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I have seen the Red Death mentioned in a few places in the adventure path. It apparently hit a large part of the Flanaess close to 20 years ago. However, I have not seen any mention of the Red Death in any of the Greyhawk histories I read (Living Greyhawk Gazeteer, The Adventure Begins, Player's Guide to Greyhawk, & From the Ashes). Did I miss something? Or was the Red Death created with the backdrop on Diamond Lake? Maybe it's from an old AD&D adventure? I'm working on a timeline of events leading up to the Age of Worms and I thought an important event such as this deserved more attention. I'm hoping someone can help me out.
I have seen the Red Death mentioned in a few places in the adventure path. It apparently hit a large part of the Flanaess close to 20 years ago. However, I have not seen any mention of the Red Death in any of the Greyhawk histories I read (Living Greyhawk Gazeteer, The Adventure Begins, Player's Guide to Greyhawk, & From the Ashes). Did I miss something? Or was the Red Death created with the backdrop on Diamond Lake? Maybe it's from an old AD&D adventure? I'm working on a timeline of events leading up to the Age of Worms and I thought an important event such as this deserved more attention. I'm hoping someone can help me out.
I was interested in this point as well. One of my players to begin with played a man who lost his whole family in the plague. I think that plagues are one of the things that D&D is really missing. I mean what the plague killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 100million people in the 7th-8th century CE and then another 25+ million in the 14th century. It made vast and important changes to medieval society, including it is thought a rejection of greco-roman medicine and possible a further loss of secularism (if you could call it that, at least you could call it more of a open philisophy and look at religions under the romans) and an embrace of the catholic church and an expansion of church authority (althogh the actual fall of the empire had a lot more to do with that, although the plague played a part in that too).
Finally one of the most important parts of the plague was that unlike modern diseases and many other diseases of the time it killed the rich man just as often as the poor man. It made no class, gender, or age distinctions. All were subject to its wrath. Expeditious Retreat press cover in their magical medieval society books how the inclusion of divine healing and curing magics would change this important fact to make plagues instead lay waste to the poor while those who can afford cure disease spells would survive (imagine the crushing masses and riots that would occur in front of churches as those who are sick seek cures, and imagine the plague time profiteering that said churches and clerics could make, what would you not pay to be cured of the plague eh?)
Anyhow I have often thought of how to roll up stats for a magical plague, a real good one like the bubonic plague to lay waste to some fantasy world. Anyone have any drawn up already?
I have seen the Red Death mentioned in a few places in the adventure path.... Maybe it's from an old AD&D adventure? ...
It's from Fate of Istus, as I recall. The campaign was a (some say silly) vehicle to transition to D&D 2/e -- the plague eliminated elements that 2/e didn't include (like monks).
Certain elements of the campaign weren't bad, but a lot were.
Others will certainly provide more complete info :)
Jack
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I don't know the "actual" background on the plague, but I made it part of the background for my campaign. All of the PCs' parents were killed by the plague, and they were all raised by the same priest in the church in Diamond Lake. That's the basis for their relationship (despite disparate backgrounds, classes, races, etc.) at the beginning of the campaign. Only later will they find that it's part of the prophecy- and that there's a darker link, as well... >:)
Read Death isn't a medically precise term--it's been used for a number of different diseases. Edgar Alan Poe used the term for cholera in "Mask of the Read Death."
If you're not too worried about Greyhawk canon, you could tie the Red Death plague in with the Ebon Triad or the Kyuss cult somehow as well. The timing is about right to match up with the origins of the former. I included this in the history I invented for Alhaster on another thread.
I wouldn't worry too much about which disease it is. I did play some of the fate of Istus campaign years ago and I do believe this is the disease they are referring to in the AP.Probably to provide some link to Greyhawk. It was a series of linked city adventures where the party was looking for a cure/cause. I have since lost that module, but do remember the ending to be related to the Scarlet brotherhood. Maybe (in addition to the appearance of the victims) that's why it was called red death? For that matter you could make this disease scarlet fever.
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Thank-you all for the info.
I took a look for the first time at the Fate of Istus pdf that I have. Doesn't it seem strange that the Red Death originated in Rookroost, the only major city along the edge of the Rift Canyon? It's not much of a stretch to make the cult of Kyuss responsible for the plague, as Rookroost is fairly close to the Wormcrawl Fissure.
While I was taking a look at the prophecies from Spire of Long Shadows that fortold the coming Age of Worms, I thought it was strange how most of the prophecies had nothing to do with Kyuss. Giant fiendish tree, falling comet, erupting volcano, Hand of Vecna, etc. Wouldn't it be better to replace them with omens such as the Red Death, the Apostle, the new Spire in Alhaster, the reappearance of the Library of Last Resort, a giant/dragon war, etc.? I'm thinking that the Red Death is an excellent plot tool for Age of Worms, as well as providing PC's with something they can use in their backgrounds.
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When I provided my group with the campaign background information, I included the Red Death, and one of them (the wizard apprenticed to Allustan) came up with that both his parents died from the Red Death. He sort of built in a possible path to hate Incabulous, seeing him as the root cause of his less-than-ideal life.
This has yet to materialize fully, as I'm still debating whether or not having this related to Kyuss is just "too much" in terms of trying to tie sub-plots together, or if I want it to even be anything of consequence in the campaign.
I have seen the Red Death mentioned in a few places in the adventure path.... Maybe it's from an old AD&D adventure? ...It's from Fate of Istus, as I recall. The campaign was a (some say silly) vehicle to transition to D&D 2/e -- the plague eliminated elements that 2/e didn't include (like monks).
Certain elements of the campaign weren't bad, but a lot were.
Others will certainly provide more complete info :)
Jack
Dead on, all your Red Death needs are in the Fate of Istus module. Admittidely this could have been the best module for greyhawk ever, but it wasn't, it was poor...Kara-tur? Really?
Thank-you all for the info.
I took a look for the first time at the Fate of Istus pdf that I have. Doesn't it seem strange that the Red Death originated in Rookroost, the only major city along the edge of the Rift Canyon? It's not much of a stretch to make the cult of Kyuss responsible for the plague, as Rookroost is fairly close to the Wormcrawl Fissure.
While I was taking a look at the prophecies from Spire of Long Shadows that fortold the coming Age of Worms, I thought it was strange how most of the prophecies had nothing to do with Kyuss. Giant fiendish tree, falling comet, erupting volcano, Hand of Vecna, etc. Wouldn't it be better to replace them with omens such as the Red Death, the Apostle, the new Spire in Alhaster, the reappearance of the Library of Last Resort, a giant/dragon war, etc.? I'm thinking that the Red Death is an excellent plot tool for Age of Worms, as well as providing PC's with something they can use in their backgrounds.
That's an awesome idea. Consider it respectfully yoinked!