One of my players raised the question - since remove disease can kill a kyuss worm after it has invaded a body, will a periapt of health make you immune to the kyuss worms as well as all diseases? They've already spoken with Manzorian and are gearing up to check out the Spire of Long Shadows.
Thoughts? And thanks as always.
There's a thread discussing whether or not a Paladin's immunity to disease makes him/her immune to the Kyuss worms. I read through it pretty thoroughly, and the opinions seem pretty well split down the middle. My personal ruling would be that immunity to disease doesn't help, since the Kyuss worms aren't a true disease. But, because they're destroyed by a Remove Disease spell, many people go the other way. So in the end, as in all that is D&D, it's up to you to decide how you want to do it.
Because this issue is so split and well argued on both sides, I wish we could get some kind of official ruling from the authors... [hint, hint]
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Write to Sage Advice. I have done this based on the original question. Further submissions of the same question, adding the periapt of health, will hopefully get an "official" answer ASAP.
James Jacobs and Sean Reynolds have chimed in that a paladin's immunity to disease doesn't apply against Kyuss worms. I would relate their logic to the periapt as well; Kyuss worms are an organism that induces a state of being known as "undead". Until "undead" is officially deemed a disease, I suspect paladins and wearers of periapts of health are at the same disadvantage everyone else is.
The original thread for late-comers.
Creative Director
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James Jacobs and Sean Reynolds have chimed in that a paladin's immunity to disease doesn't apply against Kyuss worms.
Yes. Kyuss worms may have a flavor similar to a disease, but the mechanic they use in game is very different than those used for diseases. The spell remove disease can certainly help with a Kyuss worm infestation, but then, so can neutralize poison and several other spells. Immunity to disease does not grant immunity to Kyuss worm infestation.
In my opinion, if it works against lycantrophy and mummy rot,
it works against other magic diseases.
The periapt won't kill the worm. A slow worm will lie dormant
till the paladin falls from grace or a pick pocket steals the
periapt.
A fatal parasite is like a more evolved disease.
Animate dead is magic.
I am going to reread the Periapt and ammend my opinions if I have to.