I'm looking for a disease to infect my friends with. I want something that provides an interesting challenge, and isn't done away with but one casting of a common spell such as restoration or heal. I want the disease to hook my characters into a trek to find some isolated witch doctor type.
I have been thinking for a while about diseases in Fantasy settings for a while and how it bothers me (and some others I know) that they are so easy to cure that they fail to be much of an issue except at low levels. Then it hit me... in real life disease is often very easy to cure IF you can diagnosis it correctly.
Now, I am not proposing we turn D&D into an episode of House (unless maybe you are running it for a group of med students or something), but I am thinking that a disease should get its own spell to cure it. Since the spells aren't part of the clerics normal list he would need to know what it is before he gets it.
The diagnosis then could be done by NPC but he needs certain reagents and materials to do a proper diagnosis. You could then task the PCs with the retrieval of those reagents. If you feeling frisky you could turn each collection into a sidetrek and it would take several to complete... "Nope, wasn't that one... perhaps *this* one! I will just need..."
Anyway... those are my thoughts on it... I know it is a bit of tangent from your original question.
Sean Mahoney
A rare magical disease from a fallen empire that was used to infect their enemies and drain their magics from them. Kinda like an anti-magic disease, but with a mutative side effect. :)
I have been thinking for a while about diseases in Fantasy settings for a while and how it bothers me (and some others I know) that they are so easy to cure that they fail to be much of an issue except at low levels.
I really agree with you. Personally I think its something of a flaw in the games design. The ability to easily cure curses and diseases does not actually help the Cleric in any meaningful way. The fact that they are so easy to cure simply means that they almost never become part of the game. If they are not part of the game then the Cleric never really needs to bother taking these spells. When everything is said and done the net effect is to take away good adventure ideas. Lets hope the next edition removes these spells from the Cleric List.
I'm looking for a disease to infect my friends with. I want something that provides an interesting challenge, and isn't done away with but one casting of a common spell such as restoration or heal. I want the disease to hook my characters into a trek to find some isolated witch doctor type.
Well, there is always the possibility of turning a disease into a pandemic. This means that the disease may be easily curable, but it's sppreading so quickly that normal magic cannot fix it.
Also, PC's might be carriers but not negatively affected so they're spreading it around but have no idea they are infected. This is especially good for paladins. They are not affected by the disease but could they become carriers?
You can always have something happen in your campaign that stops the use of such magic (the god does not want it healed, or perhaps another god is overriding the other god's magic).
Keep in mind that the game does have some supernatural diseases (like mummy rot) that are stronger than the average bear.
Hmm; dont have any diseases right off hand though there are some I sort of remember from some various source material that require a priest of 12th or 15 or such to cure; BUT, i do have some magic resistant poisons or you might call drug addictions that have the same effect. Withdrawls can be murder :)
hmm kinda strange how i dont show up as subscriber for Dragon which my subscription just ended this month or for Dungeon where I am a subscriber awaiting my first issue probably next month...
You could just give every disease some sort of spell resistance, that way they don't automatically get cured. Instead, a cleric might have to apply cure disease several times in order to get it to "stick."
Or give them very high Heal checks to diagnose.
Or a caster level check to cure.
Or maybe a spell component, different for each disease...would require correct diagnosis _and_ having to find the component, varying from chicken soup for common cold to horn of unicorn or something for tougher diseases.
And of course there is that one disease whose component is that little flower which grows only in little patch in north side of this really big mountain or in garden of ancient lich-king...
I like the idea of all of these possibly being in the mix for a disease!
Spell resistance
Caster-Level checks
Specific component requirements
High Heal checks for diagnosis
That would make Remove Disease less powerful, but it would certainly improve RPing of the dangers of disease.
The Palladium system required you to make a minimum of two separate rolls for healing someone from a doctorial standpoint - one for diagnosis, and one for treatment. This is pretty easy to work into d20 - just make two Heal checks.
Some diseases I made up for my AOW campaign:
Mosquitoes: Huge clouds of mosquitoes come out whenever the sun is not directly shining (i.e. misty, cloudy, night-time). During these times, characters must make a fortitude save (DC 12) each hour or be sickened for the hour. One DC 12 fortitude save must be made while sleeping or the character does not sleep restfully and is fatigued the next day. Exposure to mosquito bites all night does 1d2-1 points of constitution damage due to blood loss, and exposes the character to Swamp Fever, (Fort DC 13) which does 1d3 Dex and 1d3 Wis damage per day after an incubation period of two days, as the afflicted character is wracked with periodic bouts of shivering and becomes feverish and in serious cases delirious. A +1 or greater natural armor bonus renders a character immune to mosquito bites and their effects. Wearing any armor that covers torso, arms, and legs gives a +2 bonus on saves to avoid being sickened or fatigued, and on the initial save to avoid contracting swamp fever. Wearing full plate or a similar armor that covers all parts of the body grants +5.
Knowledge nature DC:
10 Mosquitoes in the Mistmarsh are more than just an annoyance
15 Mosquitoes in the Mistmarsh are so thick that they can weaken you with blood
loss¡Xthey also carry Swamp Fever
20 The leaves of the shrub known as gnatsbane are an effective repellent to mosquitoes if rubbed on exposed skin. (Survival DC 20 and one hour to find sufficient amount for four doses¡Xone dose lasts eight hours, and the leaves lose their property after 24 hours).
Jungle Diseases
Jungle Rot¡Xturns your toes to slime. Each failed fort save does dex damage, reduces movement by 5¡¦ per two points of dex loss.
Jungle Fever¡Xa bit like malaria, causes fever and shakes, does 1d6 Dex and Con damage. The victim is sickened until he starts recovering. After initial recovery, disease reappears again 4d6 + Con modifier weeks later, requiring a new saving throw. This cycle reoccurs, whether the saving throw was made or not, and each time Con damage is taken, one point of the damage is permanent Con drain. The disease can be cured with Cure Disease, but requires a caster level check with a DC 11 plus 1 per bouts of the disease previously suffered. Certain medicines can give a bonus on the Fort save, but first disease must be diagnosed (DC 20 heal check). Natives of the region get a +5 bonus to their saving throws. Permanent Con drain can be restored magically.
River Worms¡Xinfest digestive tract, draining 1 Str and Con, beginning 1 week after contracting them and continuing for 1d4 weeks afterward. The disease does not progress beyond this point, but the ability drain cannot be restored without first casting a cure disease spell, which kills the (white-colored) worms and converts the drain into damage. Requires a DC 20 heal check to detect, +1 circumstance bonus on the check for every point of ability drain caused. Alternatively, ingested poisons kill the worms if they fail their Fort save (+8), functioning like a cure disease spell, but of course endangering the drinker.
There are so many responses to this question that would get me banned from these boards.
Spell resistance. That would make Remove Disease less powerful, but it would certainly improve RPing of the dangers of disease.
It would also eerily parallel real-life antibiotic-resistant microbes. Game bacteria with SR seem almost inevitable, in this case. You might even have churches starting ad campaigns against the indiscriminate use of remove disease spells...