RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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So, the antipaladin's alternative to the standard paladin's disease immunity is kind of a curious critter. It allows the antipaladin to contract diseases just like anyone else would, but he never suffers any damage or penalties from them. Here's the exact text, straight from the PRD for reference:
Plague Bringer (Ex): At 3rd level, the powers of darkness make an antipaladin a beacon of corruption and disease. An antipaladin does not take any damage or take any penalty from diseases. He can still contract diseases and spread them to others, but he is otherwise immune to their effects.
Now, I have several questions about this ability. First of all, does an antipaladin continue making Fortitude saves to "fight" the disease just as anyone else would? If this is the case, then the antipaladin will inevitably cure himself of any affliction he happens to pick up (particularly with their formidable Fortitude save) in relatively short order. Can the antipaladin voluntarily choose to accept the disease and waive his chances to fight the infection? What if he is already immune to diseases (by being undead, for example)? Can he still contract them then?
Secondly, once the antipaladin acquires such a disease (or several), how does he spread them? The "diseased" cruelty only functions as the contagion spell, which defines a set list of diseases that can be conveyed. If an antipaladin goes out of his way to contract a particularly virulent or exotic disease for the purpose of spreading it... how can he do that? Does he need to bite people? Cough on people a lot? Are his weapon attacks sufficient to inflict the disease(s) he carries? What about diseases that aren't conveyed through injury? Can he grapple someone and give them leprosy?
Finally, what about diseases that aren't just diseases (like mummy rot)? The conventional paladin gains immunity to even these exotic afflictions, so I am inclined to believe that the antipaladin is similarly immune to their effect but then, can they still be spread? An antipaladin rampantly spreading mummy rot through a town would obliterate the population pretty rapidly and with little hope of stopping the infection once it started.
This ability has a lot of potential to be really flavorful, but it seems like the execution is incomplete. I'd love to hear what others think about how it should be arbitrated.
The First Edition Anti-Paladin, which was designed as an NPC class, had this ability. Very handy. The way we played it out was when the Anti-Paladin wanted to spread the disease all he had to do was touch the victim or victims. The favorite disease of the AP I played was influenza. Wiped out thousands over the course of our campaign (1985 and a DM who was completely over the top all the time).
To make it easy the contagion is done like the standard disease he's spreading.
So AIDS if it ever exists would need blood contact or sexual intercourse.
That's how I'd play it.
The disease is carried all the time, no need to make fortitude DC. He's a healthy carrier... but can still contaminate people. It exists IRL.
Play Anti-Paladin of Calistria or Urgathoa, spread AIDS. Beat the game.
Are there any beneficial diseases like the old cancer mage trick in 3.5? (I seriously doubt anything would exist that strongly tho in PF)
I don't really see Mummy Rot being all that attractive to have and pass on, usually the things that you fight will be dead in the next 30 seconds anyways, so unless it has a passive buff of some sort, there's no real benefit to having it.
The "Typhoid Mary"-deal is probably something for NPCs anyway; PCs only really benefit from penalties you can inflict during a fight.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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The "Typhoid Mary"-deal is probably something for NPCs anyway; PCs only really benefit from penalties you can inflict during a fight.
A high-Charisma antipaladin could be an effective disease-based assassin, walking into a ballroom or gala, looking every part the dashing hero... and then shake hands with the local king or kiss the hand of an important ambassador, only to have them die several days later from a crippling illness and none would be the wiser.
Up this theme. Sorry for my eng, if there're any mistakes below.
My group started AP Hell's Vengeance and one of the players is Antipaladin of Urgathoa. Now group reaches 3rd level and he said that now he needs a disease (and he caught ghoul fever in church, voluntarily failed his Fort save) to spread it around.
But I think that it is not Plague bringer about.
"He can still" - so that means that if diseased person can spread it to other - then he still can do it. That means nothing more, but usual(common) rules for spreading disease of some type if it possible. This can be indicated in description, e.g. Leprosy
Source: https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Diseases_of_Golarion#Leprosy
or implied it can be contagiously to others (like HIV).
Another example - ghoul fever. It can be carried by undead or some special types of creatures, diseased human can't bite someone and injury disease, until he became undead by ghoul fever.
And my second thought - Antipaladin created equal to Paladin. Paladin has immunity to diseases and nothing more. Antipaladin has the same immunity, but if first just don't contract with it, second contracts with no effects and penatlies, and in this way he counts as diseased, and so there's "he can still spread it to others".
If antipaladin becomes undead he can't contract with diseases at all, i think. Exception if he has died from ghoul fever and became a ghoul.
The big problem here that there is no detailed rules and descriptions for diseases, i don't find them at least.
How I am running a plague bringer antipaladin in my group is like so.
He currently has two charges of filth fever on his person. Both of which through a Touch of corruption could be used to grant Dc 13 filth fever (instead of dc 11).
If he swings his sword then he doesn't use up the diseases he holds onto it, if he consumes diseased flesh (ie if something was infected with mummy rot or some other disease) he doesn't have the option to just willingly fail the disease check to gain it if he fails then he gains the disease and I keep a list of this is what hes got this is how many times hes got it.
basically his plague bringer doesn't directly expend uses of his diseases outside of him doing a touch of corruption. Doesn't matter the disease could be Hiv mummy rot filth fever leprosy whatever the disease is he specifically has to use the touch of corruption to pass it on.