Based on discussion on the Risus Yahoo Group.

Generally there are numerous schools of thought on curses.
1 - They should be taken as general cliches and purchased with the initial 10 cliche dice (12 if Hooks and Tails are used) at creation. This lends itself to the philosophy that a negative cliche is not necessarily a bad thing.
2 - They should be use like Hooks and Tails in that by taking a curse you get an equal number of cliche points.
3 - They could be the Hook themselves and be the reason for the addition of a cliche dice.
4 - They may be 'Sidekicks' like mentioned in the Companion.

No matter how you slice it, curses come in all shapes and sizes. For example someone might be 'Cursed with Dashing Good Looks (3)' or even 'Stuttering Fool Around Women (2)'. It is all in an attempt to make the character more viable and enjoyable in the process.

I tend to like the curses as Hooks, but however you get cursed you will have to deal with the repercussions. Take our hero, 'Cursed with Dashing Good Looks (3)' arriving to meet an associate for a business lunch. He is a 'Shrewd Business Man About Town (4)' but will he get a chance to make the deal when the waitress keeps hitting on him? We can quickly find out by 'combating' his curse with his business man cliche. Hopefully he won't be to battered after dealing with the waitress to close the deal.