My friends and I noticed that there's a possibility some animals carry rabies in Pathfinder. I also noticed just about everyone who contracts the disease will survive it.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/dog.html#dog
I'm not poo-pooing the concept that perhaps the people of the Pathfinder campaign setting have gained some kind of latent immunity to the disease, but I just wanted to make a comment regarding this.
1 person in the entire world in all of recorded history has ever recovered from this virus without getting the P.E.P shot within a reasonable amount of time. Others who have survived have done so only with severe brain damage. Everyone else just dies. Once it hits your central nervous system, there's nothing that can be done except MAYBE amputation of the limb that's been bitten.
The good news is that if you're bitten by an animal, you can get a series of shots. If you get them within 10 days (read: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!) you're almost sure to be cured.
I don't want to get all crazy over this but I didn't want people who didn't know this to look at that and be unconcerned if they were ever bitten by a wild or strange animal. If that happens, see a doctor IMMEDIATELY and always keep your animals' vaccinations up to date.
Thanks for your time.
=A=
How do you figure that almost anyone can survive it? Level 1 Commoners are going to have at most a +2 Fortitude save (and that's if they have the elite array with a +2 Con bonus), meaning their chance to save on any given day is only 45%, and the disease doesn't go away until you make two consecutive saves. Since every two failed saves reduces the character's Fort save by 1, it's a death spiral.
Creative Director
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I toyed with making rabies a disease that you can't get cured from except by magic. But I decided against it for game balance reasons. If you want more realistic rabies in the game, simply remove the bit where you can recover from the disease naturally, treating it like a supernatural disease like mummy rot or the like.
That makes a lot more sense.
It would be a nice addition to the Errata or at least to any additional official Commentaries on the main rules.
Though there should be some subset for non-supernatural-but-incurable-except-by-magic diseases such as syphilis. Though in Golarion they probably call it "Hag Pox" (and it explains how those seduced by disguised hags end up raving mad).
That's cool, James. I just wanted to make sure people who might not really know what the virus was all about and how very serious it is understood as much. Thanks!
How do you figure that almost anyone can survive it? Level 1 Commoners are going to have at most a +2 Fortitude save (and that's if they have the elite array with a +2 Con bonus), meaning their chance to save on any given day is only 45%, and the disease doesn't go away until you make two consecutive saves. Since every two failed saves reduces the character's Fort save by 1, it's a death spiral.
What he said. As Far as what james created this virus will kill almost any non-hero it hits. Sure, your character will likely survive, but then, how often do average people survive sword-wounds, axe-blows, nearly severed arms and arrow punctures to various tender portions of the human anatomy,(inside or out), in a feudal/medieval environment?
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Creative Director
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That makes a lot more sense.
It would be a nice addition to the Errata or at least to any additional official Commentaries on the main rules.
Though there should be some subset for non-supernatural-but-incurable-except-by-magic diseases such as syphilis. Though in Golarion they probably call it "Hag Pox" (and it explains how those seduced by disguised hags end up raving mad).
We want the erratas to be as small as possible. Something like this isn't errata, and shouldn't clutter up the errata files.
That's cool, James. I just wanted to make sure people who might not really know what the virus was all about and how very serious it is understood as much. Thanks!
Yes, the "Do not try this at home" warning...
And you also cannot just jump off roofs and float down if you say "Featherfall" as you do it :-)
such as syphilis. Though in Golarion they probably call it "Hag Pox" (and it explains how those seduced by disguised hags end up raving mad).ack.....so simple!! so brilliant!! I can think of so many creatures who could be carriers but immune themselves.
Alternately, this could be the origin of hags. Just like ghoul fever is a fever where the dead rise as ghouls, hag pox could be some magical version of syphilis which is 100% fatal to males but with females sometimes transforms them into crazy cannibalistic old biddies with skin conditions and magical powers.
I demand Pathfinder Q fever (a single bacterium can cause infection).
Or heck, smallpox engineered to encode IL-4. You die. Everybody dies.
*mad scientist laugh*