Let me ask a question, has anyone used the spell Consume yet, I haven't used it before but it is supposed to destroy a shard and give 200 mana. It uses the applytocaster tag. Assuming it works, perhaps the applytocaster tag only currently works on the strategic map.
No... bloodcurse is a strategic spell. In fact, tremor is another strategic spell whose calculation didn't work, and I fixed by avoiding the calculation portion of the spell. The Consume spell will work since there are no calculations involving anything but the caster.
The problem lies in the fact with calculating the following tags
<GameModifier>
<ModType>Unit</ModType>
<Attribute>AdjustUnitStat</Attribute>
<StrVal>UnitStat_HitPoints</StrVal>
<ApplyToCaster>1</ApplyToCaster>
<Duration>-1</Duration>
<Effect>E_BloodCurse_Particle</Effect>
<Calculate InternalName="Calc" ValueOwner="TargetCity">
<Expression><![CDATA[[CityPopulation] / 2]]></Expression>
</Calculate>
<Calculate InternalName="Value">
<Expression><![CDATA[[Calc]]]></Expression>
</Calculate>
</GameModifier>
This is the game modifier from the Bloodcurse spell.
It is an apply to caster tag which means now the target of the spell is the caster. Thus, the ValueOwner="TargetCity" is void, since the target is not a city. Even though the original target was a city. I can change this spell to say double the caster's hitpoints, because the target is the caster whenever you choose the ApplyToCaster tag.
Thus, any spell that has the tag ApplyToCaster... it is therefore assumed that for that particular modifier that the target of the spell is in fact that Caster and nothing else. (Consume works fine, I tested it out to be sure)