ALT: Curses and Dealing with them

Everybody likes a curse, and they make great plot devices, but dealing with the 100-year curse with a 3rd level remove curse is a bit of a "anti-climax"
— Justification

Curses in DnD come in various types and sources, this document outlines the four commonly recognized tiers of curses, their power and the common way to deal with them. All curse tiers can roughly manifest effects of lesser tiers. Any curse will loose potency when the source of power, often the person who spoke the curse, is destroyed.

Curse Tiers

Tier One: Common Curses

Cause: Magic spells (bestow curse, hex, etc.)
Effect: Minor debilitating effects (mechanical debuffs)
Duration: Up to a few hours.
Cure: Remove Curse

Tier Two: Uncommon Curses

Cause: Consumable Curse Scrolls, and similar magic items/effects.
Effect: Minor debilitating effects (partial transformations, etc.)
Duration: Up to a few days as determined by the effect.
Cure: Remove Curse, or a partial counter ritual.

Tier two: Rare Curses

Cause: Rituals conducted by powerful beings (hags, cults, etc.) which take a significant amount of resources and often require a sacrifice.
Effect: Major debilitating effects (full transformations, bad luck curses, unable to speak).
Duration: years, up to a lifetime.
Cure: A counter ritual enacted.

Tier Three: Legendary Curses

Cause: Rituals conducted by supreme beings (Ancient Dragons, gods, god-like beings), which take a significant amount of resources.
Effect: Any of the earlier lesser effects but amplified.
Duration: Multiple Generations.
Cure: A complete counter ritual enacted.

Counter Ritual

The exact details of a Counter-Curse-Ritual depend heavily on the curse which is is attempted to be countered. But generally the following 5 aspects are commonly part hereof. The success of the Counter-Ritual depends on the power of the curse and the number of aspects that are fulfilled. Each of these aspects contributes in more or less a degree to the success of the counter ritual, depending on the source of the original curse, and the original Ritual. A counter ritual generally will take 4 hours, but depending on the curse and the required preparation it might take longer or shorter. And not every curse might give up it's grasp without a fight, so expect trouble when dealing with powerful curses.

Use of a Remove Curse spell.
Counter Ritual is enacted at location of importance to the original curse (original ritual site, etc.).
Original subject of curse is present in ritual, in whatever form (corpse, spirit, alive, etc.)
Ritual focus of original ritual is used and destroyed during counter ritual (sacrificial dagger, channeling staff, etc.)
Willing sacrifice in a shape relevant to the curse (animal, humanoid, wealth, etc.)