drawbacks-known not just to them and to the readers, but often to the villains, as well. Until recently, the concept of such powerful and fearful shortcomings had been underserved by the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, left to the realm of character back story and pure roleplaying.

With the introduction of the Oracle class in the Advanced Player's Guide, the curse has become a fully integrated and balanced part of the game mechanics, too. It is unfortunate, though, that due to space restrictions, just six curses are presented in the APG. With only a handful of options, one fairly quickly begins to find oracles falling into predictable patterns-only a limited number of character concepts that can be served by the available curses. This becomes particularly evident given that one of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game's greatest strengths is its broad range of character customization. If the Oracle is ever to stand on completely even footing with the other core classes, it needs the advantage of a broader range of curses for characters to choose from.

To help in that regard, Advanced Options: Additional Oracle Curses presents thirteen new oracle's curses for players and GMs to use to burden new oracle characters. They provide new fatal flaws, afflictions, and weaknesses both physical and spiritual that, together with the attendant minor boons or resources they bring, open new challenges, pitfalls, and opportunities for peril and heroism to any party that includes an oracle.